The death of Imam Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj

Imam Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj al-Qushayri — author of "al-Sahih," the second most authentic book after Sahih al-Bukhari, which he selected from three hundred thousand heard hadiths and arranged in a masterful order — died in Nishapur.

Muslim was born in Nishapur around 204 AH and travelled for hadith to the Hijaz, Iraq, Syria and Egypt. He kept close to Imam al-Bukhari when he came to Nishapur and said to him: "Let me kiss your feet, O teacher of teachers and master of hadith scholars."

He compiled "al-Musnad al-Sahih" over fifteen years, gathering it from three hundred thousand hadiths, distinguished by collecting the chains of a hadith in one place and by fine arrangement, until some of the scholars of the Maghrib said: Beneath the vault of the sky there is nothing more authentic than the book of Muslim.

It was said of the cause of his death that he was asked about a hadith he did not recognize, so he spent his night searching his books with a basket of dates before him, eating one date at a time, until by morning he had found the hadith and finished the basket. He fell ill from it and died on 25 Rajab 261 AH, buried in Nishapur.