He was born in Jumada I of the year 171 AH.
He received ḥadith from: Ḥafṣ ibn Ghiyāth, Isḥāq al-Azraq, Abū Usāmah, Abū Badr Shujāʿ ibn al-Walīd, Rawḥ ibn ʿUbādah, and others of their generation.
Transmitters from him include al-Bukhārī—who, however, erred and called him Aḥmad (1)—Abū al-Qāsim al-Baghawī, his grandson Abū al-Ḥusayn Aḥmad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Munādī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Ḥātim, Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Aṣamm, Ismāʿīl al-Ṣaffār, ʿUthmān ibn Aḥmad al-Daqqāq, Abū Sahl al-Qaṭṭān, and many others.
Abū Ḥātim said: “He is truthful.” (2)
Abū Jaʿfar reported: “Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn wrote down from me a ḥadith that I narrated from Abū al-Naḍr.”
His grandson Abū al-Ḥusayn said: “My grandfather died in the month of Ramaḍān, in 272 AH. He was one hundred and one years, four months, and twelve days old.”
I say: Among the narrations that have come down to us through his channels is that very ḥadith which al-Bukhārī related from him.
(1) The hadith in which al-Bukhari is said to have mistaken the name of Ibn al-Munadi is the one cited by al-Khatib al-Baghdadi in his Tarikh, 2/328. His isnad runs: the Prophet told Ubayy ibn Kab, “Allah has commanded me to teach you the Quran and to recite it to you.” Ubayy asked, “Did He mention me by name?” The Prophet replied, “Yes.” Ubayy then said, “Was I mentioned before the Lord of all worlds?” He answered, “Yes,” and Ubayy’s eyes filled with tears. Al-Khatib then reports the same narration through the chain al-Barqani – Abu Bakr al-Ismaili – Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn al-Qasim – Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Baghawi – Abu Jaʿfar ibn al-Munadi – Ruh, with wording to the same effect. Al-Bukhari also included this hadith in his Sahih, transmitting it from Ibn al-Munadi but giving his name as Ahmad. Ibn Hajar remarks in Fath al-Bari, 8/558: regarding al-Bukhari’s wording “Ahmad ibn Abi Dawud, Abu Jaʿfar al-Munadi,” this is how it appears in the narration of al-Firabri, whereas the copy of al-Nasafi simply reads “Abu Jaʿfar al-Munadi.” It therefore seems that the addition of the name Ahmad comes from al-Firabri; al-Bukhari himself did not err.
(2) Ibn Abi Hatim, al-Jarh wa-l-taʿdil, 8/3.