Al-Baghawi: the bāʾ has a short a vowel, followed by ghayn and then wāw. This nisbah is derived from a town in Khurasan, between Marw and Herat, called Bagh or Baghshur. The latter is pronounced with a bāʾ carrying a short a vowel, an unvowelled ghayn, a shīn carrying a short u vowel, followed by an unvowelled wāw and then rāʾ. This nisbah is irregular, departing from the usual rule. This is how al-Samʿani described it in his book al-Ansab (Genealogical Attributions).
His Birth
Most of the sources that provide his biography do not mention the year of his birth. However, Yaqut al-Hamawi states in Muʿjam al-Buldan that he was born in 433 AH, while al-Zirikli states in al-Aʿlam that he was born in 436 AH.
His Teachers
Imam al-Baghawi studied exegesis, hadith, and jurisprudence under a great number of scholars. Among them were:
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The Shafiʿis’ jurist and shaykh, Judge Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Marwazi, the jurist of Khurasan and author of al-Taʿliqah, who died in 462 AH (1).
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Abd al-Wahid ibn Ahmad ibn Abi al-Qasim al-Mulayhi al-Harawi, a transmitter of the Sahih from al-Nuʿaymi. He was a righteous man, and al-Baghawi transmitted extensively from him. He died in 463 AH (2).
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The jurist Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Yusuf al-Juwayni, known as the Shaykh of the Hijaz. He authored al-Salwah fi ʿUlum al-Sufiyyah (Consolation in the Sciences of the Sufis), and was an eminent jurist. He died in 463 AH (3).
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Abu Ali Hassan ibn Saʿid al-Muniʿi—so called after Maniʿ, his grandfather. This Hassan was the leader of Marw al-Rudh, whose beneficence encompassed Khurasan through his goodness and charitable gifts. He established the Muniʿi Congregational Mosque and provided clothing for approximately one thousand people each year. He died in 463 AH (4).
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Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Abd al-Samad al-Turabi al-Marwazi, the venerable and long-lived shaykh, Khurasan’s leading transmitter of hadith with continuous chains. He alone transmitted from Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab al-Razi. He died in Ramadan of 463 AH, at the age of ninety-six (5).
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Abu al-Qasim Abd al-Karim ibn Hawazin ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Talhah al-Naysaburi al-Qushayri al-Khurasani,