In this excerpt from his biographical dictionary of the religious scholars of Samarqand, the sixth/twelfth-century scholar Nasafī mentions the ḥadīthactivity of Aḥmad b. Asad’s sons, claiming that at least four of them transmitted ḥadīths, some from their father. One of the latter ḥadīthfeatures the Prophet Muḥammad saying, “When a man dies, his deeds come to an end, except for three: knowledge by which people benefit, continuous charity [in his name], and a righteous son who prays for him.” Nasafī also cites an anecdote concerning Aḥmad b. Asad’s son Naṣr, who was able to verify a waqf document and implement it in the correct manner. In her analysis of Islamic mirrors-for-princes literature on judging in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Louise Marlow uses this example to identify the types of legal issues in which a ruler might find it necessary to intervene using his religious knowledge.
This source is part of the Online Companion to the book Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, ed. Intisar A. Rabb and Abigail Krasner Balbale(ILSP/HUP 2017)—a collection of primary sources and other material used in and related to the book.