Key Figures of Islamic Tradition, According to Marshall Hodgson (4)

780-855, Ahmad b. Hanbal, disciple of al-Shafii, imam of an intransigent school of fiqh

869, Ibn-Karram, Muslim evangelist of Khurasan

870, al-Bukhari, author of the greatest collection of canonical hadith reports, paired with that of Muslim (d. 873)

892, al-Tirmidhi, collector of hadiths and systematizer of categories in isnad criticism

838-923, Ibn-Jarir al-Tabari, commentator on the Quran, and historian using chronological sequence; in contrast to his great contemporary, Ahmad al-Baladhuri (d.892)

873-935, al-Ashari, reconciles the methods of Mutazili kalam with the dogmas of the Ahl-al-Hadith