Imam Nafi' ibn Abi Nu'aym al-Madani (d. 169 AH / 785 CE), one of the seven canonical readers of the Qur'an, is buried in Baqi' Graveyard beside Imam Malik ibn…
Imam Nafi' ibn Abi Nu'aym al-Madani (d. 169 AH / 785 CE), one of the seven canonical readers of the Qur'an, is buried in Baqi' Graveyard beside Imam Malik ibn Anas, near the eastern side of the ground and not far from the grave of Sa'd ibn Mu'adh (RA). The reading of Madinah Of Isfahani descent and born in Madinah, Nafi' was the recognised authority on Qur'anic recitation in the city for some seventy years. He took the reading from a chain of Madinan teachers going back through the Companions, and he was careful to describe how much he had verified before teaching it. I read to seventy of the Tabi'un, and I took only what two of them agreed upon, and left whatever one of them alone had. Imam Nafi', cited by Ibn al-Jazari, Ghayat al-Nihaya fi Tabaqat al-Qurra' Warsh and Qalun Two of his students fixed his reading in writing and transmission: Qalun, his stepson, who stayed in Madinah, and Warsh, who travelled from Egypt to study with him and returned to teach there. The reading of Nafi' through Warsh is the standard recitation across North and West Africa today, and through Qalun in Libya and parts of Tunisia — so a Muslim reciting in Fes or Nouakchott is reciting what was taught a few metres from where he now lies. Among the scholars of the city Nafi' led the prayer in the Prophet's ﷺ mosque and was praised for his recitation by the scholars of Madinah, Malik ibn Anas among those who prayed behind him. He died in 169 AH, ten years before Malik, and was buried in Baqi'; his grave is unmarked and level with the ground like every other grave there.
This site is located within Jannat al-Baqi Graveyard.