[13] Aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī was born in the village of Ṭaḥā in upper Egypt in 853 (239 AH)[14][1] to an affluent Arab family of Azdī origins.
[17] Different versions are given by his biographers of his conversion to the Ḥanafī school,[17] but the most probable reason seems to be that the system of Abū Ḥanīfa appealed to his critical insight more than that of ash-Shāfiʿī.
[17][20] Aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī was famed for his expertise in both ḥadīth and Ḥanafī jurisprudence even during his own lifetime, and many of his works, such as Kitāb Maʿāni al-Āthār and ʿAqīdah aṭ-Ṭaḥāwīyyah, continue to be held in high regard by Sunni Muslims today.
[19] He died on the 14th day of Dhū-l Qaʿdah, 321 AH (5 November 933 CE), and was buried in al-Qarāfah, Cairo.
He was widely held as a distinguished and prolific writer and became known as the most learned faqīh amongst the Ḥanafīs in Egypt, despite having knowledge of all the madhāhib.