Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj was born in the town of Nishapur[5] in the Abbasid province of Khorasan, in what is now northeastern Iran.
"[3] Ibn Khallikan could find no report of Muslim's date of birth or age at death by any of the ḥuffāẓ "hadith masters", except their agreement that he was born after 200 AH (815/816).
[10][11] The nisba "al-Qushayri" signifies he belonged to the Arab tribe of Banu Qushayr, members of which migrated to the newly conquered Persian territory during the expansion of the Rashidun Caliphate.
After his studies throughout the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, Iraq and Syria, he settled in his hometown of Nishapur, where he met, and became a lifelong friend of al-Bukhari.
The History of Baghdad by al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, produced in the 11th century, formed the basis of all subsequent descriptions of his life in Islamic sources.
[16] Muslim's book gradually increased in stature such that it is considered among Ahlus-Sunnah the most authentic collections of hadith, second only to Sahih Bukhari.