[1][2][3][4] The son of the widely acclaimed Hanafi jurist, Mahmud al-Alusi, Nu'man was born in Baghdad.

[1][2][3][4][5] Muhammad Bahjat Athari described Nu'man al-Alusi as “Generous, loyal, ascetic, sweet as a fruit, and a forgiving person.”[1][2][3][4] He was also praised by Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi, while he was also credited by Al-Albani in the introduction of his book Sharh al-Ayat al-Bayinat fi Iyadam Sama'i al-Amwat.

[3][5][6] In the year 1878, Nu'man al-Alusi travelled to Egypt where he studied the works of Siddiq Hasan Khan, a prominent Indian Muslim scholar of the Ahlul Hadith movement.

His book Jala' al-'Aynayn was intended to serve as a guidebook or manual to the Athari creed, which was conflated with Salafism at the time.

[13][10][11][12] Siddiq Hasan Khan mistakenly considered Nu'man al-Alusi a Maturidi but his verdict was not well-known or widespread.