Labarin Ibn Rahwai, malamin Imam Bukhari, da baiwar tunaninsa, labari ne da ya manne da sunansa. Labarin tunawar Ibn Rahwai ana ba da shi sosai a tsakanin malamai. Wata rana yana tattaunawa da wani malami kan wasu al'amuran fiqhu a cikin ɗakin kansa na ‘Abd Allah ibn Tahir. Sun saba a kan rubutun wani littafi. Ibn Rahwai ya nemi ‘Abd Allah ibn Tahir ya kawo littafin daga ɗakin karatunsa. An kawo littafin a gaban malaman biyu. Ibn Asakir ya rubuta a cikin Tarihin Dimashƙ cewa bayan wannan saɓani, Ibn Rahwai ya ce wa ‘Abd Allah ibn Tahir, “Buɗe shafi na sha ɗaya na littafin, a layi na bakwai za ka ga abin da nake faɗa.” ‘Abd Allah ibn Tahir ya juya zuwa shafi na sha ɗaya, ya same shi daidai yadda Ibn Rahwai ya ambata. A nan ‘Abd Allah ibn Tahir ya tashi ya ce wa Ibn Rahwai, “Na sani kana da hukunce-hukuncen Shari‘a masu yawa a zuciyarka, amma wannan baiwar tunani mai ƙarfi da ba a taɓa ganin irinta ba, lallai ya ba ni mamaki.”10

The story of Ibn Rahwai, the teacher of Imam Bukhari, and his gift of memory is a story that has stuck to his name. The story about the memory of Ibn Rahwai is widely narrated in scholarly circles. Once he was discussing some juridical issues with another scholar in the private chambers of ‘Abd Allah ibn Tahir. They disagreed on the text of a certain book. Ibn Rahwai asked ‘Abd Allah ibn Tahir to have the book checked out from his library. The book was brought before the two scholars. Ibn Asakir writes in The History of Damascus that after this disagreement, Ibn Rahwai said to ‘Abd Allah ibn Tahir, “Open to the eleventh page of the book, on the seventh line you will find what I have been saying.” ‘Abd Allah ibnTahir flipped to the eleventh page and found it exactly as Ibn Rahwai had quoted. At this point, ‘Abd Allah ibn Tahir rose to the occasion and said to Ibn Rahwai, “I knew you had a lot of Shari‘a rulings put to memory, but this unprecedented revelation of your sharp memory has indeed left me wonderstruck.”10

Wannan lamari ba ya barin wata shakka game da kaifin ƙwaƙwalwar Ibn Rahwai, amma ashe ba gaskiya ba ne cewa muna samun huffaẓ a kusan kowane yanki, birni da ƙauye, waɗanda ke karanta āyoyin Alƙur'ani kuma su iya gano inda suke a cikin Alƙur'ani nan take? Gaskiyar magana ita ce, Ibn Rahwai ba shi kaɗai ba ne a cikin malamai da suka haddace hadisai na Annabi mai albarka ﷺ.

This incident leaves no doubt about the sharpness of Ibn Rahwai’s memory, but is it not true that we find huffaz in almost every area, city and village who recite ayas of the Qur’an and can instantly locate its place in the Qur’an? The reality is that Ibn Rahwai is not the only example amongst the scholars who memorized ahadith of the Blessed Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.