Kisah Ibn Rahwai, guru Imam Bukhari, dan anugerah ingatannya merupakan kisah yang melekat pada namanya. Kisah tentang ingatan Ibn Rahwai banyak diriwayatkan di kalangan ulama. Suatu ketika beliau sedang membahas beberapa masalah fikah dengan seorang ulama lain di dalam bilik peribadi ‘Abd Allah ibn Tahir. Mereka berselisih tentang teks sebuah kitab tertentu. Ibn Rahwai meminta ‘Abd Allah ibn Tahir agar kitab itu dibawa keluar dari perpustakaannya. Kitab tersebut dibawa ke hadapan kedua-dua ulama itu. Ibn ‘Asakir menulis dalam Tarikh Dimasyq bahawa selepas perselisihan itu, Ibn Rahwai berkata kepada ‘Abd Allah ibn Tahir, “Bukalah halaman kesebelas kitab itu, pada baris ketujuh kamu akan menemui apa yang saya katakan.” ‘Abd Allah ibn Tahir pun membuka halaman kesebelas dan mendapati ia tepat seperti yang dipetik oleh Ibn Rahwai. Ketika itu, ‘Abd Allah ibn Tahir bangun dan berkata kepada Ibn Rahwai, “Saya tahu kamu menghafal banyak hukum syariat, tetapi kehebatan ingatanmu yang tajam dan belum pernah ada bandingannya ini benar-benar membuat saya kagum.”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

Kejadian ini tidak meragukan ketajaman ingatan Ibn Rahwai, tetapi bukankah kita dapati para huffaz di hampir setiap kawasan, bandar dan kampung yang membaca ayat-ayat al-Qur'an dan dapat segera menentukan kedudukannya dalam al-Qur'an? Hakikatnya, Ibn Rahwai bukan satu-satunya contoh dalam kalangan ulama yang menghafal hadis Nabi yang diberkati 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.