Hadithi ya Ibn Rahwai, mwalimu wa Imam Bukhari, na zawadi yake ya kumbukumbu ni hadithi iliyoshikamana na jina lake. Hadithi kuhusu kumbukumbu ya Ibn Rahwai inasimuliwa sana katika duru za wanazuoni. Siku moja alikuwa akijadiliana masuala ya kifiqhi na mwanazuoni mwingine katika vyumba vya faragha vya ‘Abd Allah ibn Tahir. Walitofautiana kuhusu maandishi ya kitabu fulani. Ibn Rahwai alimwomba ‘Abd Allah ibn Tahir kukitoa kitabu hicho kutoka maktaba yake. Kitabu kililetwa mbele ya wanazuoni hao wawili. Ibn Asakir anaandika katika The History of Damascus kwamba baada ya kutofautiana huku, Ibn Rahwai alimwambia ‘Abd Allah ibn Tahir, "Fungua ukurasa wa kumi na moja wa kitabu, kwenye mstari wa saba utakuta kile ninachokisema." ‘Abd Allah ibn Tahir aliufungua ukurasa wa kumi na moja na kukuta ni kama alivyonukuu Ibn Rahwai hasa. Hapo ‘Abd Allah ibn Tahir alimjibu Ibn Rahwai kwa kusema, "Nilijua kwamba una hukumu nyingi za Sharia zilizohifadhiwa kwenye kumbukumbu yako, lakini ufunuo huu usio na kifani wa kumbukumbu yako kali kweli umenishangaza."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

Tukio hili halaacha shaka yoyote kuhusu ukali wa kumbukumbu ya Ibn Rahwai, lakini je, si kweli kwamba tunawapata huffaz katika kila eneo, mji na kijiji, ambao husoma aya za Qur'an na kuweza papo hapo kutambua mahali zilipo ndani ya Qur'an? Ukweli ni kwamba Ibn Rahwai si mfano pekee miongoni mwa wanazuoni waliohifadhi hadithi za Mtume 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.