The Science of Hadith

( ʻIlm al-ḥadīth )

Wa-ammā al-muḥaddithūn : fa-ghālibuhum lā yafhamūn wa-lā himmah lahum fī maʻrifat al-ḥadīth wa-lā fī al-tadayyun bihi bal al-ṣaḥīḥ wa-al-mawḍūʻ ʻindahum bi-nisbah wa-innamā himmatuhum fī al-samāʻ ʻalá jahalat al-shuyūkh wa-takthīr al-ʻadad min al-ajzāʼ wa-al-riwāyah lā yataʼaddabūn bi-ādāb al-ḥadīth wa-lā yastafīqūn min sakrat al-samāʻ , al-ān yasmaʻ al-juzʼ wa-nafsuhu tuḥaddithuhu matá yarwīhi a-baʻda khamsīn sanah ! Wayḥaka mā aṭwal amalaka wa-mā aswaʼ ʻamalaka , maʻdhūr Sufyān al-Thawrī yaqūl fīmā rawāhu Aḥmad ibn Yūsuf al-Taghlibī ḥaddathanā Khālid ibn Khidāsh ḥaddathanā Ḥammād ibn Zayd qāla Sufyān al-Thawrī : law kāna al-ḥadīth khayran la-dhahaba kamā dhahaba al-khayr . Ṣadaqa wa-Allāh wa-ayy khayr fī ḥadīth makhlūṭ ṣaḥīḥuhu bi-wāhīhi wa-anta lā taqfiluhu wa-lā tabḥath ʻan nāqilīhi (١) wa-lā tadīn Allāh taʻālá bihi . Ammā al-yawm fī zamāninā fa-mā yufīd al-muḥaddith al-ṭalab wa-al-samāʻ maqṣūda al-ḥadīth min al-tadayyun bihi bal fāʼidat al-samāʻ li-yarwī fa-hādhā wa-Allāh li-ghayr Allāh taʻālá . Khiṭābī maʻaka yā muḥaddith lā maʻa man yasmaʻ wa-lā yaʻqil wa-lā yuḥāfiẓ ʻalá al-ṣalawāt wa-lā yajtanib al-fawāḥish wa-lā qarsh al-ḥashāʼish wa-lā yuḥsin an yataṣaddaq fa-yā hādhā lā takun mujriman fātinan anḥas al-manāḥīs .

Fa-ṭālib al-ḥadīth al-yawm yanbaghī lahu an yansakh awwalan ( al-Jamʻ bayna al-Ṣaḥīḥayn ) wa ( Aḥkām ʻAbd al-Ḥaqq ) wa ( al-Ḍiyāʼ ) (١) wa-yudmin al-naẓar fīhim wa-yukthir min taḥṣīl tālīf al-Bayhaqī fa-innahā nāfiʻah wa-lā aqall min mukhtaṣar ka-al-Ilmām wa-darsihi (١) fa-ayy shayʼ yanfaʻ al-samāʻ ʻalá jahalat al-mashyakhah alladhīna yanāmūn wa-al-ṣibyān wa-al-shabībah yataḥaddathūn wa-yamzaḥūn wa-kathīr minhum yanʻasūn wa-yukābirūn wa-al-qāriʼ yuṣaḥḥif wa-itqānuhu fī takthīr « aw kamā qāla » wa-al-ruḍḍaʻ yataṣāʻaqūn (٢) bi-Allāh khallūnā fa-qad baqīnā ḍuḥkah li-ulī al-ʻuqūl yanẓurūn ilaynā wa-yaqūlūn hāʼulāʼ hum ahl al-ḥadīth naʻam mādhā yaḍurr ! Wa-law lam yabqa illā takrār al-ṣalāh ʻalá al-nabī ṣallá Allāh ʻalayhi wa-sallam la-kāna khayran min tilka al-aqāwīl allatī tuḍādd al-dīn wa-taṭrud al-īmān wa-al-yaqīn wa-turdī fī asfal al-sāfilīn lākinnaka maʻdhūr fa-mā shamamta lil-Islām rāʼiḥah wa-lā raʼayta ahl al-ḥadīth fa-awāʼiluhum kāna lahum shaykh ʻālī al-isnād baynahu wa-bayna Allāh taʻālá wāḥid maʻṣūm ʻan maʻṣūm sayyid al-bashar ʻan Jibrīl ʻan Allāh ʻazza wa-jall fa-ṭullābuhu mithl Abī Bakr wa-ʻUmar wa-Ibn Masʻūd wa-Abī Hurayrah al-ḥāfiẓ wa-Ibn ʻAbbās wa-sādat al-nās alladhīna ṭālat aʻmāruhum wa-ʻalā sanaduhum wa-intaṣabū lil-riwāyah al-rafīʻah fa-ḥamala ʻanhum mithl Masrūq wa-Ibn al-Musayyib wa-al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī wa-al-Shaʻbī wa-ʻUrwah wa-ashbāhihim min aṣḥāb al-ḥadīth wa-arbāb al-riwāyah wa-al-dirāyah wa-al-ṣidq wa-al-ʻibādah wa-al-itqān wa-al-zahādah alladhīna min ṭābatihim mithl al-Zuhrī wa-Qatādah wa-al-Aʻmash wa-Ibn Jaḥādah wa-Ayyūb wa-Ibn ʻAwn wa-ulāʼika al-sādah alladhīna akhadha ʻanhum al-Awzāʻī wa-al-Thawrī wa-Maʻmar wa-al-Ḥammādān wa-Ziyādah wa-Mālik wa-al-Layth wa-khalq siwāhum min ashyākh Ibn al-Mubārak wa-Yaḥyá ibn al-Qaṭṭān wa-Ibn Mahdī wa-Yaḥyá ibn Ādam wa-al-Shāfiʻī wa-al-Qaʻnabī wa-ʻiddah min aʻlām al-ḥadīth alladhīna khalafahum mithl Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal wa-Isḥaq wa-Ibn al-Madīnī wa-Yaḥyá ibn Maʻīn wa-Abī Khaythamah wa-Ibn Numayr wa-Abī Kurayb wa-Bundār wa-man yalīhim min mashyakhat al-Bukhārī wa-Muslim wa-Abī Dāwud wa-al-Nasāʼī wa-Abī Zurʻah wa-Abī Ḥātim wa-Muḥammad ibn Naṣr wa-Ṣāliḥ Jazarah wa-Ibn Khuzaymah wa-khalāʼiq fī al-zaman al-wāḥid minhum al-ulūf min al-ḥuffāẓ wa-naqalat al-ʻilm al-sharīf , thumma tanāqaṣa hādhā al-shaʼn fī al-miʼah al-rābiʻah bi-al-nisbah ilá al-miʼah al-thālithah wa-lam yazal yanquṣ ilá al-yawm fa-afḍal man fī waqtinā al-yawm min al-muḥaddithīn ʻalá qillatihim naẓīr ṣighār man kāna fī dhālika al-zamān ʻalá kathratihim , wa kam min rajul mashhūr bi-al-fiqh wa-bi-al-raʼy fī al-zaman al-qadīm afḍal fī al-ḥadīth min al-mutaʼakhkhirīn wa kam min rajul min mutakallimī al-qudamāʼ aʻraf bi-al-athar min mashyakhat zamāninā fa-mā adraknā min aṣḥāb al-ḥadīth illā ṭāʼifah ka-qāḍī diyār Miṣr wa-ʻālimihā Taqī al-Dīn ibn Daqīq al-ʻĪd wa-al-ḥāfiẓ al-ḥujjah Sharaf al-Dīn al-Dimyāṭī wa-al-ḥāfiẓ Jamāl al-Dīn ibn al-Ẓāhirī wa-al-shaykh Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn Faraḥ (al-Ishbīlī ) wa-naḥwahum , wa-adraknā min ʻakar al-ṭalabah Shihāb al-Dīn ibn al-Daqūqī wa-Najm al-Dīn ibn al-Jabbāz wa-al-shaykh ʻAbd al-Ḥāfiẓ , wa-naḥmad Allāh taʻālá fī al-waqt unās yafhamūn hādhā al-shaʼn wa-yaʻtanūn bi-al-athar ka-al-Mizzī wa-Ibn Taymīyah wa-al-Birzālī wa-Ibn Sayyid al-Nās wa-Quṭb al-Dīn al-Ḥalabī wa-Taqī al-Dīn al-Subkī wa-al-qāḍī Shams al-Dīn al-Ḥanbalī wa-Ibn qāḍī al-quḍāh Badr al-Dīn ibn Jamāʻah wa-Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn ibn al-ʻAlāʼī wa-Fakhr al-Dīn ibn al-Fakhr wa-Amīn al-Dīn ibn al-Wānī wa-Ibn imām ( umm al-Malik ) al-Ṣāliḥ wa-Muḥibb al-Dīn al-Maqdisī wa-Sayyidī ʻAbd Allāh ibn Khalīl wa-jamāʻah

— al-ḥawāshī —

[6] (١) Mujarrad al-riwāyah qalīl al-jadwá fī al-aʻṣār al-mutaʼakhkhirah . Bal qālū : al-ḥadīth shaṭrān aḥaduhumā maʻrifat aḥwāl ruwātihi ʻalá al-wajh wa-al-ākhar maʻrifat maʻānīhi ʻalá mā hiya ʻalayhi ʻinda ahl al-fiqh bi-al-dīn fa-man kāna muqaṣṣiran fī aḥadihimā fa-qad qaṣṣara fī al-ḥadīth bi-qadr dhālika wa-law addá mā samiʻahu kamā samiʻahu . Wa-qall man yafī al-sharṭ fī jamīʻ al-ṭabaqāt , wa-al-jamʻ bayna al-shaṭrayn ṣaʻb al-manāl illā li-afdhādh min al-rijāl , wa-qad naqala Ibn Ṭūlūn fī kitābihi «al-Falak al-mashḥūn» ʻan al-imām al-Shāfiʻī raḍiya Allāh ʻanhu annahu qāla li-baʻḍ aṣḥābihi : a-turīd an tajmaʻ bayna al-fiqh wa-al-ḥadīth hayhāt» bal kathīran mā tarāhu nafsuhu yarwī fī «al-Umm» ḥadīthan thumma yaqūl : wa-bihi ākhudh idhā ṣaḥḥa aw in thabata wa-naḥw dhālika wa-lā yajzim bi-shayʼ min ṭarafay al-nafy wa-al-ithbāt , wa-hādhā ghāyat al-taʼannī wa-al-waraʻ fī dīn Allāh fa-lā taghtarranna bi-man asbaqa fatwāhum al-istiftāʼ wa-in lam yuqāribū niʻāl ulāʼika al-aʼimmah al-fuqahāʼ .

[7] (١) Ammā ( al-Jamʻ bayna al-Ṣaḥīḥayn ) fa-huwa lil-Ḥumaydī al-Andalusī ( al-mutawaffá sanat ٤٨٨ ) jamaʻa fīhi aḥādīth al-Ṣaḥīḥayn wa-ajāda , rattabahā ʻalá masānīd al-ṣaḥābah ʻalá khams ṭabaqāt fa-ibtadaʼa bi-musnad Abī Bakr ilá tamām al-ʻasharah al-mubashsharah , thumma al-muqaddamīn baʻda al-ʻasharah thumma al-mukthirīn , thumma al-muqillīn , thumma al-nisāʼ , ḥadhafa al-asānīd illā al-tābiʻ ʻan al-ṣāḥib wa-ʻayyana mawāṭin ittifāq al-Shaykhayn wa-mawāqiʻ infirādihā fī al-mutūn dūna al-ruwāh wa-aḍāfa ilá dhālika nubadhan mimmā tanabbaha ʻalayhi min kutub al-Dāraquṭnī lā siyyamā (al-Istidrākāt wa-al-tatabbuʻ) wa ( Mustakhraj al-Ismāʻīlī ʻalá al-Bukhārī ) , wa ( Mustakhraj Abī Bakr al-Khawārizmī al-Barqānī ʻalá al-Ṣaḥīḥayn ) , wa ( Aṭrāf al-Ṣaḥīḥayn li-Abī Masʻūd al-Dimashqī ) wa-kutub ghayrihim min al-ḥuffāẓ alladhīna ʻunū bi-mā yataʻallaq bi-al-kitābayn min tanbīh ʻalá gharaḍ aw tatmīm li-maḥdhūf aw ziyādah fī sharḥ aw bayān li-ism aw nasab aw kalām ʻalá isnād aw tatabbuʻ li-wahm baʻḍ aṣḥāb al-taʻālīq fī al-ḥikāyah ʻanhumā wa-naḥw dhālika , wa-mayyaza ʻan al-aṣl mā zādahu min al-kutub al-madhkūrah . Wa-al-Ḥumaydī hādhā mimman samiʻa ʻalá Ibn ʻAbd al-Barr wa-lazima Ibn Ḥazm , wa-lammā umtuḥina maʻa shaykhihi fī al-madhhab al-Ẓāhirī haraba ilá

[8] al-sharq wa-aṣbaḥa lā yataẓāhar bi-madhhabihi ḥattá māta bi-Baghdād , wa-law kāna rattaba kitābahu ʻalá al-abwāb la-kāna akthar nafʻan wa-asʹhal tanāwulan lil-mushtaghilīn bi-aḥādīth al-aḥkām . Wa-ammā kitāb (al-Aḥkām) fa-huwa lil-ḥāfiẓ ʻAbd al-Ḥaqq al-Ishbīlī (al-mutawaffá sanat ٥٨١) fa-al-Aḥkām al-kubrá lahu kitāb laṭīf al-waḍʻ kathīr al-nafʻ murattab ʻalá al-abwāb intaqá aḥādīthahu min al-Muwaṭṭaʼ wa-al-kutub al-khamsah wa-Ibn Abī Shaybah wa-ghayr dhālika , ghālibuhā aḥādīth al-aḥkām wa-fīhā al-targhīb wa-al-tarhīb wa-al-adʻiyah wa-al-adhkār wa-jumal fī al-fitan wa-nubadh min al-tafsīr , yatakallam ʻalá al-aḥādīth marrah wa-ʻalá al-ruwāh ukhrá min Kāmil Ibn ʻAdī wa-ʻIlal al-Dāraquṭnī wa-sunanihi wa-ʻIlal Ibn Abī Ḥātim , wa-maʻa dhālika lam yakhlu ʻan awhām intaqadahā Abū al-Ḥasan ibn al-Qaṭṭān al-Fāsī ( al-mutawaffá sanat ٦٢٨ ) fī kitābihi ( al-Wahm wa-al-īhām fī kitāb al-Aḥkām ) ajāda fīhi ʻalá taʻannut maʻrūf minhu fī naqd al-rijāl . Wa-ammā kitāb al-Ḍiyāʼ fa-huwa kitāb ( al-Aḥādīth al-mukhtārah ) lil-Ḍiyāʼ al-Maqdisī ( al-mutawaffá sanat ٦٤٣ ) istakhrajahā mimmā laysa fī al-Ṣaḥīḥayn mawṣūlan wa-rubbamā yadhkur aḥādīth bi-asānīd jiyād lahā ʻillah tudhkar yufannid ʻillatahā . Wa-taṣḥīḥ al-Ḍiyāʼ yuʻadd qarīban min taṣḥīḥ al-Tirmidhī , wa-yaḥsun an yakhuṣṣ dhālika bi-aḥādīth al-fiqh min ḥalāl wa-ḥarām fa-innahu li-tashabbuʻihi bi-ārāʼ aṣḥābihi qad yatasāhal fī taṣḥīḥ mithl ḥadīth Ḥammād ibn Salamah ( . . akhraja khinṣirahu ʻalá ibhāmihi fa-sākha al-jabal ) , rattaba kitābahu ʻalá masānīd al-ṣaḥābah wa-aṭāla al-asānīd ilayhim wa-ibtadaʼa bi-aḥādīth al-ʻasharah al-mubashsharah thumma dhakara baqīyat al-ṣaḥābah ʻalá ḥurūf al-hijāʼ bi-iʻtibār asmāʼihim wa-lam yurāʻi ṭabaqāt al-Ḥumaydī wa-in kāna allafa kitābahu mustarshidan bi-qawlihi : «wa-law tafarragha baʻḍuhum li-tatabbuʻ al-ṣaḥīḥ min ghayr al-Ṣaḥīḥayn la-kāna ḥasanan» . Wa-kitābuhu ka-takmilah li-kitāb al-Ḥumaydī wa-law jamaʻahu ʻalá al-abwāb la-kāna aqrab nafʻan .

[9] (١) Kutub al-Bayhaqī mumtiʻah fī al-riwāyah lā siyyamā (Maʻrifat al-sunan wa-al-āthār) , lam yujmaʻ lil-Shāfiʻīyah mithluhā fī al-intiṣār lil-madhhab illā annahā lā takhlū ʻan awhām wa-ʻudūl ʻan al-jāddah fī al-taḥazzub fa-yaḥtāj maʻahā ilá ( al-Jawhar al-naqī ) wa-naḥwihi taqwīman li-awadihā wa-qallamā yajmaʻ Allāh taʻālá li-rajul al-i kthār wa-ḥusn al-naqd fī al-āthār . Wa-ammā « al-Ilmām fī aḥādīth al-aḥkām » li-Ibn Daqīq al-ʻĪd fa-mukhtaṣar nāfiʻ lawlā mā waqaʻa fīhi min ʻazw al-ḥadīth ilá ghayr man kharrajahu wa-naḥw dhālika , wa-la-qad aḥsana al-Quṭb ʻAbd al-Karīm al-Ḥalabī talkhīṣahu wa-iṣlāḥahu fī kitābihi ( al-Ihtimām bi-talkhīṣ al-Ilmām ) fa-al-nāsikh li-tilka al-kutub yaḥtāj ilá darsihā ʻinda shaykh mutqin jāmiʻ bayna al-riwāyah wa-al-dirāyah li-allā yaʼkhudh bi-mā ukhidha ʻalayhim fa-yughāliṭ .

[9] (٢) Wa-tilka al-ḥushūd fī majālis al-tasmīʻ fī ʻaṣr al-muṣannif wa-qablahu wa-baʻdahu lam takun illā li-tasjīl asmāʼihim fī ṭibāq al-samāʻ — ruḍḍaʻan wa-ṣibyānan shabāban wa-kuhūlan rijālan wa-nisāʼan — bi-annahum ḥaḍarū aw samiʻū al-kitāb al-fulānī fa-yarwī man ʻāsha min hāʼulāʼ dhālika al-kitāb baʻda muḍī dahr ʻan hādhā al-shaykh al-musmiʻ istinādan ʻalá tasjīl ismihi fī tilka al-ṭibāq ghayr ḍābiṭ li-lafẓ al-shaykh wa-lā dhākir li-qirāʼat al-qāriʼ — wa-lā tasal ʻan al-tasāhul fī al-ijāzāt — wa-hākadhā . Wa-yakūn al-rijāl fī al-asānīd al-ʻāliyah harimīn mukhalliṭīn ʻinda al-tasmīʻ wa-ruḍḍaʻan aw ṣibyānan ḥīna al-taḥammul wa-al-samāʻ fī al-ghālib wa-bi-hādhihi al-ṭarīqah taʻlū asānīduhum . Qāla al-muṣannif fī al-Mīzān : wa-law fataḥtu ʻalá nafsī talyīn hādhā al-bāb (yaʻnī man kāna baʻda sanat thalathmiʼah) lamā salima maʻī illā al-qalīl idh al-aktharūn

[10] lā yadrūn mā yarwūn wa-lā yaʻrifūn hādhā al-shaʼn innamā samiʻū fī al-ṣighar wa-uḥtīja ilá ʻulūw sanadihim fī al-kibar h . Wa-fī kitābinā (ʻAtb al-mughtarrīn bi-dajājilat al-muʻammarīn) tará ʻajāʼib wa-gharāʼib .