Ahadith al-Qisas
- Author died
- 728 AH
- Editions
- t al-Sabbagh
Ahadith al-Qisas (Traditions of the Storytellers) is a concise treatise by the Hanbali scholar Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728 AH / 1328 CE) dedicated to evaluating and classifying popular narrations and anecdotes circulated by preachers and public storytellers (qussas).
Scope and Subject Matter
The treatise was written as an expert response critiquing traditions circulated by storytellers, attributed either directly to the Prophet ﷺ or presented as divine sayings (hadith qudsi). In it, Ibn Taymiyya examines dozens of widely repeated reports, identifying those that are fabricated (mawdu'), baseless, or traceable only to Israelite traditions (isra'iliyyat) and early ascetics, while distinguishing valid theological and moral meanings from corrupt attributions.
Among the traditions critically examined in the work are:
- ما وسعني سمائي ولا أرضي، بل وسعني قلب عبدي المؤمن ("Neither My heaven nor My earth contains Me, but the heart of My believing servant contains Me"): Ibn Taymiyya notes that it originates in Israelite traditions without any known chain of transmission (isnad) from the Prophet ﷺ, clarifying that its acceptable meaning denotes the heart holding faith, love, and knowledge of God, while rejecting any pantheistic or incarnationist interpretation.
- القلب بيت الرب ("The heart is the house of the Lord"): evaluated as not being part of the Prophet's speech, but rather referring to the heart housing faith and divine love.
- كنت كنزا لا أعرف فأحببت أن أعرف فخلقت خلقا ("I was a hidden treasure and was not known, so I loved to be known..."): classified as unrecorded among the Prophet's sayings, possessing neither a sound nor a weak isnad.
- Narrations praising extreme poverty, such as الفقر فخري وبه أفتخر ("Poverty is my pride and in it I take pride"): deemed an explicit falsehood unknown in recognized Islamic sourcebooks.
- أنا مدينة العلم وعلي بابها ("I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate"): evaluated as weak or fabricated according to hadith experts despite its appearance in the collection of al-Tirmidhi.
- Fictitious historical anecdotes, such as the claim that Umar ibn al-Khattab killed his own father, which Ibn Taymiyya refutes by pointing out that Umar's father died during the pre-Islamic period of ignorance (Jahiliyya) before the Prophet's mission began.
Method
Throughout the text, Ibn Taymiyya evaluates narrations by examining their transmission lines, contrasting baseless wordings with established prophetic texts found in the authentic collections (al-Sihah) and the Sunan works. Where a popularized phrasing has no chain but conveys an authentic concept, he provides the sound scriptural alternative; where a narration is doctrinally flawed or contradicts consensus, he explains the nature of the error.
Reception and Influence
Ahadith al-Qisas served as an early specialized reference in the literature documenting circulated and widespread reports. Later authorities writing on fabricated and famous traditions—such as Badr al-Din al-Zarkashi, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, al-Sakhawi, Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti, and Ibn 'Araq al-Kinani—regularly cited Ibn Taymiyya's judgments from this treatise.
Manuscripts and Publication
Manuscript copies of the treatise have survived under various descriptive titles, including Akadhib al-Qusas (such as the five-folio copy preserved within volume 79 of al-Kawakib al-Darari in Dar al-Kutub al-Zahiriyya in Damascus) and Risala fi al-Ahadith al-mutadawala bayna al-nas wa-yadhkuruha al-qussas (in the library of the Prophet's Mosque).
The text was printed within the eighteenth volume of Ibn Taymiyya's collected fatwas, Majmu' al-Fatawa. It was also edited as a standalone volume by Muhammad ibn Lutfi al-Sabbagh, published by al-Maktab al-Islami in Beirut in 1392 AH (1972 CE), with a second edition appearing in 1405 AH (1985 CE).
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