Ahadith wa Marwiyyat fi al-Mizan 1 - Hadith Qalb al-Quran YS
- Author died
- 1429 AH
- Editions
- Multaqā Ahl al-Ḥadīth
Ahadith wa-Marwiyyat fi al-Mizan 1 - Hadith Qalb al-Qur'an YS is a hadith treatise by Muhammad Amr ibn Abd al-Latif (d. 1429 AH / 2008 CE) critically examining the transmission chains and authenticity of narrations on the virtues of Surah Ya-Sin, specifically the hadith designating it as the heart of the Qur'an .
Background and Composition
The treatise forms the inaugural release in the author's critical series Ahadith wa-Marwiyyat fi al-Mizan ("Hadiths and Narrations in the Balance") . Ibn Abd al-Latif had originally intended to include his study of this hadith in the second volume of his work Takmil al-Naf', but he chose to publish it as an independent monograph after determining that one of its paths went through an unnamed companion of Ma'mar ibn Rashid, which did not meet the conditions of that book .
The original draft was completed in Cairo on 7 Safar 1414 AH (26 July 1993 CE) . A later edition, prefaced on 10 Dhu al-Qi'dah 1425 AH (2004 CE) from his home in Nasr City, was published in Mecca by Multaqa Ahl al-Hadith in 1426 AH (2005 CE) .
Scope and Structure
The primary focus of the monograph is the evaluation of the prophetic text: إن لكل شيء قلبًا وقلب القرآن يس، ومن قرأ يس كتب الله له بقراءتها قراءة القرآن عشر مرات ("Everything has a heart, and the heart of the Qur'an is Ya-Sin; whoever recites Ya-Sin, Allah records for him ten recitations of the Qur'an") . The author categorizes and evaluates every identified route of the report:
- Prophetic transmissions (marfu'): Full narrations transmitted through Anas ibn Malik (recorded in the Jami' of al-Tirmidhi), Abd Allah ibn Abbas, and Ubayy ibn Ka'b; the first half alone through Abu Hurayrah, Ibn Abbas, and Ma'qil ibn Yasar; and the second half through Abu Hurayrah, Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, Ibn Abbas, Uqbah ibn Amir, and an interrupted (mu'dal) chain from Hassan ibn Atiyyah .
- Companion and Successor reports (mawquf and maqtu'): Attributions to Ma'qil ibn Yasar, Abu Qilabah al-Jarmi, Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla, an unnamed companion of Ma'mar (linked uncertainly to Sulayman al-Taymi or al-Hasan al-Basri), and Yahya ibn Abi Kathir .
Method and Findings
Ibn Abd al-Latif evaluates each line of transmission using the principles of hadith criticism (al-jarh wa-al-ta'dil):
- In Anas ibn Malik's chain through al-Hasan ibn Salih, he highlights the obscurity (jahalah) of Harun Abu Muhammad and contrasts the variants cited in al-Dhahabi's Mizan al-I'tidal with al-Quda'i's Musnad al-Shihab .
- In Abu Hurayrah's route via Zayd ibn al-Hubab, he traces the defect to Humayd al-Makki, an obscure narrator whose individual reports are uncorroborated (munkar) .
- In the transmission from Yahya ibn Abi Kathir, he reviews criticized narrations transmitted by Amir ibn Abd Allah ibn Yasaf al-Yamami to demonstrate transmitter errors (wahm), citing assessments by al-Dhahabi and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani .
- He critiques the practice of automatically upgrading Companion statements to prophetic status (marfu' hukman) when addressing unseen matters, offering Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman's report on i'tikaf as an example .
- In his annotations, he emphasizes the invalidity (butlan) of the popular phrase يس لما قرئت له ("Ya-Sin is for whatever purpose it is recited") .
The author concludes that the hadith is unauthentic in both chain (isnad) and text (matn), noting that extensive scholastic explanations of its meaning offer little benefit due to the absence of authenticity .
Editions and Addenda
In the Mecca edition, the original text remained unchanged except for slight corrections, supplemented by an appendix of rectifications (istidrakat) . The appendix includes two additional hadiths: one added by the author, and another pointed out to him by a student of hadith .
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