Akhbar wa Hikayat min Hadith Muhammad ibn al-Qasim ibn Maruf

Akhbar wa Hikayat min Hadith Muhammad ibn al-Qasim ibn Maruf (Reports and Anecdotes from the Hadith of Muhammad ibn al-Qasim ibn Maruf) is a short hadith tract (juz') compiled by the Damascene traditionist Abu Ali Muhammad ibn al-Qasim ibn Maruf (283–347 AH / 896–958 CE), comprising prophetic traditions, historical narrations, and literary anecdotes Akhbar wa Hikayat min Had…+1.

Transmission and Authorship

The compiler was Abu Ali Muhammad ibn al-Qasim ibn Maruf ibn Habib ibn Aban ibn Isma'il al-Tamimi al-Dimashqi Mukhtasar Tarikh Dimashq+1. Born in 283 AH (896 CE), he died in 347 AH (958 CE) at the age of sixty-four, though other reports date his death to 349 AH or around 350 AH Mukhtasar Tarikh Dimashq+1.

The primary transmission of the tract was preserved through his nephew, Abu Muhammad Abd al-Rahman ibn Uthman ibn Abi Nasr (known as Ibn Abi Nasr al-Tamimi) Akhbar wa Hikayat min Had…+1. From Ibn Abi Nasr, it was transmitted by the Shafi'i jurist Abu al-Qasim Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abi al-Ala, and subsequently by Abu al-Qasim al-Husayn ibn al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Asadi Akhbar wa Hikayat min Had…. A surviving manuscript copy of the tract was penned in the hand of Abu Muhammad al-Qasim ibn Ali ibn Asakir Akhbar wa Hikayat min Had….

Content and Method

The collection consists of numbered narrations transmitted with their complete chains of transmission (isnads) through Ibn Maruf's teachers, who included the judge Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Sa'id al-Marwazi, Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Harun, Zakariyya ibn Ahmad, and Ali ibn Bakr Akhbar wa Hikayat min Had…+1.

The material spans several distinct categories:

• Prophetic Traditions: Hadiths regarding the merits of reconciliation, the Prophet's practice of altering unfavorable names into auspicious ones, and narrations on biblical figures such as Moses Akhbar wa Hikayat min Had…+1.
• Historical Accounts: Reports surrounding early Islamic figures, such as the birth of al-Hasan ibn Ali, his public addresses during political transitions with Mu'awiya I, and speeches by Ziyad ibn Abihi Akhbar wa Hikayat min Had…+1.
• Anecdotes and Poetry: Judicial anecdotes involving figures such as the judge Shurayh ibn al-Harith, poetry recited by Bedouins at gravesides, and cautionary verses by classical poets such as Ibn Hammam al-Saluli Akhbar wa Hikayat min Had…+1.

Reception and Scholarly Assessment

Biographers noted that Ibn Maruf was fond of hadith scholars, treated them generously, possessed substantial worldly wealth, and compiled several works containing historical reports (akhbar) Tarikh al-Islam. Later traditionists, including al-Dhahabi and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, recorded receiving and hearing this juz' through transmitted audition al-Jami li-Kutub al-Duafa…+1.

Regarding his reliability, Abd al-Aziz al-Kattani remarked that Ibn Maruf transmitted the majority of the works of the judge Ahmad ibn Ali al-Marwazi and faced scrutiny or suspicion for the sheer volume of these transmissions, though it was noted that most of those transmissions were received via license (ijazah) al-Jami li-Kutub al-Duafa…+1.