Ibn Abi Asim
al-Ahad wal-Mathani li-Ibn Abi Asim
- Author died
- 287 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Rāyah
al-Ahad wal-Mathani (The Units and Pairs) is an early hadith collection and biographical work on the Companions of the Prophet by the Basran traditionist and judge Ibn Abi Asim (206–287 AH / 822–900 CE) .
Scope and Structure
The work is compiled along the lines of early musnad and ma'rifat al-sahabah literature, aiming to document the narrations transmitted by individual Companions along with their personal names, lineages, and genealogical affiliations . The author arranged the material primarily by tribes and genealogical groupings, opening the collection with the Ten Promised Paradise (al-Ashara al-Mubashsharun) before proceeding to other male Companions and concluding with entries dedicated to female Companions . Under each Companion's entry, Ibn Abi Asim records their narrations with full chains of transmission (isnads) .
Transmission and Reception
al-Ahad wal-Mathani served as an authoritative reference for later scholars compiling comprehensive dictionaries and hadith concordances dedicated to the Companions . Ibn al-Athir relied extensively on the work in his biographical encyclopedia Usd al-Ghabah, noting his transmission route to the text through Abu al-Faraj Yahya ibn Mahmud al-Thaqafi via a chain culminating in Abu Bakr Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Attab directly from Ibn Abi Asim . The book is likewise frequently cited as a primary source for identifying rare Companions and validating atypical narrations by traditionists such as Abu Nu'aym al-Isbahani, Ibn Abd al-Barr, and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani .
Manuscripts and Publication
A surviving manuscript of al-Ahad wal-Mathani is preserved in the Köprülü Library (MS 235), containing 384 folios with an audition record (sama') dating to 631 AH . The text was edited by Basim Faysal al-Jawabirah and published in six volumes by Dar al-Rayah in Riyadh in 1411 AH / 1991 CE .
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