al-Ajwiba al-Mardiyya fima suila al-Sakhawi anhu min al-Ahadith al-Nabawiyya
- Author died
- 902 AH
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- Dār al-Rāyah lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzī‘
al-Ajwiba al-Mardiyya fima su’ila al-Sakhawi ‘anhu min al-ahadith al-nabawiyya (Satisfying Answers Concerning the Prophetic Hadiths on Which al-Sakhawi Was Asked) is a collection of hadith responsa and critical rulings by the Shafi'i hadith scholar and historian Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Sakhawi (831–902 AH / 1428–1497 CE) .
Background and Purpose
The work arose from the numerous inquiries addressed to al-Sakhawi regarding ambiguous or problematic hadith texts, their chains of transmission, and their grading . Contemporary scholars and students sent questions to him in writing, posed them orally, or dispatched letters seeking his scholarly verdicts on hadiths and related matters .
Structure and Content
The book encompasses detailed evaluations of hadith authenticity, discussions of narrators, citations of parallel transmission lines (turuq), and reconciliations between seemingly conflicting traditions . A significant number of independent short treatises (ajza') authored by al-Sakhawi on particular topics or individual hadiths are preserved in full within its text . These embedded treatises include:
- A dedicated tract on the hadith regarding three conditions in which one is not visited in sickness .
- An inquiry into the revival of the Prophet's parents .
- A treatise on concealing one's inner conscience (ikhfa' al-sarira) .
- A study on the recitation of Surat al-Sajdah ( الم * تَنزِيلُ ) before sleeping .
- A treatise on fasting during the month of Sha'ban .
- Detailed examinations of the transmission routes (turuq) of multiple reports, including the hadiths: إذا قلت لصاحبك يوم الجمعة ("If you say to your companion on Friday..."), أكرموا الخبز ("Honor bread"), تناكحوا تناسلوا ("Marry and multiply"), لحوم البقر داء ("Cattle meat is disease..."), لو كان لابن آدم ("If the son of Adam had..."), من باع دارا أو عقارا ("Whoever sells a house or real estate..."), نية المؤمن أبلغ من عمله ("The intention of a believer is further-reaching than his action"), and لا يدخل الجنة ولد زنية ("An illegitimate child will not enter Paradise") .
- Specific investigations regarding the loss of eyesight, clipping fingernails, hadiths related to sheep and goats, the location of the grave of ‘Amr ibn al-‘As, and the names of Ahl al-Suffa .
- Commentaries on the hadiths concerning the descent of mercies upon the Ka'bah, praying behind an imam, and the proverbial saying كل الصيد في جوف الفرا ("All hunting is within the belly of the onager") .
In several responses, al-Sakhawi cross-references and draws upon material found in his other works, such as al-Sirr al-maktum fi al-farq bayn al-malayn al-mahmud wa-al-madhmum .
Scholarly Reception and Influence
Later scholars frequently cited al-Ajwiba al-Mardiyya when discussing hadith criticism and narrator identification. Ibn ‘Iraq al-Kinani cited al-Sakhawi's critical verdicts from the work in Tanzih al-shari‘a to demonstrate the weakness of defective narrations and identify obscure transmitters in chains of transmission . Later hadith compilations and source catalogues, such as Kashf al-zunun by Katip Celebi (Hajji Khalifa), listed it among al-Sakhawi's prominent collections of responses .
Publication History
The work has been published in modern print editions:
- Under the title al-Ajwiba al-Mardiyya fima su’ila al-Sakhawi ‘anhu min al-ahadith al-nabawiyya, edited by Muhammad Ishaq Muhammad Ibrahim, published by Dar al-Rayah in Riyadh in three volumes (1418 AH / 1997 CE) .
- Under the title al-Fatawa al-hadithiyya, edited by ‘Ali Rida and published by Dar al-Ma’mun .
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