al-Arbaun al-Buldaniyya li-Ibn Asakir
- Author died
- 571 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Qur'an
Al-Arbaun al-Buldaniyya (The Forty Geographical Hadiths) is a hadith compilation by the Damascene Shafi'i hadith master and historian Abu al-Qasim Ibn Asakir (499–571 AH / 1105–1176 CE) . The work gathers forty prophetic traditions recorded directly by the author during his extensive travels across forty different cities .
Structure and Methodology
The work belongs to the arba'iniyyat (forty hadiths) tradition and represents the buldaniyya subgenre, which highlights a scholar's breadth of travel (rihla) and diverse chains of transmission . Ibn Asakir structured the compilation around a symmetrical scheme consisting of forty distinct variables: forty hadiths heard from forty separate shaykhs in forty different towns and cities, traced back to forty different Companions of the Prophet ﷺ, and classified under forty topical chapters of religious knowledge .
In constructing the collection, Ibn Asakir followed the precedent set by Abu Tahir al-Silafi (d. 576 AH / 1180 CE), who was among the earliest scholars to compile forty hadiths from forty teachers across forty localities . However, Ibn Asakir introduced further novelty to the model by ensuring that the traditions were also transmitted on the authority of forty distinct Companions and divided across forty individual chapters .
The text opens with the praise of God («الحمد لله القادر القاهر القوي المتين») and commences with the well-known narration encouraging the preservation of forty hadiths, related on the authority of Abu al-Darda: مَنْ حَفِظَ عَلَى أُمَّتِي أَرْبَعِينَ حَدِيثًا مِنْ أَمْرِ دِينِهَا بَعَثَهُ اللَّهُ فَقِيهًا وَكُنْتُ لَهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ شَافِعًا وَشَهِيدًا ("Whoever preserves for my community forty hadiths concerning its religion, God will resurrect him as a jurist, and on the Day of Resurrection I shall be an intercessor and a witness for him") .
Transmission and Influence
The text was transmitted directly from Ibn Asakir in Damascus by his students and relatives, including his great-nephew al-Qasim ibn Muzaffar ibn Asakir, Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Sasra, and Abd al-Wahid ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Azdi . Later hadith scholars and cataloguers, such as Salah al-Din al-Ala'i and Haji Khalifa, documented its transmission chains and analyzed its structure among the major collections of forty hadiths .
As noted by al-Sakhawi, the compilation served as a key link in the historical development of buldaniyyat literature, directly influencing subsequent hadith masters such as Abu Ya'qub Yusuf ibn Ahmad al-Shirazi and Abd al-Qadir al-Ruhawi (d. 612 AH / 1215 CE) .
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