al-Arbaun al-Kaylaniyya
- Author died
- 595 AH
- Editions
- al-Maktab al-Islami
al-Arbaun al-Kaylaniyya (The Forty Hadiths of al-Kaylani) is a hadith collection compiled by the Hanbali traditionist Abu Bakr Abd al-Razzaq ibn Abd al-Qadir al-Kaylani (d. 595 AH / 1198 CE; another report gives 603 AH / 1206 CE) .
Purpose and Structure
The work belongs to the traditional arba'iniyyat (forty-hadith collections) genre. In his brief prologue, the author notes that he selected forty hadiths from forty distinct, prominent scholars among his teachers (shuyukh) specifically for visiting students and seekers of knowledge who passed by him .
Each entry presents a single hadith preceded by the author's direct chain of transmission (isnad) back to the Prophet ﷺ:
- First Hadith: Transmitted directly through his father, the ascetic master Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, regarding the prohibition of reviling the Companions .
- Subsequent Narrations: Transmitted from scholars such as Abu al-Fadl Muhammad ibn Nasir al-Salami (Hadith 2), Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Nasr ibn al-Zaghuni (Hadith 3), al-Sharif Abu al-Muzaffar Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Hashimi, known as Ibn al-Turayki (Hadith 4), Da'wan ibn Ali al-Jubba'i (Hadith 5), and Ali ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Sammak (Hadith 6) .
Themes
The forty traditions address varied religious and moral topics, including the merit of the Companions, acting upon transmitted reports of righteous deeds, striving in the path of God, the intercession (shafa'a) of the Prophet ﷺ for his community on the Day of Resurrection, the virtue of the people of the Quran, mutual sincerity among believers, guarding one's tongue and limbs, and the obligation to adhere to the united community of Muslims (al-jama'a) .
Transmission and Publication
The text was transmitted from the compiler through chains that include Abd al-Latif ibn Abd al-Mun'im al-Harrani and Ishaq ibn Mahmud al-Burujirdi . A printed edition with annotations by Zuhayr al-Shawish was published in Beirut by al-Maktab al-Islami in 1421 AH / 2000 CE .
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