al-Arbaun al-Ushariyya lil-Iraqi

al-Arbaun al-Ushariyya (الأربعون العشارية, The Forty Hadiths with Ten-Tier Chains) is a hadith collection by the Shafi'i traditionist Abu al-Fadl Zayn al-Din Abd al-Rahim ibn al-Husayn al-Iraqi (725–806 AH / 1325–1404 CE), assembling forty prophetic traditions transmitted through elevated chains of narration consisting of ten links al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Kita…+1.

Background and Dictation

Before composing the work, al-Iraqi had been urged to revive the classical practice of dictation sessions (imla') by the Shafi'i chief judge Taj al-Din al-Subki (d. 771 AH) and later by his own son Abu Zur'ah, but he initially declined due to a perceived lack of committed students al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha…. After being appointed judge, preacher, and imam of Medina in 788 AH—a post he held until Shawwal 791 AH—a circle of scholars and students renewed the request al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha…+1. Al-Iraqi consented and delivered the work as his first dictation assembly (amali), held in the Prophet's Mosque in Medina in the Rawdah between the Prophet's tomb and minbar al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha…+1.

Scope and Method

The collection focuses on elevated chains of transmission (uluww al-isnad). In his introduction, al-Iraqi noted that ten-link chains (ushariyyat) represented the highest attainable transmission tier for scholars of his generation where the narrators remained trustworthy (thiqat) and the chains connected, although some links in his paths relied on formal authorization (ijaza) rather than direct audition (sama') al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha….

In the majority of the entries, al-Iraqi combined transmission through his own chain of narrators (al-takhrij bi-al-riwaya) with source-referencing to canonical hadith compilations (al-takhrij bi-al-azw) al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha…. He maintained a condition of overall reliability, observing at the end of the text that although he possessed nine-link narrations (tusa'iyyat), their chains were unreliable, and elevation holds no value without sound transmission al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha…. Nevertheless, he appended two nine-link traditions from al-Tabarani's al-Mu'jam al-Saghir at the conclusion to analyze and demonstrate the causes of their weakness al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha….

Transmission and Influence

The text was transmitted directly from al-Iraqi and his contemporary Nur al-Din al-Haythami by traditionists such as Hajar bint al-Sharif al-Qudsi, who passed it on to later scholars including Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti Anshab al-Kuthub fi Ansab…. Subsequent chains of transmission reached later scholars such as Muhammad ibn Ali al-Shawkani al-Fath al-Rabbani min Fa….

The work influenced subsequent forty-hadith compilations focused on high isnads. His student Ibn al-Jazari compiled his own ten-tier collection, which Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani noted was extracted almost entirely from al-Iraqi's al-Arbaun al-Ushariyya except for one narration al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha…. Ibn Hajar also cited and commented upon al-Iraqi's evaluations from this work in Lisan al-Mizan and his own collections al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha….

Publication

The work was edited by Badr ibn Abd Allah al-Badr and published by Dar Ibn Hazm in Beirut in 1413 AH / 1992 CE, printed alongside Abu al-Faraj Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Muqri's al-Arbaun fi al-Jihad al-Mashyakha al-Baghdadiy…+1.