al-Arbaun Hadithan lil-Ajuri
- Author died
- 360 AH
- Editions
- Aḍwā’ al-Salaf
al-Arbaun Hadithan lil-Ajuri (The Forty Hadiths of al-Ajurri) is a hadith collection compiled by the Baghdad-born scholar Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Ajurri (d. 360 AH / 970 CE), comprising forty prophetic traditions accompanied by the author's commentary on their legal, practical, and moral implications .
Origin and Purpose
In the introduction to the work, al-Ajurri relates that he was questioned regarding the meaning of the narrations promising virtues for whoever memorizes forty hadiths for the Muslim community concerning its religion ( من حفظ على أمتي أربعين حديثا من أمر دينها ) . In response to the enquirer's observation that the prophetic sunnah encompasses countless chapters—such as purification, prayer, zakat, fasting, pilgrimage, jihad, commerce, and interpersonal manners—al-Ajurri explained that the Prophet ﷺ urged incoming tribal delegations to memorize a manageable core of about forty narrations so they could convey essential religious teachings to their kin upon returning home, in accordance with the verse فَلَوْلَا نَفَرَ مِنْ كُلِّ فِرْقَةٍ مِنْهُمْ طَائِفَةٌ لِيَتَفَقَّهُوا فِي الدِّينِ وَلِيُنْذِرُوا قَوْمَهُمْ إِذَا رَجَعُوا إِلَيْهِمْ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَحْذَرُونَ ("Why should not a detachment from each group go forth to gain sound understanding of the religion and warn their people when they return to them that they may beware?", Surah at-Tawbah 9:122) . At the questioner's request, al-Ajurri compiled forty traditions whose memorization and comprehension would provide foundational guidance and encourage further pursuit of obligatory religious knowledge .
Method and Content
Al-Ajurri recorded each hadith with his own continuous chains of transmission (isnad), citing teachers such as Ibrahim ibn Abd Allah al-Kashshi (Abu Muslim) and Jafar ibn Muhammad al-Firyabi . Following the text of each tradition, he provided an explanatory commentary outlining what every Muslim is required to understand and practice . His commentary emphasizes foundational legal and ethical obligations, including the prerequisites and performance of the five daily prayers, purification, zakat, fasting, pilgrimage, lawful earnings, filiopiety, and the maintenance of family ties .
Transmission and Editions
The work was transmitted across Islamic scholarship through multiple chains. The hadith scholar Salah al-Din al-Alai reported receiving it in two distinct recensions: a complete version preserving al-Ajurri's explanatory text alongside the hadiths, and an abridged transmission containing only the prophetic traditions without the author's commentary . In al-Andalus, Ibn Khayr al-Ishbili documented his transmission of the book through Hatim ibn Muhammad al-Tarabulusi from Abu Hafs Umar ibn Muhammad al-Juhani from al-Ajurri, as well as through Abu al-Asi Hakam ibn Muhammad al-Judhami . It was also transmitted through Abu Nuaym al-Isfahani and Abd al-Malik ibn Muhammad ibn Bishran, as documented by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in al-Mujam al-mufahras .
In modern print, the text was edited and annotated by Badr ibn Abd Allah al-Badr and published in Kuwait (1408 AH / 1988 CE) and later in Riyadh (1420 AH / 2000 CE) .
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