al-Awham allati fi Madkhal al-Hakim lil-Azdi
- Author died
- 409 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Manār
al-Awham allati fi Madkhal al-Hakim (الأوهام التي في مدخل الحاكم, The Errors in al-Hakim's Madkhal) is a hadith-criticism treatise by the Egyptian traditionist Abd al-Ghani ibn Said al-Azdi (d. 409 AH / 1018 CE), written to identify and correct mistakes in al-Madkhal ila al-Sahih by Abu Abd Allah al-Hakim al-Naysaburi (d. 405 AH / 1014 CE).
Background and Purpose
In his introduction, al-Azdi explains that upon examining the book al-Madkhal, compiled by al-Hakim alongside Abu Said Umar ibn Muhammad al-Sijzi, he encountered several factual mistakes and textual corruptions (tashifat). Al-Azdi noted that while it was surprising for such lapses to escape a scholar of al-Hakim's caliber, they could have stemmed from copyists and transmitters, adding that no human being is immune to oversight and error. Consequently, he authored the tract to set down these corrections and substantiate them through scholarly opinions and evidence.
Content and Method
The work comprises fifty-four specific critical notices examining errors across narrator biographies and chains of transmission in al-Hakim's book. Al-Azdi's critique focuses on several recurring technical issues:
- Omissions in Isnads: Pinpointing missing links in narrator chains, such as a missing narrator in a chain from Abd al-Wahhab ibn Bukht from Abd al-Wahid ibn Abd Allah al-Nasri from Wathilah.
- Distinction and Conflation of Narrators: Correcting instances where two distinct individuals were conflated—such as distinguishing between Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Urwah and Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Zadhan—or where a single individual known under two variations of lineage or naming was erroneously split into two separate entries, such as Muhammad ibn Mihsan al-Asadi and Muhammad ibn Ishaq al-Ukkashi.
- Misspellings and Distortions: Correcting names and patronymics distorted by copyists or vocalization, such as identifying Husayn ibn Ibrahim ibn Ishkab rather than Hasan, Hamdan ibn Umar rather than Humran, Bajalah ibn Abdah with an added letter, and correcting kunyas such as Abu Sa'd rather than Abu Sa'id for Rawh ibn Janah.
- Classification Inconsistencies: Noting structural contradictions, such as listing Ibrahim ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas under narrators shared by both al-Bukhari and Muslim and subsequently placing him among those narrated by al-Bukhari alone.
Reception and Transmission
When al-Azdi sent his corrections to al-Hakim, the latter accepted them graciously, sending back a message of gratitude and prayer for al-Azdi, leading al-Azdi to remark: "I knew then that he was an intelligent man."
The text is recorded in classical Andalusian bibliographies, including the Fihrasah of Ibn Khayr al-Ishbili (d. 575 AH), under the title Tashih al-Awham allati fi Madkhal Abi Abd Allah al-Hakim, transmitted through Ibn Abd al-Barr via written authorization (ijazah) directly from al-Azdi in Egypt. It is also cited in modern biographical and critical literature under titles including Kashf al-Awham allati fi Madkhal al-Hakim and Awham al-Hakim fi Kitab al-Madkhal.
Publication
The work was edited by Mashhur Hasan Salman and published in Jordan by Maktabat al-Manar in 1407 AH / 1987 CE.
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