al-Daawat al-Kabir
- Author died
- 458 AH
- Editions
- Ghirās li-l-Nashr wa-al-Tawzī‘
al-Da‘awat al-Kabir (The Great Book of Supplications) is a hadith work compiled by the Shafi‘i scholar and traditionist Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqi (384–458 AH / 994–1066 CE), dedicated to prophetic supplications and words of remembrance.
Purpose and Arrangement
Al-Bayhaqi composed the work in response to a request from an associate who asked him to assemble the transmitted reports concerning the supplications that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ offered or taught to members of his Companions. Al-Bayhaqi documented these narrations along with their complete chains of transmission (asānīd).
He structured the book according to the arrangement of Kitab al-Mukhtasar (also referred to as al-Mukhtasar al-Ma’thur) by Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Khuzaymah, while incorporating additional narrations and supplements not treated in Ibn Khuzaymah's work. The text opens with chapters addressing the virtues, rewards, and merits of supplication (du‘ā’) and the remembrance of God (dhikr). Alongside this larger compilation, al-Bayhaqi also authored a smaller counterpart titled al-Da‘awat al-Saghir.
Transmission and Printings
The work was transmitted among scholars through audition; the historian and genealogist al-Sam'ani recorded receiving and hearing it alongside other works by al-Bayhaqi. A manuscript copy is preserved in the Asafiyya Library in Hyderabad, India (under manuscript number 14 Ad‘iyyah), and a microfilm reproduction is held at the Institute of Arabic Manuscripts of the Arab League (under number 3163).
The text has been edited by Badr ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Badr and published in Kuwait, including an edition released by Markaz al-Makhtutat wa-al-Turath wa-al-Watha'iq in 1414 AH / 1993 CE, as well as a two-volume edition published by Ghiras in 2009 CE.
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