al-Duafa al-Kabir lil-Uqayli
- Author died
- 322 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Maktabah al-'Ilmiyyah
Kitab al-Du'afa' al-Kabir (The Great Book of Weak Narrators) is a biographical evaluation dictionary of criticized hadith transmitters compiled by the Hijazi hadith scholar and critic Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn 'Amr al-'Uqayli (d. 322 AH / 934 CE) . It serves as one of the early primary reference works in the field of narrator criticism (ilm al-jarh wa-l-ta'dil) .
Scope and Methodology
The work provides biographical entries on transmitters of hadith who were subject to impugnment, disparagement, or differing assessments among early critics . Al-'Uqayli's method consists of citing earlier authorities on narrator criticism, examining the chains of transmission, and documenting individual hadith texts to demonstrate a narrator's errors, irregularities, or lack of corroboration (la yutaba' 'alayh) .
The text has been transmitted primarily through the recension of his student Yusuf ibn Ahmad al-Dakhil al-Saydalani .
Reception and Scholarly Criticism
Later biographical compilers regarded al-Du'afa' al-Kabir as a valuable source; Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani noted it as a useful compendium on weak transmitters , and Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi drew extensively from it when compiling his biographical dictionaries .
However, al-'Uqayli's critical standards faced considerable pushback from subsequent scholars who considered him overly stringent (muta'annit) . Critics specifically took issue with his inclusion of eminent, reliable traditionists and major scholars of law—including Ali ibn al-Madini, Abd al-Razzaq al-San'ani, Uthman ibn Abi Shaybah, Ibrahim ibn Sa'd, and Affan ibn Muslim—on account of isolated slips, sectarian accusations, or uncorroborated singular narrations . Al-Dhahabi strongly rebuked al-'Uqayli for entering Ali ibn al-Madini into the book, arguing that trustworthy masters naturally possess unique narrations and that rejecting such central figures would undermine the corpus of hadith . Ibn Abd al-Barr likewise refuted various criticisms made by al-'Uqayli against major legal authorities .
Printed Editions
The work has been published in multiple modern critical editions:
- Edited by Abd al-Mu'ti Amin Qal'aji, published in four volumes by Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyyah (Beirut, 1404 AH / 1984 CE) .
- Edited by Hamdi Abd al-Majid al-Salafi, published by Dar al-Sumay'i (Riyadh, 1420 AH) .
- Edited by Mazin al-Sirsawi, published by Maktabat Ibn Abbas (Egypt, 1429 AH) .
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