al-Duafa al-Saghir lil-Bukhari
- Author died
- 256 AH
- Editions
- t Abi al-Aynayn · t Zayed
al-Du‘afa al-Saghir (Arabic: الضعفاء الصغير, lit. 'The Small Book of Weak Narrators') is a biographical dictionary of criticized and unreliable hadith transmitters compiled by the hadith scholar Muhammad ibn Isma‘il al-Bukhari (194–256 AH / 810–870 CE) . It represents one of the earliest extant specialized works dedicated entirely to impugned narrators in the field of ‘ilm al-rijal (biographical evaluation) .
Transmission and Scope
The text has been transmitted primarily through al-Bukhari's student Adam ibn Musa al-Khawari (also vocalized as al-Khabbazi) . Other transmitters of al-Bukhari's biographical compilations on weak narrators include Abu Bishr Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Dawlabi and Musabbih ibn Sa‘id .
While al-Bukhari is also credited with a larger compilation (al-Du‘afa al-Kabir), al-Du‘afa al-Saghir contains over four hundred entries . In contrast, historical reports from al-Hakim al-Naysaburi and Abu Bakr al-Hazimi note that al-Bukhari's total count of criticized narrators across his evaluations remained under seven hundred .
Structure and Methodology
The dictionary is arranged alphabetically according to the Arabic alphabet, ordered strictly by the first letter of each transmitter's given name and prioritizing commonly recurring names within each section .
Entries in the work are exceptionally brief, rarely exceeding a single line . Each entry typically records:
- The narrator's name, patronymic, and tribal or regional affiliation (nisba) .
- A concise mention of who the narrator transmitted from and who transmitted from him, often restricted to a single individual on either side .
- A definitive evaluative verdict by al-Bukhari using characteristic critical terminology, most notably munkar al-hadith (denounced in hadith), fihi nazar (there is question regarding him), matruk al-hadith (abandoned in hadith), or sakatu ‘anhu (they remained silent about him) .
Al-Bukhari also quotes assessments from earlier critical authorities, including Malik ibn Anas, Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak, Sufyan ibn ‘Uyayna, Shu‘ba ibn al-Hajjaj, and Ali ibn al-Madini . Only rarely does he incorporate a narrator's theological doctrine, an illustrative narration, a death date, or an appointment to a judgeship .
Reception and Print History
The book served as an influential reference for subsequent compilers of transmitter criticism, including Ibn Adi, al-Dhahabi, and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani . It also received critical review; most notably, Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi examined al-Bukhari's evaluations in his al-Jarh wa-al-Ta‘dil, challenging his inclusion of certain figures whom he considered reliable rather than weak .
The text has been published in multiple scholarly editions, including an early printing by the Dairat al-Ma‘arif al-‘Uthmaniyya in Hyderabad, alongside later critical editions edited by Mahmud Ibrahim Zayid in Aleppo and Hafiz Zubair ‘Ali Za’i in Pakistan .
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