al-Duafa wa al-Matrukun li al-Nasai

al-Duafa wa al-Matrukun (The Weak and Abandoned Narrators) is a specialized biographical evaluation dictionary by the hadith master Abu Abd al-Rahman Ahmad ibn Shuayb al-Nasai (d. 303 AH / 915 CE), dedicated to identifying untrustworthy, defective, and discarded transmitters of prophetic traditions Buhuth fi Tarikh al-Sunna…+1.

Structure and Scope

The work is organized alphabetically according to the Arabic letters of the transmitters' names, including sections such as Bab al-Qaf, Bab al-Kaf, and Bab al-Lam, and concludes with a section for agnomens (Bab al-Kuna) and female narrators al-Duafa wa al-Matrukun l…+1. In total, the dictionary comprises 675 numbered biographical entries, ending with the entry of Umm al-Aswad al-Duafa wa al-Matrukun l….

Methodology and Terminology

Al-Nasai employs an extremely concise and pithy method of critical appraisal (jarh), presenting each narrator's name, occasional geographical affiliation or prominent association, followed by a succinct ruling without recording extended narrative chains or lengthy excerpts al-Duafa wa al-Matrukun l…+1. The critical descriptors utilized throughout the text represent varying degrees of narrator impairment, including:

• Matruk al-hadith (abandoned in hadith) al-Duafa wa al-Matrukun l…+1
• Da'if (weak) al-Duafa wa al-Matrukun l…+1
• Laysa bi-l-qawiyy (not strong) al-Duafa wa al-Matrukun l…+1
• Laysa bi-thiqa (not trustworthy) al-Duafa wa al-Matrukun l…+1
• Munkar al-hadith (denounced in hadith) al-Duafa wa al-Matrukun l…+1
• Laysa bi-shay' (he is nothing) al-Duafa wa al-Matrukun l…

Reception and Scholarly Impact

The treatise is counted among the foundational primary compilations in the genre of du'afa' literature, standing alongside early works by al-Bukhari, al-Uqayli, and al-Daraqutni Buhuth fi Tarikh al-Sunna…+1. Subsequent encyclopedic authorities on transmitter criticism—such as Jamal al-Din al-Mizzi in Tahdhib al-Kamal, Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi in Mizan al-I'tidal, and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Tahdhib al-Tahdhib—regularly cited and relied upon al-Nasai's specific rulings from this work to determine the reliability and standing of impugned transmitters Tahdhib al-Kamal fi Asma …+1.

Printed Editions

The work has been published in single-volume academic editions, both independently and alongside companion texts of the genre, including editions edited by Mahmud Ibrahim Zayd, Abd al-Aziz Izz al-Din al-Sayrawan, and jointly by Buran al-Danawi and Kamal Yusuf al-Hut Fatima bint al-Nabi - صلى…+2.