al-Durar al-Muntathira fi al-Ahadith al-Mushtahara
- Author died
- 911 AH
- Editions
- Deanship of Library Affairs - King Saud University
al-Durar al-Muntathira fi al-Ahadith al-Mushtahara (The Scattered Pearls on Well-Known Hadiths) is a hadith treatise by the Egyptian scholar al-Jalal al-Suyuti (849–911 AH / 1445–1505 CE) that evaluates popular narrations circulating among the general public and nonspecialist jurists .
Purpose and Composition
Al-Suyuti composed the work to clarify the status of sayings commonly quoted as prophetic hadiths and to distinguish those with an authentic transmission basis from those lacking one . The book is an abridgment, revision, and substantial expansion of al-Tadhkira fi al-Ahadith al-Mushtahara (also known as al-La'ali al-Manthura) by Badr al-Din al-Zarkashi (d. 794 AH / 1392 CE) . In his introduction, al-Suyuti noted that while al-Zarkashi had authored a concise treatise on the topic, it required further refinement, critical annotations, and supplementary narrations .
Method and Structure
Al-Suyuti organized the entries alphabetically according to the Arabic alphabet (huruf al-mu'jam) to make the text easier to reference . In compiling the text, he summarized al-Zarkashi's material, added a large number of additional hadiths, and critiqued certain conclusions made by al-Zarkashi . To maintain textual clarity, al-Suyuti explicitly demarcated his own additions and commentary by opening them with the phrase qultu ("I say") and concluding them with intahā ("end") .
Reception and Related Works
Scholars often compared al-Durar al-Muntathira with its contemporary counterpart, al-Maqasid al-Hasana by al-Sakhawi (d. 902 AH / 1497 CE), which was also written as an expansion upon al-Zarkashi's work . Ibn al-'Imad noted that while al-Sakhawi's work was more comprehensive, each of the two compilations contained unique narrations not found in the other . Later, Najm al-Din al-Ghazzi merged the material of al-Zarkashi's al-Tadhkira, al-Sakhawi's al-Maqasid al-Hasana, and al-Suyuti's al-Durar al-Muntathira into a single composite work titled Itqan ma Yahsun min al-Akhbar al-Da'ira 'ala al-Alsun . The text has been published in modern editions, including one edited by Muhammad ibn Lutfi al-Sabbagh .
Answer updated