al-Hitta fi Dhikr al-Sihah al-Sitta
- Author died
- 1307 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kutub al-Ta‘līmiyyah
al-Hitta fi Dhikr al-Sihah al-Sitta (The Remission in Mentioning the Six Authentic Collections) is a Hadith study and bio-bibliographical treatise by the Indian scholar Siddiq Hasan Khan (1248–1307 AH / 1832–1890 CE) , dedicated to the Six Books of Hadith, their compilers, and their commentaries .
Composition and Purpose
Siddiq Hasan Khan composed the treatise after acquiring, reading, and transmitting the Six Books of Hadith . Observing that the essential introductory information concerning these canonical collections was scattered across voluminous biographical dictionaries and specialized works without an independent treatise compiling it in one place, he wrote the book to serve both beginning and advanced students of Hadith . He dedicated the work particularly to his son, Sayyid Nur al-Hasan .
Structure and Contents
The book is structured into an introduction (fatiha), five chapters (abwab), and an epilogue (khatima) :
- Introduction: Divided into two sections (faslayn) .
- Main Body: Covers the status, tiers, and reception of the primary Hadith compilations—namely Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abi Dawud, Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Sunan al-Nasa'i, and Sunan Ibn Majah—as well as the discussions surrounding Malik ibn Anas's al-Muwatta and al-Darimi's Sunan as alternative inclusions in the canonical six .
- Chapter Five: Dedicated in multiple sections to the biographies of the compilers of the Six Books alongside Imam Malik and Ahmad ibn Hanbal .
- Epilogue: Features an extensive autobiography by Siddiq Hasan Khan, detailing his lineage, birth, early upbringing, teachers, travels, official responsibilities, and authored works .
Reception and Editions
The book was cited as an important reference on the Six Books and their commentaries by later scholars, including Abd al-Hayy al-Kattani . Modern scholars, such as Abd al-Karim al-Khudayr, describe it as an indispensable and beneficial work for Hadith students, though noting that its heavy reliance on Katip Celebi's Kashf al-Zunun caused it to inherit certain bibliographical inaccuracies and confusions between titles and commentaries .
The work was printed in 1283 AH at the Nizami Press in Kanpur, India . It was also published in Pakistan and appeared in an edition edited by Ali al-Halabi . Although Mu'jam al-Mu'allifin erroneously attributed the book to Khan's son Ali, scholars have pointed out that this attribution is a clear error .
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