al-Ighrab lil-Nasai
- Author died
- 303 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Ma’āthir
al-Ighrab (الإغراب), also known as Ighrab Shu'ba 'ala Sufyan wa-Sufyan 'ala Shu'ba (إغراب شعبة على سفيان وسفيان على شعبة), is a specialized hadith work by the hadith master al-Nasai (d. 303 AH / 915 CE) that examines the distinct and unique transmissions of two major early authorities: Shu'ba ibn al-Hajjaj and Sufyan al-Thawri .
Subject and Scope
The book is structured around comparative hadith criticism, documenting the reports and teachers (rijal) that were narrated exclusively by Shu'ba to the exclusion of Sufyan al-Thawri, or by al-Thawri to the exclusion of Shu'ba . In the surviving portions of the work, al-Nasa'i adduces chains of transmission and provides critical evaluations of their defects and authenticity, indicating whether a narration is unpreserved (ghayr mahfuz) or pointing out gaps in audition between narrators .
Transmission and Structure
The book originally spanned multiple parts (ajza'). Classical bibliographical sources such as Ibn Khayr al-Ishbili's Fahrasa and al-Suyuti's Anshab al-Kathab record its transmission through al-Nasa'i's student Abu al-Hasan Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Zakariyya ibn Hayyawayh al-Naysaburi, as well as through Sa'id ibn Jabir .
The fourth part of the work (al-Juz' al-Rabi'), titled Ma aghraba Shu'ba 'an Sufyan wa-Sufyan 'an Shu'ba, was transmitted through a continuous chain including Ibn Hayyawayh, Ali ibn Muhammad al-Farisi, Murshid ibn Yahya al-Madini, the grammarian Ibn Barri, and Salah al-Din al-Ala'i .
Publication
The surviving fourth part of the book was edited by Abu Abd al-Rahman Muhammad al-Thani ibn Umar ibn Musa and published by Dar al-Ma'athir in Medina in 1421 AH (2000 CE) .
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