al-Iqtirah fi Bayan al-Istilah
- Author died
- 702 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmīyah
al-Iqtirah fi Bayan al-Istilah (The Proposal in Clarifying Terminology) is a concise manual on hadith nomenclature and methodology by the scholar Ibn Daqiq al-'Id (d. 702 AH / 1302 CE) .
Purpose and Content
In his introduction, Ibn Daqiq al-'Id states that the work comprises concise selections across essential branches of hadith scholarship, aimed at facilitating the understanding of the technical terminology, objectives, and ranking of hadith authorities, functioning as an accessible primer for students before broader study in the discipline . The book incorporates succinct coverage of the principles of hadith sciences along with the author’s critical observations and opinions on earlier works, notably Ibn al-Salah’s Kitab Ma'rifat Anwa' 'Ilm al-Hadith, which were subsequently held in high esteem by later hadith specialists .
Structure
The work is organized into nine structured chapters and concludes with an illustrative appendix :
- Chapter One: The definitions and technical senses of twenty-two terms related to the discipline, beginning with al-sahih (the authentic) and concluding with al-maqlub (the inverted transmission), with al-mawdu' (the fabricated) positioned near the end .
- Chapter Two: The modes of audition, reception, textual accuracy, and transmission of hadith (kayfiyyat al-sama' wa-l-tahammul wa-dabt al-riwayah wa-ada'iha) .
- Chapter Three: The professional conduct and etiquette expected of a hadith scholar (adab al-muhaddith) .
- Chapter Four: The etiquette of transcribing hadith manuscripts (adab kitabat al-hadith) .
- Chapter Five: Knowledge of elevated and descending chains of transmission (al-'ali wa-l-nazil) .
- Chapter Six: Additional technical terms not covered in the opening chapter .
- Chapter Seven: Knowledge of trustworthy transmitters (al-thiqat) .
- Chapter Eight: Knowledge of weak and unreliable transmitters (al-du'afa') .
- Chapter Nine: An overview of names identical in orthography but differing in pronunciation (al-asma' al-mu'talifah wa-l-mukhtalifah) .
The book concludes with a presentation of sound hadiths categorized across the various classifications of authentic reports .
Influence and Editions
al-Iqtirah exercised substantial influence on subsequent hadith literature. Ibn Daqiq al-'Id's student Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi relied heavily upon it when composing his introductory hadith manual al-Muwqizah, which effectively serves as an adaptation and abridgment of al-Iqtirah . Al-Dhahabi incorporated much of its material, alternately citing his teacher explicitly by name or integrating condensed passages directly .
In modern scholarship, the work has been edited by Qahtan Abd al-Rahman al-Duri (Baghdad, 1402 AH / 1982 CE) . It was also edited and studied in academic theses by 'Amir Hasan Sabri (Umm al-Qura University, 1402 AH, later published in Beirut) and 'Ali Ibrahim al-Yahyá (Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University), as well as published by Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyyah (Beirut, 1406 AH / 1986 CE) .
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