al-Jami li-Kutub al-Duafa wal-Matrukin wal-Kadhabin
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- Editions
- Markaz al-Nu'man lil-Buhuth wal-Dirasat al-Islamiyyah wa-Tahqiq al-Turath wal-Tarjamah
al-Jami li-Kutub al-Duafa wal-Matrukin wal-Kadhabin (The Compendium of the Books on Weak, Abandoned, and Untruthful Narrators) is a multi-volume biographical hadith encyclopedia compiled by Shadi Al Numan that brings together and chronologically arranges entries on disparaged transmitters from twenty-nine classical works on narrator criticism ( al-jarh wal-tadil ).
Purpose and Scope
Al-Nu'man prepared the work as the foundational first stage of his broader initiative, Silsilat al-Amal al-Mumahhida lil-Diwan al-Jami li-Ruwat al-Sunan wal-Athar (A Series of Preparatory Works for the Comprehensive Register of Narrators of Sunan and Traditions). This preparatory series was designed to pave the way for a larger grand project, al-Diwan al-Jami, aiming to gather all transmitters of Islamic traditions from hundreds of biographical and historical sources into one alphabetical compilation, followed by an abridgment (Tahdhib al-Diwan al-Jami).
To manage the vast corpus systematically, the compiler divided his sources into distinct thematic groups, isolating works dedicated to weak and abandoned narrators as an independent category. He noted that relying on automated electronic databases proved inadequate for exhaustive research because of pervasive misreadings, missing sources, and variant name formulations.
Sources
The compendium incorporates twenty-nine printed and manuscript sources focused on weak narrators, as well as dedicated chapters on disparaged transmitters excerpted from broader historical and hadith treatises. These sources span early classical manuals to late-medieval reference works:
- al-Du'afa by al-Bukhari (d. 256 AH / 870 CE)
- Ahwal al-Rijal by al-Juzajani (d. 259 AH / 873 CE)
- Asami al-Du'afa and Su'alat al-Bardha'i of Abu Zur'ah al-Razi (d. 264 AH / 878 CE)
- The section on narrators to be avoided from al-Ma'rifah wal-Tarikh by al-Fasawi (d. 277 AH / 890 CE)
- al-Du'afa wal-Matrukin by al-Nasa'i (d. 303 AH / 915 CE)
- al-Du'afa by al-Uqayli (d. 322 AH / 934 CE)
- al-Majruhin by Ibn Hibban (d. 354 AH / 965 CE)
- al-Kamil fi Du'afa al-Rijal by Ibn Adi (d. 365 AH / 976 CE) and its abridgment Mukhtasar al-Kamil by al-Maqrizi (d. 845 AH / 1442 CE)
- al-Du'afa wal-Matrukun, al-Ta'liqat ala Kitab al-Majruhin, and Man Takallama fihim al-Daraqutni fi Kitab al-Sunan (arranged by Ibn Zurayq al-Hanbali) by al-Daraqutni (d. 385 AH / 995 CE)
- Tarikh Asma al-Du'afa wal-Matrukin by Ibn Shahin (d. 385 AH / 995 CE)
- The introductory chapter on disparaged narrators in al-Madkhal ila al-Sahih by al-Hakim al-Naysaburi (d. 405 AH / 1014 CE)
- al-Du'afa by Abu Nu'aym al-Isbahani (d. 430 AH / 1038 CE)
- al-Du'afa wal-Matrukun by Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 597 AH / 1201 CE)
- Diwan al-Du'afa, Dhayl al-Diwan, al-Mughni fi al-Du'afa, and Mizan al-I'tidal by al-Dhahabi (d. 748 AH / 1348 CE)
- al-Iktifa fi Tanqih Kitab al-Du'afa (volume two) by Mughultay (d. 762 AH / 1361 CE)
- Dhayl Mizan al-I'tidal by Abu Zur'ah al-Iraqi (d. 806 AH / 1404 CE)
- Nathl al-Himyan fi Mi'yar al-Mizan and al-Kashf al-Hathith amman Rumiya bi-Wad' al-Hadith by Sibt Ibn al-Ajami (d. 841 AH / 1438 CE)
- Lisan al-Mizan by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (d. 852 AH / 1449 CE)
- Tahrir Lisan al-Mizan (volume two) by Muhammad ibn Rajab al-Zubayri
- Introductory sections on weak narrators from Tanzih al-Shari'ah by Ibn Arraq (d. 963 AH / 1556 CE)
- Qanun al-Du'afa wal-Matrukin by Ali al-Qari or al-Fatani al-Hindi (d. 986 AH / 1578 CE)
Method and Structure
The compilation involved consolidating approximately 60,000 individual biographical entries—counting duplications across sources—into unified entries arranged strictly alphabetically. Under each narrator's heading, the biographical statements extracted from the underlying sources are cited in chronological order according to the author's death date.
In compiling and editing the entries, the compiler addressed several methodological challenges:
- Standardizing divergent name formulations: Reconciling instances where a single narrator appeared under different names, patronymics, or grandfather attributions across different works.
- Distinguishing homonyms: Disentangling separate individuals who were recorded under identical names.
- Correcting scribal corruptions (tashif): Amending hundreds of misreadings and printer errors found in earlier editions of works such as Ibn al-Jawzi's and Ibn Shahin's biographical dictionaries.
- Extracting embedded entries (al-tarajim al-dimniyya): Creating standalone headings for narrators discussed only inside the biographies of others.
- Clarifying reasons for disparagement: Explicitly supplying contextual critiques—such as theological accusations—placed by earlier authors (e.g., al-Juzajani) at the head of a section rather than within the specific transmitter's entry.
The technical layout, digital formatting, and indexing of the work were executed in collaboration with Abd al-Hafiz Hasan al-Nahari.
Reception
The initiative received formal praise from the scholarly team behind al-Musnad al-Jami and the biographical encyclopedias of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Yahya ibn Ma'in, and al-Daraqutni. In a letter written on their behalf by Mahmud Khalil, they commended the project as a major contribution to hadith studies that provides benefits unobtainable through automated software.
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