Abu Musa al-Madini
al-Juz al-Rabi min Rubai al-Tabiin
- Author died
- 581 AH
- Editions
- Manuscript published in the free Jawāmi‘ al-Kalim program affiliated with the Islamweb website
al-Juz al-Rabi min Rubai al-Tabiin (The Fourth Part of the Fourfold Successor Narrations) is a hadith treatise by the hadith scholar Abu Musa al-Madini (501–581 AH / 1107–1185 CE) compiling prophetic narrations whose chains of transmission contain four Successors (Tabiun) narrating consecutively from one another.
Content and Structure
The work forms the fourth part of a larger compilation dictated (imla) by Abu Musa al-Madini. Its specific focus is rubai al-Tabiin, a specialized subfield of hadith transmission science (ilm al-isnad) dedicated to identifying rare chains where four successive generations or individuals among the Successors transmit from each other prior to reaching a Companion.
The text presents numbered traditions along with their complete chains of transmission, drawing upon source authorities such as al-Tabarani and al-Daraqutni. The narrations encompass legal topics such as prayer, oversight in prayer (sujud al-sahw), commercial transactions, manumission, pilgrimage, and ritual purity, as well as historical accounts and prophetic virtues.
Methodology
Following each tradition, Abu Musa al-Madini systematically analyzes the chain of transmission by:
- Explicitly enumerating and verifying the four Successors present in the isnad and naming the Companions from whom each of them is known to have heard traditions.
- Corroborating the text (matn) and evaluating whether it conforms to the conditions of the canonical collections, frequently noting parallels in Sahih Muslim and Sahih al-Bukhari.
- Highlighting isnaadic anomalies and rarities (gharib), identifying instances of sole transmission (tafarrud), and detailing variations among transmitters (turuq).
- Noting instances of seniors narrating from their juniors (riwayat al-akabir an al-asaghir), such as Hammad narrating from Abu Hanifa.
- Providing linguistic clarifications on rare or debated expressions occurring in the transmitted texts.
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