al-Khamis min al-Afrad li-Ibn Shahin

al-Khamis min al-Afrad (The Fifth Fascicle of Solitary Hadith Transmissions) is a hadith tract by the Baghdadi scholar and preacher Abu Hafs Umar ibn Ahmad ibn Shahin (297–385 AH / 910–995 CE) Diwan al-Sunna - Qism al-…+1, devoted to singular narrations (afrad) and unusual transmission chains (ghara'ib) al-Qism al-Thalith min al…+1.

Content and Method

The work represents the fifth fascicle (juz') surviving from Ibn Shahin's broader compilation on solitary narrations (Kitab al-Afrad) al-Mashyakha al-Baghdadiy…. It belongs to the specialized hadith literature dedicated to identifying instances where a narration is transmitted solely through a single narrator or an isolated chain, alongside similar works by contemporaries such as al-Daraqutni, Abu Dawud al-Sijistani, and Abu Ya'la al-Mawsili al-Qism al-Thalith min al…+1.

In this work, Ibn Shahin records prophetic reports with their complete chains of transmission and appends critical remarks assessing their rarity, isnad quality, and the specific transmitters responsible for the singularity Fadl al-Rahim al-Wadud Ta…+1. For instance, after recording a narration concerning tasbih in prayer from Anas ibn Malik through Ibn Sa'id, Ibn Shahin remarked that it was a rare transmission (gharib) with a good chain (hasan al-isnad), adding that he heard Ibn Sa'id praise the report and state that he had heard it only from that specific transmitter Fadl al-Rahim al-Wadud Ta…. In other instances, he distinguishes elevated or unusual lines of transmission against better-known variants and comments on obscure figures in the chains Dhakhirat al-Uqba fi Shar…+1.

Publication

The tract was edited by Badr ibn Abd Allah al-Badr and published by Dar Ibn al-Athir in Kuwait in 1415 AH / 1994 CE as part of a collective volume titled Min Musannafat Ibn Shahin (From the Writings of Ibn Shahin) Diwan al-Sunna - Qism al-…+1.