al-Khasais al-Kubra
- Author died
- 911 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah
Al-Khasais al-Kubra (Arabic: الخصائص الكبرى, The Great Particularities), formally titled Kifayat al-Talib al-Labib fi Khasais al-Habib (or Kifayat al-Labib fi Khasais al-Habib), is an encyclopedic treatise on prophetology composed by Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 911 AH / 1505 CE) that collects the distinctive traits, miracles, and legal particularities of the Prophet Muhammad .
Composition and Scope
Al-Suyuti gathered material for the work over a period of twenty years, compiling more than one thousand distinct prophetic characteristics and evidentiary miracles (mu‘jizat) . The book treats prophetic distinctions in two broad categories: traits that distinguished Muhammad from earlier prophets, and legal and spiritual privileges or obligations that distinguished him from his own community .
Structure and Methodology
Following the opening sermon, al-Suyuti begins the book with a chapter dedicated to the Prophet's distinction as the first prophet in creation, the antiquity of his prophethood, and the primordial covenant taken concerning him . The text proceeds through signs preceding his birth, events of his lifetime, miracles, and rulings specific to him—such as matters concerning marriage and ritual obligations—and concludes with miraculous occurrences that transpired following his death during the military campaigns of his Companions .
Al-Suyuti intended the work to be a comprehensive collection of reports preserved with chains of transmission by hadith scholars . His methodological condition was to exclude fabricated reports (al-akhbar al-mawdu‘ah), though he did not restrict himself to rigorously authentic narrations, incorporating numerous weak (da‘if) reports; modern commentators have questioned whether he maintained his standard against fabricated material consistently .
Abridgments, Commentaries, and Editions
Al-Suyuti himself prepared a condensed version of the book titled Unmudhaj al-Labib fi Khasais al-Habib (often called al-Khasais al-Sughra) . When a contemporary claimed the abridgment as his own, al-Suyuti wrote a polemical treatise titled al-Fariq bayn al-musannif wa-l-sariq (The Distinction Between Author and Plagiarist) . The work was also abridged by Abd al-Wahhab al-Sharani (d. 972 AH / 1565 CE) . Al-Suyuti's own summary, Unmudhaj al-Labib, was later commented upon by Abd al-Rauf al-Munawi (d. 1031 AH / 1622 CE) in two commentaries: an abridged one titled Fath al-Rauf al-Mujib and an expansive one titled Tawdih Fath al-Rauf al-Mujib . In modern times, Abdullah al-Talidi produced a two-volume abridgment and refinement of the text .
The complete text has appeared in multiple printings, including a two-volume edition published in Hyderabad at Matba‘at al-Nizamiyyah (1320 AH / 1902 CE) and a three-volume critical edition by Muhammad Khalil Harras published in Cairo by Dar al-Kutub al-Hadithah (1967 CE) .
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