al-Maqsad al-Arshad fi Dhikr Ashab al-Imam Ahmad
- Author died
- 884 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Rushd
al-Maqsad al-Arshad fi Dhikr Ashab al-Imam Ahmad (The Most Guided Destination in Mentioning the Companions of Imam Ahmad) is a biographical dictionary of the Hanbali school written by the Damascene jurist and chief judge Burhan al-Din Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Muflih (d. 884 AH / 1479 CE) . The work records the biographical entries of the companions, jurists, and prominent scholars of Ahmad ibn Hanbal from the early period of the school up to the author's own lifetime in the ninth century AH .
Structure and Method
In his preface, Ibn Muflih states that he compiled the work to cover the biographical generations (tabaqat) of the adherents of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal . The book opens with an introductory biography of Imam Ahmad, followed by the biographies of Hanbali scholars arranged in alphabetical order (huruf al-mu'jam) to facilitate reference and retrieval .
The author adopted a concise style in compiling the biographies . When profiling scholars who were authors, he occasionally cites one or more of their written works, while in other instances he omits mentioning their writings altogether .
Reception and Subsequent Works
The work served as an important source for later Hanbali biographical literature:
- The Jerusalemite scholar Mujir al-Din al-Ulaymi (d. 928 AH) made use of it when composing his biographical dictionary al-Manhaj al-Ahmad fi Tarajim Ashab al-Imam Ahmad, noting that he supplemented his collection with later scholars who had not been mentioned by Burhan al-Din Ibn Muflih .
- The Syrian scholar Ibn Badran (d. 1346 AH) noted that during his student years, he began drafting a continuation (dhayl) to al-Maqsad al-Arshad, but later abandoned it because Ibn Muflih's work was less widely known, opting instead to append his notes as a continuation to Ibn Rajab's Dhayl Tabaqat al-Hanabila due to its wider renown and detailed coverage of scholars' book titles and juristic choices .
Manuscripts and Editions
Manuscripts of the work are preserved in libraries such as the al-Zahiriyya Library in Damascus (MS 8750) . A critical edition of al-Maqsad al-Arshad, edited by Abd al-Rahman ibn Sulayman al-Uthaymin, was published in Riyadh by Maktabat al-Rushd in three volumes in 1410 AH / 1990 CE .
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