al-Mashyakha al-Kubra - Qadi al-Maristan
- Author died
- 535 AH
- Editions
- Dār ‘Ālam al-Fawā’id lil-Nashr wal-Tawzī‘
al-Mashyakha al-Kubra (also known as Mashyakhat Qadi al-Maristan) is a hadith compendium containing the traditions and chains of transmission (asānīd) of the Baghdadi traditionist, jurist, and mathematician Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Abd al-Baqi al-Ansari, known as Qadi al-Maristan (442–535 AH / 1050–1141 CE) .
Author and Context
The author was born in the al-Nasriyya quarter of western Baghdad on 10 Safar 442 AH and lived over ninety years . Renowned as the foremost transmitter of his era (musnid al-ʿaṣr), he was celebrated for possessing extraordinarily elevated chains of transmission (ʿulūw al-isnād) . He was the last living narrator between whom and the Prophet ﷺ stood only six trustworthy transmitters with continuous direct audition meeting the criteria of Sahih .
In addition to being a scholar of inheritance laws (farāʾiḍ) and arithmetic (ḥisāb), he studied hadith extensively from early childhood . His authorities included prominent Baghdadi masters such as Abu Ishaq al-Barmaki, Abu Muhammad al-Jawhari, Abu al-Tayyib al-Tabari, Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, and Al-Qadi Abu Ya'la ibn al-Farra', alongside Egyptian scholars like Abu Ishaq al-Habbal and Meccan scholars including Abu Ma'shar al-Tabari .
Structure and Content
The work belongs to the mashyakha genre, which records the traditions received directly by a scholar from his various masters . Compiled across five parts (ajzāʾ), it documents the texts and full chains of transmission for the hadiths transmitted through Qadi al-Maristan's numerous teachers across the Islamic world .
Transmission and Publication
Due to Qadi al-Maristan's elevated transmission status, students traveled to him from distant regions . His narrations were widely transmitted by later authorities, including Ibn Tabarzad and Abu al-Yumn al-Kindi .
In modern print, Mashyakhat Qadi al-Maristan was edited by al-Sharif Hatim al-Awni and published by Dar Alam al-Fawa'id in Mecca in 1422 AH .
Answer updated