al-Masnu fi Marifat al-Hadith al-Mawdu
- Author died
- 1014 AH
- Editions
- Mu'assasat al-Risalah
al-Masnu‘ fi Ma‘rifat al-Hadith al-Mawdu‘ (The Manufactured: On Identifying Fabricated Hadith) is a concise reference work on fabricated and baseless hadith reports by the Hanafi jurist and hadith scholar al-Mulla Ali al-Qari (d. 1014 AH / 1606 CE) .
Purpose and Scope
Al-Qari compiled the treatise after observing that earlier hadith memorizers (ḥuffāẓ) had assembled voluminous works dedicated to hadiths widely circulating on people's tongues (al-aḥādīth al-mushtahirah ‘alā al-alsinah), distinguishing between sound (ṣaḥīḥ), fair (ḥasan), weak (ḍa‘īf), and fabricated (mawḍū‘) reports . Noting that authentic narrations are without limit or measure, he sought to condense those larger registers by restricting his treatment solely to sayings described as fabricated or entirely baseless (lā aṣla lahu) .
Method and Sources
The book organizes spurious reports in alphabetical order based on their opening wording . In determining which narrations to include, al-Qari adopted specific critical guidelines:
- Omission of disputed reports: He chose to leave out narrations over whose status hadith scholars disagreed, explaining that a report might be fabricated through one chain of transmission while being sound through another, as hadith critics judge texts primarily on the basis of their chains of transmission (asānīd) .
- Distinction between non-authenticity and fabrication: Citing al-Zarkashi, al-Qari highlighted the conceptual difference between the judgment "it is not authentic" (lam yaṣiḥḥ) and "it is fabricated" (mawḍū‘); declaring a report fabricated positively establishes its forged nature, whereas stating that it is not authentic merely conveys an absence of proof, which does not inherently demonstrate absolute non-existence .
Throughout the work, al-Qari draws upon the rulings and critiques of prominent hadith scholars and works, citing authorities such as al-Sakhawi, al-Iraqi, Ibn al-Dayba, Ibn al-Jawzi, Ibn Taymiyyah, al-Nawawi, al-Suyuti, al-Fairuzabadi, and Ibn al-Humam .
Notable Editions
The work was critically edited by Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghuddah, who verified its narrations, clarified their status, provided sound alternatives to the cited fabricated texts, and added an extensive 42-page methodological introduction that included critiques of relying on mystical unveiling (kashf) to authenticate hadith reports . This edition was published across four printings in Beirut and Cairo, spanning over 340 pages .
Answer updated