al-Mujam al-Asghar
- Author died
- 1380 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Rashād al-Ḥadīthīyah
al-Mu‘jam al-Asghar (The Minor Dictionary of Transmitters) is a concise catalog of scholarly licenses (mashyakha) compiled by the Moroccan hadith scholar Ahmad ibn al-Siddiq al-Ghumari (1320–1380 AH / 1902–1960 CE) .
Purpose and Scope
Al-Ghumari designated the work al-Asghar ("the smaller" or "minor") to distinguish it from his other biographical and transmission records, primarily his large two-volume mashyakha, al-Bahr al-‘Amiq fi Marwiyyat Ibn al-Siddiq (The Deep Sea of Ibn al-Siddiq's Transmissions), and his intermediate register, Silat al-Ruwat bi-al-Faharis wa-al-Athbat (Linking Transmitters with Catalogs and Records), which he referenced at the end of the text . His other related compilations include al-Mashyakha al-Mujarrada, al-Mashyakha al-Sughra, and al-Mu‘jam al-Wajiz li-l-Mustajiz .
In the introduction to the book, al-Ghumari outlined his intended scope:
«فهذا معجم صغير جمعت فيه أسماء شيوخ الإجازة خاصة دون شيوخ الأخذ والتلقي، وذكرت لكل شيخ بعض شيوخه وشيوخهم من أصحاب الفهارس والأثبات والأسانيد المعروفة المتداولة بين أهل الرواية، تكميلا للفائدة. وأنص في كل واحد منهم على ما سمعته منه، إن حصل ذلك من كتب السنة خاصة والأحاديث المسلسلة، كالمسلسل بالأولية بشرطه وغيره» ("This is a small dictionary in which I have gathered exclusively the names of the teachers of formal authorization [ijaza], excluding the teachers of direct instruction and reading. For each shaykh, I mentioned some of his teachers and their teachers among the authors of well-known catalogs, transmission records, and circulating chains of authorities among traditionists, to complete the benefit. I explicitly stated for each of them what I heard directly from him, if that occurred, specifically from the books of Sunnah and interconnected hadiths [al-musalsalat], such as al-musalsal bi-al-awwaliyya according to its condition, and others.")
Distinctions and Contents
Although similar to the author's later work al-Mu‘jam al-Wajiz li-l-Mustajiz, al-Mu‘jam al-Asghar reflects an earlier stage of his scholarly transmissions and contains several entries later omitted :
- Disputed contemporaries and authorities: al-Mu‘jam al-Asghar includes a entry for his shaykh ‘Abd al-Hayy al-Kattani, whom al-Ghumari subsequently dropped from al-Mu‘jam al-Wajiz following fierce polemical disputes between the two . It likewise includes the transmission of his shaykh Ibn al-Khayyat al-Zakkari from Sultan ‘Abd al-Hafiz and the chain of Hanafi jurisprudence through Amin ibn Muhammad Suwayd, both of which were excised from al-Wajiz .
- Transmissions through the Jinn: Due to al-Ghumari's early permissiveness regarding musnad al-jinn (narrations ascribed through jinn), al-Mu‘jam al-Asghar preserves chains such as that of al-Khidr Husayn via al-Khaffaf from the jinni Shamharush, the chain of Shu‘ayb al-Jalili from Shamharush under the biography of Muhammad ibn Idris al-Qadiri, and the narrations of al-Radawi from Muhammad ibn Mustafa al-Ayyubi al-Rahmati and Salih Hamd al-Layl . These were later removed in al-Mu‘jam al-Wajiz after he adopted a stricter position against transmitting through jinn .
- Conversely, al-Mu‘jam al-Wajiz added certain figures not present in al-Mu‘jam al-Asghar, such as Duwaydar al-Kafrawi .
The text has been published with editing and annotations by ‘Adnan ibn ‘Abd Allah Zuhar .
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