al-Mujam al-Saghir li-Ruwat al-Imam Ibn Jarir al-Tabari
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- Editions
- al-Dar al-Athariyyah
al-Mu‘jam al-Saghir li-Ruwat al-Imam Ibn Jarir al-Tabari (The Small Dictionary of the Transmitters of Imam Ibn Jarir al-Tabari) is a biographical reference work authored by the contemporary Palestinian scholar Akram Ziyada al-Faluji (Akram ibn Muhammad Ziyada al-Faluji al-Athari) . It compiles concise biographical entries for the male and female transmitters appearing in the isnads of the published works of the classical historian and exegete Ibn Jarir al-Tabari .
Background and Scope
The dictionary represents the second installment of al-Faluji's five-part scholarly project dedicated to the transmitted legacy of al-Tabari, following his earlier work Mu‘jam Shuyukh al-Tabari (Dictionary of the Teachers of al-Tabari) . Before issuing the complete dictionary, the author had circulated a preliminary excerpt of around seventy pages containing approximately 1,100 biographical entries among students of knowledge .
The work covers the transmitters across four primary extant and published texts of al-Tabari:
- Jami‘ al-Bayan fi Ta’wil al-Qur’an (the Tafsir) .
- Tarikh al-Umam wa-al-Muluk (the Tarikh), covering narratives from its beginning up to the close of the first century and the turn of the second century AH .
- Tahdhib al-Athar (including both its main published sections and its recovered missing segment) .
- Sarih al-Sunnah .
To establish and verify narrator identities and resolve corruptions or omissions, al-Faluji collated various printed editions—chiefly relying on the editorial work of Ahmad Muhammad Shakir and Mahmud Muhammad Shakir—alongside classical biographical dictionaries .
Structure and Methodology
The work contains a total of 7,214 numbered biographical entries organized into 44 main sections (abwab) . These consist of 29 chapters arranged alphabetically by the initial letter of the narrator's given name, followed by 15 specialized supplementary sections:
- Agnomens (kuna)
- Fathers (al-walid)
- Grandfathers
- Sons
- Brothers
- Nephews
- Paternal uncles
- Paternal cousins
- In-laws (al-akhtan)
- Lineages and titles (al-ansab wa-al-alqab)
- Freedmen and clients (al-mawali)
- Female transmitters (al-nisa')
- Ambiguous and unnamed individuals (al-mubhamaat) .
In formatting the entries, al-Faluji modeled his approach on concise classical biographical compendia such as al-Kashif by al-Dhahabi, Taqrib al-Tahdhib by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, and Tabaqat al-Huffaz by al-Suyuti . Each entry is structured around up to ten biographical elements:
- Agnomens (kunya)
- Full pedigree, usually tracing at least four generations
- Tribal or genealogical lineage (nisba)
- Title or profession
- Mention of prominent relatives in hadith or scholarship
- Geographic origin, residence, and place of death
- Exact or estimated birth date
- Exact or estimated death date
- Generational tier (tabaqa)
- Evaluative status in jarh wa-ta‘dil (criticism and appraisal), drawn primarily from Taqrib al-Tahdhib or cited from works such as al-Jarh wa-al-Ta‘dil of Ibn Abi Hatim, al-Thiqat or al-Majruhin of Ibn Hibban, and al-Kashif .
The author employs specific sigla to identify which compilers of the Six Books included transmissions from the narrator, such as (ع) for all six or (خ) for Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari . At the beginning and conclusion of each entry, symbols denote the specific works of al-Tabari in which the narrator is cited: (تس) for the Tafsir, (تخ) for the Tarikh, (تهـ) for Tahdhib al-Athar, (تق) for the previously missing portion of Tahdhib al-Athar, and (صر) for Sarih al-Sunnah .
Publication
The book was prefaced with an introduction by the Jordanian hadith scholar Ali Hasan al-Halabi, dated 23 Jumada al-Akhirah 1425 AH . It was published jointly by al-Dar al-Athariyya in Jordan and Dar Ibn ‘Affan in Cairo in two volumes under a single continuous pagination .
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