al-Mukhtasar fi Usul al-Hadith = Risala fi Usul al-Hadith
- Author died
- 816 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Rushd
al-Mukhtasar fi Usul al-Hadith (Arabic: المختصر في أصول الحديث, also known as Risala fi Usul al-Hadith) is a concise manual on Hadith terminology and methodology composed by al-Sharif al-Jurjani (740–816 AH / 1339–1413 CE) .
Structure and Content
The work was structured as a compact primer consisting of an introduction (muqaddima) followed by core objectives (maqasid) systematically divided into chapters .
The introduction provides definitions of fundamental technical terms in Hadith studies:
- Matn: The literal text and wording of a report through which its substantive meaning is established .
- Hadith: Defined broadly as encompassing statements, actions, and tacit approvals attributed to the Prophet ﷺ, Companions, or Successors .
- Sanad and Isnad: The chain of transmission and the act of tracing the statement back to its speaker, upon which the soundness or weakness of a narration depends .
- Mutawatir and Ahad: The classification of reports based on the abundance of transmitters, distinguishing recurrent mass-transmitted narrations (mutawatir) from solitary transmissions (ahad) .
The core objectives are organized into chapters covering the foundational topics of the discipline:
- Divisions and Categories of Hadith (Aqsam al-Hadith wa-Anwa'uh): Covers the primary triad of sound (sahih), fair (hasan), and weak (da'if) reports, examining the conditions governing each . It also explains related structural classifications, including musnad, muttasil, marfu', mu'an'an, mu'allaq, munqati', mursal, mudraj, mashhur, and gharib .
- Transmitter Criticism and Appraisal (al-Jarh wa-al-Ta'dil): Focuses on the qualities required of narrators, specifically uprightness ('adala) and accuracy or precision (dabt), along with the standards that warrant impugnment or invalidation (jarh) .
- Transmission and Transmitter Identifiers: Summarizes the modes of receiving and conveying hadith (tahammul wa-ada'), as well as the identification of narrator names and lineages .
Commentaries and Publication
Owing to its precision and brevity, the treatise served as a base text for later commentators:
- Zafar al-Amani: The Indian scholar Muhammad Abd al-Hayy al-Laknawi (1264–1304 AH) authored an extensive commentary titled Zafar al-Amani bi-Sharh Mukhtasar al-Sayyid al-Sharif al-Jurjani . Al-Laknawi used al-Jurjani’s concise framework to elaborate upon complex terminology, analyze scholarly debates between traditionists and jurists, and assess intricate rulings on disputed categories such as mursal, hasan, and acting upon weak narrations .
- al-Dibaj al-Mudhahhab: The text was also circulated and printed under the title al-Dibaj al-Mudhahhab fi Mustalah al-Hadith, including an edition published alongside a commentary by Mulla Hanafi in Cairo (1350 AH / 1931 CE) .
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