al-Muntakhab min Kitab Azwaj al-Nabi
- Author died
- 256 AH
- Editions
- Mu'assasat al-Risalah
al-Muntakhab min Kitab Azwaj al-Nabi (Selection from the Book on the Wives of the Prophet) is an early biographical work by the historian and genealogist al-Zubayr ibn Bakkar (d. 256 AH / 870 CE) dedicated to the biographies of the Mothers of the Believers (the Prophet's wives) .
Scope and Contents
The work contains historical accounts and biographical reports on the wives of the Prophet ﷺ, chronicling their marriages and virtues with chains of transmission (isnad) . Among its principal narrative sources is the Medinan traditionist Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Zabala (d. 199 AH), whose early monograph on the Prophet's wives is transmitted through al-Zubayr ibn Bakkar's transmission . The material begins with Khadijah bint Khuwaylid and details the marriages of subsequent wives, including Aisha and Maymunah bint al-Harith, extending through Mariyah al-Qibtiyyah .
Transmission and Reception
Reports preserved in the text were utilized and cited by later biographical and hadith authorities, including al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, Ibn Asakir in Tarikh Dimashq, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Fath al-Bari, and al-Suyuti in Jami' al-Ahadith . Hadith critics noted that while many of its individual transmitters are reliable, several reports were transmitted as mursal or through Ibn Zabala, whom hadith critics like Yahya ibn Ma'in and Abu Dawud criticized for weakness .
Manuscripts and Editions
The text survived as an abridged selection preserved in the al-Zahiriyya Library in Damascus (MS 3778 / Majmu' 41, fols. 123–134), transcribed in 544 AH (and described in another catalogue entry under 444 AH) . It was edited by the Syrian scholar Sukayna al-Shihabi and published in one volume by Mu'assasat al-Risala in Beirut in 1403 AH / 1983 CE, with an alphabetical index of its hadiths and reports compiled at the end .
Answer updated