al-Muttafiq wal-Muftariq fiman Dhukira bi-Kunyatihi min al-Ruwat fi al-Kutub al-Sitta
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al-Muttafiq wal-Muftariq fiman Dhukira bi-Kunyatihi min al-Ruwat fi al-Kutub al-Sitta ("The Homonymous and Distinct Narrators Mentioned by Their Kunyas in the Six Books") is a specialized contemporary hadith biographical study authored by Yusuf bin Jawda al-Dawudi, focusing on narrators identified by their patronymic titles (kunya) across the Six Books (al-Kutub al-Sitta).
Purpose and Scope
The work addresses the subdiscipline of hadith transmitter criticism known as al-muttafiq wal-muftariq (narrators who share identical names or kunyas in pronunciation and script but represent distinct individuals). The author compiled narrators mentioned by their kunyas in the chains of transmission (isnads) of the Six Books to prevent misidentification—such as mistaking two distinct individuals for one or conflating a reliable narrator with an unreliable one—and to resolve ambiguities for researchers analyzing these core collections.
Structure and Method
The book comprises an introduction, an introductory preface (tamhid), forty-seven main biographical entries arranged alphabetically, a conclusion, and reference indices. The preface is divided into three topics:
- Understanding the science of homonymous names (al-mutashabih) among narrators.
- Understanding the kuna (patronymics) of narrators.
- The underlying reasons for scholars' interest in homonymous names.
In the main biographical section, the entries are ordered alphabetically according to the narrator's kunya. The author's method involves:
- Heading each entry with the shared kunya and father's name, noting how many narrators share that designation, providing a brief distinction, and then detailing each narrator's biography individually.
- Employing conventional abbreviation sigla modeled after al-Mizzi and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani to denote which of the Six Books transmitted the narrator's reports.
- Providing each transmitter's full name, genealogy, generation (tabaqah), birth year (if available), teachers, students, critical rank, cited hadiths, and death year.
- Relying on Ibn Hajar's Taqrib al-Tahdhib when a narrator's reliability or weakness is unanimously agreed upon, while citing divergent critical statements in chronological order of critics' death dates when opinions differ, followed by a weighted preference (tarjih).
- Vocalizing names, kunyas, toponyms, and lineages with diacritics to prevent misreading (tashif).
Key Findings
The study presents several analytical conclusions regarding transmitter identification in the Six Books:
- Authors of the Six Books generally distinguished homonymous narrators within chains, leaving ambiguity in only a few instances.
- Narrators sharing identical kunyas constitute approximately no more than ten percent of the total homonymous narrators across the Six Books compared to those sharing identical given names.
- Designations indicating that al-Nasa'i transmitted for a narrator in the biographical dictionaries of al-Mizzi and Ibn Hajar refer to either his al-Sunan al-Sughra or al-Sunan al-Kubra.
- Narrators categorized by Ibn Hajar as maqbul (acceptable) or saduq (truthful) were often recorded by Ibn Abi Hatim in al-Jarh wal-Ta'dil without explicit evaluation.
Publication
The work was published as an academic paper extracted from the annual journal of the Faculty of Usul al-Din and Islamic Da'wah in Menoufia at al-Azhar University (Issue 32, 1434 AH / 2013 CE), printed by Dar al-Andalus in Shibin al-Kawm.
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