al-Nahy an Sabb al-Ashab - al-Diya al-Maqdisi
- Author died
- 643 AH
- Editions
- al-Dar al-Dhahabiyyah
al-Nahy 'an Sabb al-Ashab (Arabic: النهي عن سب الأصحاب, lit. 'The Prohibition of Reviling the Companions'), fully titled al-Nahy 'an Sabb al-Ashab wa-ma Fihi min al-Ithm wa-l-'Iqab (The Prohibition of Reviling the Companions and the Sin and Punishment Incurred Thereby), is a hadith treatise by the Hanbali traditionist Diya al-Din al-Maqdisi (569–643 AH / 1173–1245 CE) devoted to compiling prophetic traditions and scholarly reports condemning the defamation of the Prophet's Companions.
Content and Structure
The work is a concise hadith tract (juz'). In it, al-Maqdisi documents narrated texts with his own chains of audition (asānīd) heard in scholarly centers such as Baghdad. The text is organized under thematic headings, including:
- "Mention of the Prohibition of Reviling the Companions and What Carries Its Meaning" (Dhikr al-nahy 'an sabb al-sahaba wa-ma fi ma'nah), which cites the well-known prophetic warnings against disparaging the Companions along with hadith authentication and analysis.
- "Statements of the Imams Concerning Those Who Revile the Companions of the Messenger of Allah" (Wa-min aqwal al-a'imma fi-man yasubbu ashab Rasul Allah), compiling narrations and rulings from early scholars and predecessors regarding the gravity of harbouring animosity toward them.
In addition to legal statements and hadiths, the treatise includes historical accounts and reports concerning divine retribution and punishments that befell those who abused the Companions.
Transmission and Reception
The treatise is recorded in classical bio-bibliographical literature. Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi in Siyar A'lam al-Nubala' and Ibn Rajab in Dhayl Tabaqat al-Hanabila both list it among al-Maqdisi's writings as a single-part treatise (juz'). Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani transmitted the work through his chains of narration in al-Mu'jam al-Mufahras and al-Majma' al-Mu'assas. Ibn Taymiyya cited the work in Minhaj al-Sunna al-Nabawiyya under the variant title al-Nahy 'an Sabb al-Ashab wa-ma Warada Fihi min al-Dhamm wa-l-'Iqab, referencing its reports on divine retribution against sectarian critics of the Companions.
A manuscript of the work is preserved at the Zahiriyya Library in Damascus (Majmu' 101, fols. 21–47), copied by al-Maqdisi's student Mahmud ibn Abi al-Qasim ibn Badran al-Dashti, who studied the text under the author in 641 AH, bearing an audition certification written in al-Maqdisi's own hand.
Editions
The treatise has been published in several modern editions:
- Edited by Muhyi al-Din Najib and reviewed by Abd al-Qadir al-Arna'ut, published jointly by Dar al-Uruba (Kuwait) and Dar Ibn al-Imad (Beirut) in 1413 AH / 1992 CE.
- Edited by Muhammad Ahmad Ashur and Jamal Abd al-Mun'im al-Kumi, published by al-Dar al-Dhahabiyya in Cairo in 1994 CE.
- An edition prepared by Mashhur ibn Hasan.
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