al-Risala al-Mustatrafa li-Bayan Mashhur Kutub al-Sunna al-Musharrafa
- Author died
- 1345 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Bashā'ir al-Islāmiyyah
al-Risala al-Mustatrafa li-Bayan Mashhur Kutub al-Sunna al-Musharrafa (The Curious Treatise for Explaining the Renowned Books of the Honored Sunna) is a specialized bibliographic compendium of Hadith literature composed by the Moroccan traditionist and historian Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ja'far al-Kattani (1274–1345 AH / 1857–1927 CE) . The work serves as a systematic survey and descriptive catalogue of classical compilations, genres, and reference works across the Prophetic tradition and related disciplines .
Scope and Contents
The author opens the treatise with an overview of the earliest written works in the field of Prophetic traditions, outlining prominent compilers from the first and second centuries of Islam . He discusses the subsequent proliferation and diversification of Hadith compilations into numerous formats and ranks, beginning with the foundational collections recommended for students of Hadith: the Six Books (Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abi Dawud, Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Sunan al-Nasa'i, and Sunan Ibn Majah) .
Al-Kattani surveys and categorizes various genres of Hadith literature, identifying early and classical collections along with their authors:
- Books of Sunan: Works arranged by legal topics, including the early Sunan compilations of Ibn Jurayj (d. 151 AH), Sa'id ibn Mansur (d. 227 AH), Muhammad ibn al-Sabbah (d. 227 AH), and al-Darimi (d. 255 AH) .
- Takhrij Works: Specialized indices evaluating the Hadith citations found in broader Islamic scholarly works, such as the takhrij treatises compiled by Ibn al-Mulaqqin and Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti on fiqh and legal texts .
- Biographical and Rijal Dictionaries: Reference works and abridgments dedicated to Hadith transmitters and narrators, such as the abridgments of Ibn Hajar's biographical dictionaries .
Editions
The work has been published in several print editions:
- An early printing appeared in Beirut in 1322 AH .
- A critical edition prepared and indexed by Muhammad al-Muntasir ibn Muhammad al-Zamzami al-Kattani was issued by Dar al-Fikr in Damascus, and through several editions by Dar al-Basha'ir al-Islamiyya in Beirut (including its fourth edition in 1406 AH, fifth edition in 1414 AH / 1993 CE, and sixth edition in 1421 AH / 2000 CE in one volume of 342 pages) .
- An edition published by Maktabat Dar al-Turath in Cairo in 1409 AH .
- An edition edited by Salah Muhammad 'Uwaydah, published by Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyya in Beirut (1416 AH) .
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