al-Rubai fi al-Hadith li Abd al-Ghani ibn Said
- Author died
- 409 AH
- Editions
- Dār ‘Ammār
al-Rubā‘ī fī al-Ḥadīth (الرباعي في الحديث, lit. 'The Fourfold in Hadith') is a specialized hadith treatise (juzʾ) by the Egyptian hadith scholar ‘Abd al-Ghanī ibn Sa‘īd al-Azdī (d. 409 AH / 1018 CE) focusing on rare fourfold chains of narration and unique quaternary connections among the Companions and early transmitters .
Background and Composition
The origin of the work stems from an incident recorded by al-Dāraquṭnī from Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan ibn Aḥmad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Subay‘ī . When the vizier Abū al-Fatḥ al-Faḍl ibn Ja‘far ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Furāt arrived in Aleppo, he met with local scholars and asked al-Subay‘ī whether he knew of any chain of transmission (isnād) in which four Companions of the Prophet ﷺ narrated successively, one from another . Al-Subay‘ī cited the narration of al-Sā’ib ibn Yazīd from Ḥuwayṭib ibn ‘Abd al-‘Uzzā from ‘Abd Allāh ibn al-Sa‘dī from ‘Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, which elevated his standing with the vizier . Upon learning of this, ‘Abd al-Ghanī ibn Sa‘īd sought out additional fourfold instances not mentioned by al-Subay‘ī and compiled them in this dedicated tract .
Contents
The treatise documents chains characterized by four successive narrators or four related figures:
- Four successive male Companions (First narrative): Transmitted through Ḥamzah ibn Muḥammad al-Kinānī from al-Nasā’ī via Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī, uniting al-Sā’ib ibn Yazīd, Ḥuwayṭib ibn ‘Abd al-‘Uzzā, ‘Abd Allāh ibn al-Sa‘dī, and ‘Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb concerning compensation for public office and financial gifts .
- Four successive male Companions (Second narrative): A chain linking Nu‘aym ibn Hammār, al-Miqdām ibn Ma‘dīkarib, Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī, and ‘Awf ibn Mālik, concerning obedience and adhering to the Book of God . ‘Abd al-Ghanī notes that Sulaymān ibn ‘Abd al-Raḥmān's transmission from Mu‘āwiyah ibn Ṣāliḥ in this chain represents an instance of elder scholars narrating from younger ones (riwāyat al-kibār ‘an al-ṣighār) .
- Four female Companions/early figures: A chain narrated by al-Zuhrī from ‘Urwah ibn al-Zubayr, uniting four women who each saw the Prophet ﷺ and narrated successively from one another: Zaynab bint Abī Salamah from Ḥabībah bint Umm Ḥabībah from her mother Umm Ḥabībah from Zaynab bint Jaḥsh, concerning the breach in the barrier of Gog and Magog (Yaʾjūj wa-Maʾjūj) . ‘Abd al-Ghanī observes that this narration brings together two wives of the Prophet ﷺ (Umm Ḥabībah and Zaynab bint Jaḥsh) and two of his stepdaughters (Zaynab bint Abī Salamah and Ḥabībah bint Umm Ḥabībah) .
- Four successive generations of Companions: A concluding note detailing four direct generations of father-to-son lineage who all saw the Prophet ﷺ: Abū ‘Atīq Muḥammad, his father ‘Abd al-Raḥmān, his grandfather Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, and his great-grandfather Abū Quḥāfah .
Transmission and Publication
The work was recorded in classical bibliographic compendia such as the Fihrist of Ibn Khayr al-Ishbīlī, through a transmission line leading back from Abū al-Ḥasan ‘Alī ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mawhab to Abū al-‘Abbās al-‘Udhrī, to Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ‘Īsā al-Balawī, from ‘Abd al-Ghanī ibn Sa‘īd . Manuscript copies preserve lines of audition including those through Abū Zakariyyā ‘Abd al-Raḥīm ibn Aḥmad ibn Naṣr al-Bukhārī, Abū al-Ḥasan ‘Alī ibn al-Musharraf al-Anmāṭī, and the judge Abū Muḥammad ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Abd al-Raḥmān al-‘Uthmānī al-Dībājī .
The text was edited by ‘Alī Ḥasan ‘Abd al-Ḥamīd and published by Dār ‘Ammār in Amman, Jordan, in 1408 AH (1988 CE) .
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