al-Salat li Abi Nuaym al-Fadl ibn Dukayn
- Author died
- 219 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Ghurabāʼ al-Athariyyah
Kitāb al-Ṣalāh (The Book of Prayer) is an early Hadith collection compiled by the Kufan traditionist Abū Nuʿaym al-Faḍl ibn Dukayn (130–219 AH / 748–834 CE), focusing on the ritual prayer, its merits, and related legal practices .
Content and Method
The work compiles prophetic traditions (aḥādīth) and narrations from the Companions and Successors (āthār) concerning prayer, transmitted through the author's own chains of narration (asānīd) . Among the texts transmitted through his work is the narration stating that prayer is the pillar of the religion ( الصلاة عمود الدين ), narrated by al-Faḍl ibn Dukayn via Ḥabīb ibn Sulaym from Bilāl ibn Yaḥyā as a mursal report , as well as legal narrations documenting the practices and prayer times of early authorities such as ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd .
In addition to being referenced under the title Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, the work is also cited in later traditional scholarship under the related title Kitāb Faḍl al-Ṣalāh (The Merits of Prayer) .
Reception and Scholarly Standing
The written collections of al-Faḍl ibn Dukayn enjoyed high repute for accuracy and reliability among early Hadith masters. ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak examined his written notebooks and remarked: "I have never seen [books] more correct than them" . Similarly, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal praised the authority of his written records, stating: "When Abū Nuʿaym dies, his book will become an authority (imām); whenever people differ regarding something, they will turn to it" .
Later scholars of Hadith and legal commentary regularly drew on Ibn Dukayn's Kitāb al-Ṣalāh for Hadith extraction and verification, including al-Damīrī, Murtaḍā al-Zabīdī, and ʿAbd al-Raʾūf al-Munāwī .
Transmission and Modern Editions
Manuscripts of the text survived in traditional repositories, including a manuscript preserved in Cairo (Mulḥaq no. 19059/b) featuring a formal audition record (qayd al-samāʿ) dating to 403 AH .
The work has been edited and published in modern print, notably in an edition edited by Ṣalāḥ ibn ʿĀʾiḍ al-Shalāmī and published by Maktabat al-Ghurabāʾ al-Athariyyah .
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