al-Sunan al-Mathura lil-Shafii
- Author died
- 204 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Maʿrifah
al-Sunan al-Ma’thura (Arabic: السنن المأثورة عن الشافعي, lit. 'The Transmitted Traditions of al-Shafi‘i') is a collection of legal hadiths transmitted from the jurist al-Shafi'i (150–204 AH / 767–820 CE) . The collection was assembled and transmitted by the Egyptian jurist and hadith master al-Tahawi (d. 321 AH) from what he received from his maternal uncle al-Muzani, directly from al-Shafi‘i .
Origin and Scope
Unlike the broader Musnad of al-Shafi‘i—which was extracted by scholars from the transmissions of Abu al-‘Abbas al-Asamm from al-Rabi‘ ibn Sulayman based on Kitab al-Umm and al-Mabsut—al-Sunan al-Ma’thura represents the specific hadith material that al-Tahawi heard and collected directly from al-Muzani on the authority of al-Shafi‘i . It is also referred to among scholars under the titles Sunan al-Shafi‘i and Sunan al-Tahawi . A parallel compilation bearing the title al-Sunan was transmitted from al-Shafi‘i via Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abd al-Hakam in two parts .
Structure and Transmission
The book forms a compact single volume (mujallad latif) . In classical audition records, it was organized into four parts (arba‘at ajza’), or divided across seven parts in certain transmissions . The second half of the work opens with the chapter on the reclamation of land (Bab ‘Imarat al-Ard) and continues to the end of the text .
The primary chain of transmission leading back through al-Tahawi, al-Muzani, and al-Shafi‘i is noted by hadith scholars for being exclusively Egyptian (musalsal bi-l-Misriyyin) . Transmitters from al-Tahawi include Abu al-Qasim al-Maymun ibn Hamza al-Husayni and the hadith master Abu al-Husayn Muhammad ibn al-Muzaffar . Highly accurate manuscript copies preserving historical audition certificates (sama‘at) across successive generations have been preserved, including an early copy in the Hagia Sophia library in Istanbul .
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