al-Sunan al-Saghir lil-Bayhaqi
- Author died
- 458 AH
- Editions
- Jāmi‘at al-Dirāsāt al-Islāmiyyah
al-Sunan al-Saghir (The Minor Sunan) is a concise collection of legal hadiths compiled by the Shafi'i traditionist and jurist Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqi (384–458 AH / 994–1066 CE) . It serves as an abridged reference for legal rulings and evidence arranged according to the standard chapters of Islamic jurisprudence .
Composition and Purpose
In the introduction to the work, al-Bayhaqi explains that having previously authored a concise book outlining the essential theological tenets (usul) incumbent upon every mature believer—supported by concise proofs from the Quran, the Sunnah, and consensus—he resolved after performing the prayer for guidance (istikhara) to follow it with a practical legal companion .
His stated purpose was to elucidate the correct approach and practice of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jama'ah in applying the Shari'ah in an abridged format, covering acts of ritual worship (ibadat), commercial transactions (mu'amalat), marriage and family law (munakahat), penal codes (hudud), interstate and military conduct (siyar), and judicial administration (hukumat) .
Structure and Method
Like al-Bayhaqi's comprehensive collection al-Sunan al-Kabir, the work is structured along the sequence of legal topics found in Mukhtasar al-Muzani, the seminal summary of Shafi'i law by Isma'il ibn Yahya al-Muzani . While the major al-Sunan al-Kabir spans ten volumes, al-Sunan al-Saghir was condensed into a two-volume scope .
Al-Bayhaqi records the traditions with connected chains of transmission (isnad) tracing back through his direct teachers, drawing on approximately sixty immediate shaykhs across the text .
Reception and Manuscripts
The work is documented across biographical and bibliographical literature under slight title variations, including al-Sunan al-Saghir, al-Sunan al-Sughra, and al-Sunan al-Saghirah . It was transmitted and cited by prominent scholars, including al-Sam'ani, who listed it among the works he heard with an unbroken audition chain, as well as al-Dhahabi, Taj al-Din al-Subki, Ibn Kathir, Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti, Hajji Khalifa, and Muhammad ibn Ja'far al-Kattani .
Manuscript copies of the work are preserved in libraries such as the Topkapi Palace Museum and the Ahmad III collection in Istanbul (MS Ahmet III 260 / 269) . Modern printed editions include that edited by Abd al-Mu'ti Qal'aji, published in Beirut in 1412 AH / 1992 CE .
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