al-Tahrir fi Sharh Sahih Muslim - al-Asbahani
- Author died
- 535 AH
- Editions
- Dar Asfar
al-Tahrir fi Sharh Sahih Muslim (The Editing in the Commentary on Sahih Muslim) is a hadith commentary by the Shafi'i scholar and traditionist Ismail ibn Muhammad al-Taymi al-Asbahani, known as Qawam al-Sunnah (457–535 AH / 1065–1141 CE), explaining the hadith compilation Sahih Muslim by Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj .
Composition and Extent
The work was initially undertaken by the author's son, Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ismail, who became known among biographers as "the commentator of Muslim" (sharih Muslim) . Muhammad drafted a substantial portion of the beginning of the commentary but died before completing it . Ismail al-Asbahani completed the commentary through dictation, seeking to benefit his deceased son by finishing the project .
The initial portion drafted by the son is considered lost, and the surviving manuscript preserves the second portion, composed exclusively by Ismail al-Asbahani . This surviving text represents slightly more than half of the compilation, opening with the "Book of Zakat" (Kitab al-Zakah) and concluding with the "Chapter on the Mention of the Dajjal" (Bab Dhikr al-Dajjal) .
Methodology
Chronologically, the work is regarded as the third commentary composed on Sahih Muslim, following the commentaries of al-Mazari and Abd al-Ghafir al-Farsi, making it one of the earliest works representing Eastern scholarly attention to the compilation .
In his approach, al-Asbahani adopts a selective method aimed at concise clarification rather than an exhaustive line-by-line exposition of every narration . Key features of his method include:
- Explaining rare and difficult terms (gharib al-hadith) and citing linguistic evidence .
- Citing only the relevant evidentiary portion of the text (mawdi' al-shahid), abridging hadiths to their opening segments (atraf), or referring to well-known narratives by title or narrator .
- Comparing varying textual transmissions of Sahih Muslim .
- Resolving apparent contradictions and extracting legal rulings and theoretical principles (usul al-fiqh) by cross-referencing supporting prophetic narrations .
- Incorporating critical hadith observations (nukat) and digressions where further elaboration was deemed necessary .
Reception and Publication
al-Tahrir served as an important reference for subsequent hadith commentators, including Ibn Taymiyyah, al-Fakahani, Ibn al-Mulaqqin, Zayn al-Din al-Iraqi, and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani . Al-Nawawi relied upon it as one of his direct sources in his commentary on Sahih Muslim, citing it across fifty-five passages .
The surviving half of the work was edited by Ibrahim Ait Bakhah and published in Kuwait under the Asfar project, with funding provided by Saad Mansur Yusuf al-Khulayfi .
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