al-Tankil bima fi Tanib al-Kawthari min al-Abatil
- Author died
- 1386 AH
- Editions
- T. al-Maktab al-Islami
al-Tankil bima fi Tanib al-Kawthari min al-Abatil (Vindication Against the Falsehoods in al-Kawthari's Reprimand) is a multi-volume polemical and critical work by the Yemeni scholar Abd al-Rahman al-Muallimi al-Yamani (1313–1386 AH / 1895–1966 CE) . Written as a detailed response to Muhammad Zahid al-Kawthari's Tanib al-Khatib, the work addresses criticisms directed against early Hadith transmitters, jurists, methodological rules of Hadith criticism (jarh wa-ta'dil), and traditional theological stances .
Background and Composition
In 1360 AH, Muhammad Zahid al-Kawthari published Tanib al-Khatib ala ma Saqahu fi Tarjamat Abi Hanifah min al-Akadhib in Egypt to refute the biographical account of Abu Hanifah recorded by al-Khatib al-Baghdadi in Tarikh Baghdad . When a colleague asked al-Mu'allimi to examine al-Kawthari's book, he initially declined, but upon reading portions of it, he determined that al-Kawthari had extended his defense of Abu Hanifah into attacks against foundational transmitters, early jurists, and established Hadith methodology .
Al-Mu'allimi composed the work while residing in India over the span of roughly two years, originally intending to title it al-Naqd al-Bari (or al-Naqd al-Bari fi al-Radd ala al-Kawthari) before adopting the title al-Tankil . As the work neared completion around 1368–1370 AH, he published an advance sample under the title Tali'at al-Tankil in Egypt in 1368 AH . When al-Kawthari responded to the introductory booklet with a treatise titled al-Tarhib bi-Naqd al-Tanib, al-Mu'allimi composed additional supplementary tracts, including Ta'ziz al-Tali'ah and Shukr al-Tarhib .
Structure and Contents
The text opens with five introductory chapters outlining the primary purpose of the book, examining excessive partisanship toward revered figures (al-ghuluww fi al-afadil), clarifying inter-scholarly critiques, responding to al-Kawthari's disavowals, and analyzing historical disputes surrounding the theological controversy of the createdness of the Qur'an . Following these preludes, the author organized the main text into four distinct parts:
- Principles (al-Qawa'id): A systematic clarification of foundational rules in Hadith criticism, narrator evaluation, and reporting standards that al-Kawthari was argued to have compromised or applied inconsistently .
- Biographical Entries (al-Tarajim): An alphabetically arranged biographical critical dictionary examining more than three hundred transmitters and scholars criticized by al-Kawthari—including the Companion Anas ibn Malik, Hisham ibn Urwah, the imams Malik ibn Anas, al-Shafi'i, and Ahmad ibn Hanbal, as well as al-Khatib al-Baghdadi—alongside evaluations of problematic figures whom al-Kawthari attempted to declare reliable .
- Jurisprudential Issues (al-Fiqhiyyat / al-Bahth ma'a al-Hanafiyyah fi Sab'at Ashar Qadiyyah): An analysis of seventeen distinct legal questions in which early critics had objected to rulings attributed to Abu Hanifah and his companions, evaluating al-Kawthari's defense of those positions against the relevant prophetic traditions .
- Theology (al-I'tiqadiyyat / al-Qa'id ila Tashih al-Aqa'id): A defense of early Hadith scholars' creedal formulations against accusations of anthropomorphism (tajsim) and sectarian deviance, addressing multiple theological issues raised in al-Kawthari's writings .
Publication History and Reception
al-Tankil was not published during al-Mu'allimi's lifetime; it first appeared in print in Shawwal 1386 AH, roughly seven months after his death in Safar 1386 AH . The first edition was published in two volumes by al-Maktab al-Islami through the financial sponsorship of Muhammad Nasif and was verified and annotated by Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani .
A revised second edition was published in 1406 AH / 1986 CE, incorporating the text of Tali'at al-Tankil, Muhammad Bahjat al-Bitar's al-Kawthari wa-Ta'liqatuh, and Abd al-Razzaq Hamzah's al-Muqabalah bayn al-Huda wa-l-Dalal, with annotations by al-Albani, Abd al-Razzaq Hamzah, and Zuhayr al-Shawish . Maktabat al-Ma'arif in Riyadh also issued editions in 1406 AH and 1426 AH based on the original print . It was later edited critically from the author's manuscripts as volumes 10 and 11 of Athar al-Mu'allimi .
The book is widely recognized among modern Hadith specialists for its precision, restraint in polemical debate, and command of transmitter criticism . Scholars such as al-Albani and Bakr Abu Zayd highlighted it as a landmark reference that introduced al-Mu'allimi's critical scholarship to contemporary audiences .
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