al-Taqyid li-Marifat Ruwat al-Sunan wa-al-Masanid
- Author died
- 629 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyah
al-Taqyid li-Maʿrifat Ruwat al-Sunan wa-al-Masanid (The Binding Record for Identifying the Transmitters of the Sunan and Masanid Collections) is a biographical reference work by the Baghdadi hadith scholar Ibn Nuqta (d. 629 AH / 1231 CE), devoted to documenting the transmitters who conveyed major hadith compilations across intermediate and later generations.
Scope and Methodology
While biographical dictionaries in hadith literature typically focused on the narrators found within primary chains of the Prophet's companions and early successors, al-Taqyid belongs to a distinct genre designed to identify the transmitters through whom the foundational hadith books, such as Sunan and Musnad collections, were preserved and passed down to later centuries. The work is also recorded under variant titles, including al-Taqyid fi Maʿrifat Ruwat al-Kutub wa-al-Asanid and al-Taqyid fi Maʿrifat Ruwat al-Sunan wa-al-Masanid.
The author concentrated specifically on the transmitters of prominent Sunan and Musnad works. When documenting lines of transmission for particular books—such as the Sunan of al-Daraqutni—he identified intermediate narrators and noted that a given transmitter narrated the collection from a specific teacher rather than recording exhaustive single chains from start to finish in one place. He restricted his coverage of the Muwatta of Malik ibn Anas strictly to those transmitting it via the route of Abu Musʿab, and he omitted works outside his designated focus, such as Musnad al-Shihab.
Reception and Continuations
The book was read and transmitted directly from Ibn Nuqta during his lifetime; the man of letters Ibn Suraqa al-Shatibi heard the work from him in Baghdad in Shaʿban 625 AH. Later biographical authorities, including al-Safadi, praised the compilation as a highly beneficial single volume.
The Meccan historian Taqi al-Din al-Fasi (d. 832 AH / 1429 CE) praised the work for its wealth of useful information and composed a major continuation titled Dhayl al-Taqyid fi Ruwat al-Sunan wa-al-Asanid. In his supplement, al-Fasi expanded upon Ibn Nuqta's entries by including well-known early transmitters and contemporaries whom Ibn Nuqta had omitted, supplying transmission details that were missing, and extending the biographical coverage down to his own era across a broader range of hadith compilations.
Modern Editions
The work has been published in several modern editions, including:
- An edition printed by Daʾirat al-Maʿarif al-ʿUthmaniyyah in Hyderabad (1404 AH / 1984 CE).
- An edition published by Dar al-Hadith in Beirut (1407 AH / 1986 CE).
- An edition edited by Kamal Yusuf al-Hut, published by Dar al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah in Beirut (1408 AH / 1988 CE).
Answer updated