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Khaldun al-Ahdab

al-Tasنيف fi al-Sunna al-Nabawiyya

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King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran

al-Taṣnīf fī al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyyah (Classification and Authorship in the Prophetic Sunna) is a contemporary bibliographical and historical study by Khaldun Muhammad Salim al-Ahdab, surveying modern scholarly literature on the Prophetic Sunna and hadith sciences across the Islamic world over a seventy-four-year span (1351–1424 AH).

Scope and Purpose

The work chronicles modern authorship and classification (taṣnīf) in the Prophetic Sunna and its ancillary disciplines, documenting the major works produced between 1351 AH and 1424 AH. It aims to track the development of hadith scholarship in the modern era, identifying key themes, methodologies, and scholarly trends across Islamic countries. Before examining individual writings, the author notes the fundamental role played by the critical editing (taḥqīq) of classical manuscripts—such as the landmark publications of the Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif al-ʿUthmāniyyah in Hyderabad—in providing the essential source material that facilitated modern analytical and thematic compositions.

Structure and Contents

The book begins with two preliminary sections followed by a survey of fifteen categories of modern authorship:

  • Introductory Studies: The first section explores the linguistic and technical definitions of taṣnīf, drawing upon classical lexicographers and scholars such as Ibn Faris, al-Zamakhshari, al-Sharif al-Jurjani, and al-Munawi. The second section examines the motives for composition in the modern period, framing them within classical classifications of authorial intent outlined by Ibn Hazm and elaborated by Ibn Khaldun.
  • Thematic Categories: The main body organizes modern hadith literature into fifteen distinct fields:
    1. The authoritativeness and legal status of the Sunna, and the refutation of doubts raised against it.
    2. The history of the Sunna and its sciences.
    3. Hadith nomenclature and methodology (ʿulūm al-ḥadīth).
    4. Monographic studies on prominent hadith masters and their scholarly impact.
    5. Modern hadith compendia (al-majāmīʿ al-ḥadīthiyyah).
    6. Hadith verification and provenance studies (kutub al-takhrīj).
    7. Complementary hadith compilations (kutub al-zawāʾid).
    8. Rearrangements and reorganizations of classical collections (tartīb kutub al-ḥadīth).
    9. Hadith indices and concordances (al-fahrasah).
    10. Modern commentaries on hadith works (shurūḥ).
    11. Legal and jurisprudential analysis of the Sunna (fiqh al-sunnah).
    12. Epistemological and civilizational studies derived from hadith.
    13. Linguistic, rhetorical, and literary analyses of the Prophetic text.
    14. Studies on scientific indications in hadith (al-iʿjāz al-ʿilmī).
    15. Anthologies, abridgments, and selections (al-jamʿ, al-tahdhīb, wal-ikhtiṣār).

Publication

The book was published in Beirut by Muʾassasat al-Rayyān in a single volume (1st edition, 1427 AH / 2006 CE) under the extended title al-Taṣnīf fī al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyyah wa-ʿUlūmihā min Bidayat al-Muntaṣaf al-Thānī lil-Qarn al-Rābiʿ ʿAshar al-Hijrī ilā Nihāyat al-Rubʿ al-Awwal min al-Qarn al-Khāmis ʿAshar al-Hijrī.

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