al-Tawsi'a ala al-Iyal li Abi Zura'a
- Author died
- 806 AH
- Editions
- مخطوط نُشر في برنامج جوامع الكلم المجاني التابع لموقع الشبكة الإسلامية
al-Tawsi’a ‘ala al-‘Iyal (Arabic: التوسعة على العيال, lit. 'Generosity in Spending on Dependents') is a short hadith monograph composed by the Shafi'i hadith master Zayn al-Din al-Iraqi (725–806 AH / 1325–1404 CE) to analyze the transmissions concerning spending generously on one’s family on the day of Ashura .
Background and Purpose
The treatise was occasioned by repeated queries from laypeople over several years regarding the permissibility of consuming chicken and prepared grains on the day of Ashura . Al-Iraqi responded that such acts are permissible in origin and constitute acts of obedience when accompanied by a righteous intention . After learning that a contemporary scholar had declared these practices prohibited and claimed that nothing beyond fasting is recommended on Ashura—relying upon the rulings of Ibn Taymiyya—al-Iraqi examined Ibn Taymiyya’s verdicts on the matter .
Al-Iraqi authored the work to refute Ibn Taymiyya's assertion that no Muslim authority recommended spending generously on one's family on Ashura, that no hadith master reported it, and that its highest transmission was merely a severed report from Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn al-Muntashir . Al-Iraqi countered that practicing generosity on Ashura was upheld by Companions and Successors such as Umar ibn al-Khattab, Jabir ibn Abd Allah, Shu'ba ibn al-Hajjaj, Yahya ibn Sa'id al-Ansari, and Sufyan ibn Uyayna . He also addressed Ibn Taymiyya’s dismissal of transmissions originating in Kufa, arguing that rejecting Kufan reports due to sectarian groups would undermine a vast corpus of authentic prophetic traditions transmitted through Kufan authorities like Ibrahim al-Nakha'i, al-Aswad, and al-A'mash .
Structure and Content
The monograph gathers and critically evaluates the various chains of transmission (turuq) for the hadith stating: من وسع على عياله يوم عاشوراء وسع الله عليه سائر سنته ("Whoever spends generously on his family on the day of Ashura, God will expand his provision for the rest of the year") :
- Hadith of Jabir ibn Abd Allah: Narrated by Ibn Abd al-Barr in al-Istidhkar via Abu al-Zubayr from Jabir . Al-Iraqi judged this route to be the soundest in the chapter, noting that its transmitters are those of Sahih Muslim and that it qualifies at least as a good (hasan) narration . He also documented supporting narrations through Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir from Jabir .
- Hadith of Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud: Transmitted by al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir and al-Bayhaqi in Shu'ab al-Iman through Haytham ibn Shaddakh from al-A'mash . Al-Iraqi evaluated a separate, longer version cited by Ibn Asakir as uncorroborated and rejected (munkar) . He pointed out an error in Majd al-Din Ibn al-Athir's Jami' al-Usul and its abridgment, where Ibn Mas'ud's hadith was erroneously marked as being in the Six Books or Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim .
- Hadith of Abu Hurayra: Recorded by al-Bayhaqi and Ibn Adi through Muhammad ibn Dhakwan from Sulayman ibn Abi Abd Allah . Al-Iraqi maintained that under Ibn Hibban's methodology, this chain is sound (hasan or sahih) because Ibn Hibban declared its transmitters trustworthy . He also addressed a lengthy variant transmitted by Abu al-Fadl Ibn Nasir through Ibn Abi al-Zinad; while Ibn Nasir authenticated it, al-Iraqi concurred with Ibn al-Jawzi and Ibn Taymiyya that its additions regarding cosmic origins and inflated reward descriptions were fabricated (mawdu') .
- Hadiths of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri and Abd Allah ibn Umar: Documented from sources including Ishaq ibn Rahwayh's Musnad, Ibn Abi al-Dunya, al-Daraqutni's al-Afrad, and al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, noting the individual weaknesses in their intermediate links .
- Companion and Successor Reports: Includes a report halted at Umar ibn al-Khattab (mawquf) with a good chain (isnad jayyid) recorded by Ibn Abd al-Barr, stating: من وسع على أهله ليلة عاشوراء وسع الله عليه سائر السنة ("Whoever spends generously on his family on the eve of Ashura, God will expand his provision for the rest of the year") . It concludes with the tested experiences (tajriba) reported by Yahya ibn Sa'id, Sufyan ibn Uyayna, and Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn al-Muntashir .
Al-Iraqi concludes that although individual chains carry weakness, their mutual corroboration lends collective strength to the hadith, supporting its status as an established practice in Islamic jurisprudence .
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