Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani
al-Ujab fi Bayan al-Asbab
- Author died
- 852 AH
- Editions
- Dār Ibn al-Jawzī
al-ʿUjāb fī bayān al-asbāb (The Marvel in Clarifying Occasions of Revelation) is an extensive specialized work on the occasions of Quranic revelation (asbāb al-nuzūl) by the Egyptian Shafi'i hadith master Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (773–852 AH / 1372–1449 CE).
Composition and Transmission
Ibn Hajar explicitly stated the full title al-ʿUjāb fī bayān al-asbāb at the conclusion of his introduction. He cross-referenced the work in his biographical dictionary al-Iṣābah fī tamyīz al-ṣaḥābah under variations of its name, including Asbāb al-nuzūl, Sabab al-nuzūl, and al-Asbāb, and it was cataloged among his writings by his students Burhan al-Din al-Biqa'i and Shams al-Din al-Sakhawi.
Ibn Hajar composed the work definitively prior to 827 AH. He left the treatise in draft form (musawwada) at his death, without producing a final fair copy (mubayyada). The scholar ‘Abd al-Haqq al-Sunbati (842–931 AH) transcribed a fair copy from Ibn Hajar’s manuscript. Although Ibn Hajar appears to have originally completed the work for the entire Quran, most of the remainder was lost shortly after his death, and the surviving text breaks off at the discussion of verse 78 of Surah al-Nisa' ( أَيْنَمَا تَكُونُوا يُدْرِكْكُمُ الْمَوْتُ "Wherever you may be, death will overtake you").
Scope and Structure
The work is considered the most comprehensive compilation dedicated to asbāb al-nuzūl. In the surviving section covering the text up to Surah al-Nisa' verse 78, Ibn Hajar treats 320 topical headings, compared to 155 entries found across the same span in the foundational earlier work of al-Wahidi (d. 468 AH).
Ibn Hajar preceded the book with a comprehensive introductory chapter analyzing the tiers of Quranic exegetes and the transmission chains (ṭuruq) of tafsir, which allowed him to avoid repetitive source critiques throughout the main text. He arranged the material sequentially according to the standard Quranic chapter and verse order, adopting the recitation of Hafs 'an 'Asim for verse headings except in two recorded instances (verse 106 of al-Baqarah and verse 33 of al-Nisa'). When an individual verse addressed multiple themes, he divided it segment by segment to cite the distinct occasions transmitted for each part. When multiple conflicting or corroborating reports occurred for a single passage, he arranged them under subheadings such as "another opinion" (qawl ākhar) or "another occasion" (sabab ākhar).
Methodology and Sources
Ibn Hajar's methodology follows two complementary approaches:
- An engagement with al-Wahidi's Asbāb nuzūl al-Qur'ān, in which he cites al-Wahidi's statements and appends critical corrections and evaluations.
- An independent compilation method drawing directly on original hadith collections and classical works of tafsir, adding extensive narrations absent from earlier works.
As a traditionist, Ibn Hajar evaluated transmission chains (asānīd) and narrators, assessing continuity (waṣl), hurrying/omission (irsāl), anomaly (shudhūdh), and defects (nakārah). The work serves as a primary preservation source for quotations from early tafsir works whose original manuscripts are lost, including the commentaries of al-Firyabi, Sunayd, Ishaq ibn Rahwayh, Abd ibn Humayd, Ibn al-Mundhir, Abu al-Shaykh Ibn Hayyan, Ibn Shahin, and Ibn Mardawayh.
Reception and Editions
Ibn Hajar's independent, critically vetted approach served as a direct model for Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 911 AH), who adopted this methodology when composing his own handbook on the subject, Lubāb al-nuqūl fī asbāb al-nuzūl.
The surviving portion of al-ʿUjāb fī bayān al-asbāb was edited from its unique surviving manuscript by Abd al-Hakim Muhammad al-Anis and published in two volumes by Dar Ibn al-Jawzi in Dammam (1418 AH / 1997 CE).
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