al-Ujala fi al-Ahadith al-Musalsala
- Author died
- 1411 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Baṣāʾir
al-Ujala fi al-Ahadith al-Musalsala (The Prompt Treatise on Uniformly Chained Hadiths) is a specialized hadith work compiled by the Meccan Shafi'i traditionist and isnad scholar Abu al-Fayd Muhammad Yasin ibn Muhammad Isa al-Fadani (1335–1410 AH / 1916–1990 CE; another report gives his death year as 1411 AH) . The book collects narrations transmitted through continuous chains that share an identical verbal phrasing, physical gesture, or narrator condition (al-ahadith al-musalsala) .
Background and Composition
The compilation of the work took place during al-Fadani's visit to Medina following the conclusion of World War II . While visiting his colleague Abu al-Fadl Muhammad Ibrahim ibn Mulla Sa'd Allah al-Khatani al-Madani at his residence in al-Saha, al-Fadani met several hadith scholars from various Islamic regions . At al-Khatani's request, al-Fadani initially transmitted the Hadith of Mercy (al-Musalsal bi-al-Awwaliyya) . Following persistent requests from the assembly to transmit a full corpus of musalsal traditions under their rigorous conditions of audition and enactment, the group visited al-Fadani at his lodgings in the residence of Abu Bakr 'Abd al-Jawad, the imam of Bab al-Rahmah, bearing a manuscript copy of the musalsalat collection of Muhammad ibn al-Tayyib al-Madani .
Al-Fadani acceded to their request and dictated this treatise to them, restricting his selection strictly to the hadiths included in Ibn al-Tayyib's compilation . The students received the traditions from him directly in accordance with their established criteria, complete with their recited phrases and physical enactments . Upon concluding, al-Fadani granted the attendees a specific license (ijaza khassa) for the text, along with a general authorization (ijaza 'amma) to all contemporaries of his era for all of his transmissions and writings .
Contents and Method
The work arranges individual musalsal hadiths according to the particular feature of unbroken transmission that characterizes their chains . For each tradition, al-Fadani provides full transmission chains linking him to early masters such as Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti and Ibn al-Tayyib al-Maghribi, using teachers including 'Ali ibn Falih al-Zahiri, Ahmad ibn 'Abd Allah al-Mukhallalati, Khalifah ibn Hamad al-Nabhani, Ibrahim ibn Musa al-Khuzami, and Muhammad 'Abd al-Hayy al-Kattani .
The collection includes entries such as:
- al-Musalsal bi-al-Awwaliyya (the hadith of primal transmission, being the first heard by each student from their teacher) .
- al-Musalsal bi-al-Musafaha (transmitted with a sequential handshake between master and disciple) .
- al-Musalsal bi-al-Mushabaka (transmitted with the interlocking of fingers) .
- al-Musalsal bi-al-Buka' (transmitted with weeping at the point of recitation) .
- al-Musalsal bi-al-Qasam (transmitted with taking a formal oath) .
The text also incorporates hadith critical commentary drawn from authorities such as Ibn al-Tayyib and al-Suyuti, distinguishing between the authenticity of a hadith's underlying text (matn) and the technical weakness or contestation that often attaches to the unbroken nature of its musalsal transmission chain .
Publication
The work was published by Dar al-Basa'ir in Damascus in 1405 AH / 1985 CE in a 128-page edition, appearing as the seventh volume in their series on chains of transmission and uniformly chained hadiths (Asanid wa-Musalsalat) .
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