al-Zuhd lil-Muafa ibn Imran al-Mawsili
- Author died
- 185 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Bashāʾir al-Islāmiyyah
Kitab al-Zuhd (The Book of Renunciation) is an early compilation of hadith and transmitted reports on asceticism, piety, and spiritual discipline by the traditionist and jurist al-Mu'afa ibn 'Imran al-Mawsili (125–185 AH / c. 742–801 CE; other reports place his death in 184 or 186 AH) .
Background and Authorship
Al-Mu'afa ibn 'Imran, a prominent scholar from Mosul who closely studied under Sufyan al-Thawri and gathered narrations across the Hijaz, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and the Jazira, compiled his materials into topical collections . In his biographical entry on al-Mu'afa in Tarikh al-Mawsil, Abu Zakariyya Yazid ibn Muhammad al-Azdi recorded that al-Mu'afa authored works on renunciation (al-zuhd), legal traditions (al-sunan), trials and tribulations (al-fitan), and proper conduct (al-adab) .
Contents and Method
The work consists of prophetic traditions, early ascetic sayings, and moral exhortations transmitted with chains of narration (asānīd) . It includes both fully attributed (marfūʿ) and predecessor-attributed (mursal) reports, including chains going through early authorities such as al-Hasan al-Basri via transmitters like Mubarak ibn Fadala . The material focuses on core themes of early ascetic literature, including detachment from worldly indulgence, patience, humility, and contentment with minimal sustenance .
Preservation and Publication
A surviving manuscript of the text is preserved in the Zahiriyya Library in Damascus within a collective manuscript (majmūʿ, collection no. 359 / Hadith), comprising 19 folios . The book was edited and published by Dr. 'Amir Hasan Sabri, who appended to his edition a reconstructed compilation of al-Mu'afa's scattered narrations from various external hadith sources, titled Musnad al-Mu'afa ibn 'Imran .
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