Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani
Awali Muslim li-Ibn Hajar
- Author died
- 852 AH
- Editions
- Mu’assasat al-Kutub al-Thaqāfiyyah
Awali Muslim (also known as al-Arbaʿun al-ʿaliyah li-Muslim ʿala al-Bukhari) is a specialized hadith work compiled by the Shafi'i scholar and hadith master Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (773–852 AH / 1372–1449 CE), containing forty selected traditions from Sahih Muslim whose chains of transmission (isnad) are shorter than those of Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari for the same narrations.
Purpose and Methodology
In his introduction, Ibn Hajar explains that the work is a selection of forty hadiths from the Sahih of Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj belonging to the rare and prized category (al-ʿaziz) in which Muslim surpasses al-Bukhari in the elevation of his chains of transmission (ʿuluww) by one narrator in each chain.
Ibn Hajar identifies three main patterns through which this elevation occurs across the collection:
- Muslim reports a hadith directly from a teacher, while al-Bukhari transmits that exact same narration from the same teacher through an intermediary.
- Muslim meets al-Bukhari's third teacher as his own second teacher in the chain.
- Muslim meets al-Bukhari's fourth teacher as his own third teacher in the chain, with the majority of the forty traditions adhering to these comparative structures.
Transmission and Titles
The work is documented across biographical and bibliographical literature under slightly varying titles:
- Ibn Hajar's student al-Sakhawi lists it among his teacher's forty-hadith compilations (al-arbaʿiniyyat) under the title al-Arbaʿun al-ʿaliyah li-Muslim ʿala al-Bukhari fi Sahihihima ("The High Forty of Muslim over al-Bukhari in Their Two Sahihs").
- al-Rudani records it in Silat al-khalaf bi-mawsul al-salaf as al-Arbaʿun al-muntaqah min Sahih Muslim takhrij al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar, transmitting it through chains that trace back to Ibn Hajar via Muhammad ibn ʿAqil and ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Hadi.
- Manuscript copies are held under titles such as Arbaʿun hadithan min ʿawali Muslim ʿala al-Bukhari in repositories including the Central Library in Mecca and collections in Medina and Kuwait.
Publication
The text was edited and published under the title ʿAwali Muslim: Arbaʿun hadithan muntaqah min Sahih Muslim by Kamal Yusuf al-Hut, with an introductory presentation by Sheikh Muhammad Kanʿan, and published by Muʾassasat al-Kutub al-Thaqafiyyah in Beirut (1408 AH / 1988 CE).
Answer updated