Dhakhair al-Uqba fi Manaqib Dhawi al-Qurba
- Author died
- 694 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Qudsi li-Sahibiha Husam al-Din al-Qudsi
Dhakhair al-Uqba fi Manaqib Dhawi al-Qurba (The Treasures of the Hereafter Regarding the Merits of the Kinfolk) is a biographical and hadith compilation on the virtues of the family and relatives of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, authored by the Shafi'i jurist and scholar Muhibb al-Din al-Tabari (d. 694 AH / 1295 CE).
Scope and Structure
The book is structured into two main parts:
- Part One: Addresses the general virtues, rights, and standing of the Prophet's relatives collectively, arranged in nine chapters.
- Part Two: Details the specific biographies and individual merits of the relatives across several chapters, each subdivided into multiple sections. It encompasses the Prophet's children, grandchildren, paternal uncles and their descendants, grandmothers, mother and her maternal ancestors, foster mothers, foster siblings, and his nursemaids.
Reception and Criticism
The work is considered among the prominent Sunni compilations on the virtues of the Prophet's household (Ahl al-Bayt). It received praise from scholars such as Ibn al-Wazir, who commended its correspondence of title to substance. The fifteenth-century hadith scholar al-Sakhawi utilized it as a major source for his own treatise on the Prophet's relatives, Istijlab Irtiqa al-Ghuraf.
Hadith critics noted methodological shortcomings in the compilation. Al-Sakhawi observed that al-Tabari was lenient in transmitting hadiths, incorporating numerous fabricated (mawdu'), uncorroborated (wahiya), and objectionable (munkar) reports without alerting readers to their defectiveness. He further cited Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani's assessment that al-Tabari frequently fell into error regarding hadith attributions and transmission.
Publication History
The work was first printed in Cairo in 1356 AH (1937 CE) by Matba'at al-Qudsi and Matba'at al-Sa'ada, and later reprinted by Dar al-Ma'rifa in Beirut in 1974. A critical edition edited by Akram al-Bushi and Mahmud al-Arna'ut was published in one volume by Maktabat al-Sahaba in Jeddah in 1415 AH / 1995 CE.
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