Muhammad bin Ali bin Adam al-Ethiopi
Dhakhirat al-Uqba fi Sharh al-Mujtaba
- Author died
- 1442 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Mi‘rāj al-Dawliyyah lil-Nashr (Vols. 1–5)
Dhakhirat al-Uqba fi Sharh al-Mujtaba (The Treasure of the Hereafter in Explaining al-Mujtaba) is an extensive, forty-volume hadith commentary on Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Nasa'i's al-Mujtaba (also known as al-Sunan al-Sughra), authored by the Ethiopian scholar and teacher at Dar al-Hadith al-Khayriyyah in Mecca, Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Adam al-Ityubi (d. 1442 AH / 2020 CE) .
Background and Purpose
Al-Ityubi authored the commentary after observing that al-Mujtaba lacked an exhaustive work that untangled its terminology, clarified its meanings, investigated its chains of transmission (asānīd) and narrator biographies, addressed textual obscurities, and derived legal rulings (aḥkām) . Alongside its primary title, the author also gave the work the alternative title Ghayat al-Muna fi Sharh al-Mujtana .
The commentary was composed in Mecca, where al-Ityubi resided, with earlier volumes written in the al-Hindawiyyah quarter and later volumes completed in the al-Zahra' district .
Method and Scope
In his introductory notices, al-Ityubi defined his role not as an originator of novel prose, but as a compiler and organizer of the positions of verifying scholars (al-muḥaqqiqūn), giving precedence to what he deemed most consonant with the apparent text .
The work addresses:
- Detailed analysis of every narrator in the transmission chains, evaluating their standing in hadith criticism.
- Explanation of lexical, grammatical, and rhetorical intricacies within the hadith texts.
- Examination of textual variants, hidden defects (ʿilal), and differing transmission pathways reported by al-Nasa'i.
- Extraction of legal deductions and jurisprudential discussions across the Sunni legal schools.
Publication
The work was published in forty volumes:
- Volumes 1–5 were published by Dar al-Mi'raj al-Dawliyyah in 1416 AH / 1996 CE and printed in Cairo .
- Volumes 6–40 were published in Mecca by Dar Al Burum across several stages: volumes 6–7 in 1419 AH / 1999 CE; volumes 8–9 in 1420 AH / 1999 CE; volumes 10–12 in 1419–1420 AH / 2000 CE; and volumes 13–40 in 1424 AH / 2003 CE .
In Shawwal 1420 AH, al-Ityubi signed an exclusive authorization for Dar Al Burum and its director, Ali ibn Muhammad Al Burum, to print and publish the entire work .
Reception
Contemporary scholars have highlighted Dhakhirat al-Uqba as one of the most comprehensive and detailed modern commentaries on Sunan al-Nasa'i, filling a historical gap in full-scale commentaries on al-Mujtaba . Scholar Abd al-Karim al-Khudayr noted its exceptional breadth among modern contributions to the literature of the Six Books .
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