Dhayl Mizan al-Itidal

Dhayl Mizan al-Itidal (Supplement to the Balance of Moderation) is a biographical hadith work on flawed and criticized transmitters by Zayn al-Din al-Iraqi (725–806 AH / 1325–1404 CE) al-Hadith wal-Muhaddithun+1. It serves as a supplement to al-Dhahabi's biographical dictionary Mizan al-Itidal fi Naqd al-Rijal (The Balance of Moderation in the Critique of Transmitters) al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha…+1.

Purpose and Composition

Al-Iraqi composed the work in one compact volume after noting that al-Dhahabi, despite his extensive coverage, had omitted a group of criticized narrators (man tukullima fihim), while mentioning others only incidentally within the entries of different figures al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha…+1. He completed the book before 29 Ramadan 771 AH, the date he finished his commentary on his own Alfiyyah in hadith terminology, where he explicitly refers to this supplement al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha….

Structure, Method, and Sources

Al-Iraqi organized the biographical entries into defined categories based on how the narrators were commonly known:

• Transmitters identified primarily by their given names (ism) al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha….
• Transmitters identified by their agnomens (kunyah) al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha….
• Transmitters identified by their relational names (nisbah) al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha….

Within each entry, he recorded available genealogical data, titles, and epithets, as well as the specific criticisms or corroborating appraisals attached to each narrator al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha…+1. In evaluating transmitters, he applied the fivefold tiering of critique and accreditation terminology established by al-Dhahabi in the introduction to Mizan al-Itidal al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha…. He adopted a balanced stance toward critics, critically assessing the appraisals of both stringent and lenient authorities al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha…+1.

A substantial portion of the narrators supplemented by al-Iraqi belonged to the transmitters of the six canonical hadith collections found in al-Mizzi's Tahdhib al-Kamal al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha…+1. Beyond that work, he relied on more than fifty primary sources across transmitter criticism, hadith collections, and defect literature (ilal), including the works of al-Bukhari, Abu Hatim al-Razi, Abu Sa'id ibn Yunus, Ibn Mandah, al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Adi, Ibn Hibban, al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, al-Daraqutni, and Ibn Abd al-Barr al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha….

Reception and Influence

The text served as a primary source for al-Iraqi's student Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in composing Lisan al-Mizan (The Tongue of the Balance) al-Hadith wal-Muhaddithun+1. Ibn Hajar incorporated al-Iraqi's additions, designating entries drawn from this supplement with the Arabic letter dhal (ذ), though he omitted those narrators already treated in his own Tahdhib al-Tahdhib al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha…+1. Material derived from al-Iraqi's supplement represents roughly one-third of Ibn Hajar's additions to al-Dhahabi's original text al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha….

Later scholars also cited the work, including Ibn Iraq in Tanzih al-Shariah al-Marfu'ah, where he consulted it directly, and Abd al-Ra'uf al-Munawi via Lisan al-Mizan al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha….

Printed Editions

The work has been published in modern editions, including:

• An edition edited by Abd al-Qayyum Abd Rabb al-Nabi, published by the Center for Scientific Research and Islamic Heritage Revival at Umm al-Qura University in Mecca Tahrir al-Maqal fi Muwaza….
• An edition edited by Ali Muhammad Mu'awwad and Adil Ahmad Abd al-Mawjud, published by Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah in Beirut (1416 AH / 1995 CE) Ithaf al-Murtaqi bi-Taraj…+1.