Dhayl Tadhkirat al-Huffaz lil-Husayni
- Author died
- 765 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah
Dhayl Tadhkirat al-Huffaz (Arabic: ذيل تذكرة الحفاظ, lit. 'Continuation of the Memorial of the Hadith Masters') is a biographical dictionary of Hadith scholars authored by the Shafi'i hadith scholar and genealogist Abu al-Mahasin al-Husayni (d. 765 AH / 1364 CE) .
Background and Purpose
The book was composed as a chronological continuation (dhayl) to Tadhkirat al-Huffaz (also titled al-Tabaqat al-Kubra), the biographical compendium of eminent memorizers and critical authorities of prophetic tradition written by al-Husayni’s teacher, Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi (d. 748 AH) . In his preface, al-Husayni states that he prepared the compilation to record biographies of hadith masters and scholars who flourished after the scope of al-Dhahabi's primary work .
Structure and Content
Following the generation-based (tabaqat) framework established by al-Dhahabi, al-Husayni arranges the entries into successive generations:
- The Twenty-Second Generation (al-Tabaqah al-Thaniyah wa-l-Ishrun) .
- The Twenty-Third Generation (al-Tabaqah al-Thalithah wa-l-Ishrun), comprising five scholars, among whom he includes his teacher al-Dhahabi .
- The Twenty-Fourth Generation (al-Tabaqah al-Rabi'ah wa-l-Ishrun), containing ten scholars .
Transmission and Later Continuations
The text was transmitted down through chains of hadith scholars; among its transmitters was Jar Allah ibn Fahd, who received it through authorities including al-Husayni's grandson, Muhammad Abu al-Baqa Baha' al-Din ibn Hamza .
Later scholars built upon al-Husayni’s work:
- Taqi al-Din Ibn Fahd compiled a further continuation titled Lahz al-Alhaz bi-Dhayl Tabaqat al-Huffaz, in which he supplemented twelve biographical notices missed by al-Dhahabi and eight notices missed by al-Husayni before adding further generations .
- Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti composed another supplement (Dhayl Tabaqat al-Huffaz) carrying biographical notices through to the era of Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani .
- In modern scholarship, Ahmad Rafi' al-Tahtawi wrote al-Tanbih wa-l-Iqaz lima fi Dhuyul Tadhkirat al-Huffaz to provide annotations and corrections to the published collection of these continuations .
Answer updated