Fadail Abi Bakr al-Siddiq lil-Ashari
- Author died
- 451 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Ṣaḥābah lil-Turāth
Fada'il Abi Bakr al-Siddiq (The Virtues of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq) is a hadith treatise by the Baghdadi Hanbali scholar Ibn al-Ushari (366–451 AH / 976–1059 CE), dedicated to compiling transmitted reports on the merits and virtues of the first caliph, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq .
Content and Method
The work is organized as a specialized hadith part (juz') containing narrations recorded with their full chains of transmission (isnad) . Ibn al-Ushari relies extensively on reports transmitted through his teachers, particularly Ali ibn Umar al-Sukkari and the hafiz al-Daraqutni .
The collected traditions focus on:
- Prophetic statements highlighting Abu Bakr’s superiority, his companionship in the cave, and his financial contributions to Islam .
- Reports and testimonies from Ali ibn Abi Talib affirming Abu Bakr's precedence, his rightful caliphate, and his title al-Siddiq as divinely designated .
- Statements by the Prophet's family (Ahl al-Bayt) and early Companions attesting to the justice and high standing of the early caliphs .
Transmission and Preservation
The text was transmitted via direct audition from Ibn al-Ushari by the judge Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Abd al-Baqi al-Ansari al-Bazzaz in Rajab 446 AH . Subsequent transmissions passed through Ibn Tabarzad (d. 607 AH) in 604 AH, Abu Muhammad Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd al-Rahim ibn Asakir in 669 AH, and Ibn al-Attar in 706 AH at Dar al-Hadith in Damascus .
A manuscript of the work is preserved in Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya under catalog number 424 Tarikh . The treatise was edited by Amr Abd al-Mun'im and published in a single volume by Dar al-Sahaba li-l-Turath in Tanta (1413 AH / 1993 CE) .
Answer updated