Fadail al-Sahaba lil-Daraqutni
- Author died
- 385 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Ghurabā’ al-Athariyyah
Fada'il al-Sahaba (The Merits of the Companions), also known by the fuller title Fada'il al-Sahaba wa-Manaqibuhum wa-Qawl Ba'dihim fi Ba'd (The Merits and Virtues of the Companions and Their Mutual Praise), is a hadith work by the Baghdadi scholar Abu al-Hasan al-Daraqutni (306–385 AH / 918–995 CE) compiling transmitted reports on the virtues of the Prophet's companions and their mutual esteem with the Prophet's household (Ahl al-Bayt).
Content and Structure
The book is believed to have originally been a voluminous compilation, though most of it has been lost. What survives in manuscript form is a twelve-folio fragment identified as the eleventh part (al-juz' al-hadi 'ashar) of the larger work, bearing historical transmission certificates (sama'at).
The surviving portion focuses on statements transmitted from members of Ahl al-Bayt—including descendants of al-Hasan ibn Ali and al-Husayn ibn Ali—praising and expressing loyalty toward Abu Bakr al-Siddiq and Umar ibn al-Khattab, as well as censuring claims of enmity or discord among the early generation. Al-Daraqutni recorded these narrations with his unbroken chains of transmission (asanid) reaching back to the speakers, without appending critical assessments of individual transmitters, in accordance with the common tradition of citing non-rigorous chains in works on virtues (fada'il).
Reception and Scholarly Citation
Later scholars frequently cited reports from the work. Ibn Taymiyyah referenced it when documenting early Hashemite affirmations of Abu Bakr and Umar's precedence, referring to its contents as documenting mutual praise between the companions and the Prophet's family. Later biographers also cited the author's compilation of this work to refute claims that al-Daraqutni held Shi'i tendencies.
Manuscript and Publications
The extant fragment is preserved in the Zahiriyya Library in Damascus (Majmu' 47/2, fols. 14a–24b), with a photographic copy held at the Islamic University of Madinah.
The surviving portion has been published in modern editions:
- Edited by Muhammad ibn Khalifah al-Rabbah, published by Maktabat al-Ghuraba' al-Athariyya in Medina (1419 AH / 1998 CE).
- Edited by Tal'at ibn Fu'ad al-Hulwani, published by Dar Masajid 'Usayri in Jeddah (1422 AH / 2001 CE).
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