Diya al-Din al-Maqdisi
Fadail Bayt al-Maqdis - al-Diya al-Maqdisi
- Author died
- 643 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Fikr
Fada'il Bayt al-Maqdis (The Virtues of Jerusalem) is a hadith treatise on the religious merits of Jerusalem and the al-Aqsa Mosque by the Hanbali traditionist and historian Diya al-Din al-Maqdisi (569–643 AH / 1173–1245 CE) .
Composition and Structure
The work forms the second part (al-juz' al-thani) of al-Diya' al-Maqdisi's larger compilation on the merits of Greater Syria (Fada'il al-Sham) . Classical biographical sources record differing estimates for the overall volume of Fada'il al-Sham: al-Dhahabi described it as comprising three parts in Tarikh al-Islam and two parts in Siyar A'lam al-Nubala', Ibn Rajab listed it as three parts in Dhayl Tabaqat al-Hanabila, and Khayr al-Din al-Zirikli noted it as four parts .
The treatise compiles prophetic traditions, statements of the Companions, and early reports detailing the sacred status of Jerusalem, drawing significantly upon earlier treatises in the genre, most notably the 5th-century AH work Fada'il Bayt al-Maqdis by Abu Bakr al-Wasiti, whose transmissions al-Diya' frequently incorporated through his own chains . Later scholars of the Hanbali school, such as Ibn Abd al-Hadi, utilized and cited al-Diya's compilation in their own writings on the merits of the region .
Transmission and Manuscripts
An autograph manuscript of the text is preserved in the Zahiriyya Library in Damascus within an omnibus collection (Majmu' 48, folios 32–54) . The manuscript contains numerous audition notes (sama'at) documenting sessions where the text was read back to the author, spanning from 632 AH to 642 AH . A selection (muntaqa) from the broader work was later transmitted with an isnad by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in al-Majma' al-Mu'assas .
Publication
The treatise was edited by Muhammad Muti' al-Hafiz and published in Damascus by Dar al-Fikr in 1405 AH / 1985 CE .
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