Fadail Fatima li-Ibn Shahin
- Author died
- 385 AH
- Editions
- Dār Ibn al-Athīr
Fada'il Fatima (The Virtues of Fatima) is a specialized hadith monograph compiled by the Baghdadi scholar Ibn Shahin (d. 385 AH / 995 CE), devoted to assembling traditions on the merits and characteristics of the Prophet's daughter Fatima .
Content and Method
The work is a small hadith booklet (juz' hadithi) comprising 37 traditions transmitted by Ibn Shahin with his own chains of narration (asaneed) concerning Fatima's merits and noble traits . While the majority of these narrations are found scattered across broader hadith compendia, Ibn Shahin gathered them into a dedicated thematic treatise, often preserving distinct transmission paths not found in other compilations . In the manuscript transmission, the title also appears in an expanded form: Al-Juz' fihi Fada'il Sayyidat al-Nisa' ba'd Maryam Fatima bint Rasul Allah ("Booklet Containing the Virtues of the Mistress of Women after Mary, Fatima Daughter of the Messenger of Allah"), preserved through the narration of al-Sharif Abu al-Husayn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn al-Muhtadi . It is considered one of the earliest extant independent treatises dedicated exclusively to her virtues .
Critical Reception
Hadith commentators and evaluators noted that alongside sound narrations, the compilation contains several tenuous and weak reports . A notable example is the report stating that God forbade the Fire to her descendants, which Ibn Shahin transmitted through three different routes that all contain severely impugned transmitters, including narrators deemed extremely weak or mendacious by classical authorities such as al-Dhahabi .
Manuscripts and Printed Editions
The primary surviving manuscript copy of the treatise is preserved in the Zahiriyya Library in Damascus, from which copies and microfilms were made for institutions in Medina and Kuwait .
The work has been published in several modern editions:
- Edited by Muhammad Sa'id al-Turayhi (Beirut: Mu'assasat al-Wafa', 1405 AH / 1985 CE) .
- Edited by Abu Ishaq al-Huwayni (1411 AH / 1991 CE) .
- Edited by Badr ibn Abd Allah al-Badr, published within a collection of Ibn Shahin's shorter works (Majmu' fihi min musannafat Ibn Shahin, Kuwait: Dar Ibn al-Athir, 1415 AH / 1994 CE) .
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