Fihris Ibn Atiyya
- Author died
- 542 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Gharb al-Islāmī
Fihris Ibn Atiyya (also known as Fahrasat Ibn Atiyya or his Barnamaj) is a scholarly catalogue of transmissions compiled by the Andalusian Maliki jurist, Quranic commentator, and judge Ibn Atiyya (d. 541 or 542 AH / 1146 or 1147 CE).
Purpose and Scope
The work belongs to the Western Islamic genre of fahrasa or barnamaj (academic repertories). Ibn Atiyya compiled it to document the scholars and carriers of knowledge he met, the works and traditions he received and transmitted from them, and those who granted him scholarly authorization (ijaza), including both teachers he studied with in person and those from whom he received narrations or licenses without meeting them directly. The author concluded the composition of the catalogue on Sunday, 9 Rajab 533 AH (1139 CE).
Content and Structure
The repertoire contains biographical notices of thirty teachers and authorities from whom Ibn Atiyya studied, read under, or received certification.
- It opens with his father, the hadith scholar Abu Bakr Ghalib ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Muharibi (b. 441 AH), documenting his lineage back to Atiyya ibn Khalid—the ancestor who entered al-Andalus during the early conquest—as cited from Mutarrif ibn Isa's history of Ilbira.
- It details his transmissions from prominent Andalusian scholars, including Abu Ali al-Ghassani, Abu Ali al-Sadafi, Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Faraj (Mawla al-Talla'), Abu al-Mutarrif al-Sha'bi, Abu al-Husayn ibn al-Bayyan, and Abu al-Qasim ibn al-Hassar.
- Alongside the notices of his teachers, it records his chains of transmission (isnad) for major foundational works across Islamic disciplines. These include the Muwatta of Malik ibn Anas (via the recension of Abu Mus'ab al-Zuhri), Sahih al-Bukhari (transmitted through the line of Karima al-Marwaziyya), Sunan Abi Dawud, Jami' al-Tirmidhi, and al-Bukhari's al-Tarikh al-Kabir, as well as commentaries, language texts, and historical works.
Transmission and Reception
The work was recognized by subsequent Andalusian biographers; Lisan al-Din ibn al-Khatib noted that Ibn Atiyya authored a barnamaj incorporating his transmissions and the names of his teachers, praising its execution. The text was transmitted by later scholars, including Ibn Khayr al-Ishbili, who recorded receiving Fahrasat Ibn Atiyya directly from the author via oral transmission and written authorization in Almería.
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