Hadith Abi al-Qasim al-Kinani
- Author died
- 357 AH
- Editions
- Manuscript published in the free Jawāmi‘ al-Kalim software affiliated with the Islamweb website
Hadith Abi al-Qasim al-Kinani (Arabic: حديث أبي القاسم الكناني) is a hadith booklet (juz') compiled and dictated by the Egyptian hadith scholar and hafiz Hamza al-Kinani (275–357 AH / 888–968 CE) . It contains a collection of traditions transmitted through his chains of narration, accompanied by his critical remarks on their paths of transmission .
Composition and Circumstances
The booklet preserves the final dictation session (amali) delivered by Hamza al-Kinani before his death . The text was dictated in the Old Mosque (al-Jami' al-'Atiq) in Egypt on Friday, with four nights remaining in the month of Rabi' al-Awwal in 357 AH (or at the end of that month) .
A widely reported incident occurred during the dictation of the second tradition, known as the hadith of the slip of paper (hadith al-bitaqa): when al-Kinani recited the text describing the weighing of deeds and the card outweighing the scrolls of sins, a visiting stranger in the circle let out a cry and died on the spot; the transmitter of the session attended his washing, shrouding, and funeral prayer .
Content and Structure
The text comprises fifteen traditions and reports, beginning with hadiths concerning divine attributes, the Day of Judgment, and proper conduct, and concluding with a report regarding the sincerity of the Prophet's Companions :
- Hadiths on theological and eschatological matters, including the hadith of God grasping the heavens and earth and the hadith of the slip of paper (al-bitaqa) alongside the ninety-nine scrolls (al-sijillat) .
- Supplications and devotional formulas, such as the prayer for embarking on travel and the phrases of remembrance prescribed for someone unable to memorize portions of the Quran .
- Rulings and moral directives, including the warning against image-making, honoring noble visitors, and turning away beggars even with a burnt hoof .
- Traditions regarding specific Companions, such as the prayer for Mu'awiya, accompanied by an enumeration of the Companions and Successors who narrated from him .
Throughout the work, al-Kinani appends critical evaluations ('ilal) to individual reports, pointing out unique chains (afrad), verifying narrator identities, and grading paths of transmission as sound (sahih) or fair (hasan) .
Transmission and Titles
The primary transmitter of this session was Ali ibn Umar ibn Muhammad al-Harrani al-Sawwaf, known as Ibn Himsa (343–441 AH), who was the last surviving narrator to transmit directly from Hamza al-Kinani . From al-Harrani, the text was transmitted by later scholars such as Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Razi and Abu Sadiq Murshid ibn Yahya al-Madini, through whom it reached subsequent generations of hadith scholars .
Owing to the prominence of its second narration, the work is frequently referenced in biographical and bibliographical literature under alternative titles, including Juz' al-Bitaqa (جزء البطاقة), Majlis al-Bitaqa (مجلس البطاقة), and Majlis al-Sijillat (مجلس السجلات) .
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