Hadith Abi al-Yaman
- Author died
- 222 AH
- Editions
- A manuscript published in the free Jawami' al-Kalim program affiliated with the Islamweb website
Hadith Abi al-Yaman (Ahadith Abi al-Yaman / Juz' fihi Ahadith Abi al-Yaman) is a hadith tract compiled from the narrations of the Syrian hadith scholar al-Hakam ibn Nafi al-Bahrani (known by his kunya Abu al-Yaman, 138–222 AH / 755–837 CE), transmitting hadiths primarily received from Shu'ayb ibn Abi Hamzah (d. 162 AH) .
Transmission and Method of Reception
The core text represents the notebook (kurrasah / nuskhah) of Shu'ayb ibn Abi Hamzah, a leading student of Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri in Hims . Early critics discussed the exact mode by which Abu al-Yaman received these narrations from Shu'ayb, with reports suggesting combinations of direct audition, reading back (qira'ah), authorization (ijazah), and manuscript handover (munawalah) . When questioned by Ahmad ibn Hanbal regarding how he heard Shu'ayb's books, Abu al-Yaman explained: "I read some of it to him, he read some of it to me, he granted me ijazah for some, and some was by munawalah," to which Ahmad instructed him: "Say in all of it: 'Shu'ayb informed us' (أخبرنا شعيب)" . Yahya ibn Ma'in noted that Abu al-Yaman stated he never transmitted anything from the munawalah portions to anyone . Abu Ya'la al-Khalili remarked that the hadith imams transmitted the nuskhah of Shu'ayb through al-Hakam, a transmission also corroborated by 'Ali ibn 'Isa al-Himsi .
Structure and Chains of Transmission
In the surviving juz', the traditions are reported with full chains of narration going back through Abu al-Yaman's last direct transmitter, Abu al-Hasan 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn 'Isa al-Khuza'i al-Jakkani, from Abu al-Yaman, from Shu'ayb ibn Abi Hamzah, from al-Zuhri, from figures such as Urwah ibn al-Zubayr, on the authority of the Prophet's wife Aisha . Subsequent links in the surviving recension include Abu al-Fadl Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Khumayrawayh al-Karabisi, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shahid al-Saffar (who read it in Ramadan 446 AH), and Abu Mansur 'Abd al-Rahim ibn Muhammad al-Shirazi (who taught it in Safar 519 AH) .
The corpus covers various legal and narrative topics, including judgments on paternity and fosterage (الولد للفراش), prophetic reports regarding the Quran, fosterage rulings in early Islam, and legal interpretations of Quranic verses transmitted by Aisha .
Scholarly Utilization and Reception
The hadiths preserved in Abu al-Yaman's corpus formed a primary source for major ninth-century canonical compilers. Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari relied heavily upon Abu al-Yaman's transmission from Shu'ayb, narrating around 264 traditions directly from him in his Sahih across multiple chapters, including the beginning of revelation (Bad' al-Wahy) and the beginning of creation (Bad' al-Khalq) . Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj likewise incorporated dozens of these narrations through intermediaries such as Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Darimi .
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