Hadith Abi Bakr ibn Khallad al-Nusaybi
- Author died
- 359 AH
- Editions
- A manuscript published in the free Jawāmiʿ al-Kalim program affiliated with the Islamweb website
Hadith Abi Bakr ibn Khallad al-Nusaybi (The Hadith of Abu Bakr ibn Khallad al-Nusaybi) is a hadith compilation transmitted from the tenth-century transmitter Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Yusuf ibn Khallad al-Nusaybi (d. 359 AH / 970 CE), preserving prophetic traditions and narrations received from his teachers . It is also referred to in bibliographical traditions under the title Fawa'id Abi Bakr ibn Khallad (The Benefits of Abu Bakr ibn Khallad) .
Transmission and Structure
The preserved portion of the work consists of the second part (al-Juz' al-thani) of Ibn Khallad's narrations from his shaykhs . Its transmission chain stems from Ibn Khallad through his student Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn 'Umar ibn Sulayman al-Nusaybi, known as al-'Adani, who read the text in the congregational mosque on Monday, 17 Rabi' al-Akhir 419 AH, to the Shafi'i jurist Abu al-Qasim 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Abi al-'Ala' al-Missisi .
From al-Missisi, the text branched through two primary transmitters: Abu Muhammad Hibat Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Tawus al-Muqri' (in Jumada al-Akhira 476 AH) and the judge Abu al-Qasim al-Husayn ibn al-Hasan al-Asadi, known as Ibn al-Bunn (in Sha'ban 480 AH) . Subsequent narrations were transmitted in Damascus through scholars including Baha' al-Din Abu Muhammad al-Qasim ibn 'Ali ibn al-Hasan (the son of Ibn 'Asakir) in Dhu al-Hijjah 504 AH, Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn 'Ali al-Asadi in Ramadan 548 AH, and al-Qadi Abu Bakr 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Sultan al-Qurashi in Rabi' al-Akhir 505 AH and Shawwal 535 AH .
Content and Sources
The compilation consists of individual hadith narrations recorded with full chains of transmission back to the Prophet ﷺ and early figures . The contents span various legal, ethical, and theological topics, including:
- Ritual purity and pilgrimage regulations, such as clothing permissible for a pilgrim in ihram and the recommendation of washing before Friday prayer .
- Virtues and social ethics, including relieving distress for fellow Muslims, promoting peace, reconciliation, and prohibitions against severe sins such as usury and cursing one's parents .
- Merits and virtues of companions, such as a report regarding the close companionship of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq .
Within the extant part, Ibn Khallad quotes a variety of his teachers, including al-Harith ibn Abi Usama, 'Ubayd ibn Sharik al-Bazzar, Muhammad ibn 'Uthman ibn Abi Shayba, the judge Yusuf ibn Ya'qub, Ishaq ibn al-Ma'mun al-Talaqani, Ahmad ibn Ibrahim ibn Milhan, and Muhammad ibn Yunus .
Critical Evaluation of the Author
Ibn Khallad was an accredited court witness (mu'addal) before judges in Baghdad, and major traditionists narrated from him, including Abu al-Hasan al-Daraqutni, Abu Nu'aym al-Isbahani, and Abu 'Ali ibn Shadhan . Abu Nu'aym described him as trustworthy (thiqah) .
Biographical accounts, however, distinguish between the integrity of his received auditions and his personal scholarly understanding. Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi noted that while Ibn Khallad's original audition (sama') was sound, he did not possess deeper comprehension of religious scholarship . Similarly, his contemporary Muhammad ibn Abi al-Fawaris recorded that he was trustworthy and conducted himself honorably, though he did not possess expertise in hadith critique .
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