Hadith Shuba ibn al-Hajjaj
- Author died
- 379 AH
- Editions
- al-Dār al-‘Uthmāniyyah
Hadith Shuba ibn al-Hajjaj (also referred to as Ghara'ib Hadith Shuba) is a hadith monograph compiled by the Baghdadi traditionist Ibn al-Muzaffar al-Bazzaz (286–379 AH / 899–989 CE), bringing together narrations transmitted through the prominent 2nd-century traditionist Shu'ba ibn al-Hajjaj (d. 160 AH / 776 CE).
Content and Method
The work is an extraction (takhrij) of traditions related on the authority of Shu'ba ibn al-Hajjaj al-Ataki, documented through the direct teachers (shuyukh) of Ibn al-Muzaffar. Ibn al-Muzaffar focused on compiling rare transmissions (ghara'ib), isolated variants, and specific isnad chains that passed through Shu'ba's students.
Throughout the text, narrations are recorded with their full chains of transmission, frequently accompanied by critical remarks on narrator solitary transmissions (tafarrud), discrepancies between transmitters, or corrections regarding names in the chain. For instance, after reporting certain narrations, Ibn al-Muzaffar highlights whether a phrasing diverged from what was well-preserved (al-mahfuz) among other scholars or notes critical observations made by earlier hadith masters concerning transmitter mistakes.
Transmission and Reception
The preserved transmission (riwayah) of the text stems from Ibn al-Muzaffar through his student Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Muhammad al-Jawhari al-Shirazi, who recited it in Rajab 454 AH. It was then transmitted by Abu Ghalib Ahmad ibn al-Hasan ibn Ahmad ibn al-Banna in Shawwal 523 AH, and later passed down through Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Abi al-Fa'iz ibn al-Kabarri al-Shuruti to Muwaffaq al-Din Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Umar al-Baghdadi.
The collection was cited and utilized by later scholars in their works. Diya' al-Din al-Maqdisi cited narrations from it in al-Sunan wa-l-ahkam as well as in al-Ahadith al-mukhtara, and Ibn Daqiq al-'Id quoted from it in al-Imam fi jam' ahadith al-ahkam. Traditions gathered in the work also appear across broader hadith compendia and thematic treatises.
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