Hadith Yahya ibn Maeen riwayat Abi Mansur al-Shaybani
- Author died
- 233 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Ma’āthir
Hadith Yahya ibn Maeen riwayat Abi Mansur al-Shaybani (The Hadiths of Yahya ibn Ma'in in the Transmission of Abu Mansur al-Shaybani) is a concise hadith tract (juz') compiled from the transmissions and scholarly responsa of the hadith critic Yahya ibn Maeen (158–233 AH / 775–848 CE) as recorded by his student Abu Mansur al-Shaybani . The work preserves Prophetic traditions with full chains of transmission, rulings on legal (fiqh) and creedal issues, and critical assessments of narrators (al-jarh wa-al-ta'dil) .
Transmission and Transmitter
The text was transmitted directly from Yahya ibn Ma'in by Abu Mansur Yahya ibn Ahmad ibn Ziyad al-Shaybani (d. 298 AH / 910–911 CE) . In al-Dhahabi's biographical dictionary Tarikh al-Islam, he is recorded as a resident of Herat under the miscopied surname "al-Sufyani", noting that he heard hadith from Khalid ibn al-Sabah, Yahya ibn Ma'in, and Ahmad ibn Sa'id al-Darimi .
The surviving chain of transmission runs through Abu al-Fadl Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Khumayrawayh al-Karabisi in Herat, who transmitted it from al-Shaybani; from him, it passed to Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn al-Husayn ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Layth al-Shahid (who taught it in Ramadan 443 AH), and then to al-Hakim Abu Mansur Abd al-Rahim ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Shirazi .
Structure and Contents
The collection consists of a succession of narrated Prophetic hadiths followed by direct inquiries (su'alat) posed to Yahya ibn Ma'in . The hadiths cover diverse topics, such as ritual purity, marriage, prayer, pilgrimage rites, prophetic virtues, and Quranic commentary, narrated through Ibn Ma'in's prominent teachers, including Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi, Abd al-Razzaq al-San'ani, Ma'n ibn Isa, Hushaym ibn Bashir, and Ghundar .
The latter part of the tract records Ibn Ma'in's positions across several subjects:
- Jurisprudence (Fiqh): Ibn Ma'in expressed a preference for performing the solitary pilgrimage (ifrad) over other types, considering the transmission of Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Qasim from his father from Aisha to be the most firmly established chain on the matter . He permitted fasting during travel for those capable of it, advised that one who arrives at the mosque during the communal Fajr prayer should pray with the imam and make up the two pre-dawn sunnah units after sunrise, and held that ablution is required after vomiting, nosebleeds, and bleeding . Regarding fermented date-drink (nabidh), he stated that he disliked it without declaring it categorically unlawful .
- Theology (Aqida): When questioned about faith (iman), Ibn Ma'in defined it as speech and action that increases and decreases .
- Hadith Criticism (Rijal): The tract records his evaluations of individual transmitters and narrations, affirming the reliability of Egyptian figures such as Bakr ibn Mudar, al-Layth ibn Sa'd, Haywa ibn Shurayh, and Sa'id ibn Abi Ayyub . He declared Malik ibn Anas more authoritative in narrating from Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri than Sufyan ibn Uyayna, asserted that al-Hasan al-Basri heard nothing directly from Abu Hurayra, noted that Ata ibn Abi Rabah heard only limited material from Aisha, deemed Muhammad ibn Humayd al-Razi acceptable (laysa bihi ba's), and strongly rejected a transmission attributed to Abu Mu'awiya via Abd al-Salam al-Harawi from al-A'mash .
Significance and Publication
Despite its small volume, the tract preserves unique material, including two hadiths whose chains of transmission are not attested in other extant collections, as well as specific legal opinions of Yahya ibn Ma'in not documented elsewhere . The text was edited by Abd Allah Muhammad Hasan Damfo and published by Dar al-Ma'athir in Medina in 1420 AH (1999–2000 CE) .
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