Illat al-Hadith al-Musalsal fi Yawm al-Eidayn li Abi Muhammad al-Jurjani
- Author died
- 489 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Waṭan lil-Nashr
Illat al-Hadith al-Musalsal fi Yawm al-Eidayn (Arabic: علة الحديث المسلسل في يوم العيدين الصلاة والخطبة, lit. 'The Hidden Defect of the Pattern-Chained Hadith on the Two Eid Days: The Prayer and the Sermon') is a specialized hadith monograph by the Shafi'i jurist and hadith master Abu Muhammad Abd Allah ibn Yusuf al-Jurjani (d. 489 AH / 1095 CE) examining the critical transmission defects and variant routes of the pattern-chained narration concerning permission to leave or stay for the Eid sermon .
Subject and Method
The treatise focuses on the critical evaluation ('ilal) of the hadith transmitted through a musalsal chain—a pattern where successive narrators in the chain convey the tradition specifically between the prayer and the sermon on Eid day . The text addresses the Prophet's ﷺ declaration allowing attendees to remain for the Eid sermon or depart after the completion of the prayer .
Al-Jurjani presents and critiques multiple paths of transmission:
- He first cites the route attributed to Muhammad ibn Juhadah from Mus'ab ibn Sa'd from Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas: كلكم قد أصاب خيرا، فمن أراد أن يسمع الخطبة فليقم، ومن أراد أن ينصرف فلينصرف ("Each of you has attained good; whoever wishes to listen to the sermon let him stay, and whoever wishes to leave let him leave"). Al-Jurjani classifies this route as rare and unusual (gharib ajib), stating that the hadith masters of Khurasan do not recognize the hadith from Sa'd .
- He notes that the recognized version (al-mahfuz) among critical scholars is from Ibn Jurayj from Ata' ibn Abi Rabah . Transmitters differed over whether it was connected to the Prophet ﷺ or interrupted (mursal) at Ata' . He records the elevated chain through Waki' ibn al-Jarrah from Sufyan al-Thawri from Ibn Jurayj from Ata' from Ibn Abbas, but highlights that only Bishr ibn Abd al-Wahhab al-Kufi narrated it connected from Waki', and only Abu Ubayd Allah al-Firasi (Muhammad ibn Ahmad) transmitted it from Bishr .
- Al-Jurjani establishes that the majority narrated it from Sufyan al-Thawri from Ibn Jurayj from Ata' in mursal form without a Companion link .
- He also assesses the transmission of al-Fadl ibn Musa al-Sinani from Ibn Jurayj from Ata' from Abd Allah ibn al-Sa'ib, providing supporting chains from multiple transmitters including Sa'id ibn Sulayman, Muhammad ibn al-Sabbah, Sa'id ibn Hammad, Ibrahim ibn Abd Allah al-Harawi, and Zakariyya ibn Yahya .
- He concludes by quoting the critique of Yahya ibn Ma'in—transmitted via al-Abbas ibn Muhammad al-Duri, Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Asamm, Ali ibn Muhammad al-Isfara'ini, and al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Darbandi—affirming that while al-Fadl ibn Musa was reliable (thiqah), he erred in inserting Abd Allah ibn al-Sa'ib into the chain, and that the report is correctly an interrupted narration (mursal) from Ata' alone .
Manuscripts and Publication
A manuscript copy of the treatise is preserved in the Zahiriyya Library in Damascus (MS 3856, Majmu' 120, fols. 56–59) . The work was edited by Muhammad ibn Turki al-Turki with an introduction by Ahmad Ma'bad, and published in 1420 AH / 1999 CE by Dar al-Watan in Riyadh as part of a collective volume alongside al-Ahadith al-Iydiyyah al-Musalsalah by Abu Tahir al-Silafi and Musalsal al-Idayn by Yahya ibn Abi Mansur al-Sayrafi al-Harrani .
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