Ilm al-Rijal Nashatuhu wa Tatawwuruhu min al-Qarn al-Awwal ila Nihayat al-Qarn al-Tasi
- Author died
- 1427 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Hijrah lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʻ
Ilm al-Rijal: Nash’atuhu wa-Tatawwuruhu min al-Qarn al-Awwal ila Nihayat al-Qarn al-Tasi’ ("The Science of Narrators: Its Emergence and Development from the First Century to the End of the Ninth Century AH") is a specialized survey of hadith biographical literature and narrator criticism written by the Saudi hadith scholar Muhammad ibn Matar al-Zahrani (d. 1427 AH / 2006 CE) .
Background and Purpose
The book was conceived as an academic manual and a companion work to al-Zahrani’s earlier study, Tadwin al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyyah: Nash’atuhu wa-Tatawwuruhu min al-Qarn al-Awwal ila Nihayat al-Qarn al-Tasi’ al-Hijri ("The Codification of the Prophetic Sunnah: Its Emergence and Development from the First Century to the End of the Ninth Century AH"), completed two years prior . Al-Zahrani prepared the work when assigned to teach the course on hadith narrators and their generations (Ruwat al-Hadith wa-Tabaqatuhum) to first-year students at the College of Hadith at the Islamic University of Madinah . Noting the lack of a single comprehensive volume covering the prescribed curriculum, he compiled material from classical and contemporary sources . The author completed the manuscript in Medina on 20 Jumada al-Ula 1414 AH .
Structure and Scope
The book is structured into an introduction (muqaddimah), a preliminary overview (tamhid), and five main parts (abwab), encompassing fourteen chapters (fusul) and fifty-one sub-sections (mabahith) :
- Preliminary Overview (Tamhid): Addresses the definition, origin, and significance of chains of transmission (isnad) in Islamic tradition, citing early scholarly statements on the necessity of verifying transmitters .
- Part One: Focuses on narrator-focused literature from its beginnings up to the end of the fifth century AH, encompassing genre categories such as generational works (tabaqat), biographical registers of the Prophet's Companions (ma'rifat al-sahabah), impungment and validation works (al-jarh wa-al-ta'dil), local histories of cities, and specialized books resolving ambiguous or homonymous narrator names (al-mu'talif wa-al-mukhtalif, al-muttafiq wa-al-muftariq) . Al-Zahrani focused on these early centuries as the foundational period for narrator literature, noting that later writings primarily abridge, rearrange, or append to these primary works .
- Subsequent Parts: Examine specialized developments, including the literature dedicated to narrators of specific hadith collections, which flourished after the fifth century AH .
Methodological Omissions
In the introduction, al-Zahrani explains his decision to deliberately exclude two topics typically found in the course syllabus :
- Orientalist interpretations of the fitnah mentioned in Muhammad ibn Sirin's statement ("They did not use to ask about the isnad until the civil discord occurred"): al-Zahrani omitted a detailed refutation, stating that its flaws were evident and had already been addressed extensively by his teacher, Akram Diya' al-'Umari .
- Sectarian stances regarding the uprightness ('adalah) of the Companions: he declined to engage in direct rebuttals of Kharijite and Shi'i critiques, arguing that the uprightness of the Companions is established by the Quran, the Sunnah, and consensus, and that early Sunni scholars prioritized establishing positive proofs and core principles rather than engaging extensively with sectarian polemics .
Publication
The work was first published in Riyadh by Dar al-Hijrah in 1417 AH / 1996 CE in a single volume of 624 pages . A later edition was published in Riyadh by Dar al-Minhaj in 1427 AH in a single volume of 334 pages .
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