Intiqad al-I'tirad fi al-Radd ala al-Ayni fi Sharh al-Bukhari
- Author died
- 852 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Rushd
Intiqad al-I'tirad fi al-Radd ala al-Ayni fi Sharh al-Bukhari (Demolishing the Objections in Refutation of al-Ayni on the Commentary of al-Bukhari) is a polemical hadith treatise by the Shafi'i scholar Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (773–852 AH / 1372–1449 CE), written to refute the critical objections raised by his contemporary Badr al-Din al-Ayni (d. 855 AH) against Ibn Hajar's commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari, Fath al-Bari .
Background and Circumstances of Composition
As Ibn Hajar was writing Fath al-Bari, demand for copies grew among regional rulers; copies of completed sections were requested by the western ruler Abu al-Faris Abd al-Aziz (through Zayn al-Din Abd al-Rahman al-Barashki), the eastern ruler Shahrukh (through Ibn al-Jazari), and later Sultan al-Zahir . In 822 AH, a student brought Ibn Hajar a quire written by al-Ayni—then the market inspector (muhtasib) of Cairo—containing the opening of his intended commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari . Ibn Hajar identified over eighty errors in that introductory section and composed a dedicated monograph pointing them out, titled al-Istinsar ala al-Ta'in al-Mi'thar (also cited as al-Istibsar), which was endorsed by leading contemporary scholars, including Jalal al-Din al-Bulqini, Ala al-Din Ibn al-Mughli, and Shams al-Din Ibn al-Dayri .
When al-Ayni subsequently wrote his extensive commentary, Umdat al-Qari, he borrowed heavily from Ibn Hajar's Fath al-Bari without attribution and frequently attacked Ibn Hajar's analyses, at times truncating or altering Ibn Hajar's phrases to generate grounds for criticism . In response, Ibn Hajar authored Intiqad al-I'tirad to defend his commentary and demonstrate al-Ayni's errors and unacknowledged borrowings .
Method and Structure
In Intiqad al-I'tirad, Ibn Hajar adopted a structured notation system:
- The letter Ha (ح) designates the text of Fath al-Bari and its author, Ahmad (Ibn Hajar) .
- The letter Ayn (ع) designates al-Ayni, his commentary Umdat al-Qari, and the objector (al-mu'tarid) .
Ibn Hajar systematically quotes the passage from Fath al-Bari, follows it with al-Ayni's objection from Umdat al-Qari, and then provides a detailed rejoinder . In certain instances, Ibn Hajar rephrased or expanded upon what he had written in Fath al-Bari for greater clarity, or juxtaposed the two opposing passages without additional commentary, leaving the assessment to the discerning reader . Ibn Hajar confined his answers primarily to significant points of dispute, noting that responding to every single criticism would have made the volume even larger than Umdat al-Qari . Biographers observe that Ibn Hajar transcribed many of al-Ayni's objections into fair copy intending to answer them, but death overtook him before he could respond to most of them .
Related Works and Publication
Later scholars engaged directly with the debate between Ibn Hajar and al-Ayni:
- Ibrahim ibn Ali al-Shafi'i al-Nu'mani composed a supplement titled al-Mazid (or Mazid Fath al-Bari) commenting on the work .
- Abd al-Rahman al-Busiri (d. 1354 AH) authored Mubtakirat al-La'ali wa-l-Durar fi al-Muhakamah bayna al-Ayni wa-Ibn Hajar, organizing his adjudication of their disputes into 343 judicial-style assessments (muhakamah) .
Intiqad al-I'tirad was edited by Hamdi Abd al-Majid al-Salafi and Subhi Jasim al-Samarra'i and published in Riyadh by Maktabat al-Rushd (1413 AH / 1993 CE) .
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