Isaf al-Mubatta bi-Rijal al-Muwatta
- Author died
- 911 AH
- Editions
- al-Maktabah al-Tijariyyah al-Kubra
Isaf al-Mubatta bi-Rijal al-Muwatta (Relief for the Hesitant Regarding the Men of the Muwatta) is a biographical dictionary of hadith transmitters compiled by the Egyptian scholar Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 911 AH / 1505 CE), covering the narrators found in the chains of transmission of Malik ibn Anas's al-Muwatta .
Scope and Content
The work provides concise biographical entries for the transmitters mentioned throughout al-Muwatta, tracing the chains from the direct teachers of Imam Malik down to the end of each isnad . It is categorized among the specialized treatises dedicated specifically to the transmitters of individual hadith collections, alongside works such as Ibn al-Hadhdha's al-Ta'rif bi-man Dhukira fi al-Muwatta and Ibn Khalfun's Asma' Shuyukh Malik .
Al-Suyuti composed the work with marked brevity, aiming to provide essential biographical identifications without superfluous phrasing or redundant synonyms .
Introduction and Methodology
Al-Suyuti opened the book with an introductory prologue highlighting Imam Malik's stringent criteria in transmitter selection . He underscored that Malik did not rely solely on personal uprightness ('adala), but required precision (dabt) and vigilance (yaqaza) as well .
To illustrate this, al-Suyuti cited reports from Malik, including his observation that he encountered seventy elders in the Prophet's Mosque who had met Companions and transmitted from the Successors, yet he refrained from taking hadith from them because they were not suited for the craft of transmission . Al-Suyuti also cited Malik's warning that mere asceticism (zuhd) and piety without thorough mastery, critical understanding, and accuracy do not render a narrator's reports authoritative .
Sources and Publication
A primary source for the work was al-Husayni's biographical collection al-Tadhkira bi-Ma'rifat Rijal al-'Ashara, to the extent that comparative examination indicates al-Suyuti drew the bulk of Isaf al-Mubatta directly from it .
Isaf al-Mubatta has frequently been printed as a supplementary appendix alongside editions of Malik's al-Muwatta or subjoined to al-Suyuti's own commentary, Tanwir al-Hawalik . It has also been issued as an independent volume, including editions printed in Cairo and Beirut .
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