Ithaf al-Khayra al-Mahara bi-Zawaid al-Masanid al-Ashara

Ithaf al-Khayra al-Mahara bi-Zawaid al-Masanid al-Ashara (The Gift of the Skilled Elite Regarding the Surplus Narrations of the Ten Musnads) is a reference work of hadith literature compiled by the Egyptian Shafi'i scholar Shihab al-Din Ahmad ibn Abi Bakr al-Busiri (762–840 AH / 1361–1436 CE) Ithaf al-Khayra al-Mahara…+1. The work extracts the zawa'id—narrations not found in the standard Six Books of Hadith—from ten prominent early musnad collections Ithaf al-Khayra al-Mahara…+1.

Scope and Source Works

The primary purpose of the book is to extract and organize all hadiths from ten major musnad collections that are absent from the Six Books (Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abi Dawud, Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Sunan al-Nasa'i, and Sunan Ibn Majah) al-Arij fi Ilm Usul al-Ta…+1. The ten source collections included in the compilation are:

1. Musnad Abi Dawud al-Tayalisi (d. 204 AH) al-Ima ila Zawaid al-Amal…+1
2. Musnad al-Humaydi (d. 219 AH) al-Ima ila Zawaid al-Amal…+1
3. Musnad Musaddad [ibn Musarhad] (d. 228 AH) al-Ima ila Zawaid al-Amal…+1
4. Musnad Abi Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah (d. 235 AH) al-Ima ila Zawaid al-Amal…+1
5. Musnad Ishaq ibn Rahawayh (d. 238 AH) al-Ima ila Zawaid al-Amal…+1
6. Musnad Ibn Abi Umar al-Adani (d. 243 AH) Ithaf al-Khayra al-Mahara…+1
7. Musnad Ahmad ibn Mani' (d. 244 AH) al-Ima ila Zawaid al-Amal…+1
8. Musnad Abd ibn Humayd (d. 249 AH) al-Ima ila Zawaid al-Amal…+1
9. Musnad al-Harith ibn Abi Usamah (d. 282 AH) al-Ima ila Zawaid al-Amal…+1
10. Al-Musnad al-Kabir of Abu Ya'la al-Mawsili (d. 307 AH) al-Ima ila Zawaid al-Amal…+1

Method and Structure

Al-Busiri arranged the narrations topically according to the standard order of legal and rulings chapters (abwab al-ahkam / kutub al-fiqh), adhering closely to the thematic arrangement employed by Nur al-Din al-Haythami Ithaf al-Khayra al-Mahara…+1. In the unabridged text, he cited the hadiths with their full chains of transmission (isnad) and frequently provided assessments of their authenticity and the reliability of their transmitters al-Matalib al-Aliya Muhaq…+1.

The book is closely parallel in subject matter to al-Matalib al-Aliyah bi-Zawaid al-Masanid al-Thamaniyah compiled by al-Busiri's contemporary Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani al-Matalib al-Aliya Muhaq…. However, whereas Ibn Hajar omitted some narrations from Abu Ya'la's Musnad that were already documented by al-Haythami in Majma' al-Zawa'id, al-Busiri included them comprehensively, including those found in Musnad Ahmad al-Matalib al-Aliya Muhaq….

Al-Busiri also prepared an abridged edition of the work in which he eliminated the full transmission chains while preserving assessments of the narrations, titled Mukhtasar Ithaf al-Sada al-Mahara bi-Zawaid al-Masanid al-Ashara al-Ima ila Zawaid al-Amal…+1.

Academic Research and Publications

Manuscripts of the book are preserved in collections such as the Al-Azhar Library in Cairo and the central library at the Islamic University of Madinah Dirasa Naqdiyya fi al-Mar…+1. The text was edited across multiple postgraduate master's and doctoral dissertations at the Islamic University of Madinah, including the first section edited by Sulayman al-Urayni (1406 AH) and the second by Sulayman al-Su'ud (1407 AH) al-Matalib al-Aliya Muhaq…+1.

Published editions of the work include:

• A printed edition edited by Adil Sa'd and al-Sayyid ibn Mahmud ibn Isma'il, published by Maktabat al-Rushd in Riyadh (1419 AH / 1998 CE) Irwa al-Zami bi-Tarajim R…+1.
• A printed edition prepared by Dar al-Mishkat li-l-Bahth al-Ilmi with an introduction by Ahmad Ma'bad Abd al-Karim, published by Dar al-Watan in Riyadh (1420 AH / 1999 CE) Irwa al-Zami bi-Tarajim R…+1.