Juz Bakr ibn Bakkar
- Author died
- 207 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-‘Ubaykān
Juz Bakr ibn Bakkar is a hadith tract compiled from the narrations of the Basran traditionist Bakr ibn Bakkar al-Qaysi (d. 207 AH / 822–823 CE), comprising a collection of elevated and rare prophetic traditions and reports.
Background and Transmission
Bakr ibn Bakkar, who bore the kunya Abu 'Amr, originated from Basra and arrived in Isfahan in 206 AH, where he narrated hadith in 207 AH. His compilation, alternately referred to by biographical sources as his juz' or nuskha, circulated among regional traditionists and was preserved by scholars interested in its short and elevated chains of transmission ('uluww).
The tract was transmitted from Bakr by several contemporary and later traditionists, including his older contemporary Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi, Abu 'Asim al-Nabil, al-Hasan ibn 'Ali al-Hulwani, Isma'il ibn 'Abd Allah Samawayh, Ibrahim ibn Sa'dan, 'Amr ibn 'Ali ibn Muqaddam, Ashhal ibn Hatim, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Jayrani, and Abu Mas'ud Ahmad ibn al-Furat al-Razi alongside other Isfahani scholars.
Content and Scope
The collection gathers traditions narrated by Bakr from prominent eighth-century scholars, such as Shu'ba ibn al-Hajjaj, 'Abd Allah ibn 'Awn, Mis'ar ibn Kidam, Hamza al-Zayyat, Hisham al-Dastawa'i, 'Abbad ibn Mansur, Qurra ibn Khalid, Sufyan al-Thawri, Hammad ibn Salama, Sufyan ibn Husayn, and 'A'idh ibn Shurayh.
Among the specific reports documented through his transmission are:
- A hadith on hospitality: لو دعيت إلى كراع لأجبت ("Were I invited to a sheep's trotter, I would accept"), narrated through 'A'idh ibn Shurayh from Anas ibn Malik.
- A narration detailing Uthman ibn 'Affan's purchase of Paradise twice—at the well of Ruma and during the expedition of Tabuk (Jaysh al-'Usra)—narrated exclusively through Bakr from 'Isa ibn al-Musayyab from Abu Zur'a from Abu Hurayra.
- The Prophet's use of a kohl container before sleep, narrated via 'Abbad ibn Mansur from 'Ikrima from Abd Allah ibn 'Abbas.
- The prohibition against drinking while standing, narrated via Shu'ba from Qatada ibn Di'ama from Anas ibn Malik.
- The medical maxim: ما أنزل الله من داء إلا أنزل له شفاء ("God did not send down any illness without sending down for it a cure"), narrated via Shu'ba from al-A'mash from Abu Salih from Abu Hurayra.
- The judicial warning: من جعل قاضيا فقد ذبح بغير سكين ("Whoever is made a judge has been slaughtered without a knife"), transmitted via Sufyan al-Thawri from Zayd ibn Aslam from Sa'id al-Maqburi from Abu Hurayra.
- An uncorroborated narration stating: سيد الريحان الحناء ("The master of sweet basil is henna"), transmitted via Shu'ba from Qatada from 'Ikrima from Abd Allah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As.
Reception and Critical Evaluation
The contents of Bakr's juz' received mixed appraisals from hadith critics, and none of his narrations were included in the six canonical Sunni collections (al-Kutub al-Sitta). Ibn 'Adi noted that while Bakr transmitted singular and rare narrations (ghara'ib), his corpus contained fine and sound traditions (ahadith hisan saliha) suitable for transcription, and was not severely objectionable (laysa bi-l-munkar jiddan).
Contemporaries such as Abu 'Asim al-Nabil and Ibn Hibban classified Bakr as reliable (thiqa), though Ibn Hibban noted that he occasionally erred. Conversely, Yahya ibn Ma'in dismissed him as "nothing" (laysa bi-shay'), Abu Hatim al-Razi deemed him "not strong" (laysa bi-qawi), and al-Nasa'i regarded him as "not strong" and in another statement "not trustworthy" (laysa bi-thiqa). Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani observed that although scholars sought his collection for its short chains, several uncorroborated reports within it led critics to impugn his reliability.
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