Juz Ibn Arafa
- Author died
- 257 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Aqṣá
Juz' Ibn 'Arafa (Hadith Tract of Ibn 'Arafa) is a collection of prophetic narrations assembled by the Baghdad-based hadith scholar Abu 'Ali al-Hasan ibn 'Arafa (150–257 AH / 767–871 CE) . It is one of the earliest preserved hadith monographs (ajza'), renowned among later traditionists for its elevated chains of transmission ('uluww al-isnad) .
Author and Content
The compiler, al-Hasan ibn 'Arafa ibn Yazid al-'Abdi, was a long-lived hadith teacher and transmitter who taught across five generations and died in Samarra in 257 AH . In this tract, he compiled narrations heard directly from notable early authorities, including Isma'il ibn 'Ayyash, Khalaf ibn Khalifa, 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-Rahman Abu Hafs al-Abbar, and 'Ali ibn Thabit al-Jazari . The text contains hadiths touching upon theological and ethical matters, such as divine decree, moral conduct, the prohibition of wrongdoing and stinginess, and ritual practices .
Transmission and Reception
The collection achieved widespread transmission in the Islamic world and was widely circulated through prominent students of Ibn 'Arafa, particularly Isma'il ibn Muhammad al-Saffar and Muhammad ibn Makhlad al-'Attar . Due to Ibn 'Arafa's exceptional longevity, his narrations served as an essential avenue for obtaining elevated isnads; Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi remarked that the pinnacle of elevated transmission in his era reached back to the narrations of al-Hasan ibn 'Arafa . Later scholars frequently cited and transmitted the tract across centuries as a reliable source of early reports .
Publication
The work was edited by 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Abd al-Jabbar al-Fariwa'i and published by Maktabat Dar al-Aqsa in Kuwait in 1406 AH (1985 CE) .
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