Kashf al-Niqab an Muallafat al-Ashab
- Author died
- 1397 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Ṣumay‘ī lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzī‘
Kashf al-Niqab 'an Mu'allafat al-Ashab (كشف النقاب عن مؤلفات الأصحاب, lit. "Unveiling the Veil from the Works of the Companions") is a specialized biographical and bibliographical dictionary of Hanbali literature compiled by the Saudi Hanbali jurist and judge Sulayman ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Hamdan (1322–1397 AH / 1904–1977 CE) .
Scope and Structure
The book is an alphabetical reference work designed to document, identify, and attribute treatises, commentaries, and manuals authored within the Hanbali school of jurisprudence . It lists approximately 645 titles produced by around 360 Hanbali scholars .
Entries are arranged alphabetically according to book titles, beginning with the letter alif . For each entry, al-Hamdan provides the title, attributes it to its author, and often records the opening lines or excerpts of its preface, as well as scholarly appraisals and commendations (taqārīẓ) . In certain entries, he cites extensive prefatory passages—such as those of I'lam al-Muwaqqi'in by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya and al-Furu' by Ibn Muflih—or lengthy commendations, such as those written for Dalil al-Talib . He also draws attention to specific legal positions within certain texts that diverge from the standard Hanbali doctrine, noting examples in Mukhtasar al-Khiraqi and al-Nihayah fi Sharh al-Hidayah, adds diacritical marks to ambiguous terms, and corrects errors found in earlier biographical accounts .
Sources
In compiling the work, al-Hamdan relied on direct examination of manuscripts and printed books, alongside major reference works across three main categories :
- Hanbali legal works: including Taqrir al-Qawa'id by Ibn Rajab, al-Adab al-Shar'iyyah and al-Furu' by Ibn Muflih, al-Insaf and Tashih al-Furu' by al-Mardawi, Kashshaf al-Qina' by Mansur al-Bahuti, and al-Mughni by Ibn Qudamah .
- Biographical and bibliographical dictionaries: including Tabaqat al-Hanabilah by Ibn Abi Ya'la, Dhayl Tabaqat al-Hanabilah by Ibn Rajab, al-Jawhar al-Munaddad by Yusuf ibn Abd al-Hadi, al-Suhub al-Wabilah by Ibn Humayd, Kashf al-Zunun by Katip Celebi (Hajji Khalifa), al-Daw' al-Lami' by al-Sakhawi, Shadharat al-Dhahab by Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali, and al-Madkhal by Abd al-Qadir ibn Badran .
- Hadith and theological works: such as Fath al-Bari by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Zad al-Ma'ad by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, and al-Sarim al-Maslul by Ibn Taymiyyah .
State of the Text and Publication
The author left Kashf al-Niqab as an unfinalized draft (musawwadah), containing blank spaces where he intended to insert book prefaces, corrections, and marginal additions written across various periods .
The work survived in a single autograph manuscript of 339 folios held in the manuscript collection of Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh (MS no. 2257) . Its authorship was established by internal evidence, including references to al-Hamdan's own teachers—such as Sa'd ibn Hamad ibn Atiq, Abd Allah ibn Bulayhid, and Sulayman ibn Sahman—and cross-references to his other writings, such as his arrangement of Ibn Rajab's al-Qawa'id and his abridgment of al-Tamhid fi Usul al-Fiqh .
The text was edited from this manuscript by Abd al-Ilah ibn Uthman al-Shayi' and published in a single volume (352 pages) by Dar al-Sumay'i in Riyadh in 1426 AH / 2005 CE . The editor numbered the cataloged works sequentially, verified citations and biographical sources, corrected slight alphabetical inversions, and added descriptive notes indicating the printed or manuscript status and locations of the listed works .
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