Kitab al-Arbaeen fi al-Jihad wa al-Mujahidin
- Author died
- 618 AH
- Editions
- Dar Ibn Hazm
Kitab al-Arbaeen fi al-Jihad wa al-Mujahidin (The Book of Forty [Hadiths] on Jihad and the Mujahidin) is a specialized hadith compilation by Abu al-Faraj al-Muqri (517–618 AH / 1123–1221 CE) devoted to prophetic traditions concerning the virtues of jihad and those who take part in it .
Author and Context
The compiler was ‘Afif al-Din Abu al-Faraj Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi al-‘Izz al-Wasiti al-Saffar al-Muqri . Born in Wasit in 517 AH, he traveled to Baghdad, where he engaged in commercial trade for a time and received hadith transmissions from various scholars . After residing again in Wasit, he returned to Baghdad and transmitted hadiths there in 584 AH . He subsequently journeyed toward the Levant, taught in Damascus, and ultimately settled in Mosul . He regularly styled himself, and was addressed by others, as "the servant of the hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ" (khādim ḥadīth Rasūl Allāh) .
Structure and Method
The work belongs to the arba'iniyyat (forty-hadith collections) genre, arranged thematically around military struggle (jihad) and border guard duty (ribat) . Abu al-Faraj cites each report with his personal chain of transmission (isnad) tracing back to the Prophet ﷺ through prominent hadith authorities and companions such as Abu Hurayrah, Mu'adh ibn Jabal, and Anas ibn Malik .
Among the direct teachers through whom the author recorded the traditions are:
- Abu al-Waqt ‘Abd al-Awwal ibn ‘Isa al-Sijzi (d. 553 AH), from whom he heard narrations at the madrasa of Abu al-Najib al-Suhrawardi in Baghdad in 553 AH .
- Abu al-Muzaffar Hibat Allah ibn Ahmad ibn al-Shibli al-Babarsi, with readings in Baghdad in 554 AH .
- Abu al-Fath Muhammad ibn al-Baqi ibn al-Batti .
- The Abbasid syndic (naqib) Abu Ja‘far Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Abbasi .
The text covers diverse topics related to martial engagement, including the spiritual standing of the fighter, divine guarantees of paradise or safe return with reward, the parity between participating directly and supporting a warrior, and the reward of keeping watch on the frontier .
Reception and Editions
The treatise is cited as a reference in hadith literature and extraction (takhrij) works . Traditions in the collection that were not found in the six canonical books were compiled by modern researchers into works on hadith supplements (zawa'id), such as Zawa'id al-Ajza' al-Manthura 'ala al-Kutub al-Sitta al-Mashhura by 'Abd al-Salam Muhammad 'Allush .
The work has been edited by Badr ibn 'Abd Allah al-Badr and published by Dar Ibn Hazm in Beirut (first published in 1413 AH / 1993 CE, and reprinted in 1415 AH / 1995 CE), occasionally printed alongside other short hadith works such as al-Arba'un al-'Ushariyya by Zayn al-Din al-Iraqi .
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