Mahd al-Sawab fi Fadail Amir al-Muminin Umar ibn al-Khattab
- Author died
- 909 AH
- Editions
- ʻImādat al-Baḥth al-ʻIlmī bi-al-Jāmiʻah al-Islāmīyah
Mahd al-Sawab fi Fadail Amir al-Muminin Umar ibn al-Khattab (Arabic: محض الصواب في فضائل أمير المؤمنين عمر بن الخطاب, lit. 'The Pure Truth Concerning the Virtues of the Commander of the Faithful Umar ibn al-Khattab') is a biographical and hagiographical work by the Hanbali scholar Ibn al-Mubarrad (also known as Yusuf ibn Abd al-Hadi, d. 909 AH / 1503 CE) dedicated to the life, merits, and virtues of the second Rightly Guided Caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab.
Composition and Attribution
Ibn al-Mubarrad authored the work in his youth, completing it in 866 AH (1461–1462 CE) at the age of twenty-six. The attribution of the work to him is attested on surviving autograph manuscript titles and colophons, as well as in the author's autobiographical bibliography Fihrist al-Kutub. It is likewise listed among his works by later biographical compilers, including Ibn al-Ghazzi in al-Na't al-Akmal, Isma'il Pasha al-Baghdadi in Hadiyyat al-Arifin, and Muhammad Jamil al-Shatti in Mukhtasar Tabaqat al-Hanabila. Within the text, the author also cites oral transmissions and benefits from his prominent teachers, including Zayn al-Din al-Habbal.
Structure and Content
The book is structured into one hundred distinct chapters (abwab), tracing the complete biographical trajectory and legacy of Umar ibn al-Khattab from his pre-Islamic life to his death and post-mortem commemorations.
The earlier chapters address Umar's lineage, birth, physical descriptions, standing during the Jahiliyya, conversion to Islam, migration (hijra) to Medina, instances where Quranic revelation coincided with his judgment (muwafaqat), and the traditions concerning his excellence and rank among the companions. Subsequent sections cover his role in the succession of Abu Bakr, his own caliphate, his assumption of the title Amir al-Mu'minin, and his administrative innovations, including night patrols (sas), military campaigns and conquests, land administration in al-Sawad, tax policies, judicial governance, oversight of officials, collection of the Quran, and his asceticism (zuhd). In legal matters, the author incorporates material from earlier authorities, such as Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya's I'lam al-Muwaqqi'in on issues like the suspension of the penal amputation for theft during famine, citing them under the attribution of "some of our companions."
The concluding sections treat Umar's assassination, public grief, eulogies, family and wives, his high station in Paradise, and recorded dreams concerning him, concluding with chapter one hundred on miscellaneous reports and family notices.
Publication
The work was edited by Abd al-Aziz ibn Muhammad al-Furaih and published in a critical edition by the Deanship of Scientific Research at the Islamic University of Madinah in cooperation with Maktabat Adwa al-Salaf (1420 AH / 2000 CE).
Answer updated