Majalis min Amali Abi Abd Allah ibn Mundah
- Author died
- 395 AH
- Editions
- Majalis min Amali Abi Abd Allah ibn Mundah
Majalis min Amali Abi Abd Allah ibn Mandah (Sessions from the Dictations of Abu Abd Allah ibn Mandah) is a collection of hadith dictation gatherings delivered by the Isfahanian traditionist Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Mandah (d. 395 AH / 1005 CE) .
Composition and Contents
The work belongs to the amali (dictation) genre of hadith literature, recording the sessions in which Ibn Mandah dictated Prophetic traditions with their complete chains of transmission (asānīd) to his students upon returning to Isfahan . Dated records within the surviving texts indicate that sessions were held on specific occasions, including dictations delivered during the month of Ramadan in 388 AH .
The transmitted text was organized into numbered parts (ajzāʾ) containing distinct dictation gatherings (majālis):
- The first part (al-juzʾ al-awwal) comprises nine dictation sessions .
- The fourth part (al-juzʾ al-rābiʿ) also contains nine sessions, concluding with two specific sessions preserved through independent transmission lines .
- The fifth part (al-juzʾ al-khāmis) contains thirteen sessions devoted entirely to narrations transmitted through Sufyan ibn Uyaynah with short chains of transmission (bi-ʿuluww) .
Transmission and Reception
The dictation sessions were preserved and transmitted through several of Ibn Mandah's close associates and family members:
- His son Abu al-Qasim Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Mandah transmitted single sessions from his father's dictations .
- His son Abu Amr Abd al-Wahhab ibn Muhammad ibn Mandah transmitted selections from his father's dictations within his own compilation of transmissions (Fawa'id) .
- Disciples such as Abu al-Fadl al-Mutahhar ibn Abd al-Wahid al-Buzani transmitted standalone sessions directly from him .
His contemporary Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani alleged that Ibn Mandah suffered from confusion in his dictations toward the end of his life; however, al-Dhahabi dismissed this criticism, noting that reciprocal accusations between the two scholars stemmed from well-known personal enmity .
Manuscripts
Portions and recensions of the work survive in manuscript form, preserved within the al-Zahiriyya Library in Damascus as part of the Umariyya collections (al-Majāmiʿ al-ʿUmariyya):
- A manuscript titled Majālis min Amālī Abī ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq ibn Mandah (Majmūʿ 35, item 4, fols. 24–52) .
- The recension of his son Abu al-Qasim Abd al-Rahman (Majmūʿ 41, item 4, fols. 48–54) .
- The recension of al-Buzani (Majmūʿ 56, item 9, fols. 177–181) .
Answer updated