Majlisan min al-Amali Ahaduhuma fi Sifat Allah li-Ibn Mardويه
- Author died
- 410 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Bashā'ir al-Islāmiyyah - ضمن المجموعة التاسعة من لقاء العشر الأواخر (١٠٥)
Majlisan min al-Amali Ahaduhuma fi Sifat Allah (Two Dictation Sessions from the Amali, One of Them on the Attributes of God) is a hadith treatise by the traditionist Abu Bakr ibn Mardawayh (323–410 AH / 935–1019 CE) comprising two preserved sessions from his dictation gatherings, the second of which focuses on narrations concerning divine attributes.
Content and Structure
The work comprises thirty-three numbered reports distributed across two separate dictation sessions (majlis):
- The First Session: Transmitted through Abu al-Qasim Yahya ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya Hasnawayh al-Dabbi al-Darrab in 475 AH from Ibn Mardawayh, this gathering contains seventeen narrations on miscellaneous legal, ritual, and ethical themes. These include traditions on the Prophet's ﷺ affection for al-Hasan and al-Husayn, limitations on bequests to one-third of one's estate, the sacrificial camels of the pilgrimage, fasting on the day of Ashura, the prohibition of domestic donkey meat alongside the allowance of horse meat, the etiquette of entering the Prophet's Mosque and greeting his grave, and the Prophet's prayer inside the Kaaba. The session concludes with three lines of poetry recited by Abu al-Qasim al-Yazidi to Ahmad ibn Kamil.
- The Second Session: Transmitted from Ibn Mardawayh's direct dictation by Abu al-Fadl Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahid al-Jassas, this gathering contains sixteen reports (nos. 18–33) dedicated to theological narrations on God's attributes. It records prophetic traditions regarding God placing creation, the heavens, and the earth upon His fingers and the accompanying revelation of وَمَا قَدَرُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهِ ("They have not appraised Allah with true appraisal"), God grasping the heavens and the earth, the placement of His foot in Hellfire, and His descent (nuzul) to the lowest heaven.
The second session also incorporates Ibn Mardawayh's methodological defense of solitary additions transmitted by reliable authorities, arguing that when a reputable traditionist uniquely transmits a wording through trustworthy chains, it is incumbent upon transmitters to receive it with acceptance rather than attributing it to error. It concludes with statements from early authorities—such as Waki ibn al-Jarrah, Yahya ibn Main, and Abu Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Sallam—affirming that the early scholars passed along narrations of divine attributes as true transmissions without interpreting them.
Transmission and Publication
The two sessions were transmitted through chains including the traditionist Jamal al-Din Abd Allah, son of the hadith master Taqi al-Din Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi. The text was edited by Muhammad ibn Ziyad ibn Umar al-Tuklah and published in a single volume by Dar al-Basha'ir al-Islamiyyah in Beirut (first edition, 1428 AH / 2007 CE) as part of the ninth collection of the Liqa al-Ashr al-Awakhir booklet series (no. 105).
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