Majlisan min Amali al-Khallal
- Author died
- 439 AH
- Editions
- Manuscript published in the free Jawami' al-Kalim program affiliated with Islamweb
Majlisan min Amali al-Khallal (Two Dictation Sessions from the Dictations of al-Khallal) is a short hadith tract (juzʾ) dictated by the Baghdadi traditionist Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Khallal (d. 439 AH / 1047 CE), containing twenty narrated traditions transmitted across two distinct sessions .
Content and Structure
The work comprises two dictation assemblies (majlisān) containing twenty prophetic and historical reports narrated with their chains of transmission (asānīd) :
- First Session (Reports 1–12): Encompasses twelve narrations addressing diverse doctrinal, devotional, and ethical themes . These include the spiritual virtues of reciting the Qur'an, the virtues of Uthman ibn Affan, the merit of catching the opening takbīrah in ritual prayer, the instruction for prayer leaders to lighten the congregational prayer for the weak and elderly, the Prophet's night vigils until his feet swelled, prayer timings, the stern warning regarding the abandonment of prayer, and descriptions of the Hellfire and wrongdoers .
- Second Session (Reports 13–20): Opens under the heading Majlis ākhar ("Another Session") and contains eight traditions . It covers the recitation of Surat Qaf during the dawn prayer, the establishment of brotherhood among the Companions, the special status of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq as a close companion (khalīl), acts of natural hygiene (fiṭrah), the prohibition against taking prophets' graves as places of worship, divine chastisements, and a concluding historical saying by Umar ibn al-Khattab regarding generations resembling their times more than their fathers .
In his transmissions, al-Khallal draws upon earlier authorities, including Abu al-Abbas al-Hashimi, Abu Bakr al-Qati'i, al-Daraqutni, Ibn Shahin, Muhammad ibn al-Muzaffar, and Yusuf al-Qawwas .
Transmission and Manuscript Tradition
The tract was transmitted directly from al-Khallal's dictation by Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Abd al-Wahid al-Dinawari, to whom it was formally read on Monday, 18 Jumada al-Akhirah 517 AH . Subsequent transmission records note its audition (samāʿ) through Abu Muhammad Abd al-Khaliq ibn Abd al-Wahhab from al-Dinawari, with recorded auditions by Yusuf ibn Khalil al-Dimashqi and Abd al-Ghani ibn Muhammad al-Ghassal, as well as an authorization (ijāzah) granted to Ibn Abd al-Hadi (Yusuf ibn Abd al-Hadi) .
A manuscript of the work is preserved in the Zahiriyyah Library in Damascus as part of the Umariyyah collections (al-Majāmīʿ al-ʿUmariyyah, codex no. 52, item 11, folios 120–126) .
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