Majmu Rasail Ibn Rajab
- Author died
- 795 AH
- Editions
- al-Fārūq al-Ḥadīthah lil-Ṭibā‘ah wal-Nashr
Majmu‘ Rasa’il Ibn Rajab (Arabic: مجموع رسائل ابن رجب, lit. 'Compendium of Treatises of Ibn Rajab') is a modern compilation bringing together the shorter treatises, monographs, and thematic epistles composed by the Hanbali scholar and traditionist Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (736–795 AH / 1335–1395 CE) . The collection covers an array of Islamic disciplines, including Islamic theology (tawhid), jurisprudence (fiqh), Quranic exegesis (tafsir), hadith commentary, spiritual refinement (al-raqa'iq), asceticism (zuhd), ethics, and biographical history .
Scope and Contents
The compendium gathers Ibn Rajab's shorter compositions that were otherwise scattered across manuscripts and disparate early prints . These works comprise several thematic categories:
- Theology and Creed: Treatises such as Tahqiq Kalimat al-Ikhlas (also titled al-Tawhid) and Fadl ‘Ilm al-Salaf ‘ala ‘Ilm al-Khalaf (The Superiority of the Knowledge of the Predecessors over that of the Successors) .
- Hadith Commentaries: Monographs dedicated to the line-by-line exposition of individual prophetic traditions, including Nur al-Iqtibas fi Mishkat Wasiyyat al-Nabi li-Ibn ‘Abbas (expounding the hadith "Preserve Allah and He will preserve you"), Ikhtiyar al-Awla fi Sharh Hadith Ikhtisam al-Mala’ al-A‘la, Sharh Hadith Ma Dhi’bani Ja’i‘an, Sharh Hadith Shaddad ibn Aws, Sharh Hadith Baytu bi-l-Sayf, and Kashf al-Kurbah fi Wasf Hal Ahl al-Ghurbah (expounding the hadith "Islam began as something strange") .
- Quranic Exegesis: Focused exegeses on specific Quranic passages, including commentaries on Surat al-Ikhlas, Surat al-Nasr, and the verse إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى اللَّهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ الْعُلَمَاءُ .
- Asceticism, Exhortation, and Ethics: Extensive works of spiritual admonition and pious conduct, such as Al-Takhwif min al-Nar wa-l-Ta‘rif bi-Hal Dar al-Bawar (a thirty-chapter study of the descriptions and terrors of the Hellfire), Al-Mahajjah fi Sayr al-Duljah, Istinshaq Nasim al-Uns min Nafahat Riyad al-Quds, Al-Dhull wa-l-Inkisar, and Al-Farq bayna al-Nasiha wa-l-Ta‘yir (The Distinction Between Sincere Advice and Condemnation) .
- Virtues and Biography: Historical and merit-focused treatises, including Fada'il al-Sham (The Virtues of the Levant) and Sirat ‘Abd al-Malik ibn ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz .
Editorial Method and Manuscript Sources
The collection was edited by Abu Mus‘ab Tal‘at ibn Fu’ad al-Hulwani and published in four volumes by Al-Faruq al-Hadithah li-l-Tiba‘ah wa-l-Nashr in Cairo . The text was established from multiple original manuscript codices; key sources included a collective manuscript preserved at the Fatih Library in Istanbul (MS 5318, containing 18 of Ibn Rajab’s treatises), as well as manuscripts held at King Saud University in Riyadh, the Egyptian National Library (Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya), and the Iraqi Ministry of Awqaf .
The editorial methodology relied on selecting the clearest readings (al-nass al-mukhtar) while noting substantive textual variants across manuscripts in the footnotes . The editor sourced Quranic verses, cross-referenced prophetic traditions, provided comments from classical hadith defect (‘ilal) scholars—such as al-Daraqutni, Ibn ‘Adi, al-‘Uqayli, Abu Hatim al-Razi, and Abu Zur‘ah al-Razi—and glossed difficult terminology using classical Arabic lexicons .
Reception
Scholars commended the compilation for sparing students the difficulty of locating individual treatises that had been published in scattered editions across long intervals . Reviewers noted that the collection demonstrates Ibn Rajab's rigorous juridical methodology alongside his mastery of hadith commentary, asceticism, and spiritual wisdom, reflecting the intellectual heritage of his teacher Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya . It was observed, however, that the editor relied primarily on manuscripts and did not systematically document all previously published print editions of the treatises .
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