Marifat al-Tadhkira
- Author died
- 507 AH
- Editions
- Mu'assasat al-Kutub al-Thaqafiyyah
Marifat al-Tadhkira (Ma‘rifat al-Tadhkira fī al-Aḥādīth al-Mawḍū‘ah) is a hadith critical manual written by the Palestinian traditionist and historian Ibn al-Qaysarani (448–507 AH / 1056–1113 CE) to identify fabricated, unreliable, and rejected narrations .
Purpose and Scope
Ibn al-Qaysarani compiled the work to catalog traditions transmitted by mendacious, impugned, weak, and abandoned narrators (al-kadhaba wa-al-majrūḥūn wa-al-ḍu‘afā’ wa-al-matrūkūn) . He noted in his introduction that he targeted widespread traditions circulated among contemporaries during formal debates and polemical exchanges (fī iḥtijājihim wa-munāẓarātihim), intending to provide scholars and disputants with a quick reference to verify problematic texts .
The treatise contains 1,119 entries comprising fabricated (mawḍū‘), solitary anomalous (gharīb), and rejected (munkar) hadiths . It also serves as an index of narrations cited in Ibn Hibban's biographical dictionary of weak narrators, Kitab al-Majruhin .
Structure and Method
The book is arranged alphabetically according to the opening wording (mu‘jam) of each narration, beginning with the letter Alif .
In presenting the material, Ibn al-Qaysarani adheres to a concise methodology:
- Rather than recording complete hadith texts or extensive chains of transmission (isnāds), he quotes only the opening phrase or relevant segment of the narration .
- He directly identifies the specific defect (‘illah) by pinpointing the compromised transmitter in the chain .
- He supports his verdicts with succinct critical assessments from leading early authorities of transmitter criticism (al-jarḥ wa-al-ta‘dīl), such as Yahya ibn Ma'in, Muhammad al-Bukhari, al-Nasa'i, Ibn Adi, and Ibn Hibban .
Titles and Printed Editions
The work appears under various titles across manuscripts and citations, including Ma‘rifat al-Tadhkira, Ma‘rifat al-Tadhkira fī al-Aḥādīth al-Mawḍū‘ah, Tadhkirat al-Mawḍū‘āt, and Tadhkirat al-Ḥuffāẓ . It is distinct from the later, similarly titled work Tadhkirat al-Mawḍū‘āt by the Indian scholar Muhammad Tahir al-Fattani (d. 986 AH) .
Several printed editions of the text exist:
- An edition titled Tadhkirat al-Mawḍū‘āt printed in Cairo in 1323 AH and reprinted in 1354 AH (1935 CE) .
- An edition titled Ma‘rifat al-Tadhkira fī al-Aḥādīth al-Mawḍū‘ah, edited by ‘Imād al-Dīn Aḥmad Ḥaydar and published in Beirut by Mu’assasat al-Kutub al-Thaqāfiyyah (1406 AH / 1985 CE) .
- An edition titled Tadhkirat al-Ḥuffāẓ (Aṭrāf Aḥādīth Kitāb al-Majrūḥīn li-Ibn Ḥibbān), edited by Ḥamdī ‘Abd al-Majīd al-Salafī and published in Riyadh by Dār al-Ṣumay‘ī (1415 AH / 1994 CE) .
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