Marifat Asami Ardaf al-Nabi
- Author died
- 511 AH
- Editions
- Al-Madīnah lil-Tawzī‘
Ma'rifat Asami Ardaf al-Nabi (معرفة أسامي أرداف النبي, "Knowledge of the Names of the Prophet's Co-Riders") is a specialized hadith monograph by the Isfahan-born traditionist Abu Zakariyya Yahya ibn Abd al-Wahhab ibn Mandah (434–511 AH / 1043–1118 CE), dedicated to documenting the companions who rode behind or alongside the Prophet Muhammad on mounts.
Purpose and Scope
In the introduction to the work, Ibn Mandah opens with a report transmitted through Anas ibn Malik stating that whenever the Prophet traveled or went out on an expedition, he would ride with one of his companions behind him each day. The author states that he composed the book specifically to record the names of those who were given a ride behind the Prophet on travels and military expeditions, providing one or two hadiths under each figure according to what reached him, so that anyone seeking to know them and their total count could do so.
Structure and Method
The work is organized as a collection of individual biographical entries for each co-rider (radif). Under each entry, Ibn Mandah records the companion's name and lineage, followed by full chains of transmission (isnad) tracing the relevant reports.
Among the companions documented in the text are:
- Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, during the arrival at Medina upon the Hijrah.
- Uthman ibn Affan, who was met at al-Rawha' following the Battle of Badr.
- Ali ibn Abi Talib, during the Farewell Pilgrimage.
- Younger companions such as Abd Allah ibn Ja'far and Qutham ibn al-Abbas, who were carried together on mounts with the Prophet.
In his chains of narration, Ibn Mandah frequently relies on family transmissions from his uncle and father, as well as on earlier traditionists such as al-Tabarani and Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn al-Muqri'.
Reception and Editions
The treatise became a standard reference in hadith and biographical literature for discussions concerning the Prophet's companions and the practice of riding together on mounts (al-irdaf). Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani noted in Fath al-Bari that Yahya ibn Abd al-Wahhab ibn Mandah compiled the names of those who rode behind the Prophet in a dedicated monograph, enumerating thirty individuals. Later authorities expanded the list to around forty or fifty individuals, and these figures were subsequently versified by poets and scholars, including Abu Dharr ibn Muwaffaq al-Din. The book is also referred to in commentaries under the shortened title Kitab al-Ardaf.
The text has been published in a single volume edited by Yahya Mukhtar Ghazzawi, issued by al-Madinah lil-Tawzi' in Beirut (1410 AH / 1990 CE).
Answer updated