Marwiyyat Fadail Ali ibn Abi Talib fi al-Mustadrak
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- Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs
Marwiyyat Fada'il 'Ali ibn Abi Talib fi al-Mustadrak: Dirasah Hadithiyyah (Narrations on the Virtues of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib in al-Mustadrak: A Hadith Study) is a specialized hadith study compiled and edited by Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Jabiri, examining the prophetic reports concerning the virtues of Ali ibn Abi Talib in al-Hakim al-Naysaburi's al-Mustadrak ala al-Sahihayn. The work was published by the Department of Islamic Culture at the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs in Kuwait.
Purpose and Scope
Al-Jabiri composed the work in response to the extensive criticism directed at al-Hakim for alleged leniency (tasahul) and deviations in his authentication of hadiths concerning 'Ali's merits, which led some critics to accuse al-Hakim of Shi'ite leanings (Rafidism). The author's stated objectives were twofold: to do justice to al-Hakim by demonstrating instances where his authentications were shared by earlier hadith masters, and to defend the prophetic Sunnah by identifying narrations where al-Hakim erred in validating weak or unauthentic reports.
The scope of the compilation is restricted to marfu' (prophetically attributed) narrations regarding 'Ali's virtues from across all sections of al-Mustadrak, deliberately excluding mawquf (Companion) and maqtu' (Successor) reports.
Structure
The book is arranged into two main divisions (abwab):
- Part One (al-Bab al-Awwal): A preparatory study divided into two chapters:
- Chapter One: A biographical monograph on 'Ali ibn Abi Talib covering his lineage, kunyas, birth, physical appearance, conversion, wives and children, military expeditions, standing during the reigns of the preceding Rashidun Caliphs, caliphate, the battles of the Battle of the Camel, Battle of Siffin, and Battle of Nahrawan, his assassination, and the varying sectarian views regarding him compared to the Sunni position.
- Chapter Two: A biographical study of al-Hakim al-Naysaburi and al-Mustadrak, reviewing his life, pursuit of knowledge, contributions to hadith preservation, death, and the scholarly critiques against his work.
- Part Two (al-Bab al-Thani): The critical hadith catalogue, where the extracted narrations are organized alphabetically according to the musnad (chain of transmission) of each narrating Companion.
The text concludes with an alphabetical index of hadith incipits (atraf al-hadith), a bibliography of primary and secondary sources, and a general subject index.
Method
For each narration in the corpus, al-Jabiri provides dual numbering—a running sequential number alongside the corresponding hadith number in the Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah edition of al-Mustadrak. He identifies narrators listed only by their kunyas and provides biographical evaluations for any transmitter ranked below the level of reliable (thiqah), referencing Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani's Taqrib al-Tahdhib or classical authorities of al-jarh wa-al-ta'dil.
Each report is subjected to extensive takhrij (source documentation), citing parallel transmissions and organizing external sources chronologically according to the death dates of their authors. Secondary sources quoting primary collections are generally bypassed unless the secondary author imposed strict authenticity criteria (such as Ibn Hibban or Ibn Khuzaymah), specialized in spurious narrations (such as Ibn al-Jawzi's al-Mawdu'at), or primary documentation was scarce. The author prefaces his analysis with his independent assessment of the hadith's authenticity, defines obscure vocabulary (gharib), and provides commentary clarifying misunderstood or contentious phrasing.
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