Mashyakhat Abi Tahir Ibn Abi al-Saqr
- Author died
- 476 AH
- Editions
- مكتبة الرشد
Mashyakhat Abi Tahir Ibn Abi al-Saqr (The Teacher-Catalog of Abu Tahir Ibn Abi al-Saqr) is a hadith compilation assembled by the Iraqi hadith scholar and preacher Abu Tahir Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Abi al-Saqr al-Lakhmi al-Anbari (396–476 AH / 1005–1083 CE), preserving narrations received from his various teachers across his travels.
Author and Background
The compiler, Abu Tahir Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Isma'il ibn 'Abd al-Jabbar ibn Isma'il ibn Muflih al-Lakhmi al-Anbari, was born in al-Anbar on 25 Dhu al-Hijjah 396 AH (with alternative reports placing his birth in 376 AH or 377 AH). He was a widely traveled traditionist who journeyed extensively across Iraq, the Levant (including Damascus and Ashkelon), Egypt (which he entered in 423 AH), and the Hejaz (including Mecca) in pursuit of hadith transmissions before returning to teach in al-Anbar. Praised by contemporary and later scholars such as Ibn Nasir and al-Mu'taman al-Saji for his accuracy, piety, and high-quality chains of transmission, he gathered his broad hearing of traditions into a personal catalog (mashyakha).
Structure and Contents
The work was structured as a collection in two parts (juz'an). In it, Ibn Abi al-Saqr compiled prophetical hadiths and narrated reports directly from his shaykhs, noting their locations and transmission circumstances.
The teachers cited in the work include:
- Egyptian and Levantine scholars, such as Shadhan ibn al-Hasan al-Qashani (in Fustat), Abu al-Fath Mansur ibn 'Ali al-Tarsusi (at his residence in Fustat), Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn al-Fadl ibn Nazif, and Abu al-Qasim 'Abd al-Wahid ibn Muhammad al-Shatwi.
- Mesopotamian and Baghdadi authorities, such as Abu al-Fath 'Abd al-Malik ibn 'Umar al-Razzaz, Abu al-Qasim 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Muzaffar al-Kahhal, and Abu al-Hasan Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn 'Abdus al-Za'farani.
His senior-most shaykh was 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Nasr al-Tamimi in Damascus, alongside other prominent figures he studied under, including Abu Nasr ibn al-Hibban, Silah ibn al-Mu'ammal, Abu Muhammad al-Jawhari, and the poet-philosopher Abu al-'Ala' al-Ma'arri. The traditions included in the work span various legal, devotional, and ethical topics, including the virtues and rulings of fasting on the days of 'Ashura', 'Arafah, and during the month of Rajab.
Transmission and Reception
The compilation was transmitted directly from the author during his lifetime, including reading sessions held in Ramadan 473 AH. A major line of transmission ran through his student Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn 'Ubayd Allah Ibn al-Zaghuni (d. 527 AH). Through Ibn al-Zaghuni, the text was transmitted to later scholars such as Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Mawhub ibn al-Banna' and Abu al-Hasan Ibn al-Muqayyir.
Later hadith masters, including al-Dhahabi, recorded having studied and received the work in two parts. It was documented in comprehensive bibliographical and isnad indices such as Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani's al-Mu'jam al-mufahras and Abd al-Hayy al-Kattani's Fihris al-faharis.
Publication
The work was edited by Hatim ibn 'Arif al-'Awni and published in Riyadh by Maktabat al-Rushd (1418 AH / 1997 CE).
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