Mashyakhat Ibn Shadhan al-Sughra
- Author died
- 425 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Ghurabā’ al-Athariyyah
Mashyakhat Ibn Shadhan al-Sughra (The Minor Collection of Shaykhs of Ibn Shadhan) is a hadith compendium assembled by the Baghdadi traditionist Abu Ali al-Hasan ibn Ahmad ibn Shadhan (339–425 AH / 950–1034 CE), comprising narrations transmitted directly through his teachers .
Background and Structure
Ibn Shadhan compiled two separate catalogs of narrations from his shaykhs: a major collection (al-Kubra), which consisted of two parts, and this smaller selection, referred to as the minor collection (al-Sughra or al-Saghirah) . The work functions as a personal record of high-isnad transmissions gathered from various hadith authorities with whom he studied in Baghdad and other centers .
As recorded in transmission logs, one preserved portion of the text opens with the prophetic narration addressed to Ubayy ibn Ka'b: أن رسول الله ﷺ قال لأبي بن كعب: إن الله أمرني أن أقرأ عليك القرآن ("The Messenger of God ﷺ said to Ubayy ibn Ka'b: 'God has commanded me to recite the Quran to you'") . The same section concludes with the hadith: أهل المعروف في الدنيا أهل المعروف في الآخرة ("The people of good deeds in this world are the people of good deeds in the Hereafter") .
Transmission and Reception
The collection was preserved and transmitted through prominent hadith lineages in later centuries. Later authorities, including Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti and Siraj al-Din al-Qazwini, recorded their chains of transmission back to Ibn Shadhan through intermediaries such as Abu Tahir al-Silafi, Shuhdah al-Katibah, and Abu Sa'd Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik al-Asadi .
Manuscripts and Publications
A manuscript copy of the work is preserved in the al-Zahiriyya Library in Damascus . The text has been edited and published in modern print editions:
- An edition edited by Isam Musa Hadi, published by Maktabat al-Ghuraba' al-Athariyya in Medina (1419 AH / 1998 CE) .
- An edition edited by Mish'al ibn Bani al-Mutayri, published by Dar Ibn Hazm (1422 AH), which was also published in Majallat al-Ahmadiyya (issue 10, 1423 AH) .
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