Mawqif al-Imamayn al-Bukhari wa Muslim min Ishtirat al-Liqya wa al-Sama fi al-Sanad al-Muannan bayn al-Mutaasirin
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- Maktabat al-Rushd
Mawqif al-Imamayn al-Bukhari wa Muslim min Ishtirat al-Liqya wa al-Sama fi al-Sanad al-Muannan bayn al-Mutaasirin (The Position of the Two Imams al-Bukhari and Muslim on Requiring Meeting and Hearing in the Muʿanʿan Chain Between Contemporaries) is a specialist study in hadith methodology by the Saudi hadith scholar Khalid Mansur Abd Allah al-Durays . The book examines the classical debate regarding the conditions required to establish the continuity (ittisal) of an isnad transmitted with the non-explicit formula ʿan (al-hadith al-muʿanʿan) between contemporary narrators .
Origins and Publication
The work originated as an academic master's thesis submitted to the Department of Islamic Culture (specializing in Tafsir and Hadith) at the College of Education in King Saud University, prepared under the academic supervision of Shakir Fayyad . It was published in a single volume (614 pages) by Maktabat al-Rushd in Riyadh in its first edition (1416–1417 AH / 1996 CE) .
Subject and Scope
The book addresses a central problem in the sciences of hadith transmission: whether a narrator's transmission from a contemporary teacher using the ambiguous preposition ʿan is accepted as continuous purely on the basis of their contemporaneity (muʿasara) and the possibility of their meeting provided the narrator is free from obfuscation (tadlis), or whether it is necessary to establish that the two individuals actually met (liqya) or heard from one another (samaʿ) at least once .
The author investigates the divergence between the approach associated with al-Bukhari—who required proof of meeting/hearing—and that of Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj, who famously argued in the introduction to his Sahih that contemporaneity along with the possibility of meeting suffices in the absence of evidence of non-hearing or tadlis . Al-Durays surveys historical contributions on the topic by earlier authorities, including Ibn Rushayd al-Fihri's al-Sunan al-Abyan, Salah al-Din al-Ala'i's Jamiʿ al-Tahsil, Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali's Sharh ʿIlal al-Tirmidhi, and modern treatments by Abd al-Rahman al-Mu'allimi and Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghuddah .
Structure and Contents
The book is organized into an introduction, four principal parts (abwab), a conclusion, and indexes :
- Part One (al-Bab al-Awwal): Introduction to the Two Imams and the Subject: Contains three chapters covering brief biographical profiles of al-Bukhari and Muslim, the definition and rulings regarding al-isnad al-muʿanʿan and equivalent terminology, and distinctions between this issue and related questions in hadith terminology .
- Part Two (al-Bab al-Thani): The Position of Imam al-Bukhari: Spans seven chapters examining al-Bukhari's focus on the issue in works like al-Tarikh al-Kabir; his methods and criteria for establishing meeting and hearing; whether the absence of established meeting impacts the baseline soundness (asl al-sihha) or only the highest tier of soundness; the arguments supporting al-Bukhari's stance; the practical methodology of his critical statements; and the scholars who supported or criticized his position .
- Part Three (al-Bab al-Thalith): The Position of Imam Muslim: Spans seven chapters analyzing Muslim's delineation of the dispute in the introduction to his Sahih; identifying whom he was refuting; the conditions governing his reliance on contemporaneity; an analysis and critique of the proofs advanced by Muslim; whether Muslim included in his Sahih chains where meeting was not established or chains criticized by al-Bukhari; and the scholars who supported or raised criticisms against Muslim .
- Part Four (al-Bab al-Rabi'): Comparison and Evaluation: Covers two chapters identifying the precise points of convergence and disagreement between the two approaches, followed by the author's comparative assessment (tarjih) and its evidentiary grounds .
Reception
The study has been cited and discussed in subsequent hadith scholarship. Hatim al-Awni addressed al-Durays' study in his work Ijmaʿ al-Muhaddithin, observing that al-Durays affirmed the attribution of the condition of established meeting (shart al-liqya) to al-Bukhari based on textual evidence from his works, while al-Awni argued against the accuracy of attributing such a strict condition to al-Bukhari . The book has also been utilized and cited in studies on hadith defects and isnad criticism, such as Bashir Ali Umar's Manhaj al-Imam Ahmad fi Iʿlal al-Ahadith and Ibrahim al-Lahim's al-Ittisal wa al-Inqitaʿ .
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