Mawsuat Fadail Suwar wa Ayat al-Quran - al-Qism al-Sahih
- Author died
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- Editions
- Dar Ibn al-Qayyim
Mawsuat Fada'il Suwar wa-Ayat al-Qur'an – al-Qism al-Sahih (Encyclopedia of the Virtues of Surahs and Verses of the Qur'an – The Authentic Section) is a specialized reference work in Hadith and Qur'anic sciences compiled by the contemporary scholar Muhammad bin Rizq al-Tarhuni, dedicated to critically authenticating traditions on the virtues of individual surahs and verses.
Background and Scope
Al-Tarhuni noted that literature on the virtues of the Qur'an had accumulated over a thousand reports, many of which were fabrications and weak narrations that had entered major Qur'anic commentaries and general compilations. In response, he designed the project in two main divisions: an authentic section (al-Qism al-Sahih) containing rigorously established and sound (sahih and hasan) traditions, and a weak section (al-Qism al-Da'if) dedicated to defective and unverified reports.
The author also sought to demonstrate that, contrary to the perception among some classical scholars—such as Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya—that authentic hadiths on the virtues of specific surahs are exceedingly scarce, a substantial corpus of reliable narrations exists across early Hadith compendia.
Methodology and Structure
The work is organized sequentially by chapter and verse, beginning with Surat al-Fatiha and proceeding through the Qur'anic text. Al-Tarhuni adhered to specific criteria:
- Strict Focus on Explicit Texts: The author restricted his citations to reports that explicitly name a surah or verse, deliberately excluding general supplications or virtues that merely contain Qur'anic phrases without explicit textual identification.
- Core Traditions and Transmissions: Each section opens with primary (marfu') hadiths serving as the foundation of the topic. When citing primary texts, al-Tarhuni selected specific sources based on elevation of chain (uluww al-isnad), explicit declarations of audition by transmitters suspected of obfuscation (tadlis), superior reliability of narrators, or significant textual variants (ziyadat) transmitted via sound paths.
- Comprehensive Documentation (Takhrij): He gathered transmission lines (turuq) from numerous published and manuscript sources, enumerating intermediate transmitters to dispel suspicions of solitary transmission (tafarrud) or inconsistency (idtirab).
- Critical Evaluation (Tahqiq): The commentary analyzes underlying hidden defects (ilal), evaluates corroborating chains (mutaba'at) and supporting reports (shawahid), and assesses the grading of each tradition.
Publication and Reception
The authentic section was published in two volumes, with its first edition appearing in 1409 AH (1988–1989 CE) from Dar Ibn al-Qayyim in Dammam, and a second edition in 1414 AH (1993–1994 CE) from Maktabat al-Ilm in Jeddah. The author also prepared an abridged edition titled Mukhtasar Mawsuat al-Fada'il.
The encyclopedia has been recognized by contemporary specialists in Qur'anic studies: Musa'id al-Tayyar characterized it as one of the most comprehensive encyclopedic references on the virtues of surahs and verses, and it is frequently referenced in contemporary legal and exegetical research.
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