Try Qaf

Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi

Mizan al-Itidal

Author died
748 AH
Editions
Dār al-Maʿrifah lil-Ṭibāʿah wa-al-Nashr

Mizan al-Itidal fi Naqd al-Rijal (The Balance of Moderation in the Critique of Men) is a major biographical dictionary of weak, disparaged, and criticized hadith transmitters compiled by the Syrian Shafi'i scholar and historian Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi (673–748 AH / 1274–1348 CE).

Background and Scope

Al-Dhahabi composed Mizan al-Itidal after completing his earlier work al-Mughni fi al-Du'afa', serving as the culmination of his series of writings on weak narrators that also included Diwan al-Du'afa' and its supplement. The work drew upon earlier foundational literature in the field of disparagement and appraisal (al-jarh wa-al-ta'dil), notably Ibn Adi's al-Kamil fi Du'afa' al-Rijal, while incorporating substantial additions and critical corrections. It contains biographical evaluations for 10,907 transmitters.

The book covers several categories of narrators:

  • Fabricators and liars, whether deliberate or inadvertent.
  • Transmitters suspected of fabrication, forgery, or untruthfulness in ordinary speech.
  • Abandoned and ruined narrators (al-matrukun al-halka) whose reports are rejected.
  • Hadith memorizers (huffaz) noted for doctrinal leniency or sectarian bias.
  • Narrators weak primarily due to poor memory or errors, whose narrations could still be utilized as corroborative reports (shawahid).

Methodology and Structure

Al-Dhahabi arranged the entries alphabetically (huruf al-mu'jam), extending the alphabetical order through the names of their fathers. He utilized standard letter symbols across entries to designate transmitters whose narrations appear in the Six Books (al-Kutub al-Sittah).

In his introduction, al-Dhahabi noted that he followed the inclusive method of Ibn Adi by recording anyone regarding whom any criticism had been voiced in earlier manuals, even if the individual was reliable and eminent, to ensure comprehensive documentation rather than endorsement of the criticism. However, he deliberately excluded the Prophet's Companions (al-Sahabah), explaining that reported deficiencies stemmed from downstream narrators and not the Companions themselves. He likewise excluded the leading followed juristic imams (al-A'immah al-Matbu'un), noting that if any were mentioned, it was strictly done with justice and defense. Within individual biographies, he frequently quoted one or more of the transmitter's anomalous (ghara'ib) or objectionable (manakir) narrations to demonstrate the reason for their censure.

The text is organized into specific divisions:

  1. Transmitters arranged alphabetically by given name.
  2. Section on agnomens (kuna).
  3. Transmitters known by their fathers' names (prefixed by Ibn).
  4. Section on relational lineages (ansab).
  5. Unidentified male transmitters (majahil al-ism).
  6. Unidentified female transmitters.
  7. Agnomens of female transmitters.
  8. Women known through maternal or relational epithets (beginning with Walidah).

Reception, Supplements, and Influence

Mizan al-Itidal became one of the standard references on criticized transmitters among later hadith scholars. Its perceived thoroughness led scholars such as Nur al-Din al-Haythami (d. 807 AH) in Majma' al-Zawa'id to treat the omission of any of al-Tabarani's teachers from Mizan al-Itidal as an indication of their reliability.

Later scholars composed several supplements (dhuyul), abridgments, and adaptations:

  • Al-Husayni (d. 765 AH) authored a supplement noting omissions and errors.
  • Ibn Kathir (d. 774 AH) integrated the contents of Mizan al-Itidal with al-Mizzi's Tahdhib al-Kamal in his work al-Takmil fi Ma'rifat al-Thiqat wa-al-Du'afa' wa-al-Majahil.
  • Sulayman ibn Yusuf al-Yasufi (d. 789 AH) penned marginalia (Hashiyah) on the book.
  • Zayn al-Din al-Iraqi (d. 806 AH) compiled Dhayl Mizan al-Itidal in a single volume.
  • Sibt Ibn al-Ajami (Burhan al-Din al-Halabi, d. 841 AH) authored Nathl al-Himyan fi Mi'yar al-Mizan.
  • Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (d. 852 AH) restructured and expanded the material in Lisan al-Mizan; he removed transmitters of the Six Books because he had already detailed them in Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, incorporated al-Iraqi's supplement, and contributed extensive additional biographies.

Mizan al-Itidal has been published in multiple multi-volume editions, including the four-volume critical edition edited by Ali Muhammad al-Bijawi (Cairo, 1382 AH / 1963 CE).

Answer updated