Mujam al-Shuyukh li-Ibn Jami al-Saydawi
- Author died
- 402 AH
- Editions
- Mu'assasat al-Risalah, Dar al-Iman
Mu'jam al-Shuyukh (Arabic: معجم الشيوخ), also known as Kitab al-Mu'jam min al-fawa'id al-muntaqah al-hisan or Mu'jam Ibn Jami', is a biographical hadith dictionary by the Levantine traditionist Abu al-Husayn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Jami al-Ghassani al-Saydawi (b. c. 305 AH / 917 CE – d. 402 AH / 1012 CE) . The work records the teachers from whom he studied and received transmission during his extensive travels .
Structure and Methodology
The work's full formal title is Kitab al-Mu'jam min al-fawa'id al-muntaqah al-hisan bi-asma' shuyukh Abi al-Husayn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Jami' al-Ghassani al-Saydawi . In classical and bibliographical literature, it is also referred to as Mu'jam Ibn Jami' and Musnad Ibn Jami' .
The book is organized into four parts (ajza') . The biographical entries are arranged alphabetically according to the Arabic letters of the teachers' names (huruf al-mu'jam) . Under each teacher's entry, Ibn Jami al-Saydawi extracts a sample narration comprising a prophetic hadith, a biographical narrative (hikayah), or an original written or recited piece (insha') .
Scope and Geographical Coverage
The work encompasses teachers encountered across a wide geographical expanse visited during the author's scholarly journeys, including Mecca, Iraq, Fars, the district of Istakhr, the frontier posts (al-thughur), Diyar Badr, al-Sham (the Levant), and Egypt .
Transmission and Reception
Mu'jam al-Shuyukh was transmitted through a well-documented chain of Levantine scholars . Abu Nasr al-Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Tullab heard the text directly from Ibn Jami' at his home in Sidon (Sayda) in 394 AH . The historian Ibn Asakir read it in Dhu al-Qa'dah 528 AH before Jamal al-Islam Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn al-Muslim al-Sulami, who held the transmission from Ibn Tullab . Later transmissions passed through Qadi al-Qudat Abu al-Qasim Ibn al-Harastani at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus and through the Damascene traditionist Ibn al-Qawwas in Safar 697 AH, as recorded by al-Qasim ibn Yusuf al-Tujibi .
Manuscripts and Publication
Manuscript copies of the dictionary have survived in several collections, including the Al-Zahiriyya Library in Damascus and Al-Azhar Library in Cairo . A critical edition of the book was prepared by Umar Abd al-Salam Tadmuri and published by Mu'assasat al-Risalah in Beirut in 1405 AH / 1985 CE .
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