Mukhtasar al-Shamail
- Author died
- 279 AH
- Editions
- al-Maktabah al-Islāmīyah
Mukhtasar al-Shamail (also titled Mukhtasar al-Shamail al-Muhammadiyyah) is an abridgment and critical hadith evaluation of al-Tirmidhi’s (209–279 AH / 824–892 CE) work on the Prophet Muhammad's characteristics, al-Shamail al-Muhammadiyyah, prepared by the hadith scholar Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani .
Editorial Method and Structure
In preparing the abridgment, al-Albani removed the chains of transmission (isnads) up to the upper narrator—primarily retaining the Companion, and occasionally a narrator directly below when necessary . He excised repeated narrations originating from the same Companion, integrating textual variations into the primary narration within brackets or citing them under alternate phrasing (such as wa-fi riwayah) . Al-Albani also removed al-Tirmidhi’s comments on narrations unless they contained an evaluation of authenticity or notable scholarly benefit .
A primary purpose of the work was to indicate the grade of authenticity for each narration . The original collection contained nearly 400 hadiths, which al-Albani condensed to 352 narrations . For more than one hundred narrations whose initial chains were weak, he traced parallel transmission paths and corroborating evidence (shawahid) across the Six Books and other sources, elevating roughly half of those weak reports to established status .
Contents and Publication
The work follows the topical chapters of al-Tirmidhi's original compilation, presenting narrations on the Prophet Muhammad's physical description, clothing, personal items, mannerisms, humor, worship, lifestyle, and death .
Mukhtasar al-Shamail has been published in several editions, including releases by al-Maktabah al-Islamiyyah in Amman, Jordan, and a 248-page fourth edition published in 1413 AH by Maktabat al-Maarif in Riyadh .
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