Mukhtasar Zawaid Musnad al-Bazzar ala al-Kutub al-Sitta wa Musnad Ahmad
- Author died
- 852 AH
- Editions
- Mu’assasat al-Kutub al-Thaqāfiyyah
Mukhtasar Zawaid Musnad al-Bazzar ala al-Kutub al-Sitta wa Musnad Ahmad (Abridgment of the Additions of Musnad al-Bazzar over the Six Books and Musnad Ahmad) is a hadith compilation by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (773–852 AH / 1372–1449 CE) dedicated to isolating the distinct narrations found in Musnad al-Bazzar that are absent from the major canonical collections and Musnad Ahmad .
Background and Composition
The work builds upon Kashf al-Astar an Zawaid al-Bazzar, a compilation by Ibn Hajar's teacher, Nur al-Din al-Haythami, which gathered the supplementary hadiths of Abu Bakr al-Bazzar's al-Bahr al-Zakhkhar relative to the Six Books . Ibn Hajar summarized al-Haythami's collection by eliminating any narration already recorded in Musnad Ahmad, noting that if a tradition is already documented in the Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, its eminence renders referencing another work unnecessary . Ibn Hajar also stated that having previously compiled the atraf (hadith indices) of Musnad Ahmad in two volumes, he sought to expand his coverage by isolating what al-Bazzar reported uniquely beyond it . The author completed the compilation on 20 Sha'ban 808 AH .
Method and Structure
The book is arranged according to thematic legal chapters, commencing with the Book of Faith (Kitab al-Iman) . In presenting the material, Ibn Hajar cites al-Bazzar's original commentary verbatim, or condenses it when extensive . He integrates al-Haythami's critical remarks on the narrations from his isnad-less work, introducing them with "the Shaykh said" (qala al-shaykh), explaining that discussing narrators immediately after their chains of transmission better guards against error . Ibn Hajar further appends his own critical assessments, prefacing them with "I said" (qultu), where he evaluates narrations regarding their acceptance or rejection and corrects oversights in al-Haythami's remarks, though he does not comment on every hadith in the text .
Modern Editions
A portion of the work, extending up to the Book of Foods (Kitab al-At'imah), was edited as a doctoral dissertation by Abdullah Murad al-Salafi under the supervision of Hammad al-Ansari . The complete text was published in two volumes in Beirut by Mu'assasat al-Kutub al-Thaqafiyyah, edited by Sabri ibn Abd al-Khaliq Abu Dharr based on two manuscript copies reproduced from the Asafiyya Library in Hyderabad, India .
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