Musnad Abi Bakr al-Siddiq li-Ahmad ibn Ali al-Marwazi
- Author died
- 292 AH
- Editions
- al-Maktab al-Islāmī
Musnad Abi Bakr al-Siddiq (The Hadith Collection of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq) is a specialized hadith work compiled by the traditionist and judge Ahmad ibn Ali al-Marwazi (d. 292 AH / 905 CE) that gathers the prophetic narrations transmitted on the authority of the first caliph, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq.
Author and Background
The compiler of the work was Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Sa'id ibn Ibrahim al-Qurashi al-Umawi al-Marwazi. Originating from Merv, and reported also to have been from Baghdad, he was born after 200 AH and became an active transmitter who traveled widely and studied under leading authorities of his era, including Ali ibn al-Madini, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Yahya ibn Ma'in, Abu Bakr Ibn Abi Shaybah, and Uthman Ibn Abi Shaybah.
Al-Marwazi served as a judge in Hims and subsequently as a deputy judge in Damascus on behalf of Abu Zur'a Muhammad ibn Uthman. He was evaluated as a reliable traditionist (thiqa) by al-Nasa'i, who narrated from him extensively. In addition to compiling this collection, he authored single-companion musnads for Uthman ibn Affan and A'ishah, as well as thematic monographs such as Kitab al-Ilm (The Book of Knowledge) and Kitab al-Jumu'ah (The Book of Friday). He died in the middle of Dhu al-Hijjah in 292 AH at around the age of ninety.
Content and Scope
The compilation belongs to the genre of single-narrator collections (musnad mufrad), dedicated specifically to gathering the hadiths and reports transmitted from Abu Bakr al-Siddiq with their chains of transmission (isnad). Because the total number of surviving narrations directly traced to Abu Bakr is comparatively small, scholars of the third century AH sought to compile his available traditions from various paths and transmitters into dedicated works.
Transmission and Modern Publication
The work was preserved in manuscript form, including a copy held at the Zahiriyyah Library in Damascus (Majmu' 56). It was edited by the hadith scholar Shu'ayb al-Arna'ut and published by al-Maktab al-Islami in Beirut and Damascus.
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