Ibn al-Sabbah al-Zafarani
Musnad Bilal ibn Rabah
- Author died
- 260 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Sahaba
Musnad Bilal ibn Rabah (The Hadith Collection of Bilal ibn Rabah) is a short hadith compilation (juz') by the Baghdadi Shafi'i jurist and hadith scholar Ibn al-Sabbah al-Zafarani (d. 260 AH / 874 CE), collecting narrations attributed to the Prophet ﷺ transmitted through the Companion and muezzin Bilal ibn Rabah .
Contents and Transmission
The work consists of a small set of prophetic traditions narrated by al-Zafarani through his chains of transmission back to Bilal ibn Rabah . The narrations cover topics including the Prophet's prayer inside the Ka'ba, wiping over footwear (khuffayn) and headdresses (khimar) during ablution, the tradition on cupping during fasting, and the wording of the call to prayer (adhan) .
The text was transmitted through several generations of Baghdadi and Syrian scholars . The transmission record on the manuscript traces the chain from al-Zafarani through al-Husayn ibn Yahya ibn Ayyash al-Qattan (d. 334 AH), Abu Muhammad Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Asadi (known as Ibn al-Akfani, d. 405 AH), Abu al-Ghana'im Muhammad ibn Ali al-Dajjaji (d. 463 AH), and Abu Mansur Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad al-Qazzaz (known as Ibn Zurayq, d. 535 AH) to Umar ibn Tabarzad . It was subsequently received by later scholars such as Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani and documented in his al-Mu'jam al-Mufahras .
Manuscript and Publication
A manuscript copy of the text is preserved in Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya in Cairo within a compilation (majmu') cataloged under no. 1558 / Hadith (pages 467–472), containing forty-six separate treatises and parts . This manuscript was transcribed in a clear ta'liq script by Yusuf ibn Shahin (known as Sibt Ibn Hajar), with audition certificates (sama'at) recorded on the margins . Al-Sakhawi noted in al-Daw' al-Lami' that Sibt Ibn Hajar's script was often not relied upon in isnads and texts due to his leniency .
The text was edited by Abu Abd al-Rahman Ibn Aqil al-Zahiri and published in Majallat al-Buhuth al-Islamiyyah (Issue 14, 1405–1406 AH) . It was later printed as an independent volume by Dar Ibn Hazm in Riyadh (1416 AH / 1996 CE) and by Maktabat al-Salaf al-Salih in Egypt (1409 AH) .
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