Musnad Ibn Abi Shayba
- Author died
- 235 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Waṭan
Musnad Ibn Abi Shayba is a classical hadith compilation arranged by Companion narrators, authored by the Kufan hadith scholar Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shayba (159–235 AH / 775–849 CE) .
Structure and Scope
Unlike the author's thematic legal compendium al-Musannaf, which incorporates rulings and statements of the Companions and Successors, Musnad Ibn Abi Shayba was classified by Ibn Hazm among the works devoted purely to the text of prophetic traditions . It arranges narrations under individual Companion headings (masanid), although the author did not follow a fixed alphabetical or categorical sequence in ordering the Companions themselves . In several instances, the compilation includes dedicated sections for individual Companions whose narrations were not isolated in other musnad works . In total volume, the work is estimated to be roughly one-third the size of Musnad Ahmad .
Transmission and Reception
The book was transmitted down through Andalusian chains of transmission via Muhammad ibn Waddah, with Ibn Khayr al-Ishbili recording that it originally comprised twenty parts or books (kutub) . Al-Dhahabi designated it alongside al-Musannaf as one of Ibn Abi Shayba's two large and valuable major works, and Haji Khalifa characterized it in Kashf al-Zunun as a sizable collection .
In the genre of secondary hadith compilations (zawa'id), Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani extracted its surplus traditions over the Six Books and Musnad Ahmad in al-Matalib al-'Aliya, where its unique narrations constitute 572 hadiths, many of which also appear within Ibn Abi Shayba's al-Musannaf . Al-Busiri likewise incorporated its additional narrations over the Six Books into his collection Ithaf al-khiyara al-mahara .
Manuscripts
Portions of the work survive across different manuscript collections:
- The first part is preserved in al-Maktaba al-Mahmudiyya in Medina (177 folios), containing the narrations of 32 Companions, beginning with the Ten Promised Paradise and concluding with Zayd ibn Arqam .
- A Maghrebi manuscript contains the second part across 78 folios, documenting the narrations of 256 Companions, opening with Nubayt ibn Sharit .
- Al-Mubarakfuri documented the existence of a complete manuscript transcribed in the handwriting of Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti in a German library .
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