Mustakhraj Abi Awana
- Author died
- 316 AH
- Editions
- T al-Jamia al-Islamiya · Dar al-Marifa
Mustakhraj Abi Awana (also known as al-Musnad al-Sahih al-Mukhraj 'ala Sahih Muslim) is a hadith compilation by the Persian traditionist Abu 'Awana al-Isfarayini (d. 316 AH / 928–929 CE), structured as an extracted work (mustakhraj) based on the Sahih of Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj .
Title and Scope
The author did not leave an explicit introduction naming the book, leading scholars and copyists to cite it under several related titles . In manuscripts and classical citations, it appears under titles such as al-Musnad al-Sahih al-Mukhraj 'ala Sahih Muslim, Mukhtasar Abi 'Awana, al-Sahih al-Musnad, and simply Musnad Abi 'Awana .
The core subject matter consists of prophetic traditions and narrations from the Companions and Successors transmitted with Abu 'Awana's independent chains of narration (asānīd) to corroborate those in Sahih Muslim . Abu 'Awana also drew upon the Sahih compiled by his contemporary Ahmad ibn Salama al-Naysaburi (d. 286 AH) . Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani noted that when Abu 'Awana states "from here, neither of them transmitted it" (من هنا لم يخرجاه), he refers to Muslim and Ahmad ibn Salama rather than al-Bukhari and Muslim .
Methodology and Structure
In accordance with the mustakhraj methodology, Abu 'Awana sought to cite the traditions found in Sahih Muslim using his own direct authorities without passing through Muslim, meeting Muslim's chain at the level of his teachers—such as Yunus ibn 'Abd al-A'la—or higher in the transmission line .
Unlike Muslim's arrangement, Abu 'Awana incorporated extensive, detailed chapter headings (tarājim) articulating specific jurisprudential derivations, mirroring the legal order of Shafi'i jurisprudence and resembling the style of Ibn Khuzayma and al-Bukhari . To accommodate these legal discussions, Abu 'Awana frequently altered the sequence of narrations within chapters and repeated individual hadiths under multiple headings .
Throughout the work, Abu 'Awana introduced narrational additions (ziyādāt), supplied elevated chains of transmission (asānīd ‘āliyah), and identified ambiguous or unspecified narrators left nameless in Muslim's original text .
Authenticity of Contents
While the vast majority of traditions in the work are authentic due to their concordance with Sahih Muslim, scholars have noted that Abu 'Awana's independent additions vary in status . Ibn Hajar highlighted that the additional standalone traditions interspersed across the chapters include authentic (ṣaḥīḥ), fair (ḥasan), and weak (ḍa‘īf) reports, as well as non-prophetic traditions (mawqūf) . Abd al-Rahman al-Mu'allimi observed that Abu 'Awana's title applies because the work is extracted from an authentic source and the majority of its contents are authentic, but inclusion in the book does not automatically signify the author's authentication of every individual added link . Al-Dhahabi also pointed out an instance of a fabricated report transmitted in the work via 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Balawi regarding the prayer for rain (istisqāʾ) .
Transmission and Reception
The primary conduit for the transmission of the Mustakhraj was Abu 'Awana's grandnephew, Abu Nu'aym 'Abd al-Malik ibn al-Hasan al-Azhari al-Isfarayini (b. 310 AH), who attended his granduncle's readings as a child . Abu 'Awana reportedly fed him sweetmeats (fānīdh) during night sessions to prevent him from falling asleep until he completed auditioning the entire compilation . In 399 AH, Abu Nu'aym traveled to Nishapur, where local scholars, jurists, and judges suspended their regular teaching assemblies to attend his massive public readings of the work at the home of Abu al-Hasan al-Bayhaqi .
Scholars commended the work's rich collection of transmission variants and legal utility; Abu Sa'd al-Sam'ani lauded its quality, and Shams al-Din al-Sakhawi praised its wealth of supplementary chains and texts .
Print Editions
The book remained partially published for several decades:
- Hyderabad edition: Published in parts by Da'irat al-Ma'arif in Hyderabad, India, issuing volumes 1 and 2 in 1362 AH and volumes 4 and 5 in 1385 AH, edited by Muhammad 'Abd al-Hamid, Habib Allah al-Qadiri, and 'Abd al-Rahman al-Mu'allimi, based on a manuscript lacking the third volume .
- Dar al-Ma'rifah edition: Portions were edited by Ayman 'Arif al-Dimashqi and published in Beirut in 1998 .
- Islamic University of Madinah edition: A collaborative critical edition was prepared through several postgraduate theses at the College of Hadith and published by the Deanship of Scientific Research at the Islamic University of Madinah in 24 volumes between 1435 AH / 2014 CE and 1438 AH / 2016 CE .
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