Nasikh al-Hadith wa Mansukhuhu lil-Athram
- Author died
- 273 AH
- Editions
- عبد الله بن حمد المنصور
Nasikh al-Hadith wa Mansukhuhu (The Abrogating and Abrogated Hadith) is an early legal and traditionist work on the abrogating and abrogated traditions of the Prophet by the Hadith scholar and jurist Abu Bakr al-Athram (d. 261 AH / 875 CE; also reported as 273 AH / 886 CE).
Overview and Subject Matter
The work addresses nasikh al-hadith wa mansukhuhu (abrogation in Hadith literature), one of the specialized subdisciplines of Hadith and legal theory devoted to resolving apparent contradictions between prophetic reports and establishing chronological succession among conflicting legal rulings. Al-Athram, a prominent disciple of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, compiled the text among the earliest independent monographs dedicated to the subject, and it was documented in early bio-bibliographical sources such as Ibn al-Nadim's al-Fihrist. Later scholars, including Ibn al-Qayyim in Ighathat al-lahfan, cited al-Athram's legal rationales and textual reconciliations from the work, such as his analysis of traditions concerning the prohibition of praying in cemeteries.
Structure and Method
The book is structured into three parts (ajza'), organized into topical legal chapters. Its third part contains twenty-four chapters, opening with the supplication upon sighting the crescent moon (Bab al-hilal yura ma yaqulu) and concluding with the chapter on expiation before breaking an oath (Bab al-kaffara qabla al-hinth).
In his methodological approach, al-Athram:
- Does not restrict himself exclusively to sound (sahih) narrations, but records divergent traditions related to a topic and explains how they are to be reconciled or understood when no single definitive ruling is fixed.
- Frequently confines citations to the operative textual proof (al-shahid) rather than providing the entire text of a tradition.
- Follows certain reports directly with critical evaluation (ta'lil) of the narrators or isnads when resolving discrepancies.
Transmission and Extant Copies
The work was transmitted from al-Athram by Abu al-Hasan 'Ali ibn Ya'qub ibn Ibrahim al-Kawsaj, and through successive transmitters, including Abu al-Hasan 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Sa'id al-Mawsili al-Khaffaf, Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn al-Musallama, Abu al-Husayn Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Akhi Mimi, and Abu Muhammad Tahir ibn Sahl al-Isfarayini, from whom the historian Ibn 'Asakir received it.
Manuscripts of the text include:
- An incomplete manuscript comprising the third part, preserved at Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya (MS 1587 Hadith) on thirteen folios.
- An incomplete manuscript preserved in the Saib Library in Ankara (MS 1323), transcribed in 550 AH.
The book was edited by 'Abd Allah ibn Hamad al-Mansur and published in 1420 AH / 1999 CE. The third part was also independently edited by Ahmad ibn 'Abd Allah al-Zahrani.
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