Nuskhat Talut ibn Abbad
- Author died
- 317 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Nawādir
Nuskhat Talut ibn Abbad (Arabic: نسخة طالوت بن عباد, The Hadith Notebook of Talut ibn Abbad), also known as Juz' Talut, is a compact hadith compilation (juz') assembled and transmitted by the traditionist Abu al-Qasim al-Baghawi (214–317 AH / 829–929 CE) containing the narrations of his teacher, the long-lived Basran muhaddith Talut ibn Abbad al-Sayrafi (d. 238 AH / 852 CE) .
Transmission and Fame
Al-Baghawi directly received the collection from Talut ibn Abbad from his book, later reciting it to students in Baghdad, notably during Muharram 315 AH . Among those who transmitted the text from al-Baghawi were Abu al-Qasim Ubayd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Hubabah, Abu Hafs Umar ibn Ibrahim al-Kattani, and Abu Tahir Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Mukhallis .
The work attained wide recognition for the elevation ('uluww) of its chains of transmission . In the fifth century AH, the Baghdadi scholar Abu al-Husayn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Naqqur (d. 470 AH / 1077 CE) held the exclusive transmission of several elevated notebooks, including Nuskhat Talut . Ibn al-Naqqur famously charged an audition fee of one gold dinar to recite the notebook to hadith students, acting on a legal ruling by the Shafi'i jurist Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi because traditionalist scholars occupied all his time and prevented him from earning a living for his household .
Contents and Evaluation
The compilation consists of prophetic traditions and historical reports related by Talut from various early authorities, including:
- Faddal ibn Jubayr, who reported from the Companion Abu Umama al-Bahili, such as the prophetic sayings regarding signs of the Hour and the tradition: اكفلوا لي بست أكفل لكم بالجنة ("Guarantee me six things and I will guarantee you Paradise") .
- Asim ibn Abd al-Wahid al-Wazzan and Salim ibn Abd Allah al-Ataki, who described reports concerning Anas ibn Malik, including the earnings of cuppers and descriptions of Anas dyeing his beard and wearing fine garments .
- Muhammad ibn A'yan Abu al-Alaniyah, transmitting reports about Abd Allah ibn Abi Awfa in Kufa .
- Other chains through Said ibn Ibrahim from Qatada, and Harb ibn Surayj from Nafi' from Ibn Umar .
Hadith critics reviewed the individual chains in the collection. While Ibn al-Jawzi claimed that transmission critics declared Talut ibn Abbad weak, al-Dhahabi rejected this claim, noting that Talut was graded as trustworthy and truthful by Abu Hatim al-Razi, Salih Jazara, and Ibn Hibban, and that weaknesses in certain reports stem from other intermediaries in the chains, such as Faddal ibn Jubayr and Asim ibn Abd al-Wahid .
Manuscripts
A classical manuscript copy of Nuskhat Talut ibn Abbad is preserved at the Zahiriyya Library in Damascus (Majmu' 67, fols. 104–109), bearing audition certificates dating to 535 AH . Chain registries documented its continuous transmission among later scholars such as Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani and Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti .
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