Nuzhat al-Nazir fi Dhikr man Haddath an al-Baghawi
- Author died
- 662 AH
- Editions
- Dār Ibn Ḥazm
Nuzhat al-Nazir fi Dhikr man Haddath an Abi al-Qasim al-Baghawi min al-Huffaz wa-al-Akabir ("The Delight of the Beholder in Mentioning the Hadith Masters and Notables Who Narrated from Abu al-Qasim al-Baghawi") is a specialized biographical dictionary of hadith transmitters by the Shafi'i hadith scholar al-Rashid al-Attar (584–662 AH / 1188–1264 CE) . The work is devoted to chronicling the leading memorizers (huffaz) and prominent scholars who transmitted hadith from the centenarian Iraqi traditionist Abu al-Qasim al-Baghawi (d. 317 AH) .
Background and Purpose
The author explains in his introduction that his motivation arose during a scholarly discussion about Abu al-Qasim al-Baghawi, his remarkable longevity, early audition of hadith (qidam al-sama'), and his unique solitary transmissions from early authorities such as Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ali ibn al-Madini, Abu Bakr and Uthman ibn Abi Shayba, and Ali ibn al-Ja'd . Initially, al-Attar intended to compile a comprehensive dictionary of both al-Baghawi's teachers and his students arranged alphabetically . However, upon recalling a statement by his contemporary Ibn Nuqtah that Abu Muhammad Ibn al-Akhdar al-Baghdadi had already compiled a work dedicated specifically to al-Baghawi's teachers, al-Attar chose to focus exclusively on al-Baghawi's narrators . Because those who heard from al-Baghawi were too numerous to count, al-Attar restricted his compilation to notable figures and recognized hadith masters .
Structure and Method
Before listing the biographical entries, the author includes an introductory chapter on Abu al-Qasim al-Baghawi, discussing the disagreement regarding his birth year (reported as 213 AH or 214 AH), his death on the eve of Eid al-Fitr in 317 AH, his longevity, and testimonies to his reliability by scholars such as al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Abu Ya'la al-Khalili, Ibn al-Sam'ani, and al-Daraqutni .
The biographical dictionary is organized alphabetically by the names of the transmitters (tartib huruf al-mu'jam), beginning with the chapter on the letter Alif with individuals named Ahmad, such as Abu Bakr al-Isma'ili . For each entry, al-Attar records:
- The subject's lineage and kunya .
- Birth and death dates where known .
- A concise list of their notable teachers and students .
- Sample hadith narrations transmitted by the subject through al-Baghawi .
The author notes that he did not aim for complete exhaustiveness given the vast number of transmitters who studied under al-Baghawi .
Publication
The book was edited by Mish'al ibn Bani al-Jibrin al-Mutayri and published in a single volume by Dar Ibn Hazm in Beirut in 1423 AH / 2002 CE .
Answer updated