Sharh al-Suyuti ala Muslim
- Author died
- 911 AH
- Editions
- Dār Ibn ‘Affān lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzī‘
Sharh al-Suyuti ‘ala Muslim, titled al-Dibaj ‘ala Sahih Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj (الديباج على صحيح مسلم بن الحجاج), is a concise hadith commentary by al-Jalal al-Suyuti (d. 911 AH / 1505 CE) on Sahih Muslim by Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj .
Purpose and Structure
The work forms part of al-Suyuti’s collection of concise commentaries and annotations on the six canonical hadith collections (al-Kutub al-Sittah), alongside works such as al-Tawshih on Sahih al-Bukhari and Zahr al-Ruba on Sunan al-Nasa'i .
Al-Suyuti prefaced the commentary with introductory chapters covering several introductory sciences related to Sahih Muslim :
- The methodology, transmission conditions (shart), and terminology employed by Imam Muslim in his collection .
- An alphabetical inventory (from alif to ya) identifying individuals mentioned in the text solely by their kunyas (agnomens) .
- Identifications of figures mentioned in connection with prophethood .
- Precise vocalization and disambiguation of names, lineages, and titles liable to confusion .
Method and Content
The commentary is characterized by its brevity and practical utility for readers and listeners of the hadith text . Al-Suyuti focuses on vocalizing specific words, explaining obscure vocabulary (gharib), recording textual variants across narrations despite their rarity, identifying unnamed persons (mubhamat), resolving difficult grammatical parsing (i‘rab), harmonizing apparently conflicting reports, and correcting transmission errors, deliberately omitting extended legal derivation (istinbat) . Among the prior works he drew upon was al-Tahrir fi Sharh Sahih Muslim, authored by Muhammad ibn Isma‘il al-Taymi and completed by his father Abu al-Qasim Isma‘il al-Taymi .
Abridgments and Editions
The commentary was abridged by the Moroccan scholar ‘Ali ibn Sulayman al-Bajam‘awi (d. 1306 AH / fl. 1299 AH) under the title Washy al-Dibaj ‘ala Sahih Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj . A printed edition of al-Dibaj, edited by Abu Ishaq al-Huwayni in six volumes, was published by Dar Ibn ‘Affan in 1416 AH (1996 CE) .
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