Sharh Mushkil al-Athar
- Author died
- 321 AH
- Editions
- Mu’assasat al-Risālah
Sharh Mushkil al-Athar (Explanation of Difficult Traditions) is an extensive work of Hadith analysis and reconciliation by the Egyptian Hanafi jurist and traditionist Abu Ja'far al-Tahawi (239–321 AH / 853–933 CE) . The book is dedicated to examining seemingly contradictory, obscure, or problematic prophetic reports, reconciling their meanings, and deducing their legal and theological implications .
Purpose and Scope
In his introduction, al-Tahawi explains that upon reviewing prophetic traditions transmitted through acceptable chains by reliable and meticulous narrators, he observed reports whose deeper comprehension escaped most people . He set out to clarify their obscurities, derive legal rulings from them, and dispel any absurdities or purported impossibilities attributed to them .
The work is considered the most comprehensive and voluminous composition in the genre of mushkil al-hadith (difficult traditions) . Its subject matter is not limited to a single field, covering:
- Creed and theology (aqa'id)
- Ethics and manners (adab)
- Jurisprudence (fiqh) and inheritance law (fara'id)
- Occasions of Quranic revelation (asbab al-nuzul) and variant readings (qira'at)
Structure and Method
Al-Tahawi divided the book into thematic chapters, often introducing each with a heading such as "Chapter on clarifying the difficulty of what was narrated from the Prophet..." . He generally recorded the traditions with his own continuous chains of transmission (asānīd) back to the Prophet ﷺ, facilitating evaluation of their authenticity .
His analytical procedure typically involves citing traditions that appear contradictory under a chapter heading, presenting their various transmission routes and textual variants, and detailing the points of divergence between them . He then provides extensive commentary, linguistic exposition, and critical analysis to harmonize their meanings and eliminate apparent conflict .
Unlike conventional legal compilations, the book does not adhere to standard jurisprudential ordering; chapters dealing with specific subjects, such as ritual purity, prayer, and fasting, are dispersed throughout different parts of the work . Furthermore, like Ibn Qutayba in Ta'wil Mukhtalaf al-Hadith (Interpretation of Conflicting Traditions), al-Tahawi did not separate conflicting reports (mukhtalaf) from intrinsically difficult reports (mushkil), interspersing both categories throughout the text .
Reception and Abridgments
Sharh Mushkil al-Athar is widely praised for its breadth and exhaustiveness compared to earlier works in the discipline, such as al-Shafi'i's Ikhtilaf al-Hadith (Disagreement of Hadith) and Ibn Qutayba's treatise . The 20th-century scholar Muhammad Zahid al-Kawthari observed that examining the works of al-Shafi'i and Ibn Qutayba before reading al-Tahawi's compilation increases one's appreciation of its immense scale and value . The bibliographer Ibn al-Nadim listed it in al-Fihrist under the title Sharh Mushkil Ahadith Rasul Allah, estimating its size at approximately one thousand folios .
Because of the work's length and scattered thematic arrangement, later scholars produced abridgments to reorganize its contents. Jamal al-Din Abu al-Mahasin Yusuf ibn Musa al-Malti composed al-Mu'tasar min al-Mukhtasar min Mushkil al-Athar, which drew upon an earlier abridgment that had gathered related chapters into topical sections, deleted the transmission chains, and condensed the phrasing while preserving the legal and explanatory substance .
Print History
An early, incomplete edition consisting of nearly half the text was published in Hyderabad, India, by Da'irat al-Ma'arif al-'Uthmaniyya in four volumes (1333 AH) . A complete edition, edited by Shu'ayb al-Arna'ut based on a full manuscript, was published in Beirut by Mu'assasat al-Risala in 1415 AH (1994 CE) in sixteen volumes, with fifteen volumes of text and a concluding index volume .
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