Tabaqat al-Mudallisin = Tarif Ahl al-Taqdis bi Maratib al-Mawsufin bil-Tadlis

Taʿrīf Ahl al-Taqdīs bi-Marātib al-Mawṣūfīn bi-l-Tadlīs (Arabic: تعريف أهل التقديس بمراتب الموصوفين بالتدليس, commonly known as Ṭabaqāt al-Mudallisīn) is a specialized treatise on hadith criticism by the Shafi'i scholar Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (d. 852 AH / 1449 CE) classifying transmitters characterized by tadlīs (the obfuscation or concealment of defects in chains of transmission) into five distinct ranks al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha…+1.

Composition and Sources

Ibn Hajar compiled the work as a concise reference intended to be easily memorized al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha…+1. In assembling his material, he drew heavily on the section on mudallisūn found in Jāmiʿ al-Taḥṣīl fī Aḥkām al-Marāsīl by Salah al-Din al-Ala'i (d. 761 AH) al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha…+1. He also incorporated material gathered in subsequent supplements by his teacher Zayn al-Din al-Iraqi, al-Iraqi's son Wali al-Din Ahmad ibn al-Iraqi, and Sibt Ibn al-Ajami (the author of al-Tabyīn li-Asmāʾ al-Mudallisīn), alongside his own additional findings al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha…. To distinguish the origins of the entries, Ibn Hajar marked the narrators derived directly from al-Ala'i's work with the Arabic letter hāʾ (هـ), leaving his supplementary additions unmarked al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha….

Structure and Classification System

The book comprises 151 biographical entries arranged across five hierarchical categories (marātib) Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y…+1. In the theoretical preface, Ibn Hajar outlines the mechanics and varieties of tadlīs—including tadlīs al-isnād (omission of an intermediate transmitter), tadlīs al-shuyūkh (obscuring a teacher's name), tadlīs al-taswiyah (dropping a weak link between two trustworthy transmitters), tadlīs al-qaṭʿ, and tadlīs al-ʿaṭf—while distinguishing tadlīs from al-irsāl al-khafī (hidden transmission from a contemporary without proven meeting) Tabaqat al-Mudallisin = T….

He divides the narrators according to the fivefold scheme formulated by al-Ala'i Mu'jam al-Mudallisin+1:

1. First rank: Transmitters who were rarely described as practicing tadlīs, such that it does not impair their reliability (e.g., Yahya ibn Sa'id al-Ansari) Mu'jam al-Mudallisin+1.
2. Second rank: Major authorities whose tadlīs was tolerated by hadith scholars and accepted in canonical collections (al-Ṣaḥīḥayn) due to their prominence and the rarity of their tadlīs relative to their massive output (e.g., Sufyan al-Thawri), or because they practiced tadlīs solely from trustworthy transmitters (e.g., Sufyan ibn Uyaynah) Mu'jam al-Mudallisin+1.
3. Third rank: Transmitters who practiced tadlīs frequently; scholars relied only on their reports where they explicitly stated direct hearing (samāʿ), though some scholars rejected their hadith entirely and others accepted them (e.g., Abu al-Zubayr al-Makki) Mu'jam al-Mudallisin+1.
4. Fourth rank: Transmitters concerning whom scholars agreed that none of their hadith may be relied upon unless they explicitly confirm direct audition, because they frequently practiced tadlīs from weak and unknown narrators (e.g., Baqiyyah ibn al-Walid) Mu'jam al-Mudallisin+1.
5. Fifth rank: Transmitters who were weakened for reasons other than tadlīs; their narrations are rejected even if they declare direct audition, unless someone whose weakness is slight receives corroboration (e.g., Abdullah ibn Lahi'ah) Mu'jam al-Mudallisin+1.

Abridgments and Editions

The book was abridged by Abd al-Rahman ibn Yahya al-Mu'allimi (d. 1386 AH) under the title Mulakhkhaṣ Ṭabaqāt al-Mudallisīn, in which he retained all 151 entries while condensing narrator names and noting who had accused each transmitter of tadlīs Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y….

The work has been edited and published in modern editions, including an edition prepared by Asim ibn Abd Allah al-Qaryuti and another edited by Abd al-Ghaffar al-Bandari al-Maqasid al-Hasana fi B…+1.