Tabaqat Ulama Ifriqiya
- Author died
- 333 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kitāb al-Lubnānī
Tabaqat Ulama Ifriqiya (The Generations of the Scholars of Ifriqiya) is a biographical dictionary by the Maliki traditionist and historian Abu al-Arab al-Tamimi (d. 333 AH / 945 CE), devoted to the biographies of scholars and transmitters of hadith and jurisprudence in North Africa .
Structure and Content
The work opens with hadiths and traditions concerning the religious merits of Ifriqiya, followed by accounts of its early conqueror Uqba ibn Nafi and the Sahaba (Companions) and Successors who entered the region . The biographies are organized chronologically by generation (tabaqat):
- Companions: An enumeration of the Companions who took part in the conquest or entered Ifriqiya, whose names are recorded succinctly without extended narratives .
- Successors (al-Tabi'un): Divided into three generations, primarily listing their names .
- Followers of the Successors (Atba' al-Tabi'in): Detailed biographical entries for notable figures, particularly those renowned for religious learning or those who served as judges. These entries document critical assessments of transmission (al-jarh wa-l-ta'dil), moral and intellectual qualities, book composition and transmission, creedal positions, birth and death dates, residences, burial sites, and anecdotes illustrating piety .
- Scholars of Tunis: A concluding section dedicated to the scholars of Tunis, arranged by seniority and beginning with Successors, as Tunis was established after the era of the Companions .
Methodology and Transmission
Abu al-Arab composed the work adhering to the traditional method of the muhaddithin, relying on chained oral and written transmissions and citing earlier historical authorities such as Isa ibn Muhammad ibn Abi al-Muhajir and Furat ibn Muhammad al-Abdi . The author selected specific reports from a broader corpus of material at his disposal and explicitly noted his omission of other narrations .
The surviving text of the work has reached posterity through an abridgment prepared by the Andalusian scholar Abu Umar al-Talamanki (d. 426 AH), leaving it uncertain whether specific accounts or entire entries from the original compilation were excised .
Continuations and Editions
The Andalusian scholar Muhammad ibn Harith al-Khushani (d. 361 AH) wrote a continuation under the same title, Tabaqat Ulama Ifriqiya, completing and extending Abu al-Arab's work .
The work was first edited by Muhammad Ben Cheneb (Muhammad ibn Abi Shanab) and published in Algiers in 1332 AH / 1915 CE, alongside a French translation published in 1920 CE . It was subsequently edited by Ali al-Shabbi and Na'im Hasan al-Yafi and published in Tunis in 1968 CE (with a second edition in 1985 CE), and has also been published alongside al-Khushani's continuation in Beirut .
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