Tabyin al-Imtinan bil-Amr bil-Ikhtitan li-Ibn Asakir
- Author died
- 571 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Sahaba li-l-Turath
Tabyin al-Imtinan bil-Amr bil-Ikhtitan (Clarification of Grace Concerning the Commandment of Circumcision) is a specialized hadith treatise (juzʾ) compiled by the Damascene scholar Abu al-Qasim Ibn Asakir (499–571 AH / 1105–1176 CE) . The work brings together prophetic traditions and early reports documenting the religious prescription, practice, and legal status of circumcision in Islam .
Occasion of Composition
Ibn Asakir composed the monograph to mark the circumcision of al-Malik al-Salih Abu al-Fadl Isma'il, the son of the Zengid ruler Nur al-Din Mahmud (referred to in the text as al-Malik al-Adil) . In the introduction, the author states that he wished to share in the celebration of this event by assembling what he could of the transmitted traditions on circumcision, which he frames as a distinguishing characteristic of the Abrahamic tradition and the Muslim community .
Contents and Method
The tract consists of 27 transmitted texts (aḥādīth and āthār), recorded with full chains of transmission (asānīd) running from Ibn Asakir to his direct teachers and through classical hadith authorities . The principal themes covered across the narrations include:
- Fitrah and the Abrahamic Origin: Traditions classifying circumcision among the innate primordial practices (sunan al-fiṭrah), and narrations regarding Abraham's circumcision at age eighty (along with variants mentioning 120 years) using an adze (al-qadūm) . The text also notes reports that Abraham circumcised Isma'il at thirteen years of age and Ishaq at seven days .
- Commands to New Converts: The report instructing new converts to shave the hair of disbelief and undergo circumcision ( ألق عنك شعر الكفر واختتن ) .
- Timing of Circumcision: Traditions encouraging the circumcision of boys on their seventh day, including the narration reporting that the Prophet ﷺ performed the birth sacrifice (ʿaqīqah) and circumcision for al-Hasan and al-Husayn on their seventh day .
- Legal Implications: Rulings concerning uncircumcised individuals, including traditions on whether an uncircumcised man may perform the pilgrimage to Mecca, as well as reports from Ibn Abbas regarding the prayer, legal testimony, and slaughtered meat of the uncircumcised .
Ibn Asakir intersperses his collection with critical hadith analysis (takhrīj and jarḥ wa-taʿdīl), evaluating weak narrators and chain defects. For example, after citing the report declaring circumcision a Sunnah for men and an honor for women ( الختان سنة للرجال ومكرمة للنساء ), he grades it weak, remarking that al-Hajjaj ibn Artah is unauthoritative and that Mak-hul did not meet Abu Ayyub al-Ansari .
Transmission and Publication
The work was transmitted from Ibn Asakir by Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab ibn Abd Allah al-Ansari, and was read back to him in Damascus by Abu al-Fath Isa ibn Ayn al-Dawlah al-Dimashqi . It has been edited by Majdi Fathi al-Sayyid and published by Dar al-Sahabah lil-Turath in Tanta (1410 AH / 1989 CE) .
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