Tahdhir al-Khawas min Akadhib al-Qussas
- Author died
- 911 AH
- Editions
- al-Maktab al-Islami
Tahdhir al-Khawas min Akadhib al-Qussas (Warning the Elite Against the Lies of Storytellers) is a treatise in hadith criticism written by the Egyptian scholar al-Jalal al-Suyuti (849–911 AH / 1445–1505 CE) to denounce the transmission of fabricated traditions by popular preachers and storytellers.
Background and Cause of Composition
Al-Suyuti composed the work following a public controversy in Cairo sparked by a legal query (istifta'). He was consulted about a popular storyteller (qass) who recited fabricated narratives and ascribed them decisively to the Prophet ﷺ during his preaching sessions. Among these was a story alleging that when the Quranic verse وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِلْعَالَمِينَ (And We have not sent you except as a mercy to the worlds) was revealed, the Prophet ﷺ asked Gabriel if he had received any share of that mercy, to which Gabriel supposedly answered that thousands of previous angels named Gabriel had melted away before God because they did not know who He was, until the light of Muhammad taught him the divine response.
Al-Suyuti issued a fatwa declaring the account completely baseless, warning that it was unlawful to relate such falsehoods to the public, and requiring the preacher to verify all traditions with recognized hadith scholars before reciting them. The storyteller rejected the ruling, claimed superior expertise in hadith, and incited commoners and the mob against al-Suyuti, who faced verbal abuse and threats of stoning and execution. Al-Suyuti reaffirmed his position, ruling that persistence in transmitting known fabrications warranted corporal punishment, and subsequently authored the treatise to expose the fabrications of storytellers and establish the legal obligations surrounding hadith transmission.
Contents and Structure
The treatise is organized into thematic chapters (fusal):
- Prophetic Warnings Against Fabrication: The opening chapter compiles numerous hadiths on the prohibition and severe punishment of attributing lies to the Prophet ﷺ, citing variants of the famous prophetic warning: مَنْ كَذَبَ عَلَيَّ مُتَعَمِّدًا فَلْيَتَبَوَّأْ مَقْعَدَهُ مِنَ النَّارِ (Whoever lies against me intentionally, let him take his seat in the Fire).
- Abridgment of Earlier Works: Al-Suyuti incorporates an abridgment of al-Ba'ith 'ala al-Khalas min Hawadith al-Qussas by Zayn al-Din al-'Iraqi as a dedicated chapter in the book.
- Preservation of Early Hadith Texts: The book preserves extensive excerpts from the otherwise lost introduction to Kitab al-Du'afa' wa-al-Matrukin by al-Daraqutni, which outlines the obligation to transmit only sound reports and avoid unverified narrations.
- Historical Hazards of Storytellers: Al-Suyuti documents historical instances where the fabrications of storytellers misled the uneducated public and endangered orthodox scholars, including an incident where a storyteller in Baghdad claimed that the Prophet ﷺ would sit beside God on His Throne; when the Quran commentator Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari vehemently rejected this claim, an incited mob besieged and pelted his house with stones.
- Legal Penalties for Fabricators: The book details judicial and social measures against unrepentant purveyors of false traditions, concluding that those who transmit spurious narrations are subject to disciplinary whipping, warnings, social boycotting, denunciation, and being barred by ruling authorities from public preaching.
Publication History
The work was printed in Cairo by Matba'at al-Ma'ahid in 1351 AH. It was later edited by Muhammad ibn Lutfi al-Sabbagh and published by al-Maktab al-Islami in Damascus in 1392 AH (1972 CE).
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