Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi
Tanqih al-Tahqiq - al-Dhahabi
- Author died
- 748 AH
- Editions
- Dar Al-Watan
Tanqih al-Tahqiq (also referred to as Tanqih Kitab al-Tahqiq or Tanqih al-Tahqiq fi Ahadith al-Ta'liq) is a work of hadith criticism and legal evidence by the Syrian traditionist and historian Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi (d. 748 AH / 1348 CE) . It is a critical revision and condensation of al-Tahqiq fi Masa'il al-Khilaf by Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 597 AH / 1201 CE), which had compiled the textual proofs used across differing jurisprudential schools .
Background and Methodology
Ibn al-Jawzi originally authored al-Tahqiq to gather, trace with full transmission chains (isnads), and evaluate the legal hadiths relevant to disputed questions among the major schools of jurisprudence . In Tanqih al-Tahqiq, al-Dhahabi examined Ibn al-Jawzi's selections, providing concise critical rulings on the authenticity of the traditions and the reliability of their narrators . His comments routinely identify hidden defects, weaken unreliable transmitters, and clarify where Ibn al-Jawzi's assessments required adjustment or qualification .
A parallel revision under the same title was compiled independently by al-Dhahabi's contemporary Ibn Abd al-Hadi (d. 744 AH) .
Manuscript Transmission
An autograph manuscript in al-Dhahabi’s own hand is preserved in the Feyzullah Efendi collection in Istanbul (MS 296), comprising 187 folios and dated to 729 AH . This copy bears reading and audition endorsements by contemporaneous scholars, including a note from Salah al-Din al-Safadi stating that he read the work in al-Dhahabi’s home in 735 AH, as well as a signature by the Shafi'i jurist Taqi al-Din al-Subki (Ali ibn Abd al-Kafi al-Subki) dated 749 AH .
Publications
The work has been edited and published in modern print editions:
- Edited by Abd al-Mu'ti Amin Qal'aji (Dar al-Wa'y al-Arabi, 1419 AH / 1998 CE) .
- Edited by Mustafa Abu al-Ghayt Abd al-Hayy Ujayb (Dar al-Watan, Riyadh, 1421 AH / 2000 CE) .
Answer updated