Tarikh Asma al-Duafa wa al-Kadhdhabin
- Author died
- 385 AH
- Editions
- ‘Abd al-Raḥīm Muḥammad Aḥmad al-Qashqarī
Tarikh Asma al-Duafa wa al-Kadhdhabin (History of the Names of Weak and Mendacious Narrators) is a biographical dictionary of discredited hadith transmitters by the Baghdadi scholar Ibn Shahin (297–385 AH / 909–995 CE) .
Scope and Purpose
In his introduction, Ibn Shahin defined the scope of the work to encompass transmitters who fabricated reports, those deemed weak in hadith, those who attached forged chains of transmission to weak texts, and those who falsely claimed audition from individuals they never met or narrated more than they had actually received . He also included transmitters who were inattentive during audition sessions . He modeled its structure after his complementary biographical dictionary of trustworthy narrators, Tarikh Asma al-Thiqat, to provide a accessible reference for discerning defective transmitters .
Method and Content
Ibn Shahin compiled the critical evaluations of earlier authorities—including Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Yahya ibn Ma'in, and Yahya ibn Sa'id al-Qattan—acting as a transmitter of their statements without appending extensive independent analysis . Because he included any narrator who had received criticism from a recognized critic, several transmitters already listed in Tarikh Asma al-Thiqat appeared in this compilation as well . To resolve these overlaps, Ibn Shahin later authored Dhikr man Ukhtulifa fihi, in which he addressed sixty-eight transmitters found in both works and weighed the differing assessments . The text also contains occasional duplicate entries for single narrators under separate listings .
Reception and Transmission
Subsequent scholars frequently cited the text—often under the abridged title al-Du'afa'—including al-Khatib al-Baghdadi and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in works such as Tahdhib al-Tahdhib and Lisan al-Mizan . The text survived in a unique manuscript preserved in the Ibn Yusuf Library in Marrakesh and was edited by 'Abd al-Rahim Muhammad Ahmad al-Qashqari, published in 1409 AH / 1988–1989 CE .
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