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Rifat bin Fawzi Abd al-Muttalib

Tawthiq al-Sunna fi al-Qarn al-Thani al-Hijri Ususuhu wa Ittijahatuhu

Author died
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Editions
Maktabat al-Khanji bi-Misr

Tawthiq al-Sunna fi al-Qarn al-Thani al-Hijri: Ususuhu wa-Ittijahatuhu (Authenticating the Sunnah in the Second Century AH: Its Foundations and Trends) is an academic study by the Egyptian scholar Rifat Fawzi Abd al-Muttalib examining the methodologies and criteria used by second-century AH scholars to authenticate prophetic traditions.

Background and Purpose

The work was originally prepared as an academic dissertation. Abd al-Muttalib framed the study in response to modern critics who cast doubt on the reliability of the Sunnah and claimed that early documentation and verification methods were weak or merely formalistic. The author intended to present an objective investigation into the historical mechanisms established by early Muslim scholars during the 2nd century AH to evaluate both the chains of transmission (isnad) and the textual contents (matn) of hadith.

Structure and Content

The book is organized into an introduction, a preliminary background, two primary parts, and a conclusion:

  • Preliminary Chapter (Tamhid): Addresses foundational definitions, distinguishing between the terms Sunnah and Hadith, defining tawthiq (authentication), providing an overview of verification practices in the 1st century AH, and outlining the motives and key figures involved in authentication during the 2nd century AH.
  • Part One: Authenticating Transmission Chains (Tawthiq Asanid al-Sunnah): Focuses on external criticism (al-naqd al-khariji) across four chapters:
    1. Modes of Transmission: Examines mutawatir (mass-transmitted) and ahad (solitary) reports, establishing the normative authority (hujjiyyah) of the Sunnah, rebutting those who denied its authoritative status, and highlighting the defensive arguments championed by al-Shafi'i and early Hanafi legal theorists.
    2. Narrator Criticism: Details the criteria of uprightness ('adalah) and precision (dabt) required for accepting narrators, along with early stances on concealment (tadlis) and narrators affiliated with theological sects.
    3. Modes of Reception (Tahammul al-Hadith): Analyzes transmission methods (such as audition, recitation, authorization, and written records) capable of preserving reports without alteration.
    4. Continuity of Isnads: Addresses connected (muttasil) versus disconnected (munqati') chains, and compares 2nd-century scholarly orientations regarding the evidential value of mursal (hurried) reports.
  • Part Two: Authenticating Hadith Texts (Tawthiq Mutun al-Sunnah): Examines internal textual criticism (al-naqd al-dakhili) across six chapters:
    1. Testing solitary reports against the text of the Qur'an.
    2. Testing solitary reports against well-known Sunnah (al-Sunnah al-mashhurah) according to the Hanafis.
    3. Evaluating solitary reports against the established practice and legal verdicts of the Companions.
    4. Evaluating solitary reports against the practice of the people of Medina ('amal ahl al-Madinah).
    5. Weighing solitary reports against legal analogy (qiyas) among the Hanafis, Malik ibn Anas, and al-Shafi'i.
    6. The debate over transmitting hadith by meaning (al-riwayah bi-l-ma'na) versus verbatim transmission, and the conditions imposed to prevent distortion.

Publication

The work was published in Cairo by Maktabat al-Khanji, with its first edition appearing in 1400 AH / 1981 CE.

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