Tuhfat al-Labib biman takallama fihim al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar min al-Ruwat fi ghayr al-Taqrib
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- Maktabat Ibn ʿAbbās lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʿ
Tuhfat al-Labib biman takallama fihim al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar min al-Ruwat fi ghayr al-Taqrib (The Gift of the Intelligent Regarding the Narrators Evaluated by al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar Outside al-Taqrib) is a biographical reference work in hadith criticism compiled by the Yemeni scholar Nur al-Din al-Wasabi (Abu 'Amr Nur al-Din ibn 'Ali ibn 'Abd Allah al-Suda'i al-Wasabi) . The book collects and organizes the biographical evaluations (al-jarh wa-l-ta'dil) issued by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani across his various writings outside his well-known biographical dictionary, Taqrib al-Tahdhib .
Background and Composition
Al-Wasabi began compiling the material in 1422 AH, completing an initial draft within several months while working in the library of Dar al-Hadith in Dammaj . After setting it aside for other research, he returned to reorganize, refine, and review the text in 1429 AH, finalizing it during the first ten days of Muharram 1430 AH . The work includes an introductory commendation by the hadith scholar Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah al-Imam, dated 10 Dhu al-Qa'dah 1430 AH .
Scope and Structure
The book contains entries for a total of 3,679 narrators and is divided into two principal parts :
- Part One (al-Qism al-Awwal): Encompasses 2,199 narrators who are included in Taqrib al-Tahdhib and whom Ibn Hajar also evaluated in other works . Al-Wasabi provides a concise summary of the narrator's entry and rating from al-Taqrib, followed by Ibn Hajar's statements found in his other books . This section strictly follows the structural arrangement and alphabetical order of Taqrib al-Tahdhib, maintaining its sequence for given names, patronymics (kunyas), and relative names (nisbas) .
- Part Two (al-Qism al-Thani): Comprises 1,480 narrators who are not listed in Taqrib al-Tahdhib but on whom Ibn Hajar delivered an appraisal elsewhere . These entries are arranged alphabetically based on the names of the narrator and the narrator's father .
Methodology and Sources
Al-Wasabi surveyed the majority of Ibn Hajar's available works twice, with the exception of historical works unrelated to narrator criticism (such as Inba' al-Ghumr bi-Anba' al-'Umr) and certain titles reviewed only once, including Tasdid al-Qaws, al-Nukat 'ala al-Bukhari, and the sixteenth volume onward of Ithaf al-Maharah . For Fath al-Bari, he relied on existing studies that had extracted Ibn Hajar's narrator evaluations from it, specifically Nabil ibn Mansur al-Bassarah's Tajrid Asma' al-Ruwat and Hafiz Thana' Allah al-Zahidi's Tawjih al-Qari .
The compiler adhered to several specific rules:
- He recorded only those narrators regarding whom Ibn Hajar offered his own independent evaluation or actively qualified an earlier critic's assessment; narrators about whom Ibn Hajar merely transmitted the words of others without commentary were omitted .
- In addition to explicit ratings of individual narrators (such as declaring someone reliable or weak), he included implicit general ratings derived from isnad rulings (such as declaring a chain's narrators reliable or an isnad authentic) . Where Ibn Hajar authenticated an isnad without quoting its transmission line, al-Wasabi traced the hadith back to its source, such as Sunan al-Daraqutni, to extract the names of its individual narrators .
- When Ibn Hajar provided multiple varying assessments of a single narrator, al-Wasabi arranged terms of commendation (ta'dil) from the highest rank to the lowest, and terms of disparagement (jarh) from the mildest to the most severe .
- The book omits the Prophet's Companions, directing readers to Ibn Hajar's al-Isabah fi Tamyiz al-Sahabah .
Publication
The work was published in two volumes by Maktabat Ibn 'Abbas in Samannud and al-Mansurah, Egypt, in its first edition in 1431 AH / 2010 CE .
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