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al-Khatib al-Baghdadi
by Dr. G. F. Haddad

"Truly, hadith pleases the virile among men,

while the effeminate among them hate it."
Al-Zuhri.
Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Thabit ibn
Ahmad ibn Mahdi al-Shafii (392-463), with Abu al-Maali Ibn alJuwayni and Abu al-Qasim al-Qushayri the third most important
figure in the fourth generation-layer of Abu al-Hasan al-Asharis
school, praised by al-Dhahabi as "the most peerless imam,
erudite scholar and mufti, meticulous hadith master, scholar of
his time in hadith, prolific author, and seal of the hadith
masters." Al-Qinnawji said: "He was a jurist whose preference
went to hadith and history." His father a memorizer of Quran
and the main preacher (khatb) in Darzijan Southwest of Baghdad
sat him at the age of eleven in the class of Ibn Razquyah alBazzar (d. 412), after which he travelled first to Baghdad then
Naysabur around 415, back to Baghdad, then Asbahan for two
years, Ray, Hamadhan, Dinawar, back to Baghdad, then al-Sham
and Mecca for pilgrimage, then Baghdad or his nearby native
Darzijan until 451, then Damascus until 459, then Tyre (Sr)
until 462, then Baghdad again where he died.
Al-Khatib wrote abundantly on the science of hadith and became
the undisputed hadith authority in his time according to his
student, the Hanbali hadith master Ibn Aqil. He heard countless
hadith masters, among them Abu Bakr al-Barqani (who also
narrated from him), Abu Nuaym al-Asbahani, al-Abdawi, and the
pious centenarian virgin scholar Karima bint Ahmad ibn
Muhammad al-Marwaziyya (d. 463) one of al-Kushmihanis
students from whom al-Khatib took al-Bukharis Sahih in five
days during his pilgrimage trip at age fifty-two. He took Shafii
fiqh from Abu al-Hasan ibn al-Mahamili and the qadi Abu alTayyib al-Tabari, whom he frequented for several years. Among
his famous students: al-Nasr al-Maqdisi, Ibn Makula, al-Humaydi,
Abu Mansur al-Shaybani who transmitted his Tarikh and the
Hanbali Abu Yala.
Ibn Makula and al-Mutaman al-Saji said that the people of
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Baghdad never saw anyone such as al-Khatib after al-Daraqutni.

Abu Abd Allah al-Suri ranked al-Khatib far above Abu Nasr alSijzi. Abu Ali al-Baradani said: "It is probable al-Khatib never
met his equal." Abu Ishaq al-Isfarayini said: "Al-Khatib is the
Daraqutni of our time." Ibn Makula said:
He was one of the foremost scholars whom we witnessed in
his science, precision, memorization, and accuracy in the
hadith of the Messenger of Allah e . He was an expert in its
minute defects, its chains of transmission, its narrators and
transmitters, the sound and the rare, the unique and the
denounced, the defective and the discarded. The people of
Baghdad never had someone comparable to Abu al-Hasan
Ali ibn Umar al-Daraqutni after the latter, except al-Khatib.
Said al-Muaddib asked al-Khatib: "Are you the hadith master
Abu Bakr?" He replied: "I am Ahmad ibn Ali; hadith mastership
ended with al-Daraqutni."
About hadith mastership al-Khatib wrote:
He does not excel in hadith science nor is able to peruse its
complexities and shed light on its hidden benefits except he
who has gathered its variants, collated its loose ends,
brought it all together, and worked assiduously to compile it
under its topical subheadings, organizing its different types.
This
activity
strengthens
competence,
cements
memorization, purifies the heart, hones the personality,
expands the tongue, greatly improves language, unveils
ambiguities and clarifies them. It also earns memorability
and immortality, as the poet said:
Some die then knowledge keeps alive their memory,
While ignorance joins the dead with the dead.
Abd al-Aziz ibn Ahmad al-Kattani said: "Al-Khatib followed the
[doctrinal] school of Abu al-Hasan al-Ashari Allah have mercy
on him." Al-Dhahabi reports this and comments: "This is true. For
al-Khatib explicitly stated, concerning the reports on the Divine
Attributes, that they are passed on exactly as they were
received, without interpretation." Ibn al-Subki comments: "This
is al-Asharis position, yes. But al-Dhahabi is the victim of his
lack of knowledge of Shaykh Abu al-Hasans position just as
others were also victims: for al-Ashari also has another position
allowing for figurative interpretation (al-tawl)." Al-Dhahabi does
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go on to relate al-Khatibs precise disowning of both nullification

(tatl) and anthropomorphism (tajsm) of the divine Attributes:
Abu Bakr al-Khatib said: "As for what pertains to the divine
Attributes, whatever is narrated in the books of sound
reports concerning them, the position of the Salaf consists in
their affirmation and letting them pass according to their
external wordings while negating from them modality
(kayfiyya) and likeness to things created (tashbh). <A
certain people have contradicted the Attributes and nullified
what Allah I had affirmed; while another people have
declared them real then went beyond this to some kind of
likening to creation and ascription of modality. The true
objective is none other than to tread a middle path between
the two matters. The Religion of Allah I lies between the
extremist and the laxist.> The principle to be followed in this
matter is that the discourse on the Attributes is a branch of
the discourse on the Essence. The path to follow in the
former is the same extreme caution as in the latter. When it
is understood that the affirmation of the Lord of the Worlds
[in His Essence] is only an affirmation of existence and not of
modality, it will be similarly understood that the affirmation
of His Attributes is only an affirmation of their existence, not
an affirmation of definition (tahdd) nor an ascription of
modality. So when we say: Allah I has a Hand, hearing, and
sight, they are none other than Attributes Allah I has
affirmed for Himself. We should not say that the meaning of
hand is power (al-qudra) nor that the meaning of hearing
and sight is knowledge (ilm), nor should we say that they
are organs (l naqlu innah jawrih)! Nor should we liken
them to hands, hearings, and sights that are organs and
implements of acts. We should say: All that is obligatory is
[1] to affirm them because they are stated according to
divine prescription (tawqf), and [2] to negate from them
any likeness to created things according to His saying (
There is nothing whatsoever like unto Him) (42:11) (
and there is none like Him) (112:4)."
Our teacher Dr. Nur al-Din Itr comments al-Khatibs position
thus:
This is a vulnerable spot where feet tread a slippery path.
Many are those who fell into likening Allah to His creatures
because of it, or into something like it our refuge is in
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Allah! while believing that this was the position of the pious
Salaf y but Allah has exonerated the latter from holding it.
Imam al-Khatib passed the obstacle at which point pens
lapsed and illusions flared, for he refuted the Mutazila and
their likes who contradict the divine Attributes, and he
understood the position of the Salaf as it truly is by affirming
those Attributes with a kind of affirmation that commits to
Allah I the knowledge of their reality, not an affirmation of
dimensionality and modality (athbata tilka al-sift ithbtan
yufawwidu ilma haqqatih il Allhi tal l ithbta tahdd
wa takyf). He thereby asserted the school of the Salaf as it
really was, not as some erratic people in our time
understand it to be. The latter are in fact arrogant wranglers
who cannot tell the difference between the Salafs committal
of the actual knowledge of these matters to Allah, their
holding
His
Transcendence
above
whatever
anthropomorphism the terms may suggest, and the
anthropomorphism of the ignorant Karramiyya!
Abu al-Faraj al-Isfarayini said: "Al-Khatib was with us in Hajj,
and he used to conclude an integral recitation of Quran outloud
every day. People would gather around him as he was mounted,
saying: Narrate hadith to us, and he would narrate to them."
Abd al-Muhsin al-Shihi said: "I was al-Khatibs travelling
companion from Damascus to Baghdad, and he used to recite the
entire Quran once every day and night."
Ibn al-Abanusi reported that al-Khatib used to read while
walking. This is a common habit among hadith masters. Al-Khatib
himself narrated that Ubayd ibn Yaish said: "For thirty years I
never ate at night with my own hand. My sister would spoonfeed
me while I wrote hadith."
Al-Khatib wrote in his Tarikh Baghdad in the entry devoted to
Ismail ibn Ahmad al-Naysaburi al-Darir: "He went to pilgrimage
and narrated hadith, and what a wonderful shaykh he was! When
he went to Hajj he took with him a load of books, intending to
reside in Mecca or Madina for a while. Among them was alBukharis Sahih which he had heard from al-Kushmihani. I read it
before him entirely in three sittings. The third session lasted from
the beginning of the day until night, and it ended with the rising
of dawn." Al-Dhahabi comments: "This was by Allah! the kind
of reading faster than which no-one ever heard."

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Abu al-Qasim ibn al-Muslima, al-Qaim bi Amrillahs vizier

nicknamed Rais al-ruasa and a hadith scholar, patronized alKhatib with a small fortune which enabled the latter to devote
himself to teaching and writing. He passed an edict that no
teacher nor preacher in Baghdad narrate a hadith without
authenticating it with al-Khatib first. He once asked the latter to
verify a document which some Jews produced claiming that it
was the Prophets e exemption of the tax on non-Muslims (jizya)
for the Jews of Khaybar written, they said, in the hand of Ali ibn
Abi Talib t . Al-Khatib looked at the document then declared it a
forgery on the grounds that it was witnessed by Muawiya who
entered Islam in the year of the conquest of Mecca, whereas
Khaybar was conquered in the year 7 and Sad ibn Muadh who
died during the battle of Banu Qurayza two years before
Khaybar.
Al-Khatib came to settle in Damascus, fleeing Baghdad in Safar
451 in fear for his life during the Fatimi-leaning Turk Arslan alBasasiris (d. Dhu al-Hijja 451) attempted coup against al-Qaim
bi Amrillah (422-467) and the Abbasid caliphate, although
Damascus itself was under Fatimi rule. He then fled Damascus
again in 459 to go to Tyre until 462, whence he returned to
Baghdad, visiting Syrian Tripoli, Aleppo, and all the main cities on
his way. Ibn Nasir narrated: "When al-Khatib read hadith in the
mosque of Damascus, his voice could be heard from one end of
the mosque to the other and he spoke in pure Arabic." He is also
noted for his accurate and elegant handwriting.
Al-Mutaman narrated that al-Khatib said: "Whoever authors
books puts his mind on a plate for display to people." He fled
from Damascus to Tyre because of enmity from the Rafidi
governor of Damascus and accusations that he was a Nasibi or
enemy of Ahl al-Bayt on grounds of narrating Ahmad ibn Hanbals
book on the merits of the Companions and Ibn Rizquyahs book
on the merits of al-Abbas. "At that time the call to prayer in
Damascus included the phrase hayya al khayri al-amal."
Abu Mansur Ali ibn Ali al-Amin narrated that when al-Khatib
returned from al-Sham he was wealthy in garments and gold but
without heir. So he wrote to al-Qaim bi Amrillah: "My property
will go back to the public treasury (bayt al-ml), so give me
permission to distribute it among those I choose." He then
distributed it two hundred dinars to the scholars of hadith.

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Ibn Tahir said: "I asked [the Sufi hadith master] Hibat Allah ibn
Abd al-Warith al-Shirazi: Was al-Khatib like his books in
memorization? He said: No, if we asked him of something he
might take days to answer us and if we pressed him he would get
angry. He was abrupt and his memorization was not on a par
with his books." This assessment is belied by the scholars
comparison of al-Khatib to al-Daraqutni and by the example of
his extemporaneous response cited below. Furthermore, alDhahabi relates from al-Samani that Hibat Allah (d. 486) entered
Baghdad in 457 when al-Khatib was away, and the latter did not
return until 462, one year before his death.
Al-Khatib frequented Abu Ishaq al-Isfarayinis classes for three
years at a time when Abu Ishaq was the unchallenged
headmaster of the Shafii school in his time. One day he
mentioned the narrator Bahr ibn Kaniz al-Saqqa then turned to
al-Khatib and asked: "What do you say concerning him [i.e. his
reliability]?" Al-Khatib replied: "If you give me permission then I
shall mention his state." Al-Isfarayini then sat back like a student
before his master, while al-Khatib gave a lengthy and detailed
account of the narrators grading on the spot. Abu Ishaq was one
of those who carried al-Khatibs bier to his grave.
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik al-Hamadhani said in his Tarikh:
"The science died at the time of al-Khatibs death."
Ibn Asakir narrated: "When al-Khatib first drank Zamzam water
he asked Allah I for three petitions [according to the Prophetic
narration "Zamzam water makes good whatever [need in the
world and the hereafter] it is drunk for"]: to be able to narrate
the history of Baghdad in that city, to dictate hadith in the
mosque of al-Mansur [in Baghdad], and to be buried near Bishr
al-Hafi. He obtained all three."
Abu al-Barakat Ismail ibn Abi Sad al-Sufi said:
Shaykh Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Ali al-Turaythithi, known as Ibn
Zahra al-Sufi, was in our ribt and had prepared for himself
a grave next to Bishr al-Hafis grave. He used to go there
once a week to sleep in it, reciting the entire Quran at that
time. When Abu Bakr al-Khatib died after stipulating that he
be buried next to Bishr al-Hafi, the scholars of hadith came
to Ibn Zahra asking permission to bury him in Ibn Zahras
grave and cede his place to him. He refused, saying: "How
can I allow a spot I have prepared for myself to be taken
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away from me?" They came to my father [Abu Sad al-Sufi]

who invited Ibn Zahra and told him: "I do not say to you to
give them your grave, but I ask you: if Bishr al-Hafi were
alive and you were at his side, then al-Khatib came and sat
farther away, would it be fit for you to sit higher than him?"
He replied: "No, I would make him sit in my place." He said:
"It is the same in this situation." Ibn Zahras heart was
happy with this and he gave his permission.
Al-Khatib was an ascetic, industrious scholar given to worship, a
trustworthy hadith master withdrawn from the courts of princes,
generous, grave and earnest in his manners, and both tireless
and meticulous in his work. He wrote 10,000 pages totalling 104
books, many of them remaining to our time authoritative
manuals in hadith science noted for their insight and wide
compass. Ibn Hajar said in his introduction to Sharh Nukhba alFikar: "There is hardly a single discipline among the sciences of
hadith in which al-Khatib did not author a monograph." Then he
cited the hadith master Ibn Nuqtas praise: "Whoever gives credit
where credit is due knows that hadith scholars, after al-Khatib,
all depend on his books." Among them:
Al-Amali ("The Dictations") of which three volumes exist in
the Zahiriyya collection.
Al-Asma al-Mubhama ("Anonymous Mentions"), identifying
those mentioned anonymously in hadiths or hadith chains.
Al-Bukhala ("The Misers") in three volumes.
Al-Faqih wa al-Mutafaqqih ("The Jurist and the Student of
the Law").
Al-Fasl li al-Wasl al-Mudraj fi al-Naql ("The Decisive
Statement On Attributions Inserted Into Transmission").
Al-Fawaid al-Muntakhaba ("The Select Benefits").
Iqtida al-Ilm al-Amal ("Knowledge Necessitates Deeds"), a
collection of narrations on this topic, which he prefaced with
the words:
O student of knowledge, I exhort you to purify your
intention in pursuing knowledge and to strive to
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make your soul act according to knowledges

dictates. For the science is a tree of which deeds are
the fruit, and he is not counted learned, who does
not put his learning into practice. And did those of
the Salaf of the past reach whatever high levels
they reached, other than by purified beliefs,
righteous deeds, and renouncing most of the
refinements of the world? And did the wise people
of the past attain greater felicity except through
hard work and diligence, contentment with little,
and spending of their superfluity to meet the need
of the needy and destitute? Surely, he who gathers
books of knowledge is no different than he who
gathers gold and silver. Surely, the devourer of
books is no different from the greedy miser. Surely,
the bibliophile enamoured with books is no different
from the hoarder of gold and silver. Therefore, just
as wealth does not benefit except through its
spending, likewise do the sciences not benefit
except those who put them into practice and
observes their requirements.
Al-Jahr bi Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim ("Pronouncing the
basmala Outloud"), listing as al-Daraqutni did in his Sunan
the proof-texts of the Shafii school on this practice. Ibn alJawzi in al-Sahm al-Musib stated that all of the hadiths
adduced by al-Khatib in al-Jahr as is the case with alDaraqutnis proofs for the basmala in his Sunan are either
weak or very weak. Al-Dhahabi also wrote a critique of alKhatibs book, as did the Hanbali Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn
Abd al-Hadi.
Al-Jami li Akhlaq al-Rawi wa Adab al-Sami ("The
Compendium on the Ethics of the Hadith Narrator and the
Manners of the Auditor") in two volumes, the continuation of
Sharaf Ashab al-Hadith. It contains the following chapters:
1: Intention in the Pursuit of Hadith
2: The Characteristics That Must Distinguish the
Narrator and Auditor of Hadith (3 sections)
3: "High" (= short) Chains of Transmissions (4 sections)
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4: Choosing Ones Shuykh Once Their Attributes Are

Known (9 sections)
5: The Etiquette of Study (4 sections)
6: The Etiquette of Asking Permission to Enter the House
of the Hadith Master (7 sections)
7: The Etiquette of Entering the House of the Hadith
Master (9 sections)
8: The Veneration and Honoring of the Hadith Master (6
sections)In the section entitled "Kissing the Hand of the
Hadith Scholar, His Head, and His Right [Shoulder]" alKhatib narrates the following three hadiths among
others:
a) From Abd Allah ibn Umar: "I was in one of the
Messenger of Allah military detachments, and we
came up to him until we kissed his hand."
b) From Usama ibn Sharik: "We rose up
approaching the Prophet, and kissed his hand."
c) From Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd Allah ibn Kab alAnsari or Abd al-Rahman ibn Razin: "We came and
greeted Salama ibn Akwa. He brought out his
hands and said: I pledged loyalty with these two
hands to the Messenger of Allah e . He brought out
a hand as big as a camels paw. We rose up
approaching him, and kissed it."
9: The Etiquette of Hadith Audition
10: The Etiquette of Interrogating the Hadith Master (5
sections)
11: How to Memorize What Comes From the Hadith
Master (2 sections)
12: The Encouragement to Lend the Books of Audition
and the Blame of Those Who Go the Way of Avarice and
Refusal (2 sections)
13: The Recording of Hadiths in Books and the Etiquette
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Pertaining Thereunto
14: Beautifying Ones Calligraphy (8 sections)
15: The Obligation to Check Against the [Hadith
Masters] Book For Verification and the Elimination of
Doubt and Misgivings
16: Reading To the Hadith Master and Its Etiquette (7
sections)
17: Mention of the Morals and Ethics of the Narrator and
What Manners He Must Use With His Disciples and
Companions (4 sections)
18: It is Offensive to Narrate to Those That Do Not Seek
It And It is A Waste to Give It to Other Than Those Who
Are Qualified (8 sections)
19: The Hadith Masters Giving of High Respect to the
Students of Knowledge and His Keeping the Best
Opinion of Them and A Mild Disposition (8 sections)
20: The Hadith Master Must Exempt Himself From
Accepting Remuneration For Narrating (3 sections)
21: His Caring For His Appearance and Looking to His
Adornment Before Narrating Hadith (28 sections:)
1. Siwk
2. Paring Nails
3. Clipping the Moustache
4. Grooming the Hair
5. Wearing Clean Clothes
6. Avoiding Foods That Cause Bad Breath
7. Dyeing Ones White Hair [with Henna],
Contrary to Jews and Christians
8. It is Fine to Use Saffron or Memecylon
(wars) To That Effect
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9. The Dislike of Dying Ones Hair Black

10. The Preferred Garments For the Hadith
Master
11. His Shirt
12. The outer headcover (qalansuwa) and
turban (imma)
13. The unstitched head-shawl (taylasn)
14. Wearing a Ring
15. Combing His Beard
16. Incensing and Perfuming Himself
17. Looking At Himself In the Mirror
18. Wearing Sandals
19. His Composure in Walking
20. His Initiating Salm With Whomever He
Meets Among the Muslims
21. Entering His Gathering of People
22. The Desirability of His Sitting SquareLegged and In A Humble Manner
23. Using Gentle Speech and Keeping
Composure In Discourse
24. Avoiding Jesting With the People In the
Gathering
25. The Desirability of Being Gentle In His
Rebukes Without Acrimony Nor Breach
26. The States In Which Narrating Is Offensive
27. Those Who Disliked Narrating Other Than
In A State of Purity
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28. Those In A State of Impurity Who, Wishing

to Narrate, Perform Dry Ablution (tayammum)
34: The Hadith Masters Care To Share His Company
Equally Among His Companions (5 sections)
35: His Care to Be Absolutely Truthful in His Speech
Regardless of His Concerns and Situation (9 sections, of
which the third, seventh, and eighth examine the
question of narrating hadith according to meaning rather
than precise wording
36: The Ruling Concerning Whoever Narrated a Hadith
From Memory Then Was Contradicted In It (4 sections)
37: Dictating Hadith And Dictation Sessions (7 sections)
38: Employing A Repeater (mustaml) (33 sections)
39: Competition Over The Hadith Among Its Students
And Mutual Secretiveness So As To Withhold Its Benefit
40: The Obligation of Mutual Faithful Counsel and
Benefit With Regard to Narrations
41: Picking and Choosing Hadith By Those Who Are
Unable To Write All Its Chains Comprehensively (6
sections)
42: Concerning the Writing of Hadith In Detail and In Its
Totality And the Need For This Endeavor In the
Compilation of Books Related To Its Various Sciences
(15 sections)
43: Travelling In Pursuit of A Hadith To Far-Off
Countries So As To Meet the Hadith Masters There And
Obtain Short Chains of Transmission (13 sections)
44: The Memorization of Hadith and the Penetration of
Insight Concerning It (12 sections:)
1. Emphasis on the Memorization of Hadith
2. Those Who Described Themselves as
Memorizers
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3. Hadith Learning is Not By Mere Instruction

For It Is None Other Than a Type of Knowledge
Allah I Creates in the Heart
4. The Means That Facilitate Hadith
Memorization
5. A Supplication For the Memorization of
Quran, Hadith, and the Various Disciplines
6. Types of Preferred Foods and Those
Recommended Against For the Improvement of
Memory
7. The Requisite Schedule of Night Study of
Hadith For the Student
8. Repeating What is Memorized To Master It
By Heart:
Al-Zubayr ibn Bakkar said: "My father
came in and saw me reading silently in
a notebook, reading it back to myself.
He said to me: Your only aid in your
type of narration is whatever your
sight conveys to your heart. If you
want narration then look at it and read
it outloud also. For then, your aid
comes from both what your sight
conveys to your heart and what your
hearing conveys to your heart." Dr. M.
Ajaj al-Khatib commented on this
narration: "These are fine and true
words, for this is what the authorities
in education and psychology say: the
more senses participate in the
absorption of a subject or its learning,
the faster and easier its
memorization."
Ilqima said: "Repeat the hadith at
length and it will never be erased from
memory."
One time a pail of water was placed
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before Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri. When he

placed his hand in it, he happened to
remember a hadith. He did not remove
his hand from the water until fajr rose
and until he had completely mastered
the hadith.
Sufyan al-Thawri said: "Make the
hadith your own discourse to yourself
and the very thought of your hearts,
and you will then memorize it."
Jafar al-Maraghi said: "I went into a
cemetary in Tustar, and I heard
someone shouting: And al-Amash,
from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurayra;
and al-Amash, from Abu Salih, from
Abu Hurayra, for a long time. I began
to look for the source of this voice until
I saw Ibn Zuhayr, studying alAmashs narrations alone, from
memory."
9. Rehearsing Hadith With All Types of People
10. Rehearsing Hadith With Disciples And
Friends
11. Rehearsing Hadith With Spouses And
Companions
12. Rehearsing Hadith With Older People
Abu Said al-Khudri said: "Review
(tadhkar) hadith with each other,
for one hadith brings out another."
Ilqima said: "Rehearse the hadith to
one another, for its life is its
remembrance."
Ibrahim al-Nakhai said: "Whoever is
pleased with memorizing hadith let
him narrate it to others, even to those
who have no inkling for it. When he
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does this, the hadith will be like a book

in his breast."
Al-Zuhri used to read back the hadiths
he had memorized to his slave-girl and
the beduins in his land.
Ibn Abbas would say to Said ibn
Jubayr: "O Said! Narrate." Said
replied: "I, narrate in your presence?"
Ibn Abbas replied: "If you make a
mistake I will let you know."
Ali ibn al-Madini said: "Six men would
almost take leave of their minds upon
hadith repetition: Yahya [ibn Main],
Abd al-Rahman [ibn Mahdi], Waki
[ibn al-Jarrah], [Sufyan] Ibn Uyayna,
Abu Dawud, and Abd al-Razzaq due
to their ardent love of it. One night,
Waki and Abd al-Rahman rehearsed
hadith together in ths Holy Sanctuary
and did not stop until the caller to
prayer raised the adhn of fajr."
Ali ibn al-Hasan ibn Shaqiq said: "I
was with Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak in
the mosque on a cold winter night and
we rose to leave. When we reached
the door he reminded me of a hadith
and I reminded him of another. We did
not stop reminding each other until the
caller to prayer came and raised the
morning adhn."
45: The Exposition and Definition of the Immense Merit
of Compiling And Authoring Books (15 sections)
Abu Zura was asked about the [final] number
of those [Companions] who narrated hadith
from the Prophet. He replied: "Who can
compute it? Those who witnessed with the
Prophet e the Farewell Pilgrimage were 40,000
and those who witnessed the campaign of
Tabuk with him were 70,000." In another
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narration someone asked him: "O Abu Zura! Is

it not said that the hadith of the Prophet e is
4,000 narrations [in all]?" He replied: "And who
said that may Allah untooth him! ? This is
what heretics say (hdh qawlu al-zandiqa).
Who can circumscribe the totality of the hadith
of the Messenger of Allah e ? When he died
there were 114,000 sahba who narrated and
had heard from him.
46: Ceasing Narration In Old Age Lest Memory Is
Affected And the Mind Becomes Confused:
Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn Abd al-Rahman
ibn Khallad said: "If the hadith scholar lives a
long life, I find it preferable that he stop
transmitting narrations at the age of eighty, for
it is the period of senility. Making glorification,
asking forgiveness, and reciting Quran is all
more appropriate for eighty-year-olds. But if his
mind is crystal-clear and he has perspicuity,
knowing the narrations in his possession and in
full mastery of them, and he purports to
narrate for the obtainment of reward, then I
hope all the best for him."
Al-Khayl ("Equestrianism"). Al-Khatib relates from his father
that their origin was of a Beduin Arab tribe specializing in
raising horses in al-Jasasa, bordering the Euphrates.
Al-Kifaya fi Ilm al-Riwaya ("The Sufficiency in the Science of
Hadith Narration") in about 170 chapters in which al-Khatib
"exhaustively listed the codes of hadith narration,
expounding its principles and universal rules as well as the
schools of the experts wherever their opinions differed; it
remains, in our time, the greatest book on the subject."
Manaqib Ahmad ibn Hanbal ("The Immense Merits of Imam
Ahmad").
Manaqib al-Shafii ("The Immense Merits of Imam alShafii").
Al-Mudih li al-Jam wa al-Tafriq ("The Clarifier of Collation
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and Dispersion"), listing the different names under which the

same person may be identified in transmission chains.
Musnad Abi Bakr al-Siddiq ala Shart al-Sahihayn
("Narrations Related by Abu Bakr According to the Criterion
of al-Bukhari and Muslim").
Al-Muttafaq wa al-Muftaraq ("Similar-Looking Narrators
Names").
Nasiha Ahl al-Hadith ("The Faithful Counsel of the Masters of
Hadith")
Poetry, in which he declaimed:
If your quest is for true direction
In the twin matter of your world and the hereafter,
Then dissent with your own soul in its lusts;
Truly lust is the meeting of all corruption.
Al-Qunut wa al-Athar al-Marwiyya Fih ("The qunt and Its
Proof-Texts") according to the Shafii school.
Al-Rihla fi Talab al-Hadith ("Travel in Pursuit of A Hadith"),
published by Dr. Nur al-Din Itr who termed it "a vast
demonstration and signal proof establishing the rank reached
by our great scholars in their high energies, lofty pursuits,
noble goals and means by which we hope to sound the
wake-up call for our cultivated youth and students of
knowledge, that they may tread the path of their first
masters, the immortal ulema of their Community."
Riwaya al-Sahaba an al-Tabii ("Narration of the Companions
From a Tabii"), listing examples of this occasional case.
Al-Sabiq wa al-Lahiq ("The Precursor and the Subsequent in
Chronology") in ten volumes.
Salat al-Tasbih wa al-Ikhtilaf Fiha ("The Prayer of
Glorification and the Difference of Opinion Concerning Its
Status"), an authoritative presentation of its proof-texts that
goes together with Ibn Nasir al-Din al-Dimashqis al-Tarjih li
Hadith Salat al-Tasbih, al-Mundhiris documentation in the
first volume of al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib, and Ibn al-Salahs
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discussion in his Fatawa.

Sharaf Ashab al-Hadith ("The Eminence of the Masters of
Hadith") in which he narrated Abu Dawuds saying: "Were it
not for this band of people we would not be studying Islam."
The narrations al-Khatib gathered in this precious book list
the attributes used by the Imams of hadith for the scholars
of the Prophetic narrations:
"Those Who Command Good and Forbid Evil" [Ibrahim
ibn Musa]
"The Substitute-Saints" [Sufyan al-Thawri, Yazid ibn
Harun, Ahmad ibn Hanbal]
"The Pillars of the Sharia" [al-Khatib]
"The Nearest of People to the Prophet e " [because of
the hadith: "Truly the nearest of people to me on the
Day of Resurrection are those who invoked the most
blessings upon me"].
"The Owners of Transmission Chains [to the Prophet e ]"
[Yazid ibn Zuray]
"The Owners of Frayed Garments and Inkwells" [Caliph
al-Mamun]
"The Best of All Scholars" [al-Khatib]
"The Best of All People" [al-Awzai]
"The Best of Those Who Spoke About Knowledge"
[Ahmad]
"The Trustees of Allah Over His Religion" [Abu Hatim alRazi]
"The Messengers Trustees" [al-Khatib]
"The People of Belief" [because of the hadith: "Do you
know who of those who possess belief is the best in
belief?" They said the angels. He replied: "This is true,
and it is right that they should be so, but nothing stands
in their way because of the position in which Allah I has
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placed them. I mean others." They said: "The Prophets

whom Allah honored with Prophetship and
Messengership." He replied in the same way. They said
the martyrs. He replied: "This is true, and it is right that
they should be so, but nothing stands in their way
because of the honor Allah bestowed upon them with
martyrdom. I mean others." They asked: "Who then, O
Messenger of Allah?" He said: "Generations yet in the
loins of men who shall come after me; they shall believe
in me without seeing me and confirm me without seeing
me. They shall see the suspended leaves [of the Law]
and put them into practice."
"The People of Truth" [al-Khatib]
"The People of Righteousness" [Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz]
"The Vessels of Knowledge" [al-Khatib]
"The People Most Meritorious of Salvation in the
Hereafter" [because of the hadith: "Truly the safest
among you against the disasters of the Day of
Resurrection on that day are those of you who invoked
the most blessings on me in the world"].
"The Friends of Allah" [al-Khalil ibn Ahmad]
"The Massive Throng" [al-Khatib]
"The Guardians of the Earth" [Sufyan al-Thawri]
"The Guardians of the Religion" [al-Amash]
"The Implanters of the Religion" [Ibn al-Mubarak]
"The Party of Allah" [al-Khatib]
"The Preservers of the Pillars of the Law" [al-Khatib]
"The Preservers of the Prophets Sunna" [al-Khuraybi]
"The Custodians of the Faith" [Kahmas]
"The Protectors of the Faith" [al-Khatib]

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"The Repellers of False Imputations to the Prophet" [Ibn

Main]
"The Carriers of Knoweldge" [al-Khuraybi]
"The Storehouses of the Religion" [al-Khatib]
"The Successors of the Messenger e " [al-Khatib]
"The Elect Among Tribes" [Hafs ibn Ghyath]
"The Elect Among People" [Abu Bakr ibn Ayyash]
"The Elect Among Worshippers" [Abu Muzahim alKhaqani]
"The Virile Among Men" [al-Zuhri]
"The Trustees Who Preserve the Reports of the
Messengers" [Abu Hatim al-Razi]
"The Strangers" [Abdan]
"The Knights of this Religion" [Yazid ibn Zuray]
"The Caretakers of the Matter of Sharia" [al-Khatib]
"The Strivers In the Preservation of the Faith" [alKhatib]
"Mankind" (al-ns) [Ahmad ibn Hanbal]
"Those Who Belong to No Tribe" [Abdan]
"The Intermediaries Between the Prophet e and His
Community" [al-Khatib]
"Muhammads Inheritors" [Ibn Masud]
"The Inheritors of the Prophets" [al-Fudayl ibn Iyad]
"The Beneficiaries of the Messenger of Allah" [Abu Said
al-Khudri, according to the hadith of the Prophet: "There
shall come after me a people <from the East/from the
regions of the world> who shall ask you about me.
When they come to you, treat them kindly and narrate
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to them <, make them memorize the hadith and make

room for them in gatherings>"].
Al-Tabyin li Asma al-Mudallisin ("The Exposition of the
Names of Those Who Concealed Their Sources").
Taqyid al-Ilm ("The Fettering of Knowledge"), an important
book gathering all the proofs that large-scale writing of
hadith began in the time of the Prophet e , together with
particular caveats against it.
Al-Tatfil wa Hikayat al-Tufayliyyin ("Sponging and
Spongers").
Tali Talkhis al-Mutashabih, an addendum to Talkhis alMutashabih.
Talkhis al-Mutashabih fi al-Rasm ("Summary of the
Similarities in Spelling"), on hadith narrators commonly
confused with one another due to the similar spelling of their
names.
Tarikh Baghdad ("History of Baghdad"), his most important
work. Ostensibly a history of Baghdad, it is more specifically
a reference work in narrator-authentication (ilm al-rijl) and
a valuable compendium of 4,385 hadiths narrated with their
full chains, over half of them (2,253) not found in the two
books of Sahih and the four Sunan. In this respect alKhatibs rank as an independent narrator is comparable to
that of al-Bayhaqi (d. 458), Ibn Abd al-Barr (d. 463), and
Ibn Asakir (d. 571).
Concerning al-Khatibs authentication method in Tarikh
Baghdad, al-Samani narrated that he said: "Whenever
in the Tarikh I mention a man concerning whom
opinions vary in commendation and discreditation, then
the preferred position concerning him is placed at the
conclusion of his biographical notice."
Makki ibn Abd al-Salam al-Maqdisi said: "I was sleeping
in the house of Shaykh Abu al-Hasan al-Zafarani when I
saw in a dream, shortly before dawn, as if we had
gathered in al-Khatibs house to read the Tarikh as
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Maqdisi, and to the latters right was a man I did not

know. So I asked who he was and was told: This is the
Messenger of Allah e who came to hear the Tarikh. I
thought to myself: This is a huge honor for Shaykh Abu
Bakr, that the Prophet e himself should attend his
gathering. I also thought: This is also a refutation of
those who blemished the Tarikh saying that it contains
undue criticism of certain people."
It remains true that the Tarikh contains undue criticism
of Imam Abu Hanifa t in the form of an assemblage of
glaringly weak and forged reports from known liars,
although it also contains authentic reports to the Imams
praise. Among the scholars who refuted the negative
reports were the king al-Malik al-Muazzam Isa alAyyubi, the Hanafis Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi in the two-volume
al-Intisar li Imam Aimma al-Amsar and al-Kawthari in
Tanib al-Khatib ala Ma Saqahu fi Tarjimati Abi Hanifata
Min al-Akadhib and its follow-up al-Tarhib bi Naqd alTanib; the Maliki Ibn Abd al-Barr with al-Intiqa; the
Shafiis al-Suyuti and al-Haytami respectively with
Tabyid al-Sahifa and al-Khayrat al-Hisan, and the
Hanbali Ibn al-Jawzi with al-Sahm al-Musib fi al-Radd
ala al-Khatib. Al-Dhahabi said: "Would that al-Khatib
had not set upon the great figures nor narrated anything
against them." However, a case has been made to
exonerate al-Khatib from having included these reports
in his Tarikh, and some scholars, such as Dr. Itr and Dr.
Mahmud al-Tahhan, consider them later interpolations.
Ibn al-Jawzis assessment of al-Khatib is ambiguous. On the
one hand he praises his works with the words: "Whoever
looks into his books knows his great standing." At the same
time he takes him to task for what he terms his fanatic
denigration of Hanbalis, citing, for example, al-Khatibs
description of Imam Ahmad as "the leader of hadith
scholars" (sayyid al-muhaddithn) as opposed to al-Shafiis
as "the diadem of jurists," his weakening of Ibn Batta, and
his citing al-Karabisis barb about Imam Ahmad over the
issue of the uncreatedness of the Quran. Added to this
charge is Ibn al-Jawzis singular claim that al-Khatib began
his career as a Hanbali, then switched to the Shafii school,
when both early and contemporary historians concur that he
began his career as a Shafii and was never a Hanbali. He
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also states that al-Khatib took the material of most of his

books "except that of the Tarikh" from those of the hadith
master al-Suri, a claim flatly rejected by al-Dhahabi. Perhaps
Ibn al-Jawzis most ironic criticism is his complaint that alKhatib included forgeries and very weak hadiths in his books,
as their number is negligible in proportion to those found in
Ibn al-Jawzis works.
Abu al-Fadl ibn Khayrun said: "A righteous person told me
that when al-Khatib died he saw him in his sleep and asked
him: How are you? Al-Khatib replied: I am in [breath of
life, and plenty, and a Garden of delight] (56:89)." Ali
ibn al-Husayn ibn Jadda said: "I saw in my sleep, after alKhatibs death, a person standing next to me whom I tried to
ask about al-Khatib. Before I could say anything he said to
me: Go to the middle of Paradise where the pious meet one
another." Muhammad ibn Marzuq al-Zafarani narrated from
the pious jurist Hasan ibn Ahmad al-Basri: "I saw al-Khatib
in my sleep wearing beautiful white clothes and a white
turban, looking joyful and smiling. I do not remember
whether I asked him first: What did Allah do with you? or
whether he spoke to me first but he said: Allah has forgiven
me or: granted me mercy. And whoever comes to Him in
my heart I thought: meaning, with tawhd He grants him
mercy or forgives him. Therefore, be happy! This took place
a few days after his death."
Main sources: Ibn Asakir, Tabyin Kadhib al-Muftari (Saqqa ed. p.
263-266); al-Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala (Dar al-Fikr ed.
13:590-603 #4210) and Tadhkira al-Huffaz (3:1135-1145); Ibn
al-Subki, Tabaqat al-Shafiiyya al-Kubra (Hajr ed. 4:29-39
#259); Itr, introduction to al-Khatibs al-Rihla (p. 37-59); and
Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Muntazam (8:265-270).

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