Outlines of the Development of the Science of Hadith
Dr. Mustafa Awliya'i
Chapter# /Title
Chapter 5: Important Books Composed by Scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah
The most important books compiled in the field of `ilm al-rijal by scholars of the Ahl al-Sunnah are four:
- Kitab Ibn Mandah, Abu `Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Yahya (died 301/913-14).
- Hilyat al-‘awliya’ by Abi Nu`aym al-‘Isfahani (died 430/1038-9).
- Kitab Abi Musa, Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr al-‘Isfahani (died 581/1185-6), which is a continuation of the work of Ibn Mandah.
- Al-‘Isti`ab by Ibn `Abd al-Birr.
After the above four works, other writings on `ilm al-rijal by Sunni scholars were primarily based on them; `Ali ibn Muhammad ibn al-Athir al-Jazari (died 630/1132-3) brought them together in his Usd al-ghabah. AI-Dhahabi produced a summarized version of Usd al-ghabah in his Tajrid Asma’ al-Sahabah, adding some new entries. Badr al-Din Muhammad al-Qudsi and Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Kashghari, too, produced their own condensed versions of the Usd al-ghabah.14
A point worthy of notice here is that Shi`ah scholars of `ilm al-rijal, in the fifth and sixth centuries, named such books as were exclusively related to Shi`ite narrators of hadith as “rijal”, calling accounts of others, including both Shi`ah and Sunni narrators, as “ta’rikh”.15 Another notable point is that, in the past, there existed a mutual, inseparable link between the three disciplines of dirayat al-hadith, `ilm rijal al-hadith and bibliography. Works dealing with one of the topics, invariably discussed issues connected with the other disciplines.