A Ḥadīth Collection over the Generations: The Transmission of Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān

Abstract

The study of ḥadīth scholarship, even if concentrating ḥadīth corpus, or even extracting the transmission of ḥadīth collections, has faced growing criticism. Many scholars of ḥadīth have no lack of confidence about the preservation of ḥadīth collections, while others have thoughtfully been sceptical. The discussion of the “authenticity” of authorship of ḥadīth collections, Arabic literature furnishes with a chain of transmitters for texts made about the past. Alongside both famous Ṣaḥīḥayn of al-Bukhārī and Muslim, Ibn Ḥibbān al-Bustī (d. 354/965) - a scholar from Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan - compiled at least one gigantic ḥadīth collection usually regarded as the last collection of this ‘Ṣaḥīḥ movement’. Among the eighty-plus works that Ibn Ḥibbān’s biographers say he wrote is his famous ḥadīth collection named “al-Musnad al-Ṣaḥīḥ ʿalā al-Taqāsim wa al-Anwāʿ min ghayr wujūd qaṭʿ fī sanadihā walā thubūt jarḥ fī nāqilīhā.” The Ṣaḥīḥ, like the many existing ḥadīth compilations, was handed down to succeeding generations by chains of authority. What follows is an explanatory study of the transmission of Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān in post-hadith compilation literatures to which his fame is principally due. A library-based research which focuses on descriptive analytical method is used in this study. This study also aims to examine some conceptual grounds for the exploration by looking into the literary dimension of hadith literatures. Explaining the transmission of Ibn Ḥibbān’s Ṣaḥīḥ is demanding despite his noble status which is required in recognizing that the early and canonical ḥadīth collection was very limited in dissemination. Conclusion of this study notes that the availability of transmission is central for the assessment of the well-preserved book and the role of isnād and certain ḥadīth literatures are vital in transmitting and preserving the Ṣaḥīḥ.

ABSTRAK

Meskipun kesarjanaan pengajian ḥadīth masakini yang memberi tumpuan kepada korpus atau bahkan transmisi koleksi-koleksi karya ḥadīth semakin berkembang, hujahan kritikan turut sama meningkat. Dalam kesusasteraan Arab, perbahasan mengenai keaslian kepengarangan koleksi ḥadīth dilengkapi dengan rantaian periwayatan tentang karya atau teks yang disampaikan. Di samping kedua-dua Ṣaḥīḥayn karangan al-Bukhārī dan Muslim yang terkenal, Ibn Ḥibbān al-Bustī (w. 354/965), seorang sarjana dari Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan, telah menyusun sekurang-kurangnya sebuah koleksi ḥadīth terkemuka yang seringkali dianggap sebagai ansuran terakhir daripada ‘gerakan Ṣaḥīḥ’ ini. Kebanyakan penulis biografi Ibn Ḥibbān merakam “al-Musnad al-Ṣaḥīḥ ʿalā al-Taqāsim wa al-Anwāʿ min ghayr wujūd qaṭʿ fī sanadihā walā thubūt jarḥ fī nāqilīhā” antara salah satu daripada lebih lapan puluh karya yang beliau hasilkan. Seperti kebanyakan koleksi ḥadīth yang lain, Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān beralih daripada satu generasi ke satu generasi menerusi rantaian autoriti. Justeru, menerusi kajian perpustakaan yang memberi tumpuan kepada metodologi deskriptif analitikal, makalah ini adalah kajian keterangan transmisi Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān di era pasca pengumpulan ḥadīth. Kajian ini turut bertujuan meneliti ruang penerokaan beberapa dasar konsepsi dengan melihat dimensi pengkaryaan yang terdapat dalam literatur ḥadīth. Meskipun tiada sangkalan terhadap kemasyhuran karya Ṣaḥīḥ oleh Ibn Ḥibbān, penyebaran karya beliau malah karya ḥadīth terawal amat terhad. Kajian ini menyimpulkan bahawa ketersediaan transmisi amat berharga dalam penilaian sesebuah karya yang terpelihara dengan baik dan peranan isnad serta literatur ḥadīth tertentu sangat penting dalam penyebaran dan pemeliharaan Ṣaḥīḥ.