MASABIH AL-SUNNAH

By the end of the third century Hijri a large number of Hadith compilations made their appearances in the Muslim world. However, the momentum to compile other works on Hadith never ceased. Each compilation was unique and served a particular purpose. Al- Baghawi's (d.561/1122) Masabih al-Sunnah was a welcome addition to the vast literature on Hadith.

This collection is known by the title of Masabih al-Sunnah. Before discussing the contents and distinguishing features of the Masabih al-Sunnah, it may be in order to shed light on the life of its author.

Al-Baghawi's Life
Abu Muhammad al-Husayn ibn Mas'ud ibn Mubammad al-Farra' al-Baghawi [commonly known as al-Farra') was born in 435/1043 in Herat, 'Iraq. He died at the age of 81 in 516/1122 in Baghshur, and was buried in the graveyard of Qadi al-Husayn in Herat, 'Iraq.

He was a Shafi'i scholar who hailed from a village called Bagh or Baghshar, near Herat, 'Iraq. He took the Nisbah (title) al-Farra' from his father who was a furrier (farra'). He had good training in al-Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and in Hadith. He was a favourite pupil of Qadi al-Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Marwa al-Rudi (d. 462/1069) he also studied under some other prominent scholars of his time such as Abu al-Hasan Da'udi (d.465 A.H.), 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad Ya'qub ibn Ahmad Sayrifi, etc.

His Literary Works
Among the literary works of al-Baghawi are Sharh al-Sunnah (the explanation of the Sunnah) and Al-Mu'jam. Wali al-Din 'Abd Allah al-Tabrizi (d.749 A.H.) in his Mishkat al-Masabih makes mention of these two works. Sharh al-Sunnah is a collection of the Ahadith of the Prophet (s.a.w.s.) of which some of its copies exist in manuscript form only. To this day, this manuscript remains unpublished. As far as Al-Mu'jam is concerned it has not survived but reference to it is made by ibn Hajar in his Tahdhib al-Tahdhib. But, al-Baghawi became famous as a result of his Masabih al-Sunnah.

Masabih al-Sunnah
This work was first printed in Bulaq in 1294/1877 and thereafter it was printed in two volumes in Cairo, Egypt in 1318/1900, with Imam Malik's al-Muwatta' in its margin. This edition was again reprinted in Cairo in 1354/1935.

Al-Baghawi omitted to mention the isnad (chain of authorities) of the Ahadith which are found in his Masabih al-Sunnah but retained the name of the Sahabah through whom each of the Hadith could be traced. He selected the Ahadith which he included in his work from a large number of collections of Hadith. These Ahadith cover a variety of topics and are arranged accordingly under specific books (kutub) on the principle of the musannaf works.

In the introduction of Masabih al-Sunnah, al-Baghawi outlines the aims and objectives for his compiling this work. He was particularly interested in compiling a work that would include such Ahadith that could serve as a guide for Muslims in those matters of which the Holy Qur'an is silent upon.

The reason for his omitting to mention the chain of narrators of the Ahadith may be attributed to the trust he had in the muhaddithun (scholars of Hadith) from whose works he extrapolated these selected Ahadith. Omission of the isnad meant the saving of space and that could have been another plausible factor.

Every book (kitab) in this compilation is divided into a number of different chapters (abwab). Every chapter consists of two sections (fasl). The first section contains Sahih Ahadith (i.e. the authentic ones) which have been taken from the Sahihayn (i.e. the compilations of Imaams al-Bukhari and Muslim).

The second section (fasl) contains the Ahadith which are classified as Hasan (i.e. fair or good). These Ahadith have been taken from the compilations of al-Tirmidhi, Abu Da'ud and others.

In preparing this work, al-Baghawi did not indicate the source of each Hadith, but one ought to note that in the first section the Ahadith in every chapter have been taken either from Sahih al-Bukhari or Sahih Muslim or from both. As far as the Ahadith which are to be found in the second section, al-Baghawi had taken them from a number of different compilations and does not make any mention of their sources. This shortcoming in the second section makes it difficult to trace the source of any of the Hadith therein. However, after careful investigations one may finally come to know that the Ahadith in the second section have been taken from the works of Abu Da'ud, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i, ibn Majah, al-Darimi (d.255). Thus, these five works are the sources of the Ahadith in the second section of Masabih al-Sunnah. It is perplexing that al-Baghawi, in the introduction of this compilation, restricted himself to mentioning that the Ahadith in the second section are from the works of Abu Da'ud, al-Tirmidhi and others, without citing the other three works.

The Masabih al-Sunnah contains 4 434 Ahadith of which 2 434 were taken from Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. Of the 2 434 Ahadith, 325 are from Sahih al-Bukhari alone, 875 from Sahih Muslim alone, and the remainder, i.e. the 1 234 Ahadith, are to be found in both these sources.

Another observation one can make is that al-Baghawi mentions at the end of his introduction that he would indicate which Hadith in the second section is gharib (strange) or da'if (weak) and specifically states that he would avoid classifying any of the Hadith therein as munkar and mawdu'. But, he went a step further and gave a more elaborate classification of the Ahadith and actually pointed which were mursal, munqati' and hasan and munkar.

Translations and Commentaries: Masabih al-Sunnah
Masabih al-Sunnah was held in high esteem by the learned contemporaries of al-Baghawi and thus, within a short span of time a number of commentaries were written on Masabih al-Sunnah.

The first brief commentary that appeared was that of 'Abd al-Qadir ibn 'Abd Allah al-Suhrawardi (d. 563/1163). Thereafter another two very important commentaries made their appearance. One of them being that of Shihab al-Din Fadl Allah al-Turabishti (d.686) and entitled as Al-Maysir. It was written in the year 666 A.H. The other was that of Nasir al-Din 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar al-Baydawi (d.675/1276) which was known as Tuhfat al-Abrar.

It is unfortunate that nothing much can be said about these commentaries in view of the fact that they are unavailable. This means that the knowledge we have of them is restricted to having read about them from the works of al-Qari Mulla 'Ali and Muhammad Idris Khandelvi. From the work of 'Abd al-Halim ibn 'Abd al-Rahim Chisti we learn that the seventh and eighth centuries Hijri saw the compilation of many other commentaries on Masabih al-Sunnah but none of them acquired the eminence of Al-Maysir and Tuhfat al-Abrar and are also unavailable.

Chapter 2 ... cont'd

Mishkat al-Masabih

cont'd ... Chapter 4

Source:  Jamiatul Ulama (Kwazulu-Natal)