Musannaf of Abd al-Razzaq

The Musannaf of Abd al-Razzaq is a very early book of Hadith that was collected by ‘Abd ar-Razzaq as-San‘ani. It not only contains a huge number of hadith attributed directly to Muhammad, but also from the Sahaba and early Muslim scholars. The title roughly means "The Categorized", which suggests the nature of this hadith collection, as it is arranged according to categories of Fiqh.^[1]

==Abd Al Razzaq

He was the teacher of Imam Bukhari and a high ranking Islamic Scholar. It is said, when we accept Imam Bukhari's Book (Al Sahih Al Bukhari), so hundred times more, we must accept the Musannaf of Abd Al Razzaq.

History behind this Book

The book of Hafiz Al-San'ani, Musannaf of Abd al-Razzaq was lost and mixed up with other books, and could not be differentiated for almost 1100 years until it was arranged and edited by the great Indian Scholar Muhaddith-e-Kabir Hazrat Maulana Habib al-Rahman al-Azmi (Rahmatullah Alaih). Maulana Habib al-Rahman who has worked on numerous books of Ahadith was famous for his vast knowledge of the hadith. It took him almost 20 years to complete this great historical work for which he is a insanely loved and respected person among the scholars around the world. The book was published in Beirut.

Sources

The hadith in the Musannaf come mainly from three people: Ma'mar Ibn Rashid (d. AD 770), Ibn Jurayj, and Sufyan al-Thawri. There are also relatively small numbers of hadith from Sufyan Ibn 'Uyayna, Abu Hanifa, and Malik Ibn Anas among a large number of other people. Most of them are said to have been compilers of hadith books in their own right.

Reliability

An article by Harald Motzki appeared in the Journal of Near Eastern Studies that mentioned the Musannaf of `Abd al-Razzaq al-San`ani as a source of authentic ahadith of the first century AH. The conclusion of the author was, "While studying the Musannaf of `Abd al-Razzaq, I came to the conclusion that the theory championed by Goldziher, Schacht, and in their footsteps, many others – myself included – which in general, reject hadith literature as a historically reliable sources for the first century AH, deprives the historical study of early Islam of an important and a useful type of source."^[2]

Notes

1. ^ "Scholar of Renown: Abd Al-Razzaq Al-Sanaani, Adil Salahi". Aljazeerah.info. http://www.aljazeerah.info/Islam/Islamic%20subjects/2004%20subjects/January/Scholar%20of%20RenownAbd%20AlRazzaq%20AlSanaani,%20Adil%20Salahi.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-13. 
2. ^ Motzki, H.; "The Musannaf Of `Abd al-Razzaq Al-San`ani As A Source of Authentic Ahadith of The First Century A.H.", Journal Of Near Eastern Studies, 1991, Volume 50, p. 21.