Ilal al-Hadith of Ibn Abi Hatim

Ilal al-Hadith is a book by Abu Muhammad Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi (240–327 AH) on the hidden defects that impair a hadith.

Its publisher, Muhibb al-Din al-Khatib, writes that as far as he knows the first to write on such defects was Imam Muslim. Then came Ibn Abi Hatim, who examined the defects of about three thousand hadith, naming in each case the transmitter from whom the defect came. He took this from his father Abu Hatim and his teacher Abu Zur'a al-Razi. ¹

He opens with sayings on the worth of this science. From Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi he reports: to know the defect of a hadith is dearer to me than to write a hadith I do not have. Ibn Mahdi also said that knowledge of hadith is an inspiration. He heard his father say that knowing hadith is like knowing two gemstones of the same colour, one worth a hundred dinars and the other ten dirhams. ²

Each question is numbered and usually begins "I asked my father" or "I asked Abu Zur'a" about a hadith that someone transmitted. The answer names the error, who made it, and the correct form.

In the first question on purity he asks Abu Zur'a about a hadith on dry ablution that Qabisa ibn Uqba transmitted from al-Thawri. Abu Zur'a answers: this is an error, made by Qabisa, and gives the correct name of the transmitter in the chain. ³

Among the questions on land tax, his father judges a hadith traced to the Prophet ﷺ "false, without basis". ⁴

The questions are arranged by chapter.

• Part 1 of the Salafiyya printing: purity, prayer, alms, fasting and the pilgrimage rites.
• Part 2: foods, drinks, sacrifices, hunting, inheritance, the Qur'an and its commentary, renunciation, faith, the reward of deeds, supplication, manners, medicine, virtues, the signs of prophethood and land tax.

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It was printed at the expense of Shaykh Muhammad Nasif, a notable of Jeddah, and others with him. The press was al-Matba'a al-Salafiyya in Cairo, owned by Muhibb al-Din al-Khatib and Abd al-Fattah Qatlan. Part 1 appeared in 1343 AH and part 2 in 1344 AH.

The text was set from two manuscripts: Ahmad Taymur Pasha's copy, written in Damascus, and the Egyptian National Library's copy, partly eaten by termites. The publisher thought one was copied from the other, since they often share the same scribal errors.

He also quotes Shaykh Tahir al-Jaza'iri: Ibn Abi Hatim's book of defects is better arranged and easier to use than al-Daraqutni's. ^{6 1 7}