HADITH HERITAGE BETWEEN MANUSCRIPT AND PRINT: A CASE STUDY OF AL-TANBĪH ʿALĀ AḤĀDĪTH AL-HIDĀYAH WA AL-KHULĀṢA

Abstract

This article aims to highlight the scholarly value of one of the important hadith works, Al-Tanbīh ʿalā Aḥādīth al-Hidāyah wa al-Khulāṣah by Imām ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn ʿUthmān ibn al-Turkumānī (d. 750 AH). The book represents a pioneering example in the field of hadith verification (takhrīj), as the author compiled the legal hadiths found in al-Hidāyah by al-Marghīnānī (d. 593 AH) and Khulāṣat al-Dalāʾil by al-Rāzī (d. 598 AH), tracing them back to their original sources, critically evaluating them. The study adopts a descriptive-analytical methodology, focusing on tracing the extant manuscript copies of the book preserved in Arab, European, and Turkish libraries, and examining their material and scholarly features. It also reviews the modern printed editions and evaluates them, while presenting a brief biography of the author and outlining his scholarly contributions. The study concludes that the book serves as an essential link between hadith scholarship and Islamic jurisprudence, reflecting the deep concern of Ḥanafī scholars with authenticating narrations and connecting them to legal reasoning. The multiplicity and wide distribution of the manuscript copies indicate the book’s significance and circulation, with some copies produced during the author’s lifetime or by his direct students, thereby adding high documentary value. At the same time, the comparison between the manuscripts and the printed editions reveals that contemporary editorial efforts, despite their importance, still require further collation and critical verification in order to produce a comprehensive and reliable scholarly edition.

In sum, Ibn al-Turkumānī’s work represents a vivid example of the study of hadith heritage between manuscript and print, and constitutes a vital resource for reviving the classical scholarly efforts in serving hadith and Islamic jurisprudence.