📘 সুনানে ইবনে মাজাহ - ত আরনাউত (ইবনে মাজাহ - মৃত্যু 273 হিজরী)

Imam Ibn Majah was among those who devoted themselves to collecting and classifying their narrations, and he authored:

1. The book "Al-Tafsir" (The Exegesis): Abu Ya'la al-Khalili said: He has a Sunan, a Tafsir, and a Tarikh, and he was knowledgeable in this field (1). Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir mentioned it and said: It is a comprehensive Tafsir (2). Al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi mentioned it in "Al-Mizan" in the biography of 'Utbah ibn Yaqzan, and cited a hadith from it. Al-Hafiz Shams al-Din al-Dawudi said: He was knowledgeable in this field (3). Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah mentioned it among the Tafsirs in which the interpretations of the Companions, the Followers, and their successors are narrated exclusively (4).

Nothing of this book has reached us, and it is most likely that it was lost among the books that perished in the catastrophe of Timurlenk in the year (853 AH) in Damascus, for it is understood from the statements of al-Dhahabi, who died in the year (748 AH), and Ibn Kathir, who died in the year (774 AH), that they both saw it. Then after that, we find no mention of it in the "Mu'jam" of al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar, who died in the year (852 AH), nor in the later biographical dictionaries and indexes.

2. "Al-Sunan": This is the present book, and detailed discussion of it will follow in a dedicated section, God willing.

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(1) "Al-Taqyid" by Ibn Nuqtah (137), and "Shurut al-A'immah al-Sittah" p. 17.
(2) "Al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah" 11/56.
(3) "Tabaqat al-Mufassirin" 2/273-274.
(4) "Majmu' al-Fatawa" 13/355.

3 - "The History (al-Tārīkh)": Mentioned by Abū Yaʿlā al-Khalīlī (1). Ibn Ṭāhir al-Maqdisī said: And I saw for him in Qazwīn a history arranged by men and regions, from the era of the Companions to his own time (2). Al-Rāfiʿī likewise mentioned it in his "Akhlāq Qazwīn" (Reports of Qazwīn) repeatedly and quoted from it extensively (3). Ibn Khallikān said: He has a fine "History" (4). Ibn Kathīr said: Ibn Mājah has a complete "History" from the time of the Companions to his own era (5).

* Praise of the scholars for him:
There is no doubt that a person's sincerity and devotion in serving knowledge, and his eagerness to benefit students of learning, are what spread his merit, make his reputation pleasant, and immortalize his remembrance after him. Ibn Mājah—may God have mercy on him—was among those whose praises were uttered by the tongues of the scholars, who lauded his learning and proclaimed his excellence.

Abū Yaʿlā al-Khalīlī said: He is a trustworthy, eminent authority, unanimously agreed upon, and adduced as proof. He had knowledge of hadith and memorization. He traveled to the two Iraqs, Mecca, Syria, Egypt, and al-Rayy to write down hadith (6).

ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Muḥammad al-Rāfiʿī said: An imam among the imams of the Muslims, eminent and precise, accepted by consensus (7).

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(1) "Shurūṭ al-Aʾimmah al-Sittah," p. 17, and "al-Taqyīd" (137).
(2) "Shurūṭ al-Aʾimmah al-Sittah," p. 16.
(3) See: 1/295 and 451, 2/49, and 3/398.
(4) "Wafayāt al-Aʿyān" 4/279.
(5) "al-Bidāyah wa-l-Nihāyah" 11/56. We have not found it in manuscript or in print.
(6) "Tahdhīb al-Kamāl" 27/41, and "Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ" 13/279.
(7) "al-Tadwīn fī Akhbār Qazwīn" 2/49.

Ibn Khallikan said: The renowned hadith scholar; he was an imam in hadith, knowledgeable in its sciences and all that pertains to it (1).

Shīrūyah al-Daylamī said in his "History of Hamadhan": Among the distinguished imams from the people of Qazwin was Muhammad ibn Yazid ibn Majah, Abu Abd Allah al-Qazwini, the hadith scholar (2).

Al-Mizzī said: Muhammad ibn Yazid al-Rabaʿī, their freed slave, Abu Abd Allah ibn Majah al-Qazwini, the hadith scholar, author of the book "Al-Sunan," possessor of beneficial works and extensive travel (3).

Ibn al-Athīr said: He was judicious, an imam, and learned (4).

Ibn Abd al-Hādī said: The great hadith scholar and exegete, Abu Abd Allah al-Qazwini (5).

Al-Dhahabī said: The great hadith scholar, the authoritative proof, the exegete, the hadith authority of Qazwin in his time. He also said: Ibn Majah was a critical hadith scholar, truthful, and of vast knowledge (6).

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(1) "Wafayat al-Aʿyan" 4/279.
(2) "Muʿjam al-Buldan" by Yaqut al-Hamawi — Qazwin.
(3) "Tahdhib al-Kamal" 27/40.
(4) "Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh" 7/152.
(5) "Tabaqat ʿUlamaʾ al-Hadith" 2/341.
(6) "Siyar Aʿlam al-Nubalaʾ" 13/277 and 278.

Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir said: "He is the author of the well-known *Sunan*, which is indicative of his practice, his knowledge, his deep expertise, his wide learning, and his adherence to the Sunnah in both fundamentals and branches." (1)

* His legal school (madhhab):
The sources available to us do not mention the juristic school that Imam Ibn Majah followed, but it is most likely that he grew up following the school of Imam al-Shafi'i, like most of the people of his town in those times. This is supported by what is mentioned in the book *Al-Tadwin fi Akhbar Qazwin* by Imam al-Rafi'i, the Shafi'i jurist, for he narrated with his chain of transmission to Ibn Majah who said: "One day Yahya ibn Ma'in came to Ahmad ibn Hanbal and sat with him. Al-Shafi'i passed by on his mule, and Ahmad stood up and followed him until he disappeared from sight, leaving Yahya waiting for a long time. When he returned, Yahya ibn Ma'in said to him: 'O Abu 'Abd Allah, who is this?' He replied: 'Leave that aside. If you want jurisprudence, then cling to the tail of the mule.'" (2)

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah was asked about a number of the compiling imams, among them the six imams: were they mujtahids who did not imitate any of the imams, or were they followers (muqallids)? He replied: "As for al-Bukhari and Abu Dawud, they are two imams in jurisprudence among the people of ijtihad. As for Muslim, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i, Ibn Majah, Ibn Khuzaymah, Abu Ya'la, al-Bazzar, and the like, they follow the school of the people of hadith."

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(1) *Al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah* 11/56.
(2) *Al-Tadwin* 2/50.

They were not blind followers of any single scholar, nor were they among the absolute independent jurists (mujtahidūn) (1).

It is most likely that he worked and issued legal rulings according to what his own ijtihad led him to in understanding the Book and the Sunnah, because the scholars of the era in which Ibn Mājah lived were not content with taqlīd for themselves—neither the hadith scholars nor the jurists, may Allah have mercy on them.

*‌‌ His Death:

Muhammad ibn Tāhir al-Maqdisī said: I saw in Qazwin a biographical history by him—meaning Ibn Mājah—covering the narrators and the cities from the era of the Companions up to his own time, and at its end, in the handwriting of his companion Jaʿfar ibn Idrīs: Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muhammad ibn Yazīd ibn Mājah, known as [Ibn Mājah], died on Monday and was buried on Tuesday, with eight nights remaining of the month of Ramadan in the year 273 AH. He died at the age of sixty-four. His brother Abū Bakr led the funeral prayer over him, and his two brothers Abū Bakr and Abū ʿAbd Allāh, along with his son ʿAbd Allāh, undertook his burial (2).

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(1) "Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā" 20/40.
(2) "Shurūṭ al-Aʾimmah al-Sittah" pp. 16–17.

Introduction to the Book "Al-Sunan"

The book of Ibn Majah is considered one of the six canonical collections (1) that scholars have accepted, which the hadith specialists and jurists have attended to generation after generation. They became widely known among the people, and the pens of scholars engaged with them—explaining their obscure terms, examining their narrators, deriving their jurisprudence, compiling their texts, and refining them.

These six canonical collections encompass the rulings of Islam, its etiquettes, its laws, and its directives. Imam al-Nawawi, may Allah have mercy on him, held that nothing of the authentic (sahih) and good (hasan) hadith escaped them except a small amount.

The first to add "Sunan Ibn Majah" to the five books, completing the six, was al-Hafiz Abu al-Fadl Muhammad ibn Tahir al-Maqdisi, who died in the year (507 AH), in his work "Atraf al-Kutub al-Sittah" (The Sections of the Six Books), and likewise in his "Shurut al-A'imma" (The Conditions of the Imams).

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(1) They are: "Al-Jami' al-Sahih" by Imam Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari, who died in the year (251 AH); "Al-Sahih" by Imam Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj al-Qushayri, who died in the year (261 AH); "Al-Sunan" by Abu Dawud Sulayman ibn al-Ash'ath al-Sijistani, who died in the year (275 AH); "Al-Jami'" by Abu 'Isa Muhammad ibn 'Isa ibn Sawrah al-Tirmidhi, who died in the year (279 AH); "Al-Sunan" by Ahmad ibn Shu'ayb al-Nasa'i, who died in the year (303 AH); and "Al-Sunan" by Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Yazid Ibn Majah al-Qazwini, who died in the year (273 AH).

Al-Hafiz al-Mizzi said: Each of these books has a distinction known to those of this craft. They became famous among the people, spread throughout the lands of Islam, great benefit was derived from them, and students of knowledge were eager to acquire them.

"The Six" is also his work. Then al-Ḥāfiẓ ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Maqdisī, who died in the year (600 AH), and the first to compile its ṭurāf together with the three Sunan was al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū al-Qāsim Ibn ʿAsākir, who died in the year (571 AH). The authors of the ṭurāf followed them in this, and this indicates that the addition of "Sunan Ibn Mājah" to the five was only at the beginning of the sixth century, and nothing is transmitted from the early scholars regarding this.

Ibn Mājah, like the authors of the three Sunan, did not stipulate in his book the inclusion of only authentic ḥadīths, but rather included in it the authentic, the good, the weak, and the rejected, and a few fabricated ḥadīths occurred in it whose attribution to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is not sound. For this reason, it was necessary to distinguish its authentic from its defective, and to clarify what may be used as evidence from what may not, as sincere advice to God, to His Messenger, and to the general body of Muslims.

Returning to our meticulous work that we undertook in studying the ḥadīths of this book, it became clear to us that Imam Ibn Mājah, uniquely among the authors of the five books, had (1213) ḥadīths with repetition, of which (98) ḥadīths had authentic chains of transmission, (113) ḥadīths are authentic through corroborating chains, (219) ḥadīths become authentic through supporting witnesses, (58) ḥadīths have good chains of transmission, (42) ḥadīths are good through corroborating chains, (65) ḥadīths are good through supporting witnesses, (6) ḥadīths are plausible for upgrading to good, (7) ḥadīths he cited as raised to the Prophet and we authenticated them as stopped at a Companion, (4) are interrupted transmissions, (384) ḥadīths are all weak, (184) ḥadīths are very weak, one ḥadīth is anomalous in the wording with which the author cited it, (21) ḥadīths are rejected and fabricated, and (11) ḥadīths we did not definitively rule upon.

It appears from this enumeration that the total number of authentic (ṣaḥīḥ) and good (ḥasan) hadiths, in themselves and through others, which Ibn Mājah alone transmitted apart from the five books, reached (600) hadiths, and this equals approximately half of what he uniquely transmitted.

This conclusion, which we reached through our precise study of the chains of transmission (asānīd), refutes the statement of those who say: "Everything that Ibn Mājah uniquely transmitted apart from the five books is weak."

However, the book "Sunan Ibn Mājah" ranks below the five books, as the eminent scholar al-Sindī stated in the introduction to his commentary. More than one of the ḥuffāẓ (hadith masters) has explicitly stated that it is not permissible to cite as evidence a hadith narrated by the compilers of the Sunan and Musnads whose collectors did not stipulate authenticity or goodness, unless one has verified its soundness through studying its chain of transmission and the absence of irregularity (shudhūdh) and defect (ʿillah). We have undertaken all of that, by the grace of Allah, in this verification of ours, and we have clarified the grade of every hadith in it in terms of authenticity, goodness, or weakness.

The scholars have mentioned that Ibn Mājah uniquely transmitted a number of hadiths from men accused of lying and theft of hadith, upon which the imams ruled as false and fabricated. Among these, the eminent scholar Ibn al-Jawzī included (34) hadiths in his book "al-Mawḍūʿāt," and their numbers in sequence are: 65, 120, 141, 184, 256, 1332, 1333, 1384, 1386, 1583, 1602, 1613, 1615, 1862, 2146, 2289, 2307, 2474,

2620, 2705, 2780, 3013, 3221, 3305, 3330, 3340, 3352, 3450, 3487, 4057, 4058, 4126, 4140. Some of these have been discussed in more than one hadith, as is indicated in our annotations on them.

There are also other hadiths in his work which we have judged to be false and fabricated, which Ibn al-Jawzi missed. See, for example, the hadiths: 49, 55, 248, 1461, 1485, 1749, 3318, 3355, 3357, 3358.

Statements of the scholars concerning "al-Sunan":

Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir said in his biography of Ibn Majah (1): "The author of the well-known 'Sunan,' which is indicative of his labor and knowledge, his depth of learning and breadth of acquaintance, and his adherence to the Sunnah in matters of both fundamentals and branches. It comprises thirty-two books and one thousand five hundred chapters, and contains four thousand hadiths, all of which are sound except for a few."

He also said in "Ikhtisar 'Ulum al-Hadith": "It is a beneficial book with strong chapter divisions pertaining to jurisprudence."

Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar said in his biography of the author in "Tahdhib al-Tahdhib": "His book 'al-Sunan' is a comprehensive and excellent work, containing many chapters and rare (gharib) hadiths."

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(1) In "al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah" 11/56.

Those who devoted themselves to "Sunan Ibn Mājah"

The people of knowledge devoted themselves to Ibn Mājah's book in transmission and understanding, in commentary and annotation, in discussion of its narrators, and in extracting its additional narrations (zawāʾid).

1. The erudite scholar, the jurist, the grammarian, the physician, the master of many disciplines, Muwaffaq al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Laṭīf ibn al-Faqīh Yūsuf ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Mawṣilī al-Baghdādī al-Shāfiʿī, resident of Aleppo, who died in the year (629 AH) (1), wrote a commentary on it. It is an extensive commentary, as is understood from the "Arbaʿūn Ṭibbiyya" of al-Birzālī.

2. The "Arbaʿūn Ṭibbiyya" (Forty Medical Hadiths) was extracted by the ḥāfiẓ Zaki al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf al-Birzālī, who died in the year (636 AH) (2), from "Sunan Ibn Mājah" and from its commentary by the erudite scholar ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Baghdādī. It was first printed in Morocco, then printed in Beirut. Its introduction states: Its author Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf al-Birzālī says: When I departed from Mecca—may Allah honor it—on the Wednesday stop, I headed for Syria for the sake of "Sunan Ibn Mājah." I met the Shaykh Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Laṭīf ibn Yūsuf ibn Muḥammad al-Baghdādī—may Allah preserve him—and I was informed that it was his transmission. I asked him to let me read it to him, and he graciously agreed. I began reading it, and when I reached the chapters on medicine, I asked him to clarify for me its difficult passages and to explain to me the noble knowledge and the lofty, subtle wisdoms it contained. He graciously agreed.

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(1) See his biography in "Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ" 22/320–323.
(2) See his biography in "Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ" 23/55–56.

He was gracious and correct in his commentary on it, and mentioned in it some of the rare aspects of hadith that he had not mentioned in his major commentary on rare hadith. It so happened that these came to forty hadiths, so I asked his permission to single them out with their chains of transmission to the Prophet, peace be upon him, and to mention their commentary after the hadiths. He permitted me to narrate them from him in that manner, so I extracted them.

He said at the end of it: The forty hadiths from "Sunan Ibn Majah" and their commentary by Shaykh Abu Muhammad Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi, from his major commentary on the "Sunan," were extracted from it with his permission by his student Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Birzali.

3 - The Imam and hafiz Ala al-Din Mughultay ibn Qulayj al-Hanafi, who died in the year (762 AH), commented on a portion of "Sunan Ibn Majah" and named it "Al-I'lam bi-Sunnatihi alayhi al-salam" (1).

4 - The Imam Siraj al-Din Umar ibn Ali ibn al-Mulaqqin, who died in the year (804 AH), commented on the additional narrations of the "Sunan" in eight volumes, and named it "Ma Tamussu ilayhi al-Hajah ala Sunan Ibn Majah." He began it in Dhu al-Qa'dah of the year (800) and finished it in Shawwal of the year (801 AH) (2).

5 - The scholar Shaykh Muhammad ibn Musa ibn Isa ibn Ali Abu al-Baqa al-Damiri by origin, al-Qahiri, al-Shafi'i, who died in the year (808 AH), commented on it in five volumes, and died before completing it. He named it "Al-Dibajah fi Sharh Sunan Ibn Majah." Shaykh Muhammad Abd al-Rashid al-Nu'mani said: I saw from it--------------------------------------------
(1) See "Tarikh al-Turath al-Arabi" by Sezgin 1/287, and "Al-Fihris al-Shamil lil-Turath al-Arabi al-Islami" of the Al al-Bayt Foundation 1/209.
(2) See "Kashf al-Zunun" 2/1004.

A manuscript copy in the library of Muhammadabad Tonk, in the region of Rajputana in India, under number (332). Its opening states: The student of hadith must know what he needs of the six books by which God opened the gate of the science of the Sunna, and clothed each of their authors in the robe of honor and its crown. All of them have commentaries except the book of Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Yazid Ibn Majah, for it is, as Judge Ibn al-Arabi said: "The weavers have been left behind in knowledge of it, and the light of its lamp of understanding is in need of a glass." So I sought God's guidance and wrote upon it "al-Dibaja" (The Brocade), which, God willing, will suffice for what is in the breasts regarding its words, be adequate for the meanings of its hadiths and the interpretation of its verses, and be complete in explaining its rulings and the chains of its transmissions. In it I have followed the model of the "Commentary on Muslim" by Shaykh al-Islam al-Nawawi, along with clarifying the authentic, the good, the weak, and the strong. I ask God to aid in its completion and to make it sincere for His sake, by His grace and bounty.

6 - The scholar and memorizer Ahmad ibn Abi Bakr al-Busiri, who died in the year (840 AH), singled out its additions to the five books in a work he called "Misbah al-Zujaja fi Zawa'id Ibn Majah" (The Lamp of the Glass in the Additions of Ibn Majah). A copy of it exists in the Ahmadia Library in Aleppo, and it has been printed in more than one edition, but all of them are poor editions in which corruption and misreading are widespread.

Al-Busiri said in his introduction: I sought the guidance of God Almighty in singling out the additions of the Imam and memorizer Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Yazid Ibn Majah al-Qazwini to the five foundational books: the two Sahihs of al-Bukhari and Muslim, Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, and al-Nasa'i al-Sughra as transmitted by Ibn al-Sunni. For if the hadith is in the books...

The five, or one of them, via the path of a single Companion, I did not include unless there was in it an addition in Ibn Majah indicating a ruling; and if it was via the path of two or more Companions, and Ibn Majah alone included one of those paths, I included it even if the text was one. I note after every hadith that it is in the five aforementioned books or one of them, via the path of so-and-so, for example, if that is the case. If it was not, and I saw the hadith in other than them, I noted it for benefit, so that it may be known that the hadith is not solitary. Then I discuss every chain of transmission according to what befits its condition, whether authentic, good, weak, or otherwise; and whatever I remained silent about, there is consideration in it. We say: We have disagreed with him in not a few places regarding what he held, and we have not committed to indicating these disagreements in our annotations.

7 — And the hadith scholar of the Aleppo region, the distinguished scholar, the Imam, the memorizer Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Khalil, known as Sibṭ Ibn al-ʿAjami, who died in the year (841 AH), has a fine annotation on "Sunan Ibn Majah."

8 — And the distinguished scholar Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad Shams al-Din al-Misri al-Maliki, who died in the year (844 AH), abridged it, and named it "Al-Ghuyuth al-Thajjaja fi Mukhtasar Ibn Majah," then commented on it in "Al-Dibaja li-Tawdih Muntakhab Ibn Majah."

9 — And the memorizer ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr al-Suyuti, who died in the year (910 AH), has an annotation on "Sunan Ibn Majah" titled "Misbah al-Zujaja" (1).

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(1) See its manuscript copies in "Al-Fihris al-Shamil lil-Turath al-ʿArabi al-Islami" 3/1510.

10 - The distinguished scholar, the great hadith master, Abū al-Ḥasan Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Hādī al-Sindī al-Ḥanafī, resident of Medina, who died in the year (1138 AH), has a concise commentary in prose, well known as the Ḥāshiyat al-Sindī, which has been printed in several editions. He said in its introduction: "This commentary of ours, God willing, will confine itself to resolving what the reader and teacher need in terms of the precise vocalization of words, and clarifying obscure expressions and grammatical points. May God grant us a good completion before the arrival of the appointed term, then grant us a beautiful conclusion by His grace. Amen, O Lord of the worlds."

11 - The distinguished scholar and verifying hadith master, Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Dihlawī, who died in the year (1296 AH), has a concise commentary titled "Injāḥ al-Ḥājah," which was printed in Delhi in the margin of "al-Sunan."

12 - Shaykh Fakhr al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Kankūhī al-Ḥanafī, who died in the year (1315 AH), has a lengthy and valuable gloss on "al-Sunan," which he compiled from "Injāḥ al-Ḥājah" and "Miṣbāḥ al-Zujājah," with additional material.

13 - The imam and hafiz al-Dhahabī, who died in the year (748 AH), compiled the narrators of "al-Sunan" in his book "al-Mujarrad fī Rijāl Sunan Ibn Mājah," which is in print (1).

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(1) For a more extensive discussion of "Sunan Ibn Mājah" and the scholars' attention to it, see the book of Shaykh Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Rashīd al-Nuʿmānī, may God have mercy on him, "al-Imām Ibn Mājah wa-Kitābuhu al-Sunan," printed with the critical edition of Shaykh ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ Abū Ghuddah, may God have mercy on him, at Maktab al-Maṭbūʿāt al-Islāmiyyah.

Description of the Manuscript Sources

In editing "Sunan Ibn Majah," we have relied on three photographed copies taken from meticulous manuscript sources, namely:

First: The copy designated by the symbol (S), which we have adopted as our primary source in the vast majority of cases:

It is a photographed copy of the manuscript original preserved in the Süleymaniye Library in Istanbul under number (37). It is complete, meticulous, with clear handwriting and precise vocalization; errors are rarely found in it. It consists of a single volume, containing (327) folios, with (25) lines per page, and approximately (15) words per line.

Its copyist—ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Shāmī—completed copying it on Tuesday, the ninth of Shawwāl, in the year (861 AH). Its owner was the judge Saʿd al-Dīn, as the copyist mentioned at its end.

It was collated with great precision against a copy bearing the handwriting of the eminent scholar, the ḥāfiẓ Burhān al-Dīn Sibt Ibn al-ʿAjamī (1), the eminent scholar Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Nāṣir al-Dīn, the ḥāfiẓ of Damascus (2), and the eminent scholar Shihāb al-Dīn Abī--------------------------------------------
(1) He is Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad, who died in the year 841 AH; see his biography in "al-Ḍawʾ al-Lāmiʿ" 1/138–145.
(2) He is Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh, who died in the year 842 AH; see his biography in "al-Ḍawʾ al-Lāmiʿ" 8/103–106, and "Shadharāt al-Dhahab" 7/243–245.

Al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn al-Ṣalāḥ al-Umawī, known in Egypt as Ibn al-Muḥammirah, judge of Damascus (1). Its collation took place in sessions, the last of which was the third of the month of Jumādā al-Ūlā in the year 862 [AH], as stated on its final folio. Despite this meticulous collation, scarcely a single margin of any of its folios is free of corrections, emendations, and various useful notes.

At the beginning of the copy there is a chain of transmission (sanad) transmitted from the original manuscript—so far as we can most likely determine—which is from the narration of ʿImād al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Ḥāfiẓ ibn Badrān (2), from the jurist and muḥaddith, author of "al-Mughnī," the distinguished scholar Muwaffaq al-Dīn Ibn Qudāmah, with his chain of transmission that will follow in the description of manuscript (M).

Secondly: the manuscript designated as (M):

It is a photographic reproduction of the original handwritten manuscript preserved in the Dār al-Kutub al-Miṣriyyah in the Taymūriyyah collection under number 522. It is a complete and fine copy, divided into (17) parts in two volumes: nine parts in the first volume and eight in the second. The number of folios in the first volume is (273) folios, and the number of folios in the second volume is (223) folios. The first volume ends with hadith number (2525) from the Book of Manumission (Kitāb al-ʿItq). In each leaf of this copy there are (23) lines for the most part, and in each line approximately (15) words.

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(1) Died in the year 840 AH; see his biography in "al-Ḍawʾ al-Lāmiʿ" 2/186.
(2) Died in the year 698 AH; see his biography in "al-ʿIbar" by al-Dhahabī 5/388.

It is stated on the title page of the second volume that it is in the handwriting of the jurist and ḥadīth scholar Ibn Qudāma al-Maqdisī. As for the first volume, it appears that it was copied by more than one person, and Ibn Qudāma is mentioned among those who heard it [i.e., the work read aloud].

In the margins of this copy are certificates of audition (samāʿāt) from Ibn Qudāma in the Umayyad Mosque in the early seventh century AH, and these audition certificates recur every three folios.

At the end of each of the seventeen parts is a collection of audition certificates recorded in different hands, dated to widely separated times, from the sixth century (560 AH) through the eighth century.

Among them is an audition read by the ḥāfiẓ Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-ʿAlāʾī before the ḥāfiẓ Jamāl al-Dīn al-Mizzī and Abū Muḥammad al-Qāsim ibn Muẓaffar ibn ʿAsākir, the physician.

Among them also is an audition before the ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī.

All of these auditions took place in Damascus, in the Umayyad Mosque, in the Muẓaffarī Mosque, in the Ḍiyāʾiyya Madrasa, in the Madrasa of the Ṣāḥib Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn al-Jawzī, in the Dār al-Ḥadīth al-Ashrafiyya, in the Sumaysāṭī Ribāṭ, in the Dār al-Qurʾān al-Jazariyya, in the Dār al-Ḥadīth al-Shuqayshīqiyya, in the Ṣadriyya Madrasa, and in the Nāṣiriyya Ribāṭ.

Here we briefly identify the mosques, madrasas, and ribāṭs in which Sunan Ibn Mājah was read, located in Damascus and its outskirts:

As for the Umayyad Mosque, it is the greatest of the mosques of Damascus. It was built by al-Walid ibn ʿAbd al-Malik during his caliphate in the year 87 AH. Al-Walid died before the construction was completed, and his brother Sulayman completed it after him.

As for the Muẓaffarī Mosque, it is at the foot of Mount Qāsiyūn, and it is also called the Mosque of the Mountain and the Mosque of the Ḥanābilah. Its construction was begun by Shaykh Abū ʿUmar Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Qudāmah al-Maqdisī in the year 598 AH, and to this day the five daily prayers and the Friday sermon are still held there.

As for the Ḍiyā'iyyah School, it is at the foot of Mount Qāsiyūn, east of the Muẓaffarī Mosque. It was built from his own wealth by its endower, the ḥāfiẓ Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wāḥid al-Saʿdī al-Maqdisī, author of "al-Aḥādīth al-Mukhtārah," known as al-Ḍiyā'. Some people of goodness assisted him in it, and he made it a Dār al-Ḥadīth. It was plundered during the calamity of al-Ṣāliḥ in the days of Qāzān in the year 699 AH, and much of it was lost. Then it fell into ruin along with the other schools of Damascus that fell into ruin.

As for the School of al-Ṣāḥib Muḥyī al-Dīn, it is in the Buzūriyyah market, west of the ʿAẓm Palace. It was endowed by the jurist, uṣūlī scholar, and famous preacher Yūsuf ibn al-Imām ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAlī al-Jawzī al-Qurashī al-Bakrī al-Baghdādī, who died in the year 656 AH. More than one of the great scholars taught there, such as al-Mardāwī and Ibn Mufliḥ, author of "al-Mubdiʿ Sharḥ al-Muqniʿ." Its neighbors usurped most of it, and only a remnant of it remained, which became a court until the year 1905 CE. Then it was closed, and then it burned in the year 1925 during the Great Syrian Revolt.

It remained thus until storehouses and shops were built in its place, and a small mosque was erected above them where congregational prayer was held.

As for the Ashrafiyya House of Hadith, it is the outer Ashrafiyya of Jerusalem, located at the foot of Qasiyun on the bank of the Yazid River. It was built by King al-Ashraf for the sake of the hadith scholar Jamal al-Din 'Abd Allah ibn al-Hafiz Taqi al-Din 'Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi. It is exclusively for the Hanbalis. Its builder, King al-Ashraf, is the same one who built the well-known Ashrafiyya House of Hadith at the beginning of the 'Asruniyya market on the western side. It now houses a preparatory school for the religious sciences, supported by a group of charitable people, and the five daily prayers and the Friday sermon are held there.

As for the Sumaysati Ribat, also called the Khanqah, it is at the northern gate of the Umayyad Mosque. Its endower was Abu al-Qasim al-Sumaysati, 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Sulami al-Dimashqi, who has a biography in al-Dhahabi's "al-'Ibar" 3/229-230. It now contains a school for primary grades.

As for the Jazariyya House of the Qur'an, it was founded by the hadith scholar, imam, and Qur'an reciter Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn al-Jazari, who died in the year 843 AH, author of the book "al-Nashr fi al-Qira'at al-'Ashr." It was located in Darb al-Hajar, at the end of the great market now known as Suq Midhat Pasha. It has been ruined for a long time.

As for the Shuqayshiqiyya House of Hadith, it is the house of the hadith scholar, the eminent shaykh Najib al-Din Abu al-Fath Nasr Allah ibn Abi al-'Ubar Muzaffar ibn 'Uqayl al-Shaybani.

The Damascene coppersmith endowed it as a hadith house, located in the Baniasis Lane in Damascus. The hadith scholar al-Mizzi used to reside there before moving to the Ashrafiyya hadith house.

As for the Sadriyya school, it is in the Rayhan Lane, adjacent to the tomb of Judge Jamal al-Din al-Misri, near the graves that people claim include the grave of Mu'awiya. It was founded by Shaykh As'ad ibn 'Uthman al-Tanukhi, then the Damascene, who died in the year 657 AH, and he endowed it for the Hanbalis and was buried there. Ibn 'Abd al-Hadi and Ibn al-Qayyim taught there.

As for the Nasiriyya ribat, it is the Nasiriyya hadith house located in the Fawakhire district at the foot of Mount Qasiyun, south of the Afram Mosque. It was founded by King al-Nasir Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, the conqueror of Jerusalem.

Then there are audition certificates (sama'at) for the hadith scholar Abu al-Wafa' Burhan al-Din al-Halabi, known as Sibt Ibn al-'Ajami, read by Muhammad ibn Zurayq in the year 837 AH in Aleppo. From this it becomes clear that this copy was in Damascus from the sixth century to the eighth century, then moved to Aleppo in the ninth century.

On the first folio of the first volume is the following text: "The great scholar, the eminent leader, Shaykh al-Islam Muwaffaq al-Din Abu Muhammad 'Abdullah ibn Ahmad..."