Travelling in the Pursuit of Knowledge :
New,
Al-Rihla fi Talab al-Hadith,
*[A5] Paperback - 128 pages,
by Imam al-Hafiz al-Kahatib al-Baghdadi [d.463h],
Transl. by Ayman ibn Khalid,
Published by Dar al-Arqam.
Back in Stock December 2020
Description :
Before you is the English translation of the classical treatise al-Rihla fi Talab al-Hadith by the great scholar of the Shafi’i school of jurisprudence and the Imam of his time, Khatib al-Baghdadi. His complete biography from Imam al-Dhahabi’s voluminous work Siyaar A’laam al-Nubala has also been translated and added herein.
This treatise is essentially a gathering of powerful and insightful narrations (of the Companions, pious predecessors, and the Prophet Musa) that emphasise the importance of travelling and exerting efforts towards seeking knowledge. It also serves as a historical record, highlighting the efforts of the early generations of scholars without whom the knowledge would not have been collected.
These narrations also serve as a reminder of the high aspirations and humility required by Muslims in the pursuit of knowledge, a wake-up call to tread the path of our pious predecessors. Imam al-Dhahabi said regarding al-Khatib, He produced a great amount of literature and was advanced in his works to the extent that he overshadowed his peers… He eventually became indisputably the most learned person of his time. Abu ‘Alī al-Baradani said, The hafiz of our time, Abu Bakr al-Khatib narrated to us. I have never seen the like of him, nor do I think he witnessed anyone similar to him was born.
About the Author :
He is al-Khatib al-Baghdadi is “Abu Bakr” Ahmed ibn Abdul-Majid ibn Ali ibn Thabit, commonly known as al-Khatib
(or al-Khatib al-Baghdadi. “Al-Khatib” means lecturer, public speaker
or orator. He was born in Hanikiyya, one of the villages of southwest
Baghdad, but some sources place it in Ghuzayya village of Hijaz, midway between Kufa and Makkah, on Sunday (some sources say Thursday), Jumada II 24, 392 h.
Al-Khatib
al-Baghdadi was the son of a Hanbali preacher of Darzidjan. He began
studying at an early age with his father and other mentors. He studied
other sciences, but his primary interest was hadith, which he studied in Baghdad, Basra, Damascus, Isfahan and Nishapur. While he was an authority on hadith,
it was his preaching that gave him fame. One biographer, namely
al-Dhahabi, says that teachers and preachers of tradition usually
submitted what they had collected to al-Baghdadi before using them in
their lectures or sermons.
Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi is famous mostly for his work titled Tarikh-al-Baghdad, a history of Baghdad, which contains 7,831 biographies of narrators of hadith, senior scholars, dignitaries and men of society and state.
Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalani declared his works influential in the field of the science of hadith saying, "Seldom did he miss any science of hadith without writing a whole book about it." He then quoted Abu Bakr ibn Nuqtah, a Hanbali scholar, as saying, “Every objective person knows that the scholars of hadith who came after al-Khatib are indebted to his works.”
He was buried next to Bishr al-Hafi (the barefoot), the Sufi Gnostic who lived from 150 – 236 h.
Also available in
Arabic & Urdu languages.
*Dimensions : 21 x 15cm.