JOURNAL OF ARABIC AND ISLAMIC STUDIES

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Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies 11 (2011)
Ḥibbān 123 agree nearly verbatim with the maxims found in the tradition
of Abū Nuʿaym and al-Bayhaqī through al-Ḥārith b. Abī Usāma and the
tradition of al-Shāshī (no. 1322) through Muḥammad b. Isḥāq al-Ṣaghānī
and Aḥmad b. Mulāʿib. The only exception to this rule is al-Shāshī, no.
1320, 124 whose maxim is similar to that in al-Ṭabarī’s tradition on the
authority of Ibn Zurayʿ. Thus, one gets the impression that the penal
maxim in the Ibn Abī ʿArūba was greatly influenced by the traditions of
Shuʿba and al-Qaṭṭān.
It is perilous, however, to draw conclusions on the basis of singlestrand
isnāds, except in the cases that allow for additional assessment
criteria. They include citations by immediate CRs, overlap with already
established CL variants, and narrative peculiarities that bear witness to
relationship with other (older) traditions, vaguer formulations and
difficult readings. Although speculative, if applied carefully these criteria
may be helpful in dating Muslim traditions.
In the case of Ibn Abī ʿArūba there is one hypothetical (S)PCL, Yazīd
b. Zurayʿ, whereas another two key-figures, al-Ṣaghānī and al-Ḥārith b.
Abī Usāma (who may only with great reservations be treated as
[S]CLs/[S]PCLs) are removed from Ibn Abī ʿArūba by single lines of
transmission. The same goes for the traditions cited by the CRs, Ibn
Ḥanbal, Muslim and Ibn Ḥibbān: in each case there is a single strand
leading to Ibn Abī ʿArūba. Due to the precarious character of the isnād
evidence, it will be unwarranted to consider it as an unambiguous proof
of Ibn Abī ʿArūba’s CL status.
Unlike the ambiguous testimony of the isnāds, the narrative structure
of the traditions making up the Ibn Abī ʿArūba cluster reveals three
consistent traits:
1. Despite some slight variations, the revelation preamble is
narratively consistent. Its two most salient features are the
description of the Prophet’s pallid face and his being overwhelmed
by grief while receiving divine revelation.
2. Like the tradition of Shuʿba b. al-Ḥajjāj, the penal maxim
describes the punishment for sexual transgressions in two separate
clauses. First, it states al-bikr u bi-l-bikr i wa-l-thayyib u bi-l-thayyib,
123 Ibn Ḥibbān, Ṣaḥīḥ, 10:291, no. 4443. The isnād is not included on Diagram
4. It runs as follows: Ibn Ḥibbān ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Baḥr b. Muʿādh al-Bazzār
Hishām b. ʿAmmār Shuʿayb b. Isḥāq Saʿīd b. Abī ʿArūba.
124 Al-Shāshī, Musnad, 3:219, 1320.