احتراق کتب ابن لہیعہ: تحقیقی و تجزیاتی مطالعہ

The Burning of Ibn Luhayʿah's Books: A Research and Analytical Study

Abstract

This research paper presents a comprehensive analytical study of the incident concerning the burning of Abdullah ibn Luhayʿah's (96 AH – 174 AH) scholarly books, a pivotal event that has generated significant debate among hadith critics regarding the reliability of his narrations. Ibn Luhayʿah, the distinguished judge of Egypt and a prominent hadith scholar of his time, experienced a house fire around 170 AH that allegedly destroyed his books, leading to confusion (ikhtilāṭ) and a tendency toward tadlīs (concealing weak chains) in his later narrations. The research examines three major scholarly perspectives: first, that all his books were burned, causing errors and confusion in his narrations; second, that the incident is entirely baseless; and third, that a fire occurred but only some books were destroyed while his original books remained preserved. Through detailed analysis of statements from prominent hadith critics including Imām Bukhārī, Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, Ibn Ḥibbān, Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, and others, the study concludes that the third perspective is the most preponderant. The research further examines the positions of scholars who affirmed the fire (such as Qutaybah ibn Saʿīd, ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī al-Fallās, al-Ḥākim al-Naysābūrī, and Burhān al-Dīn Sabṭ Ibn al-ʿAjamī) alongside those who denied it entirely (including Aḥmad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Miṣrī and the father of Yaḥyā ibn Ḥassān). A third group, including ʿUthmān ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Sahmī, Isḥāq ibn ʿĪsā al-Ṭabbāʿ, and Imām al-Dhahabī, maintained that only some books were burned while his original sources remained intact. The study establishes that Ibn Luhayʿah's original books were largely preserved, explaining why reliable narrators like Ibn al-Mubārak and Ibn Wahb continued to transmit from him after the fire, and that the Ḥanafī school developed nuanced criteria for accepting his narrations based on distinguishing between early and late hearing.