Ibn Abd al-Barr's scientific approach to dealing with the letters of al-Muwatta: An analytical study

Abstract

This research addresses the issue of connecting (musnadizing) the mursal reports of al-Muwaṭṭaʾ and their impact on strengthening a ḥadīth or otherwise, through a critical applied study of selected examples of the mursal narrations in al-Muwaṭṭaʾ. The study focuses on the methodology of Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr in connecting these reports. The research aims to clarify Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr’s approach in dealing with Mālik’s mursal narrations in al-Muwaṭṭaʾ, and to explain the criteria for accepting connected narrations and for preferring one report over another when there is a conflict between irsāl (disconnection) and ittiṣāl (connection). It also presents the critical principles upon which Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr relied in judging mursal and musnad ḥadīths, such as the strength of the chain of transmission, the multiplicity of transmission routes, and conformity with the preserved (authentic) narration. The study concludes that connecting a narration is neither accepted absolutely nor rejected absolutely; rather, it is evaluated according to the principles of ḥadīth-based preference and weighing of evidence. The research highlights the precision of the critical methodology employed by the leading ḥadīth scholars, particularly Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr.