رسالة د. كهلان الخروصي

… To complicate matters still further، I feel forced to conclude that within the only part of >th~r al-Rab‚` extant in E there are interpolations that do not belong to the work. The >th~r al-Rab‚` concludes at f.78/i where it says “wa-balagh ˆadd al-zak~h”. All sections from b~b ghusl al-jan~ba till the explicit tamma Kit~b al-Rab‚` at f.80/ii are not of the same book. The style and method change dramatically at that point (f.78/i); there is no mention of transmitters at all in these subsequent passages and the content is different from that of the earlier part. This new style is a question-answer method whereas the previous method was in a narrative way، with a precise transmission of all the authorities to whom each tradition is ascribed. Also the answers of these last few pages are not of J~bir b. Zayd or of any of his contemporaries. There are some answers ascribed to Abƒ Bakr al-Maw‰il‚،<sup>(1)</sup> W~|il b. Ayyƒb،<sup>(2)</sup> `Abd All~h b. Abd al-`Az‚z<sup>(3)</sup> and surprisingly to al-Rab‚` himself، an ascription not found in the work proper. No information about this text (ff. 78/i - 80/ii) is available in any external source. Thus one is forced to analyse the text through its own content only. This of course makes such analytical views and conclusions derive from the internal evidence; i.e. the style of the work، the method of the author، the content and the kind of problems dealt with، the only source of information we could have.