رسالة د. كهلان الخروصي

الجزء ١ · صفحة ٥

… Yet it is difficult to ignore the name used in the three copies of the manuscript which is >th~r al-Rab‚` b. ™ab‚b، reinforced as it is by al-Shamm~kh‚. It should be added that the differences found in external sources over its name do not discredit the authenticity of the work. On the contrary، it seems natural for a very early work، as we shall see later in Ch. IV، that is cited and described only by a few sources، to have all the attention on its content and on its significant transmitters rather than on its title، if it has been given a specific title at its first existence.⁽¹⁾ However، all the titles given to this work are، indeed، not far from reality: (1) the book has been named after ?um~m⁽²⁾ (Kit~b or Riw~y~t ?um~m) because it is the only work that gathers traditions transmitted on his authority، (2) and named after Abƒ ^ufra⁽³⁾ (J~mi` or Kit~b Ab‚ ^ufra) because he is the key transmitter of the work.

(1) One may see this in the example of the early، though not the earliest، transmission of Muˆammad b. al-™asan al-Shayb~n‚ of im~m M~lik's Muwa\\a|. As Dr. Dutton rightly describes، 'what the Muwa\\a| of al-Shayb~n‚ thus illustrates is the flexible nature of 'books' at that time، and how the primary use of the Muwa\\a| for him was as a vehicle for teaching rather than a fixed text.' Review of Calder's Studies in Early Muslim Jurisprudence، in Journal of Islamic Studies، 5 (1)، 1994، p.104.

(2) See Ch. IV p. 150 of this thesis.

(3) For biography، see Ch. IV p. 146-7.

٥ / ٤٦