Question
Kindly provide short description about the Hadith book Al Matalibul ‘Aliyah .
Answer
Al-Matalibul ‘Aliyah is a latter-day Hadith collection in which the author; Hafiz Ibn Hajar Al-‘Asqalani (rahimahullah) (D: 852 A.H.) has gathered the extra (zawaid) Hadiths of eight other Hadith books.
Zawaid Hadiths here, refer to those Hadiths that appear in these books which are not found in the famous six Hadith books (Sihah Sittah) and neither in Musnad Ahmad.
The eight books that Hafiz Ibn Hajar used for this are:
1. Musnad Tayalisi
2. Musnadul Humaydi
3. Musnad Ibn Abi ‘Umar Al-‘Adni
4. Musnad Musaddad
5. Musnad Ahmad ibn Mani’
6. Musnad Ibn Abi Shaybah
7. Musnad ‘Abd ibn Humayd
8. Musnad Harith ibn Abi Usamah
He also added Musnad Is-haq ibn Rahuyah among others, but he did not have complete copies for these few books.
The extent of this valuable service rendered by Hafiz Ibn Hajar (rahimahullah) can be gauged by the fact that: complete copies of most of the above books are not found today. It is undoubtedly a marvellous source for Hadiths that are outside the famous six books plus Musnad Ahmad.
Al-Matalibul ‘Aliyah has been published several times. The copy that we at Hadith Answers usually refer to is published by Darul ‘Asimah, in the year 2010 (second edition).
The first Scholar to publish this book, albeit a concise version, was my teacher’s teacher; ‘Allamah Habibur Rahman Al-A’zami (rahimahullah) in the year: 1987 (Darul Ma’rifah). May Allah Ta’ala reward him duly.
And Allah Ta’ala Knows best,
Answered by: Moulana Muhammad ibn Moulana Haroon Abasoomar