Al-Daraqutni was born in c. 918 CE/306 AH in the Dar al-Qutn (Arabic: دار القطن, romanized: Dār al-Quṭn) quarter of Baghdad, whence he got his nisba.[11]
Al-Daraqutni grew up in a house of knowledge and virtue, as his father was one of the trustworthy Hadith transmitters, and he watched him in his youth frequenting the circles of knowledge and hearing, memorizing his audios and narrations, and spending the clouds of his day learning and studying.[12] His studies were initially largely restricted to his native Iraq, where he frequented Wasit, Basra and Kufa.[9] Later in life, he travelled to Syria and Egypt and while in the latter, he enjoyed the patronage of the Ikhishidvizier Jafar bin al-Fadl for assisting him with compiling his own hadith collection.[9]
Al-Daraqutni was a committed follower of the Shafi‘i school, studying jurisprudence under the Shafi'ite scholar Abu Sa'id al-Istakhri. According to Al-Dhahabi under the authority of Al-Sulami, Al-Daraqutni was not a fan of kalam and did not engage in theological discussions.[9] However, he supported the kalam that was with accordance to the Qur'an and Sunnah, and this is evident based on his support for Al-Baqillani refuting against the Mu'tazilah and Karramiyya.[6] His story with Al-Baqillani dispenses with prolongation in proving his adherence to the Ash'ari school.[5]
IfBaghdad's public milieu had been more supportive of middle-of-the-road traditionalism, Al-Daraqutni, a Shafi'te inhabitant, would have rejected the anthropomorphic account as unreliable. However, the Hanbali extremists who controlled Baghdad made it nearly difficult to reject the anthropomorphic version. The poem gives precise instructions to the Muhaddithun, who were perplexed when they came across these two distinct, if not contradictory, writings, in addition to the implicit preference for the mild version over the anthropomorphic one. Al-Daraqutni bluntly described the most crucial aspect of the Ash'arite method of transmission in this short poem: a systematic insistence on a strict transmission procedure in which the text was communicated verbatim without any verbal or gestural embellishments. Al-Daraqutni undoubtedly saw this stringent procedure as a defence against anthropomorphism. In other words, Hanbalite violence forced Baghdad's middle-of-the-road traditionalists to accept the anthropomorphic version in the tenth century.[7]
According to Ibn al-Jawzi's book entitled Mirat al Zamanwzi, Al-Daraqutni considered Ibn Qutayba to be one of the innovators whose beliefs leaned towards anthropomorphism attributing direction, shape and image to God. He also claimed that Ibn Qutayba showed enmity towards Ahl al-Bayt.[16] He wrote a treatise against MuʿtaziliteAmr ibn Ubayd on the subject of anthropomorphic narrations in relation to God's attributes and defending the ambiguous texts by providing evidence for its authenticity.[9]
Al-Daraqutni wrote a series of commentaries, addendums and analyses of narrations contained within Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.
Dhikr asma' al-tabi'in wa-man ba'dahum mimman sahhat riwayatuhuu min al-thiqat 'ind Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari
Dhikr asma' al-tabi'in wa-man ba'dahum mimman sahhat riwayatuhu 'ind Muslim
al-Ilzamat ala sahiay al-Bukhari, a compilation of 109 narrations whose chains of narration, according to al-Daraqutni, satisfy the requirements for inclusion in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.
Asma al-sahaba allati ittafaqa fiha al-Bukhari wa-Muslim wa-ma infarada bihi kull minhuma
In his Kitab al-tatabbu', al-Daraqutni reviews 217 narrations within the two collections which he deems to be flawed using both isnad and matn criticism. Reasons given include the isnad not meeting the requirements for inclusion in the collections, and the commentary of the hadith's transmitters being inadvertently merged with its matn. Jonathan A. C. Brown cautions that the work is an adjustment to the two collections rather than an attack on their overall integrity.[9]
^Jaques, R. Kevin (2006). Authority, Conflict, and the Transmission of Diversity in Medieval Islamic Law. Brill. p. 83. ISBN9789004147454.
^Lucas, Scott C. (2004). Constructive Critics, Ḥadīth Literature, and the Articulation of Sunnī Islam The Legacy of the Generation of Ibn Saʻd, Ibn Maʻīn, and Ibn Ḥanbal. Brill. p. 368. ISBN9789004133198.
^Brown, Jonathan (2013). The Canonization of al-Bukhari and Muslim: The Formation and Function of the Sunni Hadith Canon (Islamic History and Civilization). Brill. p. 138. ISBN978-9004158399.
^ abcLewis, B.; Pellat, Ch.; Schacht, J. (1991) [1st. pub. 1965]. Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. I (C-G) (New ed.). Leiden, Netherlands: Brill. p. 136. ISBN9004070265.
^ abcÇakan, İsmail Lütfi. "Dârekutnî". İslâm Ansiklopedisi. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
^Brown, Jonathan (30 September 2007). The Canonization of Al-Bukhārī and Muslim The Formation and Function of the Sunnī Ḥadīth Canon. Brill. pp. 96–7. ISBN9789047420347.
