The Book ad-Dāris fī Tārīkh al-Madāris
Tracing the true hand behind a foundational chronicle of ḥadīth, Qurʾān, and fiqh schools.
The book ad-Dāris fī Tārīkh al-Madāris is considered one of the most important references on the history of ḥadīth schools and the schools of Qurʾān and fiqh. This celebrated work is commonly attributed to an-Nuʿaymī, yet upon careful review I found this attribution to be a mistake—and I have not encountered anyone who highlighted this point before.
It is stated in the introduction of ad-Dāris (1/3) that the author had begun compiling the schools that held influence. He then mentions that his shaykh, Muḥī ad-Dīn an-Nuʿaymī, had preceded him in assembling that very material. The student requested that his teacher pen the work, but an-Nuʿaymī excused himself. Instead, he instructed the student to proceed, providing him with his own notes. The student began composing the book, incorporating what an-Nuʿaymī had given him, and entitled it: Tanbīh aṭ-Ṭālib wa-Irshād ad-Dāris li-Aḥwāl Mawāḍiʿ al-Fāʾidah bi-Dimashq kadūr al-Qurʾān wa-al-Ḥadīth wa-al-Madāris. Thus, the original content belongs to an-Nuʿaymī, but it was refined and edited by this devoted student. None of the modern editors of the book identified who this student was.
Later, I found that Shaykh ʿAbdul-Bāsiṭ al-ʿIlmawī (907–981 AH) had abridged Kitāb at-Tanbīh, and he opened his introduction (p. 1) with the following clarification:
“...After that, this is a concise commentary in which I abridged Kitāb Tanbīh aṭ-Ṭālib wa-Irshād ad-Dāris, which is attributed to the great scholar Muḥī ad-Dīn Abū al-Mafākhir an-Nuʿaymī ash-Shāfiʿī...” — Shaykh ʿAbdul-Bāsiṭ al-ʿIlmawī
This abridgment was edited by Ṣalāḥ al-Munajjid, yet he did not pay attention to this matter of attribution. Accordingly, Shaykh al-ʿIlmawī also doubted attributing the book exclusively to an-Nuʿaymī. The reality, as I have explained, is that the original content belongs to an-Nuʿaymī, while his student added material, benefitted from what his shaykh possessed, and refined and edited it.
I attempted to uncover the identity of this student. The most likely candidate is the scholar Ibn Ṭūlūn. He was the close disciple of his shaykh an-Nuʿaymī, contributed notably to historical writing, and was well-known during that era.
He mentioned in al-Qalāʾid al-Jawhariyyah (1/136):
“And our shaykh al-Muḥyāwī an-Nuʿaymī said: ‘Our shaykh al-Burhān said...’” — Ibn Ṭūlūn, al-Qalāʾid al-Jawhariyyah 1/136
This very text appears verbatim in ad-Dāris (2/75), further reinforcing the connection and pointing to Ibn Ṭūlūn’s hand in shaping the work we read today.