Kitab Arba’un Hadithan Fi Ishtina’ Al-Ma’ruf Bayna Al-Muslimin Oleh Imam Al-Mundhiri: Satu Kajian Takhrij

The Book of Arba'un Hadithan fi Ishtina 'al-Ma'ruf Bayna al-Muslimin could be considered the first book of forty hadith that was written on the virtues of doing kindness to other people. It is one of the works of Imam al-Mundhiri (w 656 H) which means that it has been written around the seventh century. It is said that the book received good acceptance from the public at that time. The Moroccan Ministry of Waqf and Islamic Affairs at this time has republished the book in 1985 justifying the merit of the book. The book contains forty hadiths that have been selected by Imam al-Mundahiri from various hadith resources. The hadiths were about doing kindness dan helping others. However, the author did not mention the sources of the hadiths selected as well as any information about them. Imam Muhammad bin Ibrahim al-Sulami al-Munawi (w 803 H) then improved the book by giving information about the sources (takhrij) and brought similar hadiths to the selected hadiths to support them as well as adding some explanation to them. After him, Muhammad bin Makhluf al-Tha'alabi (w 875 H) summarized the book. However, although Imam al-Mundhiri was a scholar of the hadith as well as Imam al-Sulami and al-Tha'alabi, many statuses of the selected hadiths were found not authentic. Nevertheless, some of it was considered fabricated. Likely, Imam al-Sulami and al-Tha'alabi who were commenting on the book did not comment anything about the status. Thus, this paper tries to do takhrij to the hadiths of the book. It will discuss their authenticity as well as highlight the significance of the book in encouraging the activity of doing kindness to people.