Abstract

History works written in the style of chronicles are used not only for the purpose for which they were written. Chronic works may also contain reflections on the position of the ulema (ʿulamāʾ) at the time of its writing and his view of the scientific world of the period in which he lived. This work is based on the book ʿIqd al-jumān fī taʾrīkh ahl al-zamān written by the celebrated Ḥanafī jurist (faqīh) and muḥaddith Badr al-Dīn al-ʿAynī as a public history book. This article, focuses on the state of ḥadīth science and scholars in the Mamlūks between the years 648-707 (1250-1307) and approaches of al-ʿAynī to these issues based on the work of ʿIqd al-jumān. For this purpose, the work has been examined in terms of certain keywords that allude to the history of ḥadīth through electronic sources. In addition, the work has been completely reviewed with the traditional method in terms of allusions and information about the hadith studies of the Mamlūks period. Eventually, the historical elements of ḥadīth referred to in ʿIqd al-jumān, scientific institutions, different groups of rāwī, different narration methods and classifications made during the period have been identified. In addition, the professional, sectarian and political trends of the muḥaddith of the period in question were focused on. Comparing the information in the sources written in the field of general history with the studies focusing directly on the historical elements of ḥadīth will contribute to compare the similarities and divergences. This study is an example of how to make use of the wafayāt sections in chronicle works. Examining a single book that was not written directly in the field of ḥadīth - even if it contains important information - is not enough to find elements about the history of ḥadīth and to make constructions regarding it. This necessitates the formation of a team that will examine a large number of books using the same criteria.