Ibn Malak’s Method of Hadith Analysis in His Mabāriq al-Azhār Sharḥ Mashāriq al-Anwār and its Place within the Literature of Hadith Commentaries

The purpose of this article is to analyze the method and structural properties of a hadith commentary (sharḥ) entitled Mabāriq al-Azhār by Ibn Malak (d. after 821/1418), a scholar who lived in the era of the Aydınoğulları (707-829/1308-1426), one of the Anatolian Turkish principalities, and to discuss its place in the literature of hadith commentaries. This work is a commentary on al-Ṣaghānī‘s (d.650/1252) Mashāriq al-Anwār, a well-known compilation of hadith. Both works were used at Ottoman madrasas and particularly the dār al-ḥadīths for centuries. Mabāriq al-Azhār can be described as a concise, pedagogical and functional textbook of hadith. Nevertheless, it should not be considered as a classical and original hadith commentary. Rather, it seems to be a secondary work, not only in terms of its content and structure, but also with regard to its target readership.