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and al-Nasikh wa-l-Mansukh (Abrogating and Abrogated Verses), al-Tarikh (Chronology), the Hadith of Shuʿba, al-Muqaddam wa-l-Muʾakhkhar fi-l-Qurʾan (What Comes First and What Comes Later in the Quran), Jawabat al-Qurʾan (Quranic Responses), the large and the small manuals of al-Manasik (the rites of pilgrimage), and other works besides.
I add: the Book of Iman, the Book of Beverages (1), and I have seen a single folio from his Book of Inheritance Shares.
That Tafsir which has been mentioned is something that simply does not exist. Had it existed, distinguished scholars would have exerted themselves to obtain it and it would have become widely known. Moreover, even if he had composed a Tafsir, it could not have contained more than ten thousand traditions and would necessarily have filled no more than five volumes.
Look at the Tafsir of Ibn Jarir, in which he gathered material exhaustively; yet it does not reach twenty thousand traditions. No one has ever referred to a Tafsir by Ahmad except Abu al-Husayn ibn al-Munadi, who said in his Chronicle: "Lam…"
“[The Musnad] is a major source and a trustworthy reference for scholars of hadith. It was distilled from a vast body of reports and numerous audition sessions, and thus became an authoritative, dependable work to which people turn when disputes arise.
The collection contains more than thirty-thousand hadiths.
Ibn Kathir says in al-Baʿith al-Hathith: ‘In the Musnad of Imam Ahmad there are many isnads and texts that parallel a large number of the hadiths recorded by Muslim—indeed, even by al-Bukhari—yet neither of those two imams included them, nor did any of the authors of the Four Sunan (Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasaʾi and Ibn Majah).’
I would add that Imam Ahmad did not intend his Musnad to contain only sound reports. Rather, he included sound (sahih), fair (hasan) and weak (daʿif) narrations, as is clear to anyone who studies its chains of transmission and examines its documentation.
Ibn al-Jawzi states in Sayd al-Khatir: ‘Whoever looks into the book al-ʿIlal compiled by Abu Bakr al-Khallal will find many hadiths—all of them in the Musnad—that Ahmad himself criticised.’
I have copied from the autograph of Qadi Abu Yaʿla Muhammad b. al-Husayn al-Farraʾ, in his discussion of nabidh: ‘Ahmad narrated in his Musnad only what was widely circulated; he did not aim to separate the sound from the unsound. Proof of this is what ʿAbd Allah (b. Ahmad) related: I said to my father, “What do you think of the hadith of Rubaʿi b. Khirash from Hudhayfah?” He asked, “The one transmitted by ʿAbd al-ʿAziz b. Abi Rawwad?” I replied, “Yes.” He said, “Other hadiths contradict it.” I said, “Yet you included it in the Musnad.” He answered, “In the Musnad I sought what was famous. Had I intended to record only what I deemed sound, I would have transmitted from this Musnad only a small portion. My son, you know my method in hadith: I do not omit a weak report if there is nothing in the chapter that contradicts it.”’
The narrator concludes: Ahmad has thus explained his own method in the Musnad; whoever treats it as a criterion of soundness is acting contrary to his intent and purpose.
(1) For his biography, see p. 301, note (1).
وَ (النَّاسِخَ وَالمَنْسُوْخَ) ، وَ (التَّارِيْخَ) ، وَ (حَدِيْثَ شُعْبَةَ) ، وَ (المُقَدَّمَ وَالمُؤَخَّرَ فِي القُرْآنِ) ، وَ (جَوَابَاتِ القُرْآنِ) ، وَ (المَنَاسِكَ) الكَبِيْرَ وَالصَّغِيْرَ، وَأَشْيَاءَ أُخَرَ.
قُلْتُ: وَكِتَابَ (الإِيْمَانِ) ، وَكِتَابَ (الأَشْرِبَةِ (١)) ، وَرَأَيْتُ لَهُ وَرَقَةً مِنْ كِتَابِ (الفَرَائِضِ) .
فَتَفْسِيْرُهُ المَذْكُوْرُ شَيْءٌ لاَ وُجُوْدَ لَهُ، وَلَوْ وُجِدَ، لاَجْتَهَدَ الفُضَلاَءُ فِي تَحْصِيْلِهِ، وَلاَشْتُهِرَ، ثُمَّ لَوْ أَلَّفَ تَفْسِيْراً، لَمَا كَانَ يَكُوْنُ أَزْيَدَ مِنْ عَشْرَةِ آلاَفِ أَثَرٍ، وَلاَقْتَضَى أَنْ يَكُوْنَ فِي خَمْسِ مُجَلَّدَاتٍ.
فَهَذَا (تَفْسِيْرُ ابْنِ جَرِيْرٍ) الَّذِي جَمَعَ فِيْهِ فَأَوعَى، لاَ يَبلُغُ عِشْرِيْنَ أَلْفاً.
وَمَا ذَكَرَ (تَفْسِيْرَ أَحْمَدَ) أَحَدٌ سِوَى أَبِي الحُسَيْنِ بنِ المُنَادِي، فَقَالَ فِي (تَارِيْخِهِ) : لَمْ
= أصل كبير، ومرجع وثيق لأصحاب الحديث، انتقي من حديث كثير، ومسموعات وافرة، فجعل إماما ومعتمدا، وعند التنازع ملجأ ومستندا ".
ويبلغ عدد أحاديثه أكثر من ثلاثين ألف حديث.
وقال ابن كثير في " الباعث الحثيث ": " وكذلك يوجد في مسند الامام أحمد من الأسانيد والمتون شيء كثير مما يوازي كثيرا من أحاديث مسلم، بل والبخاري أيضا، وليست عندهما ولاعند أحدهما، بل ولم يخرجه أحد من أصحاب الكتب الأربعة، وهم أبو داود والترمذي والنسائي وابن ماجة ".
قلت: ولم يتوخ الامام أحمد الصحة في " مسنده " هذا، بل روى فيه الصحيح والحسن
والضعيف، يعلم ذلك من دراسة الأسانيد والتخريج.
وقد قال ابن الجوزي في " صيد الخاطر ": " ومن نظر في كتاب " العلل " الذي صنفه أبو بكر الخلال، رأى أحاديث كثيرة كلها في " المسند "، وقد طعن فيها أحمد.
ونقلت من خط القاضي أبي يعلى محمد بن الحسين الفراء في مسألة النبيذ، قال: إنما روى أحمد في مسنده ما اشتهر، ولم يقصد الصحيح ولا السقيم، ويدل على ذلك أن عبد الله، قال: قلت لأبي: ما تقول في حديث ربعي بن خراش عن حذيفة؟ قال: الذي يرويه عبد العزيز بن أبي رواد؟ قلت: نعم.
قال: الأحاديث بخلافه.
قلت: قد ذكرته في " المسند ".
قال: قصدت في " المسند " المشهور، فلو أردت أن أقصد ما صح عندي، لم أرو من هذا المسند إلا الشئ بعد الشئ اليسير، ولكنك يا بني تعرف طريقتي في الحديث، لست أخالف ما ضعف من الحديث إذا لم يكن في الباب شيء يدفعه.
قال القاصي: وقد أخبر عن نفسه كيف طريقه في " المسند "، فمن جعله أصلا للصحة، فقد خالفه، وترك مقصده.
(١) سبق التعريف به في الصفحة: ٣٠١ ت (١) .