Mustadrak

To write a Mustadrak (Arabic: مُستَدرَک) means to write a book that completes another book and covers the subjects which have been missed in it. The second book, which may have been written by the same author or by someone else, is called Mustadrak. This type of book was founded in 4th/10th century by Muslims. Mustadraks have been authored for various subjects such as Jurisprudence, Rijal,Hadith etc. The Mustadrak of the Sahihayn and the Mustadrak al-wasa'il by Muhaddith Nuri can be named as two of the most important Mustadraks in the Islamic world.

Lexical Definition

Mustadrak al-wasa'il

The word Mustadrak (مستدرک), roots from ‌دَرَکَ‌ through the Istif'al pattern and means, "to apprehend." It has been defined in various ways such as, to receive something, to find a fault in something, or to complete or repair. The Dihkhuda dictionary defines it as compensated, provide what has been lost, clarify on a misunderstanding, footnote to a book, an article, or an explanation on some of its points. Normally Mustadrak means, "To complete" and is used in this sense.

Terminology

The word Mustadrak means a book written to complete another book, written by the original author or someone else. This type of book focuses to share the same topics, method, and information of its reference. The second book, which is written either by the original author or by someone else, is called a Mustadrak. From this point of view, a Mustadrak may be defined variously depending on the subject, for instance, in Hadith Sciences, if an author publishes a book which completes another book that has missed some narrations, the second book, which covers the shortages of the previous book, is called Mustadrak.

History

It is not clear when writing Mustadraks as a separate book began, nevertheless by studying the basic information that exists it can be understood that it started after the publication of Hadith books by the Sunni Muslims, because some started completing the hadiths that were missed in the Sahihayn (Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim ).

History suggests that writing Mustadraks started from the 4th/10th century. This kind of publication has undergone various kinds of change and modernization through the one-thousand years of its existence, but unfortunately, the changes have not been recorded and thus a scientific analysis on the origin and impacts of such books is not possible.

Kinds

The famous Mustadraks in the Islamic heritage can be categorized into several groups:

• Subject Categorization: Jurisprudential, Biographical Evaluation etc. each of which has its own books.
• Author Based which can be divided into two groups:

1. Self-Compiled Mustadraks: When the author of a book has written a Mustadrak for his own book.
2. Mustadraks authored by others: Mustadraks which have been written by someone other than the author of the original book.

• Location of Issue: which can be divided into three groups:

1. Addendum: Mustadraks which are added to the end of the book with extra information to complete the original text of the book.
2. Mustadraks in the form of footnotes: When the extra information is added to the book in the form of side notes or footnotes.
3. Separate Mustadraks: Mustadraks which have been published as a separate book.

Famous Mustadraks

Sunni Mustadraks

• The Mustadrak of Hakim Neyshaburi which is named The Mustadrak of the Sahihayn, in hadith science.

• Al- Ilzamat 'ala al-Sahihayn, by Dar Qatani, in hadith science.

Shi'a Mustadraks

• Mustadrak al-wasa'il, by al-Muhaddith al-Nuri, in hadith science.
• Mustadrak safinat al-bihar, by 'Ali Namazi Shahrudi, in hadith sciences.
• Mustadrakat 'ilm rijal al-hadith, by 'Ali Namaazi Shahroodi, on the science of Rijal.