Information pertaining to the companions in al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr by al-Tabarānī

In this study, the work al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr by al-Ṭabarānī (d. 360/971), one of the early period ḥadīth scholars (muḥaddiths) known for his muʿjams, is examined in terms of Ṣaḥābah (Companions) knowledge, focusing on the Ṣaḥābah narrators and organized alphabetically. The study consists of an introduction and two chapters. In the first chapter, after discussing the author's lineage, family, scholarly personality, works, sources, and his influence on subsequent Ṣaḥābah sources, the concept of Ṣaḥābah is explained. The second chapter analyzes the narrations and information in the book concerning the Ṣaḥābah, focusing on al-Ṭabarānī's method of identifying the Ṣaḥābah, the content of Ṣaḥābah knowledge, and the Ṣaḥābah identified in the work. The Ṣaḥābah mentioned in al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr are compared with those listed in Ibn Ḥajar's al-Iṣābah. The Ṣaḥābah are categorized according to Ibn Ḥajar's classifications, including those who are Ṣaḥābah according to his criteria, those who had not reached the age of discernment at the time of the Prophet's passing, the muḥaḍramūn (those who lived during both the pre-Islamic and Islamic periods without meeting the Prophet), and those mistakenly listed among the Ṣaḥābah. The number of male and female Ṣaḥābah in the work is also identified. Notably, Ṣaḥābah mentioned in al-Ṭabarānī's work but not in Ibn Ḥajar's are specifically highlighted. To identify the Ṣaḥābah who narrated ḥadīths, a comparison with Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal's Musnad is conducted as part of this study. As a result, the Ṣaḥābah who transmitted ḥadīths are identified. Additionally, it is noted that al-Ṭabarānī mentioned a total of 1,593 individuals in al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr. According to the classification based on Ibn Ḥajar's al-Iṣābah, 1,276 of these individuals are male Ṣaḥābah, 231 are female Ṣaḥābah, making a total of 1,507 Ṣaḥābah. Furthermore, 16 Ṣaḥābah are found to be mentioned only in al Ṭabarānī's work. Moreover, the comparison with Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal's Musnad reveals that approximately one-third of the identified Ṣaḥābah, or 558 out of 1,507 Ṣaḥābah, have ḥadīth narrations in the Musnad. It is also observed that some Ṣaḥābah have ḥadīth narrations in al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr but not in the Musnad, and those without ḥadīth narrations were identified from other sources, including sīrah (biography of the Prophet) and maghāzī (military campaigns) literature, or are unique to al-Ṭabarānī's work.