Part 1: Hadeeth Science and Literature: Context, History and its Importance

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

BISMILLAH

We begin today a new lesson that is an introduction to the Sciences of Hadith and an introduction to early hadeeth literature. And this is really a beginner’s guide to understanding the Hadeeth of Allah’s Messenger (salallaahu `alaihi wassallam) and their compilation, but there is actually an ‘introduction’ to this introduction and that is that which I discussed during the conference and it is advisable to those who were not able to listen to those two lectures that I gave during that conference a month or less ago, that were titled ‘Indeed this knowledge is Religion’ [visit salafisounds.com for that introductory lecture]. That was the title of the conference and my lectures were actually rotating around the beginnings of the Sciences of Hadeeth, and that’s where all of those narrations were brought regarding how the Sciences of Hadeeth began from a historical perspective, and also the importance that the Sahaabah and the early Salaf gave to this affair.

So in fact, we’re moving from that stage into the next stage, as I actually mentioned in the conference itself. However, we are still in that introductory stage. Today we are not going to be able to enter into the various definitions of the various categories of Hadith, or even that which makes a Hadeeth authentic, but we’re going to begin so that we are ready to embark upon that, inshaa’Allah. And of course, I believe that these lectures, and Allah knows best, are going to require some note taking on your behalf.

Additionally I covered some of that which we are mentioning in these lessons with a group of brothers two year before in a series of lessons that I conducted at my home with those beloved brothers. So, some of that will be repetitious and will repeat what we did then, but some of it actually will delve slightly deeper and, inshaa’Allah, we are not moving at a pace that you cannot keep up with.

The thing about the books of Hadith and the books discussing the sciences of Hadith, is that they very quickly move into detailed subject matter. So my intent here is not to actually go so fast, and therefore I’m going to combine the teaching of these lessons between several books, so that we don’t move too fast, too quickly and too deeply – so that everyone stays abreast of that which we’re covering, brothers and sisters, young and old alike, and I’m not going to entertain questions that are actually going to be covered in future lessons because that invariably causes confusion. Sometimes you start something earlier and you realize that actually later on there are some exceptions to that which was said in the early lessons. So if I mention those exceptions early, then it causes confusion to the general principle, so I don’t really want to do that. So we are going to move at a good pace, but at a pace where everybody can keep up.

So let’s begin Inshaa’Allah, and I begin by informing you of the hadith of Allah’s Messenger (salallaahu `alaihi wassallam) wherein he said:

“There will never cease to be a group from my Ummah manifestly upon the truth. They are not harmed by those who show enmity to them, up until the establishment of the Hour.”

Abdullah Ibn Al-Mubaarak (d.181, rahimahullaah) who was from the early Salaf said:

“They are, in my opinion, the People of Hadith.”

Meaning, as the Prophet (salallaahu `alaihi wassallam) said, that “they are not harmed by those who show them enmity and animosity”, and it does not bother them.

This hadith has been collected by Al-Khateeb in Sharaf As.haab Al-Hadith with an authentic chain of narration (no.42).

And what we mean by Ahlul-Hadith here is The People of Hadith; those who give importance to Hadith and those who follow up Hadith, and those who give concern to following the authentic Hadith of the Messenger (salallaahu `alaihi wassallam). They are referred to as Ahlul-Hadith; the people who give prominence and importance to the hadith of the Prophet (salallaahu `alaihi wassallam).

So Ahlul-Hadith are the Taa’ifatul Mansoorah, i.e. they are the Aided Group, because the Prophet (salallaahu `alaihi wassallam) said in a narration:

“There will never cease to be a group from my Ummah, who are aided upon the truth.”

This group who are ‘aided upon the truth’ are referred to as Taa’ifatul Mansoorah. Abdullah ibn Al-Mubarak (d. 181H) said:

“They are, in my opinion, the People of Hadith.”

So Ahlul-Hadith are the Aided Group, they are also the Saved Sect, as Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal said (as reported by Ibn Sa’ad in At-Tabaqaat):

“If the Saved Sect are not Ahlul-Hadith then I don’t know who they are.”

And they are the group which is clearly upon the truth. And how is their truth made manifest? By them holding to the revelation that was sent to Muhammad (salallaahu `alaihi wassallam). They are not harmed by those who show them enmity, they are not harmed by those who oppose them or forsake them, as long as they follow the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger (salallaahu `alaihi wassallam) – and as long as the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger (salallaahu `alaihi wassallam) remains amongst them, then they are considered the Aided Group, and they are those who agree upon following and acting upon the narrations of Allah’s Messenger (salallaahu `alaihi wassallam), and abandoning innovations, opinions of men and desires.

Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, the Imaam of Ahlus-Sunnah, (d. 241AH) said:

“Ahlul-Hadith are the ones who actualise the hadith of Allah’s Messenger (salallaahu `alaihi wassallam).”

Meaning: In every affair of their lives they are driven by the ahaadeeth of Allah’s Messenger (salallaahu `alaihi wassallam).

Also, my brothers and sisters, Ahlul-Hadeeth worship Allah by way of the Hadith. What do we mean by that? They worship Allah by acting upon them, they worship Allah by seeking them, they worship Allah by way of distinguishing between that which is authentic and that which is weak. I do not refer here to modern day sects who have misappropriated the title ‘ahlul-hadeeth’ and used it as a slogan to call the people to deceptively to misguidance. Rather by Ahlul-Hadeeth, we intend the great scholars from the earliest of times who have given the `Aqeedah and Sunnah it true importance in statement and action.

They do not go overboard, they do not transgress the limits, nor do they innovate and introduce matters into the religion. They do not oppose or contradict the Hadith of Allah’s Messenger (salallaahu `alaihi wassallam) because they fully understand the statement of Allah (the Most High):

“And let those who oppose the Messenger’s commands beware lest some Fitnah befall them or a painful torment be inflicted on them.” [Surah An-Nur: 63]

So they do not oppose the commands of Allah’s Messenger (salallaahu `alaihi wassallam) and likewise Ahlul-Hadith do not follow the ambiguous narrations and thus go astray. They do not follow the narrations that are vague, and those that are not clear-cut in their meanings – they do not follow them, they do not chase after them, rather they return the ambiguous, vague narrations from the Qur’an and the Sunnah to the Muhkam (clear unambiguous narrations) in explanation of those vague narrations. And Ahlul-Hadeeth say:

“We believe in it; all of it (the clear and unclear verses) are from our Lord.” [Surah Aal-Imran: 7]

This is the statement of Ahlul-Hadith, and Allah is pleased with the People of Hadith in every place and time. So there is no way of a Muslim knowing what is authentic and thaabit (established) from the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger, from that which is weak and forged, except by gathering the chains of transmission.

When you study the chain of narration, you investigate the condition of each and every narrator who narrated that hadith. And we study them and investigate them from the aspect of Al-Jarh wat Ta`deel (disparagement and praise), which means: Do they deserve praise and recommendation or do they deserve criticism and disparagement?

So every narrator is open to that, either praise and recommendation or criticism and disparagement (except the Sahaabah who are all deemed trustworthy and reliable). And then once that has been put in place, then we put that skill into practise. We do not say [for example] that this hadith is proven to be da’eef (weak) or even worse, mawdoo` (fabricated) and that it is from the worst of the categories of narration – but then we do not put that into practise and we still go out and practise that, knowing it to be weak or fabricated, no. The purpose of all of this is that we put this skill into practise and act upon its conclusions with due diligence and care.

The Book of Allah (the Most High) and the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger (salallaahu `alaihi wassallam) form the basis of the science of the narrators and the narrations and the reporting of the texts and conveying them. All of this is found in the Qur’an and the Sunnah – so all of this Science and the knowledge of the sciences of hadeeth, of the narrations, and the Naqlul-Akhbar (reporting of the texts) is found in the Qur’an and Sunnah. So the foundation of this science is found of the Qur’an and the Sunnah. Allah (the Most High) said:

إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ

“Indeed It is Us Who have sent down the Dhikr (i.e. the Quran) and surely, We will preserve it.” [Surah Al-Hijr: 9]

So Allah revealed the ‘Dhikr’ which is the Qur’an and it is for Allaah to preserve it, but the preservation of the Qur’an is in two ways: The Qur’an is preserved in its wording, and it is also preserved by way of the meaning of the Qur’an. So the Qur’an is preserved and its meaning is preserved. Where do we find the meaning of the Qur’an? In the Sunnah. Allaah said:

وَأَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الذِّكْرَ لِتُبَيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ مَا نُزِّلَ إِلَيْهِمْ

“And We have sent down to you (O Muhammad) the Reminder (i.e. the Qur’an) so you may explain to the people that which has been revealed to them.”  [Surah An-Nahl: 44]

So Allah mentioned in the Qur’an that He sent the Revelation to “you, O Muhammad, so you may explain that which was revealed to them.” Imam Ahmad (d. 241) said in Usoolus-Sunnah:

“The Sunnah explains the Qur’an, and it is a guide to the Qur’an.”

So when Allah, the Most High, said:

إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ

“Indeed It is Us Who have sent down the Dhikr (i.e. the Quran) and surely, We will preserve it.” [Surah Al-Hijr: 9]

How does Allah preserve the Qur’an and its meanings? Through Ahlul-Hadeeth (the people of hadeeth), and they are the same people in every generation and that’s why Allah is pleased with them. They preserve the Qur’an and its meanings. `Aa’ishah (radiyallaahu `anhaa) was asked: “What was the character of the Messenger Muhammad?” What was her answer? “The Qur’an.”

His character was the Qur’an! Meaning that the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger (salallaahu `alaihi wassallam); that which he said, that which he did, that which he approved of, his behaviour, his conduct, his shyness, his character, his modesty, his anger, all of this, all of his character was in accordance with the Qur’an. That was the implementation of the Qur’an upon the limbs, speech and conduct of our Messenger Muhammad (salallaahu `alaihi wassallam).

Likewise, we have the saying of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِن جَاءَكُمْ فَاسِقٌ بِنَبَإٍ فَتَبَيَّنُوا

“O you who believe! If a sinful person comes to you with news, verify it.” [Surah Al-Hujurat: 6]

So if news comes to you from a person who is sinful, not trustworthy, then verify it. That is for any news, so even more so for the one who comes to you with news of revelation.

A person says to you “Allah said,” or “the Messenger said” or “Abu Bakr said” or “Umar said”, then it is even more of a duty that you verify that by making sure that the one who is bringing you that information is trustworthy and reliable, not a sinner or a liar. That’s in this Aayah! And the scholars use that as a proof for the foundations of the sciences of Hadith being in the Qur’an itself. And likewise the hadeeth of Allah’s Messenger (salallaahu `alaihi wassallam) as has been reported by Imam At-Tirmidhee in Kitaabul-‘Ilm (and he held the hadith to be Hasan):

نَضَّرَ اللَّهُ امْرَأً سَمِعَ مِنَّا شَيْئًا فَبَلَّغَهُ كَمَا سَمِعَ فَرُبَّ مُبَلَّغٍ أَوْعَى مِنْ سَامِعٍ

“May Allah make radiant the face of the one who hears something from us, so he conveys it as he heard it. Perhaps the one it is conveyed to is more knowledgable than the one who heard it.” [Saheeh At-Tirmidhee: 2657]

And in a narration :

سَمِعَ مِنَّا حَدِيثًا

“The one who hears Hadeeth from us…” [Jaami` At-Tirmidhee: 2656]

And ‘make radiant’ means, as the scholars mention, that may Allah make him happy, so He gladdens him – the one who hears ‘something from us’, and then conveys it just as he heard it.

And there is another narration from At-Tirmidhee, and also Abu Daawood, Ibn Maajah, and Imaam Ahmad that contains an additional wording, wherein the Prophet (salallaahu `alaihi wassallam) said:

فَرُبَّ حَامِلِ فِقْهٍ إِلَى مَنْ هُوَ أَفْقَهُ مِنْهُ وَرُبَّ حَامِلِ فِقْهٍ لَيْسَ بِفَقِيهٍ

“Perhaps a person carries knowledge to one who is more knowledgeable than himself, and perhaps the one who carries the knowledge is not a person of Knowledge.” [Jaami’ At-Tirmidhee: 2656]

Here the Prophet (salallaahu `alaihi wassallam) mentions the glad tidings to the person who hears a hadith and conveys it just as he heard it. So when examining the wording in the hadith: “He conveys it just as he heard it.” So there is no addition, no twisting, no changing of it, no lying, no adding things to it. The narrator is to convey it ‘just as he heard it.’ We will come to learn that these narrations for the basis of the conditions for an authentic hadeeth.

From these narrations come the development of the sciences of Hadith. There also occurs in the Muqaddimah to the Sahih of Imam Muslim, from Muslim bin Yasaar who narrated that he heard Abu Hurairah (radiyallaahu `anhu) say: “The Messenger of Allah (salallaahu `alaihi wassallam) said:

يَكُونُ فِي آخِرِ الزَّمَانِ دَجَّالُونَ كَذَّابُونَ يَأْتُونَكُمْ مِنَ الأَحَادِيثِ بِمَا لَمْ تَسْمَعُوا أَنْتُمْ وَلاَ آبَاؤُكُمْ فَإِيَّاكُمْ وَإِيَّاهُمْ لاَ يُضِلُّونَكُمْ وَلاَ يَفْتِنُونَكُمْ

“There will be in the end of time dajjaaloon (great deceivers) and liars coming to you with narrations that you nor your fathers heard, so beware of them lest they misguide you and cause you tribulations.” [Sahih Muslim: 7]

This narration (amongst others) highlights the importance of the science of al-Jarh wat-Ta`deel, discerning between the one who is disparaged and the one who is deemed trustworthy and reliable. Yes, there are people who are going to lie so beware of them, note who they are and do not take from them. This is what the Messenger of Allah is saying here. That’s why Imam Muslim mentioned it and narrated it in his Muqaddimah with is intended to lay down the foundations of the sciences or hadeeth, the chains of transmission and the conditions of the narrators.

So the Messenger (salallaahu `alaihi wassallam) said: ‘There will occur at the end of time dajjaaloon (great deceivers) and liars…’ People say: You people are name-callers and you backbite and you speak ill of other Muslims. The fact is that the people of hadeeth are the most fearful of Allaah and the most precise in clarifying the truth, and the most cautious about speaking about other Muslims, and they only do so if there a legitimate Sharee`ah reason that permits in preservation of its sanctity and purity. So what is the Messenger (salallaahu `alaihi wassallam) advising you with here? That you have to take care because there will be dajjaaloon. Do you know what a dajjaal is? He is a great liar, a deceiver, a forger and a fabricator. That’s a dajjaal.

So there will be dajjaaloon, not just one but numerous imposters and fabricators, and liars. And what will they do? They will ‘bring to you hadeeth.’ So when the people say: Where did the science of Hadith come from? This is where it came from, Baarakallahu feekum, it came from the Sunnah!

And these liars and imposters appeared early on. Abu Haatim ibn Hibban, was a great scholar of hadith who died in the year 354 AH. He said in Kitaab Al-Majrooheen Minal Muhadditheen (The Book of the Abandoned Ones from the Narrators of Hadeeth) in the beginning of it:

“I heard Abdullah ibn `Alee Al-Jabuli: ‘I heard Abdullah ibn Yazeed Al-Muqree say: ‘A man from the people of innovation who recanted from his innovation said: ‘Investigate from whom you take the hadeeth, for indeed if we took an opinion, we would invent a hadeeth to support it.’”

So if they had an opinion, they innovated into the Religion of Allaah, but since they had no support for that from the Qur’an and the Sunnah, what would they do? They would fabricate hadeeth – and the scholars of hadeeth would investigate the truthful from the liar, the Sunni from the bid`ee, the precise memoriser from the forgetful, the keen from the heedless, the pious from the sinner – and they would pen down their names and their biographies and their levels of trustworthiness and reliability and adherence into books running into volumes.

In these ahaadeeth, we find the beginnings and the foundations of tathabbut (verification) and the incentive for investigation. And this is just is just a handful of proofs. We can could carry on – just read the Muqaddimah, the introduction to Saheeh Muslim. You see narration after narration, dozens of narrations just dealing with this issue. In these narrations and others we learn how to establish precision, how to verify, how to take care, the importance of taking care, who to take from and who not to take from. You find this in the narrations of Allaah’s Messenger (salallaahu `alaihi wassallam), this science was not a science that was newly invented; it is rooted in the Qur’an and Sunnah – baarakallahu feekum.

The Sahaabah (companions) would implement these matters and verify the narrations from those who relayed them, and more so if they doubted truthfulness of the narrator. Established upon this, there came the Sciences of the isnaad (chains of narration), and those early scholars would give the isnaad its due value, in terms of accepting or narrating the reports.

They realized that the isnaad (chains of transmission) and following up the isnaad and the narrators in the chains of transmission was an extremely important affair. So then they developed means that already had their foundations in the Qur’an and the Sunnah, to recognise whether a narrator is worthy of taking from or if he is not. And from the first of those was Muhammad Ibn Seereen (d. 110H, rahimahullaah). In the Muqaddimah of Sahih Muslim he said:

لَمْ يَكُونُوا يَسْأَلُونَ عَنِ الإِسْنَادِ، فَلَمَّا وَقَعَتِ الْفِتْنَةُ قَالُوا سَمُّوا لَنَا رِجَالَكُمْ فَيُنْظَرُ إِلَى أَهْلِ السُّنَّةِ فَيُؤْخَذُ حَدِيثُهُمْ وَيُنْظَرُ إِلَى أَهْلِ الْبِدَعِ فَلاَ يُؤْخَذُ حَدِيثُهُمْ

“They (the scholars) would not ask about the chains of narration, but when the Fitnah (conflict and discord) occurred, they would ask: ‘Name to us your men’. So Ahl us-Sunnah would be regarded, and their Ḥadīth were then taken, and Ahl ul-Bi’dah would be regarded, and their Ḥadīth were not taken.” (Saheeh Muslim – Introduction: 27)

So this shows that the narrations would not be accepted except after knowing the sanad (chain of narration). Sanad and Isnaad are in essence the same thing. Asaaneed however, is the plural of isnaad.

So, they would not accept the narrations except after knowing the sanad, which has in it narrators. Those narrators had to be investigated, so what science did that bring out? Jarh wa Ta’deel, the Science of Jarh wa Ta’deel. And speech concerning those carrying the narrations, and whether a chain of narration was Muttasil (connected) or Munqati’ (disconnected). And this in turn, meant catching defects that may not be apparent, and that are subtle (known as ‘ilal).

And so, you can see that through this science, now we know we have to ask the one narrating: Where are you getting the narrations from? And now, when they name their men we have to know who they are. This is where the science of Jarh wa Ta’deel comes in. Who are the narrators? Are they Sunni? Are they Bid’ee? Are they Khawaarij? Are they Ahlul-Hadeeth? Who are they, what are they? Are they Murji’ah? Is he a faasiq (open sinner)? Is he a drunkard? Is he a gambler? What is he? So they needed to know this one in the chain of narration, who is he? What is he? A name on its own is not enough. The narrator being a Muslim is not enough. A name that can be identified and his character investigated and his religion investigated – this is what is needed in the science of isnaad, and that is the science of jarh wa ta’deel; the science of praising and disparaging the narrators.

Then, of course, since we’re looking at the isnaad we need to know: did every narrator meet the narrator before him or not? This now enters into whether the chain of narration is Muttasil (connected) or Munqati` (disconnected). And the scholars in general say that a chain that is Muttasil means that each person met the one before him, until the narration reaches the Prophet (salallaahu `alaihi wassallam). Munqati`: that the narration has a disconnect, maybe a whole generational disconnect, maybe a disconnect because two people: one narrates from the other but he never met him; they were living thousands of miles apart, or maybe one died before the other could have narrated from him – so how could he narrate from one who is dead?

So that narration becomes munqati` and depending upon where the chain is broken, it will have its own classification and specific nomenclature.

So now, what are we looking at? Not only the character of the narrator and his religion, but we are also looking at whether that narrator met the one that he is claiming to narrate from because if he did, then it is Muttasil. But if he didn’t, then it is disconnected. And this in turn means catching defects, because it is possible that a narrator claims that he heard it from so-and-so, but he didn’t. Or that he claims he heard it from so-and-so and he names him, but it’s not the person you think he is talking about! For example, he names someone and you think he is talking about an imaam of the Sunnah, but he’s not talking about an imaam, he is talking about the butcher or the baker, but his name just happens to be the same as the name of the imaam and subtle form of deceit was used by some narrators, some used it with the best of intentions, some even confessed to it! And he is not lying technically; he said “I took it from so-and-so,” but you think that “so-and-so” is the name of a great Imam – and in his mind, he knows that you are going to think it is the name of a great Imaam. But he knows that actually it’s the name of someone else – not the great Imaam who you imagine it to be. And the investigative sciences of the asaneed became stronger and stronger at finding out these subtle defects, or even apparent defects and identifying weaknesses – just as the challenges become greater the science became more robust.

And in the beginning of these Sciences, deviation and liars were small in number so they were easier to spot. So the majrooheen (the abandoned narrators) were fewer in the very early Salaf, but as the deviations grew, the liars and deceivers grew. So the scholars responded with more and more detailed methods of distinguishing the narrations. So you can imagine – as a similitude – that you’re fighting an enemy. Every time that you go to him you find that he’s developed a new weapon, so what do you do? You respond with a weapon [with a defence mechanism] that can deal with his weapon. This is natural in warfare – and the scholars of hadeeth would see that these people were developing more and more subtle and devious ways of getting past the sciences of hadeeth. So they would put in place measures that would prevent them from being able to narrate hadeeth until it was sure that they were narrating the Prophetic tradition. So this is what the scholars of hadeeth did.

So these principles were discussed and they became widespread. The early scholars were upon them such as Imaam Maalik (d. 179), Imam Shafi’ee (d. 204), Muhammad ibn Seereen (d. 110H), Imam Ash-Sha’bi, Shu’bah ibn Al-Hajjaaj (d. 159H), Sufyaan Ath-Thawree (d. 161H) – they were upon these principles and they were generally widespread. The likes of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d.241H), Imam Al-Bukhaaree (d. 256H), the likes of Ibn Abee Shaybah and Imam Muslim (d. 261H), Ibn Maajah, An-Nasaa’ee – right in the first two or three centuries these principles were widespread.

Then what happened was that around third century a group of scholars started codifying them and started writing down the rules and principles of the sciences of Hadeeth. So they were being implemented; did not Imam Al-Bukhaaree implement them, and there is no greater scholar than Imam Al-Bukhaaree (rahimahullaah) in terms of his collection and its authenticity, and that is why Al-Jaami’ us Sahih of Imam Al-Bukhaaree is the most authentic book after the Book of Allah, followed by Sahih Muslim. Now those two scholars came before these books of ‘Uloom (Sciences) were codified writings, which proves that these sciences were widespread before these books were written, just in case someone says to you: “Well actually, the earliest books of the Sciences of Hadith that were written by the scholars were actually in the fourth century or the end of the third century.” We say: “No. Just because they penned it down at that stage, it does not mean that the Sciences were not being used,” because when did Bukharee die? 256 AH. When was he collecting? In the fifty, or sixty years before that. Imaam Ahmad, was born in 161 AH; the middle of the second century and he was collecting hadith.

So you can see, right from that time, they were writing the hadith themselves and they were implementing the sciences of verification and Jarh wa Ta’deel and the sciences of `ilal (hidden defects), and rejecting those Hadith that contradict that which was stronger than them – these sciences were already present, then they were written down.

And the first of those books (of codification) to be written was a book entitled:

  1. Al-Muhaddith Al-Faasil Bayn Ar-Raawee wal ‘Aawee’ written by Abu Muhammad Abdur-Rahmaan Ar-Raamahurmuzee (rahimahullaah, d. 360 AH).

And then came the other books, and we will list some of them:

  1. Ma’rifatu-‘Uloomil-Hadith’ of Imam Abu Abdillaah Al-Haakim An-Naysaabooree (rahimahullaah, d. 405 AH), generally known as Al-Haakim An-Naysaabooree and he was from the same general region as Imam Muslim.
  1. Al-Mustakhraj ‘Ala Ma’rifati ‘Uloom Al-Hadeeth’ by the famous Abu Nu’aym Al-Asbahaanee (rahimahullaah, d. 430 AH).
  1. Al-Kaafiyah fee ‘Ilm Ar’Riwaayah’ by the great Imam, Abu Bakr Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdadee who died in the year 463 AH, rahimahullaah.
  1. From the same Imam Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdadee; ‘Jaami’ Ul-Akhlaq Ar-Rawee wa Adaab As-Saami`’.
  1. And the sixth book that I will mention is ‘Uloomul-Hadeeth’ – a tremendous work and a foundational work. It is also referred to as ‘Muqaddimatu Ibnis Salaah’ by the great Imam Abu ‘Amr Ibn Salaah (rahimahullaah, d. 643 AH).
  1. And the seventh is ‘At-Taqreeb wat Tayseer li Ma’rifati Sunanil-Basheerin-Nadheer’ which was authored by the great Imaam Muhiyuddeen Yahyaa bin Sharaf An-Nawawee, also known as Imam An-Nawawee (rahimahullaah, d. 676 AH). And this is actually a summarised version of the book we mentioned previously of Ibn Salaah.
  1. Tadreeb Ar-Raawee fee Sharhi Taqreeb An-Nawaawee’ authored by Imam As-Suyootee (rahimahullaah, d. 911 AH).
  1. Fat.hul Mugheeth fee Sharhi Alfiyyatil-Hadeeth’ by the Imam Muhammad bin Abdur-Rahmaan As-Sakhaawee (rahimahullaah, d. 902 AH).
  1. Nukhbatul Fikr fee Mustalahi Ahlil-Athar’ known in short as ‘Nukhbatul-Fikr’ and you’ve probably heard of this book as it is taught by the scholars till this day, and it is by the Al-Haafidh Ibn Hajr Al-Asqalaanee, who died in the year 852 AH, rahimahullaah.
  1. Al-Mandhoomatul-Bayqooniyyah’ by Umar Ibn Muhammad Al-Bayqoonee (d. 1080 AH).

And of course there are many other books, ‘At-Tawdeeh Al-Abhar li Tadhkirati Ibn Al-Mulaqqin fee ‘Ilm-il-Athar’ which was written by Muhammad ibn Abdur-Rahman bin Ahmad As-Sakhaawee (d. 902). And this book is an explanation of the original work of Ibn Mulaqqin, and Shaikh Abdullah Al-Bukhaaree in our times has done a Tahqeeq (checking) of it, and he is from the scholars of Madeenah. And the book is nearly 200 pages in explanation of the terminologies regarding hadith and its sciences. But the original work as we have mentioned, was by Ibn Mulaqqin and then the explanation was by As-Sakhaawee, from the scholars of Cairo of his time.

So upon that Inshaa’Allah we’ll finish, and next time we will move on from there. As you can see, the importance of having note books for this subject matter.

1 Comment

  1. Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu

    Unfortunately I couldn’t find ‘Indeed this knowledge is Religion’ on Salafisounds. Is it still available?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.