بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
3 Sha’bān 1444 AH (Friday, 24 February, 2023)
Seventh Century
Thus far, we spoke about the books of ‘Ulūm al-Ḥadīth until the year 600 Hijrī. We also mentioned about a book of a contemporary of ‘Allāmah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ.
The next is the book of ‘Allāmah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ. Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar mentioned:
إلى أن جاء:الحافظ الفقيه تقي الدين أبو عمرو عثمان بن الصلاح بن عبد الرحمن الشهرزوري نزيل دمشق فجمع -لما ولي تدريس الحديث بالمدرسة الأشرفية- كتابه المشهور، فهذب فنونه، وأملاه شيئا بعد شيء
“(These were the books) until al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Faqīḥ Taqī al-Dīn Abū ‘Amr ‘Uthmān bin aṣ-Ṣalāḥ ibn ‘Abd ar-Raḥmān al-Shahrazūrī came, (who was) a resident of Damascus. He gathered – when he was appointed to teach Ḥadīth in al-Madrasah al-Ashrafiyya – his famous book, then refined the various branches, and dictated it gradually”
We already shared a lot of detail regarding ‘Allāmah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ (may Allāh Ta’ālā have mercy on him). Those notes could be incorporated here.
This book was very popular very shortly after the demise of the author. It became a text book for studying this science. You will see shortly the amount of books that were written based on the books of ‘Allāmah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ before even a century could pass. Thereafter, ‘Allāmah Ibn Kathīr, a scholar who passed away just over 100 years after ‘Allāmah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ says:
ولما كان الكتاب الذي اعتنى بتهذيبه الشيخ الإمام العلامة أبو عمرو بن الصلاح – تغمده الله برحمته – من مشاهير المصنفات في ذلك يبن الطلبة لهذا الشأن ، وربما عني بحفظه بعض المهرة من الشبان ……(إختصار علوم الحديث – ص: 90)
In the next century, Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar (may Allāh Ta’ālā have mercy on him) explained about his book saying:
فلا يحصى كم ناظم له ومختصر، ومستدرك عليه ومقتصر، ومعارض له ومنتصر.
“It cannot be enumerated how many scholars put the text in poetry form, the amount of scholars who abridged the text, what a great number added on to it, the huge number who condensed the text, those who wrote rebuttals, and the amount of responses that there are.”
Due to the brilliance of the book that ‘Allāmah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ (may Allāh Ta’ālā have mercy on him) presented, scholars after him attached great importance to this book of his.
Shaykh Māhir Yāsin al-Faḥl correctly states:
وهو من أجل كتب مصطلح الحديث وأحسنها، وكان هذا الكتاب حدثا جديدا ومحورا دارت في فلكه تصانيف كل من أتى بعده، وأنه واسطة عقدها، ومصدر ما تفرع عنها، ولم يكن لمن بعده سوى إعادة الترتيب في بعض الأحيان، أو التسهيل عن طريق الاختصار أو النظم، أو إيضاح بعض مقاصده، وقد رزق الله تعالى كتاب ابن الصلاح القبول بين الناس، حتى صار مدرس من يروم الدخول بهذا الشأن ولا يتوصل إليه إلا عن طريقه فهو المفتاح لما أغلق من معانيه، والشارح بما أجمل من مبانيه. وقد اعتنى من جاء من بعد ابن الصلاح أشد العناية بكتابه. )النكت الوفية بما في شرح الألفية – 1 / 34)
There is probably no other book in Muṣṭalaḥ al-Ḥadīth that has received the amount of attention that the book of ‘Allāmah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāh has received. It became the basis and the source of thousands of books that came thereafter.
From all the different ways that Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar mentioned that people works on the book of ‘Allāmah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāh, the more important books that are based on his book can be put into one of the following categories:
1.Al-Mukhṭaṣarāt
This refers to summaries and condensations. ‘Allāmah Baqā‘ī explained:
الاختصار أعم من التلخيص، فتارة يكون اقتصارا على بعض الأصل مع استيفاء المقاصد كالتلخيص، وتارة مع حذف بعض المقاصد ، وتارة يكون موفيا بجميع الأصل من المقاصد، وغيرها بكلام وجيز، فإذا قال: اختصرت كان مترددا بين المعاني الثلاث (النكت الوفية بما في شرح الألفية – 1 / 67)
Because the book is in so much detail and rather lengthy, probably most of those who worked on his book, decided to shorten the book in a way that they cover all the main points.
2.Nukat
We spoke about this word in the lesson of Muqaddimah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ last week. Although prior to ‘Allāmah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ there are one or two scholars who used the word Nukat to describe their annotations, this word became common for works based on the Muqaddimah.
They probably got the term from the introduction of the Muqaddimah.
وجمع شتات علومه وفوائده، وقنص شوارد نكته وفرائده. (مقدمة ابن الصلاح – ص: 6)
Nukat means to poke. We quoted the definition of Ibn Sīdah (d. 458) who said:
(ن ك ت) النكت: قرعك الأرض بعود أو باصبع. (المحكم والمحيط الأعظم – 6 / 770)
Before him, Ibn Fāris (d. 395 AH) explained this word saying:
(نكت) النون والكاف والتاء أصل واحد يدل على تأثير يسير في الشيء كالنكتة ونحوها ونكت في الأرض بقضيبه ينكت، إذا أثر فيها. وكل نقطة نكتة. (مقاييس اللغة – 5 / 475)
Shaykh Māhir Yāsīn al-Faḥl explained the technical meaning of the term Nukat. He wrote:
أما في الاصطلاح فالنكتة: مسألة لطيفة أخرجت بدقة نظر وإمعان فكر، من: نكت رمحه بأرض ، إذأ أثر فيها، وسميت المسألة الدقيقة نكتة، لتأثير الخواطر في استنباطها (مقدمة طبعته لاختصار علوم الحديث – ص: 69)
Other scholars explained it as giving a ‘poke’ at the Muqaddimah at selected places.
Basically, a Nukat is like a Ḥāshiyyah, but not on every point of the book. Rather, just on random points that deserve some clarification, or commentary, or even some objections.
3.Poetry
These are books that took the entire text of Muqaddimah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ and put it into poetic form. Thus, all the points of the Muqaddimah are covered, but they are in poetry. There are a few poems of the Muqaddimah, and two books became very important. In shā Allāh, we will discuss them as we go along.
Methodology of Discussion From This Point
After the year 640 AH, most of the books were based on the Muqaddimah of ‘Allāmah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ. There were a few odd books that were not based on his book. Our methodology of discussion will now be as follows:
- We will continue going in a chronological sequences. There are various ways to present to you the books that were written on Muqaddimah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ. We could group the Nukats together, then the summaries and condensations together, or we could list them in some other way. Nevertheless, we chose to rather put them in a chronological order. But in doing this, at times, I will have to change the order of some books, because a scholar worked on a work of his contemporary and passed away before him. Based on the date of demise, his book ought to be mentioned first, but since his book is based on the book of a scholar who came later, he will be mentioned later.
- From this point onwards, we will only mention about the books that are published.
- We will now only mention one or two prints of the book, since our objective of giving insigt into prints have been attained. Mentioning many prints now will just make this too lenghty. If you intend reading the book or purchasing a copy, you may enquire about the best print at that time.
Irshād Ṭullāb al-Ḥaqāiq ilā Ma’rifah Sunan Khayr al-Ḥaqāiq
This is the condensation of Muqaddimah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ. It is the first known book to be based on Muqaddimah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāh, and it was written by Imām Nawawī (631 AH – 676 AH). This book becomes valuable because besides simply summarizing the book, Imām Nawawī took the liberty of adding alot of his own points. He wrote:
وأذكر فيه جملًا من الأدلة والأمثلة المختصرات، وأضم إليه في بعض المواطن لقيطات وفريعات وتتمات. (إرشاد طلاب الحقائق إلى معرفة سنن خير الخلائق صلى الله عليه وسلم – 1 / 26)
He did not hesitate to also subtly indicate to his differences with ‘Allāmah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ.
For these benefits, , we will, in shā Allāh, have to refer to this Kitāb during our lessons of Muqaddimah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ.
Imām Nawawī generally adds the word ‘Qultu’ before his own statement, and he will add the words: Wallāhu ‘A’lam’ after.
In this book, Imām Nawawī followed the exact same order as ‘Allāmah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ.
It was published with the research of ‘Abdul Bārī FatḥAllāh as-Salafī. Maktabah al-Īmān printed it in 1987 (1408 AH).
It was also published with the research of Shaykh Nūr ad-Dīn ‘Itr. This was printed by Dār al-Yamāmah in Damascus, in 1988 AH. This book is in 293 pages.
Click here for the Pdf.
At-Taqrīb wa ‘t-Taysīr Li Ma’rifah Sunan al-Bashīr an-Nadhīr
After writing Irshād Ṭullāb al-Ḥaqāiq, Imām Nawawī realized that this summary of his is still so huge. He therefore decided to condense it even further. He mentions in the introduction that this time he will go a great extend in shortening the book, but he will ensure that he conveys the important points in a clear manner. He wrote:
أبالغ فيه في الاختصار إن شاء الله تعالى من غير إخلال بالمقصود، وأحرص على إيضاح العبارة. (التقريب والتيسير للنووي – ص: 23)
By doing this, he managed to reduce the size of the book by about 55%.
He follows the same methodology and sequence in this book as he done in his earlier book.
This book then became like a Matn (primary text) in the field.
Due to the popularity of this text, it has been published by many publishers. The best print was published in 2019 by Dār as-Samān in Turkey, with the Taḥqīq of Māzin ‘Abdullāh. It is in 208 pages.
We will quote from this book on a few occasions. Due to its concise size, if a student finds difficulty in memorizing poetry and prefers prose, then they could consider memorizing this.
There are two important commentaries:
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Tadrīb ar-Rāwī of Imām Suyūṭī. (We will refer to this for almost every lesson, together with the footnotes of Shaykh Muḥammad ‘Awwāmah)
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Sharḥ at-Taqrīb wa ‘t-Taysīr of ‘Allāmah Sakhāwī. This was printed in 2008 by Dār al-Athariyyah with the Taḥqīq of ‘Aliyy ibn Aḥmad al-Kandī. (Hopefully, we will refer to this as well, in shā Allāh)
Click here for the Pdf of At-Taqrīb wat Taysīr Li Ma’rifah Sunan al-Bashīr an-Nadhīr.
Pdf of Tadrīb ar-Rāwī:
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5
Pdf of Sharḥ at-Taqrīb wat-Taysīr of ‘Allāmah Sakhāwī.
Other books In Which Imām Nawawī wrote Uṣūl
Imām Nawawī also added important Uṣūl of Ḥadith in the beginning of his commentary of Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim and also at the beginning of Al-Majmū’. We will quote from there when necessary.
Al-Mukhtaṣar Fi ‘Ulūm al-Ḥadīth (not directly linked to Muqaddimah Ibn aṣ–Ṣalāḥ)
This was written by Abū ‘l-‘Alā, ‘Aliyy ibn Abī Ḥazam al-Qarashī, who is famously known as Ibn an-Nafīs (607 AH – 687 AH). He was not a Muḥaddith per se, rather, he was a famous physician and expert in medicine. Due to reading in ‘Uṣūl, he decided to write a book in this science.
He presented unique definitions for Ṣaḥīḥ, Mursal, Shāḍ. Being a Takhaṣuṣ program, we probably will analyze and compare his definitions with that of the earlier scholar of the century; ‘Allāmah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ.
This book has been published with the Taḥqīq of ‘Ammār aṭ-Ṭālibī. It is in 102 pages. (Some scholars assume that it is highly probable that Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar copied his sequence in Nuzha an-Naḍar.)
Click here for the Pdf.
Aqṣā al-Amal wa ‘s-Sūl Fī ‘Ulūm Aḥādīth ar-Rasūl
This was written by Shihāb ad-Dīn, Abū ‘Abdillāh, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Khuwayyī (626 AH – 693 AH). He got the chance to study under ‘Allāmah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ, when he was still a young boy. ‘Allāmah Dhahabī listed him as a student of ‘Allāmah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ:
وروى عنه أيضا: العلامة تاج الدين عبد الرحمن، وأخوه الخطيب شرف الدين ومجد الدين ابن المهتار، وفخر الدين عمر الكرجي، والقاضي شهاب الدين ابن الخويي. (سير أعلام النبلاء – 23 / 141)
He wrote this book wherein he put the entire Muqaddimah of his teacher, ‘Allāmāh Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ in poetic form. This is the very first book of poetry in ‘Ulūm al-Ḥadīth, and it is the very first poetry based on Muqaddimah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāh. He mentions his methodology in the poem, in which he makes it clear that he abridged the entire book of ‘Allāmah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ, but he excluded:
1) The examples that ‘Allāmah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ mentioned,
2) The names of the scholars that ‘Allāmah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ mentioned in his Muqaddimah.
Besides that, he encapsulated all the other important points.
Consisting of 1608 verse, it is rather lengthy, and actually the longest poem ever written in ‘Ulūm al-Ḥadīth. Despite being the first and the longest, unfortunately it did not become very popular. There are no known commentaries of this. This is probably due to it magnificent size.
It has been printed by Dār Ṭībah al-Khaḍrā in Makkah. They published in in 2018. It is with the research of Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Āl Riḥāb and Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ash-Shāfi’ī. This print is in 232 pages.
There is no need for us to refer to this poem during our lessons.
Click here and here for the Pdf.
Manḍūmah ‘Ilm al-Ḥadīth (Not based on Muqaddimah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ)
This was written by Abū ‘l-‘Abbās, Aḥmad ibn Faraḥ al-Lakhmī, al-Ishbīlī ash-Shāfi’ī (625 AH – 699 AH).
This is the second book of poetry written in ‘Ulūm al-Ḥadīth. It is not based on any book. Rather, the author simply used the titles of 27 Anwā’ of ‘Ulūm al-Ḥadīth in only 20 verses. He adopted a unique and unusual style, where he based the poem on what is known as Tawriyyah in Balāghah. This refers to taking a far meaning of the of the word. Thus, a person unacquainted with ‘Ulūm al-Ḥadīth will understand or translate the poem according to the literal meaning, and it will make perfect sense. But then it will not have anything to do with ‘Ulūm al-Ḥadīth.
It will be misinterpreted as a poem of love. Due to this, this poem is also known as: Manḍūmah Gharāmī Ṣaḥīḥ.
In 1994, it was published with the name: al-Qaṣīdah al-Gharāmiyyah Fī Muṣṭalaḥ Ḥadīth Khayr al-Bariyyah. This was with the I’tinā of Dr Muṣṭafā Abū Sulaymān an-Nadwī
In 2012, it was published with the Taḥqīq and commentary of Marzūq ibn Hayyāsh az-Zahrānī, who is the professor of the faculty of Ḥadīth in Madīnah University. This was published by Dār al-Ma’āthir, in Madīnah Munawwarah.
There are more than a dozen other commentaries that are all printed.
It has been published with four commentaries with the Taḥqīq of Hishām al-Ḥasanī. It was published by Maktabah al-‘Asariyyah.
This can be read for one’s own interest, but we will not refer to this book in our course.
Click here for the Pdf.
Eight Century
Al-Iqṭirāḥ Fī Bayān al-Iṣṭilāḥ Wa Mā Uḍifah Ilā Dhālika Minal Aḥādīth al-Ma’dūdah Fī aṣ-Ṣiḥāḥ
This was written by Ibn Daqiq al-‘Īd (625 AH – 702 AH).
This is another Ikhtiṣār of Muqaddimah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāh, and it is a small Matn in ‘Ulūm al-Ḥadīth. ‘Allāmah Ibn Daqīq al-‘Id wrote:
هذه نبذ من فنون مهمة في علوم الحديث، يستعان بها على فهم مصطلحات أهله ومقاصدهم ومراتبهم على سبيل الاختصار والإيجاز، لتكون كالمدخل إلى التوسع في هذا الفن إن شاء الله تعالى وهو مرتب أبواب. (الاقتراح في بيان الاصطلاح – ص: 185)
Since the author was an expert of Uṣūl al-Fiqh, he added few comments of Uṣūl al-Fiqh in this book. He arranged the book into nine Abwāb. At the end, he cites 280 Aḥādīth.
We will, in shā Allāh, be doing this book along Muqaddimah aṣ-Ṣalāḥ.
There are many different prints of the book. It was published with the Taḥqīq of Qaḥṭān ‘Abdur Raḥmān ad-Dūrī in 1402 / 1982, and this print was re-published in 2007.
We will, in shā Allāh, quote from the Dār al-Bashāir al-Islāmiyyah print, that is with the Taḥqīq of Dr ‘Āmir Ḥasan Ṣabrī. The book starts on page 185 of this print.
- A commentary of this book was then written by Allāmah Dhahabī. This is known as al-Mūqiḍah, which we will speak about in the next lesson.
Click here for the Pdf.
Al-Mulakhaṣ Fī Ma’rifah ‘Ilm al-Ḥadīth
In this book, ‘Allāmah Abū Isḥāq, Raḍi ad-Dīn, Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad aṭ-Ṭabarī (636 AH – 722 AH) condensed all the Anwa’ of the book of ‘Allāmah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ. But in doing that, he merged and incorporated that Anwā’. ‘Allāmah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ divided the Abwāb in 65 types. ‘Allāmah Ṭabarī combined a few and made them in 23 Anwā’. In the first chapter, he combined Ṣaḥīḥ, Ḥasan and Ḍa’īf. In the second Bāb, he combined the next five Anwā’, Musnad, Muttaṣil, Marfū’, Mawqūf and Maqṭū’.
Under some Anwā’, ‘Allāmah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ mentions points that he refers to as: Fawāid (miscellaneous benefits). ‘Allāmah Ṭabarī mentioned some of these points, and he omitted others. When he does mention them, he does not number them as ‘Allāmah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ.
The author preferred to main the order and sequence of the original book.
This book does not have an introduction or a last-chapter conclusion (Khātimah)
The book was published in 2012 by Dār al-‘Unwān in Beirut. This was with the research of Dr ‘Awwād al-Khalaf. It is in 300 pages, and around the same size as Irshād Ṭullāb al-Ḥaqaiq.
Probably we will quote a few points from this book.
Al-Muntakhab Fī ‘Ilm al-Ḥadīth
Following the same practise as Imām Nawawī, ‘Allāmah Ṭabarī then abridged his original summary. He referred to this new condensation as: al-Muntakhab Fī ‘Ilm al-Ḥadīth.
This book became a third of the original Al-Mulakhaṣ Fī Ma’rifah ‘Ilm al-Ḥadīth. He added an introduction and Khātimah, and he arranged this book in 13 Fuṣūl.
Under a few chapters, he provides examples, and there are those odd chapters where he explains the differences.
This was published in 2013 by the same editor and publishing house as the previous (Dr ‘Awwād al-Khalaf/ Dār al-‘Unwān). It is in 124 pages.
We might not need to consult this book during our lessons.
Rusūm at-Taḥdīth Fī ‘Ulūm al-Ḥadīth
This is the summary of Muqaddimah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ written by Abū Ishāq, Ibrāhīm ibn ‘Umar ar-Rib’ī al-Ja’barā.
He wrote a small introduction at the beginning. Together with summarising the text, he adds few additional principles. However, this is a really concise summary, and it might need de-coding at certain places. As such, it is more beneficial for advances students, rather than beginners.
He also took from the Muqaddimah of Jāmi’ al-Uṣūl of Ibn al-Athīr and al-Iqtirāḥ of Ibn Daqīq al-Īd.
He did not deviate from the sequence and order of ‘Allāmah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ. He also made sure to quote the examples provided by ‘Allāmah Ibn aṣ-Ṣalāḥ.
There are lots of different prints of this book. Amongst the best prints is the print of Ibrāhīm al-Mīlī. This was printed by Dār ibn Ḥazam in the year 2000. It is in 248 pages.
Click here for the Pdf.
May Allāh Taʿālā have mercy on them all.