Books the Shaykh recommends to the student of knowledge for studying in the texts of hadith
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The Shaykh : There are some books related to the texts of the Prophetic hadiths, which are texts extracted from the books of the Sunnah and sometimes from others as well, such as the book by al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, which he compiled in gathering the hadiths of rulings, and some scholars explained it, among them al-San'ani, who named his explanation *Sabil al-Salam: An Explanation of Bulugh al-Maram of the Hadiths of Rulings by al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani*. This *Bulugh*—*Bulugh al-Maram of the Hadiths of Rulings*—is a small, condensed booklet in which he gathered most of the hadiths of rulings. One of its merits is that when he cites a hadith from the Sunan or others and it contains some weakness, he points it out, so that the reader of this book is aware of some of the weak hadiths that may be well-known on people's tongues.
Better than this book by al-Hafiz is a book by Ibn Daqiq al-Eid called *Al-Ilmam bi-Ahadith al-Ahkam*. It was printed in Damascus, Syria, in the past, and some of our brothers among the students of knowledge, whose name is Sa'id al-Mawlawi, wrote a commentary on it. This book *Al-Ilmam* is better than the previous one because it does not mention anything except what is authentic according to him, and it does not burden the student of knowledge by citing some weak hadiths that may mix in his mind with the authentic hadiths over the passage of time, leading to confusion without his intention or awareness. Also of this type, like the book *Al-Ilmam bi-Ahadith al-Ahkam*, is a book that has not yet been printed, and I hope that some of the strong students of knowledge will facilitate its copying and commentary. Its name is *Al-Ahkam al-Sughra* by 'Abd al-Haqq al-Isbili. 'Abd al-Haqq al-Isbili is one of the great scholars of Andalusia and the memorizers and critics of hadith. He has a large book which is the source of this small book. He named the large book *Al-Ahkam al-Kubra*, in which he gathered the hadiths of rulings from the six books and others. One of the merits of this book, or rather one of its characteristics—I said "merits" or "characteristics"—is that some of these characteristics are not distinctive and benefit the reader greatly, because he presents the hadiths he transmitted from the books of the Sunnah and others with the chains of those books of the Sunnah. For example, he says: "Al-Bukhari narrated to us so-and-so from so-and-so," presenting the hadith from al-Bukhari with its chain and text. I do not see much benefit in mentioning the chains of hadiths for most readers and intellectuals of the present age, especially if the hadith is in the two Sahihs. Mentioning the chain is a means, and the goal is the text. If the two Sahihs have been agreed upon by the majority of hadith scholars as authentic, except for a few hadiths criticized in them, then there is no significant benefit in presenting the chain of al-Bukhari or the chain of Muslim for a hadith, for two reasons. The first is what I mentioned earlier, that the hadiths mentioned in the two Sahihs are authentic except for a few individual ones.
The second reason is that those who occupy themselves with studying these books do not have the culture that would enable them to benefit from mentioning the chain of a hadith, even if the hadith with its chain were transmitted in something other than the two Sahihs. What is the benefit of mentioning the chain of al-Bukhari and the chain of Muslim? There is no benefit except for the great scholars who, when reading this chain, may find a defect in it. The defect may be decisive, in which case they refrain from using the hadith as evidence. Or the defect may not be decisive, in which case they do not benefit significantly from the author presenting the chain of the hadith. This is the style of al-Hafiz 'Abd al-Haqq al-Isbili in his book *Al-Ahkam al-Kubra*; he presents all the hadiths he mentions with their chains. So there is no significant benefit in presenting the hadiths he transmitted from the two Sahihs with their chains. The benefit may lie in mentioning hadiths he transmits from the Sunan, for example, and from some chains like *Musnad al-Bazzar*, so that the reader can look at the defect that he will discuss. He says, after mentioning the chain with the text: "This is a weak chain, containing so-and-so, as you saw the chain, and it is weak, or the narrator has poor memory, or something similar."
More beneficial than this book of his, and it seems he noticed something of what I mentioned earlier about the lengthening by mentioning the chains of the texts, a lengthening with no great benefit in mentioning them, and for that reason he summarized this book in another book of his and named it *Al-Ahkam al-Wushta*. It is the same book as the first one, with its titles, chapters, and texts, except that he removed the chains and gave a summary of them. If the hadith is outside the two Sahihs, because if the hadith is in the two Sahihs, his saying "Al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated it" or "Al-Bukhari narrated it..." in a hadith the author attributes to other than the two Shaykhs, such as his saying: "Abu Dawud narrated it" or "Al-Tirmidhi narrated it" or others, then in this case the merit of *Al-Ahkam al-Sughra* is that it says "Its chain is authentic" or "Its chain is weak," with an explanation of that. This book is more beneficial than the first book because of the lengthening and summarization between them.
Then he compiled a third and final book, which he named *Al-Ahkam al-Sughra*. It is the same as the *Kubra* and the same as the *Wushta*, but restricted to only what is authentic according to him from the hadiths, without any commentary. You will find the hadith there with its text and tracing, such as "Abu Dawud narrated it," and he remains silent, because he stated in the introduction that this book, *Al-Ahkam al-Sughra*, was selected from the *Kubra* and the *Wushta* for what was authentic among them. So he lists the hadiths concisely.
He restricted it to what is authentic from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). If this book were published, it would be of great benefit to the students of knowledge who want to know the authentic hadiths through the closest path. As for the one who wants to practice and become skilled in tracing hadiths and how authentication and weakening are done, he benefits from *Al-Ahkam al-Wushta*, and then the one before it, which is *Al-Ahkam al-Kubra*. This is what can be mentioned on the occasion of this question. Yes.
Better than this book by al-Hafiz is a book by Ibn Daqiq al-Eid called *Al-Ilmam bi-Ahadith al-Ahkam*. It was printed in Damascus, Syria, in the past, and some of our brothers among the students of knowledge, whose name is Sa'id al-Mawlawi, wrote a commentary on it. This book *Al-Ilmam* is better than the previous one because it does not mention anything except what is authentic according to him, and it does not burden the student of knowledge by citing some weak hadiths that may mix in his mind with the authentic hadiths over the passage of time, leading to confusion without his intention or awareness. Also of this type, like the book *Al-Ilmam bi-Ahadith al-Ahkam*, is a book that has not yet been printed, and I hope that some of the strong students of knowledge will facilitate its copying and commentary. Its name is *Al-Ahkam al-Sughra* by 'Abd al-Haqq al-Isbili. 'Abd al-Haqq al-Isbili is one of the great scholars of Andalusia and the memorizers and critics of hadith. He has a large book which is the source of this small book. He named the large book *Al-Ahkam al-Kubra*, in which he gathered the hadiths of rulings from the six books and others. One of the merits of this book, or rather one of its characteristics—I said "merits" or "characteristics"—is that some of these characteristics are not distinctive and benefit the reader greatly, because he presents the hadiths he transmitted from the books of the Sunnah and others with the chains of those books of the Sunnah. For example, he says: "Al-Bukhari narrated to us so-and-so from so-and-so," presenting the hadith from al-Bukhari with its chain and text. I do not see much benefit in mentioning the chains of hadiths for most readers and intellectuals of the present age, especially if the hadith is in the two Sahihs. Mentioning the chain is a means, and the goal is the text. If the two Sahihs have been agreed upon by the majority of hadith scholars as authentic, except for a few hadiths criticized in them, then there is no significant benefit in presenting the chain of al-Bukhari or the chain of Muslim for a hadith, for two reasons. The first is what I mentioned earlier, that the hadiths mentioned in the two Sahihs are authentic except for a few individual ones.
The second reason is that those who occupy themselves with studying these books do not have the culture that would enable them to benefit from mentioning the chain of a hadith, even if the hadith with its chain were transmitted in something other than the two Sahihs. What is the benefit of mentioning the chain of al-Bukhari and the chain of Muslim? There is no benefit except for the great scholars who, when reading this chain, may find a defect in it. The defect may be decisive, in which case they refrain from using the hadith as evidence. Or the defect may not be decisive, in which case they do not benefit significantly from the author presenting the chain of the hadith. This is the style of al-Hafiz 'Abd al-Haqq al-Isbili in his book *Al-Ahkam al-Kubra*; he presents all the hadiths he mentions with their chains. So there is no significant benefit in presenting the hadiths he transmitted from the two Sahihs with their chains. The benefit may lie in mentioning hadiths he transmits from the Sunan, for example, and from some chains like *Musnad al-Bazzar*, so that the reader can look at the defect that he will discuss. He says, after mentioning the chain with the text: "This is a weak chain, containing so-and-so, as you saw the chain, and it is weak, or the narrator has poor memory, or something similar."
More beneficial than this book of his, and it seems he noticed something of what I mentioned earlier about the lengthening by mentioning the chains of the texts, a lengthening with no great benefit in mentioning them, and for that reason he summarized this book in another book of his and named it *Al-Ahkam al-Wushta*. It is the same book as the first one, with its titles, chapters, and texts, except that he removed the chains and gave a summary of them. If the hadith is outside the two Sahihs, because if the hadith is in the two Sahihs, his saying "Al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated it" or "Al-Bukhari narrated it..." in a hadith the author attributes to other than the two Shaykhs, such as his saying: "Abu Dawud narrated it" or "Al-Tirmidhi narrated it" or others, then in this case the merit of *Al-Ahkam al-Sughra* is that it says "Its chain is authentic" or "Its chain is weak," with an explanation of that. This book is more beneficial than the first book because of the lengthening and summarization between them.
Then he compiled a third and final book, which he named *Al-Ahkam al-Sughra*. It is the same as the *Kubra* and the same as the *Wushta*, but restricted to only what is authentic according to him from the hadiths, without any commentary. You will find the hadith there with its text and tracing, such as "Abu Dawud narrated it," and he remains silent, because he stated in the introduction that this book, *Al-Ahkam al-Sughra*, was selected from the *Kubra* and the *Wushta* for what was authentic among them. So he lists the hadiths concisely.
He restricted it to what is authentic from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). If this book were published, it would be of great benefit to the students of knowledge who want to know the authentic hadiths through the closest path. As for the one who wants to practice and become skilled in tracing hadiths and how authentication and weakening are done, he benefits from *Al-Ahkam al-Wushta*, and then the one before it, which is *Al-Ahkam al-Kubra*. This is what can be mentioned on the occasion of this question. Yes.