Books that clarify for us the biographies of the Companions and the Salaf so that we know their opinions.

The questioner : O Shaykh, some of the brothers are asking: How is it? Are there books that clarify for us the biographies of the Companions and the Salaf, so that we can understand, if there is a disputed issue, how we can determine that this is the opinion of the Salaf and that is not the opinion of the Salaf? What is the way to reach knowledge of this issue?

The Shaykh : The answer to this question is affirmative, but the work and the path to knowing what the righteous Salaf were upon is not an easy matter that every student of knowledge can do. Rather, only one who is well-established among the scholars can do that. There are books written specifically to explain the statements of the Companions, and these are called books of athar (reports from the Companions or successors). There are other books that collect the statements of the Messenger (peace be upon him) narrated from him, along with the statements of the Companions, the Tabi'un (the generation after the Companions), and those after them up to the time of the author, in every chapter of the chapters of Islamic sacred law. Among the most famous of these books are those called al-Musannafat (the compiled works). In the modern era, "Al-Musannaf al-Kabir" (The Great Compilation) by 'Abd al-Razzaq ibn Hammam al-Yamani was printed in ten volumes. In it, in every chapter, the statements of the Companions are mentioned. Similarly, for example, "Al-Musannaf" by Ibn Abi Shaybah. Previously, five volumes of it were printed, and now it has been reprinted, and it has been issued—in what has reached me today—in about eleven or twelve volumes. I have looked at ten of them. The benefit of this Musannaf and that one is that they narrate from the Companions and those after them their statements in every issue. Similarly, for example, the book "Al-Atsar" by Imam Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani. Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani is one of the famous students of Imam Abu Hanifa (may Allah have mercy on him). In his book, he also narrates the statements of the Salaf in some chapters, because this is a part that is not large, whereas the two Musannafat mentioned are in large, bulky volumes. Similarly, of this type is the book "Al-Atsar" by Imam Abu Yusuf, who was the companion of Muhammad ibn al-Hasan and also a student of Imam Abu Hanifa (may Allah have mercy on him). And there are books, but unfortunately these athar are not collected in a book, so that it would be easy for the general students of knowledge to reach them, become acquainted with them, and be guided by them in the manner we mentioned earlier.