With what does one who wants to learn hadith begin? And what are the books with which one can start?

The questioner : The questioner says: What are the things with which one who wants to learn hadith should begin? And what are the books with which one can start? May Allah reward you.

The Shaykh : This type of question has been repeated in every session we have attended, so the answer is as follows, in brief:
If he wants to study the science of hadith terminology, he must begin with the book "Al-Ba'ith al-Hathith"
May Allah guide you and rectify your affairs
"Al-Ba'ith al-Hathith: An Explanation of the Summary of the Sciences of Hadith." The explanation is by Shaykh Ahmad Shakir, the Egyptian judge (may Allah have mercy on him), who was one of the prodigies of hadith scholars in the modern era. The text being explained is "Ikhtisar 'Ulum al-Hadith" by al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir al-Dimashqi, who abridged "Muqaddimat 'Ulum al-Hadith" by Ibn al-Salah. This is the book with which it is best for a beginner in this science to start. After that, he should occupy himself and his free time with "Sharh al-Nukhba" by al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani. This Hafiz is attested to as having been the Commander of the Faithful in hadith in his time, and this command continued for him until our day; for no one has come after him to succeed him in this science and its comprehensive knowledge and excellence. Many scholars in various disciplines and sciences have studies that are mostly theoretical and not practical, such as those who read, for example, books on the principles of jurisprudence, but they do not benefit from this science at all because they do not apply it to the jurisprudential issues in which scholars differ. So their knowledge remains theoretical and does not benefit them, as we mentioned. As for al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him), he combined the sciences in thought and practical application. Therefore, his explanation, called "Sharh al-Nukhba," is one of the most comprehensive books in the science of terminology, despite its small size, and one of the most precise in understanding. If a student of knowledge focuses on this very small booklet, he has gathered the foundations of this science. He must then practice applying what he has studied of this science of terminology. He must continue to ascend by reading the old works written in this field. Then, first of all, he should occupy himself with reading some of the books on men (narrators). It is proposed and recommended that he begin with the book "Mizan al-I'tidal fi Naqd al-Rijal" by the Imam... al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi al-Dimashqi. In this book, he speaks about a great number of narrators about whom some of the early Imams spoke with words that weaken this biographee. This weakening may be correct or it may be incorrect. Al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi in this book clarifies what he sees as correct, whether in preferring the criticism formulated or preferring the authentication.
This book, "Mizan al-I'tidal fi Naqd al-Rijal," is not limited to a specific group of men, but it touches upon many of those whose hadiths are mentioned in the Six Books and others who are not narrated in these books but in others. It is a comprehensive book covering various types of narrators. It contains an explanation of the style of hadith scholars' criticism of some of these narrators, and examples of their hadiths that they narrated and were denounced for. Often, these hadiths are the cause of the criticism of them and the reason for their weakening. The reader of this book practices the method of hadith scholars in criticizing narrators, so that this science becomes a logical science with reasonable meaning, not a science that is accepted from them without question. He should include, at the beginning of his study of books on men, the book of al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani called "Taqrib al-Tahdhib." This is truly a name that fits its description, "Taqrib al-Tahdhib," because the "Tahdhib" that he abridged for this "Taqrib" may have very lengthy biographies for many narrators, where the statements mentioned in some biographies are completely contradictory, especially in the mind of one who has no knowledge of the science of al-jarh wa al-ta'dil. He becomes confused about which of these statements to lean toward, some of which authenticate the biographee and some of which weaken him. So the Hafiz in his "Taqrib" simplifies this difficult matter for the beginner with one word. In doing so, he adheres to a science of hadith terminology, which is the rule: "Criticism takes precedence over authentication," with its known conditions in terminology. Thus, this beginner proceeds in this type of science until he rises by returning to the foundations of these abridged books, which were written by the early hadith scholars, such as al-Hakim Abu 'Abdullah al-Nisaburi, al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, and the like. They are the ones who authored and founded this science. Those who came after them did nothing but collect the statements of those predecessors and clarify what they were able to clarify. This is a brief word regarding this question concerning the science of terminology.
There are also some books related to the texts of the Prophetic hadiths, which are texts extracted from the Six Books, and sometimes from others as well. Such as the book of al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, which he authored in collecting the hadiths of rulings, "Ahadith al-Ahkam." Some scholars explained it, among them al-San'ani, who named his explanation "Subul al-Salam: Sharh Bulugh al-Maram min Ahadith al-Ahkam" by al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani. This "Bulugh" — "Bulugh al-Maram min Ahadith al-Ahkam" — is a small, explained booklet in which he collected most of the hadiths of rulings. One of its merits is that if he cites a hadith from the Sunan or others, and there is some weakness in it, he clarifies it. By doing so, 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 of the Hafiz is a book by Ibn Daqiq al-Eid called "Al-Ilmam bi-Ahadith al-Ahkam." It was printed in Damascus, Syria, long ago. Some of our brothers from the students of knowledge, whose name is Sa'id al-Mawlawi, wrote annotations on it. This book is better than the previous one because he did not mention in it except what he considered authentic, and he did not occupy the mind of the student of knowledge by citing some weak hadiths that may mix in his mind over time with the authentic hadiths, causing him to fall into difficulty without intending or realizing it.
Of this same 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... and annotate it. 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 preservers and critics of hadith. He has a large book which is the original of the small book. He named the large book "Al-Ahkam al-Kubra." He collected 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: or one of its characteristics, because these characteristics, or some of these characteristics, are not unique — benefits the reader greatly. That is because he presents the hadiths he transmitted from the Six Books and others with the chains of these Six Books. So, 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 of the readers and intellectuals of the modern era, especially if the hadith is in "Al-Sahihayn" (the two authentic books). Mentioning the chain is a means, and the goal is the text. If the "Sahihayn" have been agreed upon by the majority of hadith scholars as authentic, except for a few hadiths that were criticized...; 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 "Al-Sahihayn" are authentic except for... a few of them.
The second reason is that those who occupy themselves with studying this book do not possess the cultural background that would enable them to benefit from the mention of the hadith's chain of narration, even if the hadith were transmitted with its chain in a source other than the *Sahihayn*.
So what is the benefit of mentioning al-Bukhari's chain and Muslim's chain? 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 derive no significant benefit from the author's presentation of the hadith's chain. This is the style of al-Hafiz 'Abd al-Haqq al-Isbili in his book *Al-Ahkam al-Kubra*, where he presents all the hadiths he mentions with their chains. There is no significant benefit in presenting the hadiths he transmitted from the *Sahihayn* with their chains. The benefit may lie in mentioning hadiths he transmits from the *Sunan*, for example, or from some of the *Musnads*, such as *Musnad al-Bazzar*, so that the reader can examine the defect he will discuss. After mentioning the chain and the text, he says: "This chain is weak because it contains so-and-so, as I saw in the chain, and he is weak or has poor memory, or something similar."
[This book is] more beneficial than this book of his, and it appears he did not notice anything of what I mentioned earlier regarding the correction by mentioning the chains of the texts, which is a lengthening with no major benefit. It is as if he summarized this book in another book of his, which he named *Al-Ahkam al-Wusata*. It is the same book as the first one, with its titles, chapters, and texts, except that he removed the chains... If the hadith is outside the *Sahihayn*, or if the hadith is in the *Sahihayn*, his statement: "Al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated it" or "Al-Bukhari narrated it"... in a hadith the author attributes to someone other thanThe Shaykh : them, such as his saying "Abu Dawud narrated it" or "Al-Tirmidhi narrated it" or others; in this case, the merit of *Al-Ahkam al-Sughra* is that he says: "Its chain is authentic" or "Its chain is weak," with an explanation... This book is more beneficial than the first book because of the correction and summarization between them.
Then he authored a third and final book, which he named *Al-Ahkam al-Sughra*. It is the same as the *Kubra* and the *Wusata*, but limited to only the hadiths he considered authentic, without any commentary. You will find the hadith there as text and tracing: "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 *Wusata* to include only what was authentic. So he lists the hadiths concisely... restricting them 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 students of knowledge who want to know the authentic hadiths through the shortest path. As for the one who wants to practice and become proficient in tracing hadiths and how to authenticate or weaken them, he benefits from *Al-Ahkam al-Wusata*, and then the one before it, which is *Al-Ahkam al-Kubra*. This is what can be mentioned in connection with this question.