What are the authentic books that you recommend reading?

The questioner : Please send us some advice and guidance. We also ask the honorable Shaykh Al-Albani to guide us and direct us to reading authentic books. We are awaiting your guidance... May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : What books?

The questioner : Please send us some advice and guidance regarding the answers to these questions. We also ask the honorable Shaykh Al-Albani to guide us or direct us to reading authentic books. We are awaiting your guidance... May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : In any case, we advise all Muslims with what we advise ourselves: to strive to study Islam in light of the Book and the Sunnah and the methodology of the righteous Salaf, as we mentioned earlier. Then, to act upon this correct, purified Islam, and to call people to it in the best manner, not with harshness or severity. We must consider those who differ from us in our methodology and our call to be a sick group that needs gentleness. Therefore, we must be gentle in calling them and not treat them as enemies to fight or quarrel with, for they are Muslims like us, first and foremost, but they have not been granted a knowledgeable, advising guide who shows them the straight path. If we feel that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has favored us with some of the guidance and light of the Messenger’s (peace and blessings be upon him) guidance, then we should thank Him by conveying this guidance and light to the other people whom we say are sick; they need treatment and care. Here comes his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: . And on the other hand, and in direct answer to the question, we must focus on reading books that contain, first, the authentic Sunnah, and other books that clarify this Sunnah for us in all its aspects, whether related to tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and creed, or related to jurisprudential rulings, or related to morals and conduct. These last books are known as books of spiritual refinement (riqaq). We must choose from these books what is closest to purified Islam. It is not hidden from our audience, if Allah wills, that the most authentic books of the Sunnah are "Sahih al-Bukhari" and "Sahih Muslim." Then come the books whose authors intended to collect the authentic parts of the Sunnah, such as "Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah," "Sahih Ibn Hibban," "Sahih al-Mustadrak" by al-Hakim, "al-Muntakha" by Ibn al-Jarud, and similar books that contain the largest possible quantity of authentic Sunnah and hadiths. These books narrate hadiths with chains of narration. Then come other books that differ in style from the first group; they are stripped of chains of narration, and their function is to trace and attribute to those first types we mentioned. These are books called books of tracing (takhrij), for example, "Nasb al-Raayah li Ahadith al-Hidayah." It traces the hadiths of one of the most famous books of the Hanafis, which is "al-Hidayah." It traces the hadiths of rulings that appear in the madhhab of Imam Abu Hanifa (may Allah have mercy on him). Generally, this book clarifies what is authentic among them and what is not. Similarly, other books of tracing, such as "al-Talkhis al-Habir" by al-Hafiz Ahmad ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, which traces a book from the books of the Shafi'i imams. And also the book by al-Hafiz al-Iraqi titled "al-Mughni 'an Haml al-Asfar fi al-Asfar fi Takhrij ma fi al-Ihya' min al-Akhabar." The book "al-Ihya'"... Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings. And these big boys, O Abu al-Walid, if one of them enters, he does not greet you, so you should praise Allah...

The questioner : Praise be to Allah, he is coming to you, O Shaykh, what Allah willed, he is coming to speak.

The Shaykh : That is it.

The questioner : But just...

The Shaykh : But be careful, be careful, for each and every... as He (the Exalted) said: .

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : This is the book "Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din" (The Revival of the Religious Sciences), which combines fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and the science of conduct. It contains spiritual refinements, admonitions, what is called Sufism, and also the science of theology (kalam). It contains many hadiths, some of which fall into the category of weak and fabricated. Therefore, after it came al-Hafiz Abu al-Fadl al-Iraqi, who was one of the teachers of al-Hafiz Ahmad ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, whose book "al-Talkhis al-Habir" we mentioned earlier. Al-Hafiz al-Iraqi traced the book "al-Ihya'" and named it "al-Mughni 'an Haml al-Asfar," meaning the books in the journeys, in tracing what is in "al-Ihya'" of reports. Also, there are books explaining the famous hadiths on people's tongues, and these are very important books so that a person may be saved from narrating some of the famous hadiths on people's tongues that are not authentic. The oldest and best of them is the book by al-Hafiz al-Sakhawi, who was also a student of al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani. "Silsilah Dhahabiyyah Akhdhu Ba'dha bi Raqab Ba'dh" (A Golden Chain, Each Link Holding the Neck of the One Before It). Al-Sakhawi from al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar, and al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar from al-Hafiz al-Iraqi. Al-Sakhawi has a book titled "al-Maqasid al-Hasanah fi al-Ahadith al-Mashhurah 'ala al-Alsan" (The Noble Intents in the Famous Hadiths on the Tongues). After him came others who followed his path in tracing these hadiths, but few of them added to it except a little. Then it was completed by the one you know, Al-Albani, who brought "Silsilah al-Ahadith al-Da'ifah wa al-Mawdu'ah" (The Chain of Weak and Fabricated Hadiths). He has a total of twelve volumes, each volume containing five hundred hadiths. Two thousand have been printed so far, and a little remains? Four thousand is the total of the twelve volumes, because we added many, and very many, hadiths to those who preceded us, because I did not intend only the hadiths famous on the tongues, but also those scattered in books, whether jurisprudential, historical, prophetic biography, conduct, or similar. This is with regard to selecting authentic hadiths from the books of the Sunnah.