The book *Al-Jami' al-Saghir* by al-Suyuti: Is it relied upon in its presentation of hadiths?
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The questioner : Peace be upon you, O Shaykh. The book *Al-Jami' al-Saghir* by al-Suyuti; do we rely on it in its presentation of all the hadiths? Or is there a difference of opinion?
The Shaykh : Do you mean the presentation, and what do you mean by that?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : I mean the attribution using symbols.
The questioner: Correct.
The Shaykh : No, that is not the work of *Al-Jami' al-Saghir*. Are you asking about my work or al-Suyuti's work?
The questioner : No, about al-Suyuti's work.
The Shaykh : It does not verify.
The questioner : The symbols he mentioned in his book.
The Shaykh : Yes, I am saying, do you mean the symbols, not the classifications of authentic, good, and weak?
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh : The symbols.
The questioner : In His Book.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The symbols are originally to be relied upon; because authenticity predominates in them, and sometimes there is a slip, either from him or from the copyist. And although this was not my work in it, except for clarifying the grades of the hadith sometimes, I pointed out in the commentary in the margin some of the errors that occurred in the symbols. And I mention among them, clearly, that in many instances the letter "ayn" shifts to "four," and "four" with him refers to the four compilers of the Sunan, and "ayn" means Abu Ya'la in his *Musnad*. So this letter "ayn" shifted in some copyists, and the book was printed with it written as "four"; meaning: the compilers of the Sunan, whereas the hadith is not with the compilers of the Sunan.
Such things happen, and this happens in every book; because, as was said about Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him): "Allah refused to complete anything except His Book." And often it shifts, not just in this *Jami'*, but also in some books of jurisprudence. It was narrated by al-Bukhari, but its original source was narrated by Ibn al-Najjar, so Ibn al-Najjar was distorted to al-Bukhari. And this is a very serious error; because the hadiths that Ibn al-Najjar narrates in his *Addition to the History of Baghdad* are predominantly weak if he is the sole narrator. So if the jurist attributed the hadith to Ibn al-Najjar, it means that the sources of tracing were so narrow for him that he did not find anyone to attribute the hadith to except Ibn al-Najjar. So it appears that the copyist was a man with no culture in knowledge, and specifically in hadith and the tracers of hadiths or narrators of hadiths. So perhaps he did not hear that there is a scholar named Ibn al-Najjar, and his hearing was filled with al-Bukhari, so he says this is an error from those before him, and Ibn al-Najjar intervenes and makes it al-Bukhari.
But the summary of this speech is that if there are some errors in any book from these symbols or others, that does not negate relying on it and valuing it; because no book is free from any error of this type or other. Rather, the criterion is what predominates in this book, as is the case with the author of the book. The criterion is the author: if his correctness is better than his error in the science in which he excelled, then he is the one to be trusted. As for seeking an author or a book that is free and infallible from error, that is contrary to the cosmic sunnah of Allah[Al-Ahzab 33:62].
Yes.
The Shaykh : Do you mean the presentation, and what do you mean by that?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : I mean the attribution using symbols.
The questioner: Correct.
The Shaykh : No, that is not the work of *Al-Jami' al-Saghir*. Are you asking about my work or al-Suyuti's work?
The questioner : No, about al-Suyuti's work.
The Shaykh : It does not verify.
The questioner : The symbols he mentioned in his book.
The Shaykh : Yes, I am saying, do you mean the symbols, not the classifications of authentic, good, and weak?
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh : The symbols.
The questioner : In His Book.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The symbols are originally to be relied upon; because authenticity predominates in them, and sometimes there is a slip, either from him or from the copyist. And although this was not my work in it, except for clarifying the grades of the hadith sometimes, I pointed out in the commentary in the margin some of the errors that occurred in the symbols. And I mention among them, clearly, that in many instances the letter "ayn" shifts to "four," and "four" with him refers to the four compilers of the Sunan, and "ayn" means Abu Ya'la in his *Musnad*. So this letter "ayn" shifted in some copyists, and the book was printed with it written as "four"; meaning: the compilers of the Sunan, whereas the hadith is not with the compilers of the Sunan.
Such things happen, and this happens in every book; because, as was said about Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him): "Allah refused to complete anything except His Book." And often it shifts, not just in this *Jami'*, but also in some books of jurisprudence. It was narrated by al-Bukhari, but its original source was narrated by Ibn al-Najjar, so Ibn al-Najjar was distorted to al-Bukhari. And this is a very serious error; because the hadiths that Ibn al-Najjar narrates in his *Addition to the History of Baghdad* are predominantly weak if he is the sole narrator. So if the jurist attributed the hadith to Ibn al-Najjar, it means that the sources of tracing were so narrow for him that he did not find anyone to attribute the hadith to except Ibn al-Najjar. So it appears that the copyist was a man with no culture in knowledge, and specifically in hadith and the tracers of hadiths or narrators of hadiths. So perhaps he did not hear that there is a scholar named Ibn al-Najjar, and his hearing was filled with al-Bukhari, so he says this is an error from those before him, and Ibn al-Najjar intervenes and makes it al-Bukhari.
But the summary of this speech is that if there are some errors in any book from these symbols or others, that does not negate relying on it and valuing it; because no book is free from any error of this type or other. Rather, the criterion is what predominates in this book, as is the case with the author of the book. The criterion is the author: if his correctness is better than his error in the science in which he excelled, then he is the one to be trusted. As for seeking an author or a book that is free and infallible from error, that is contrary to the cosmic sunnah of Allah
and you will not find in the way of Allah any change.
وَلَنْ تَجِدَ لِسُنَّةِ اللَّهِ تَبْدِيلًاYes.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.