Discussion of the book *Sahih Sunan Abi Dawud al-Am*.
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The questioner : I would like to ask about "Sahih Abi Dawud" or about your expanded takhrij of Abi Dawud, which follows the model of "Irwaa al-Ghalil." How far have you gotten, and when?
The Shaykh : By Allah, my teacher, I have been working on it since I started, and when I was in Damascus, it was not done in a regular and continuous manner, but rather in an intermittent way. Then, when I came to Amman, I also was not able to continue to complete it except in intermittent bursts. The reality is that I have now reached the end of the third quarter, so I have approximately one quarter of the book remaining until its takhrij is completed, if Allah wills, in the manner you mentioned.
The questioner : If it were printed in parts.
The Shaykh : I do not see that, may Allah reward you, because I feel that in my practice of this knowledge, first, and due to the many new publications and manuscripts that are emerging, which are considered basic references in the science of hadith, it is not permissible to publish a book until it is completed. This is because I may refer to a place where I later add what I missed before due to these new publications. And speaking of which, I published long ago, and perhaps you have seen it, the first part of "Sahih al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib." Now, there are efforts to complete the publication of the rest of the book, the second and third parts. I used to extract the essence from my commentary, which I called "al-Ta'liq al-Raghib 'ala al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib," and place it in "Sahih al-Targhib" and "Da'if al-Targib." Although I had finished "al-Ta'liq al-Raghib" long ago when I was in Damascus, now, due to the many sources that have been published and printed, especially since the book of Targhib, as you may not be unaware, attributes many hadiths to some of these sources that were not available at that time, either as manuscripts, let alone printed, such as the three Musnads of al-Tabarani, for example "Musnad al-Bazzar," and so on, many precious sources that are... regarding the six books, I was forced at that time to rely on the scholars of hadith who preceded us and had these references, such as al-Hafiz al-Mundhiri, and similarly al-Haythami, al-'Asqalani, and others like them. So when al-Hafiz al-Mundhiri mentions a hadith and says, "al-Tabarani narrated it with a good chain," I have no choice but to rely on him and include it in "Sahih al-Targhib." And so it is with others who attributed to such precious sources for us. Now that some of these sources have been printed, I find that there are notes on such validation or weakening, or similar matters. And peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Welcome. How are you today? Are you well? Praise be to Allah. So the point is, because of these sources that are new for us, I was forced to reconsider all the commentaries, that is, "al-Ta'liq al-Raghib," even the first part that had been printed before, in about two editions, many and very many rulings change. Some of them may strengthen a hadith that I had included in the weak section with some chains that I find in these new sources. And it may be the opposite; it may be that in those sources we relied on, we find a defect that does not allow us to keep it in the authentic section, so we move it to the weak section. And so on. This will happen exactly in "Sahih Abi Dawud" because it was compiled long ago, and now there are new sources that help us increase the verification. Therefore, in reality, I say, or I used to say and I still do, a word that experience has led me to: that knowledge does not accept stagnation, and that any book compiled years ago, whose author is alive, if he prints it as he compiled it in the old days, this does not mean he is advising those who publish the book among them. It is necessary to reconsider it from time to time in light of what is found of sources and works that are old in compilation but new in publication. This is the answer to what you asked about "Sahih Abi Dawud."
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : By Allah, my teacher, I have been working on it since I started, and when I was in Damascus, it was not done in a regular and continuous manner, but rather in an intermittent way. Then, when I came to Amman, I also was not able to continue to complete it except in intermittent bursts. The reality is that I have now reached the end of the third quarter, so I have approximately one quarter of the book remaining until its takhrij is completed, if Allah wills, in the manner you mentioned.
The questioner : If it were printed in parts.
The Shaykh : I do not see that, may Allah reward you, because I feel that in my practice of this knowledge, first, and due to the many new publications and manuscripts that are emerging, which are considered basic references in the science of hadith, it is not permissible to publish a book until it is completed. This is because I may refer to a place where I later add what I missed before due to these new publications. And speaking of which, I published long ago, and perhaps you have seen it, the first part of "Sahih al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib." Now, there are efforts to complete the publication of the rest of the book, the second and third parts. I used to extract the essence from my commentary, which I called "al-Ta'liq al-Raghib 'ala al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib," and place it in "Sahih al-Targhib" and "Da'if al-Targib." Although I had finished "al-Ta'liq al-Raghib" long ago when I was in Damascus, now, due to the many sources that have been published and printed, especially since the book of Targhib, as you may not be unaware, attributes many hadiths to some of these sources that were not available at that time, either as manuscripts, let alone printed, such as the three Musnads of al-Tabarani, for example "Musnad al-Bazzar," and so on, many precious sources that are... regarding the six books, I was forced at that time to rely on the scholars of hadith who preceded us and had these references, such as al-Hafiz al-Mundhiri, and similarly al-Haythami, al-'Asqalani, and others like them. So when al-Hafiz al-Mundhiri mentions a hadith and says, "al-Tabarani narrated it with a good chain," I have no choice but to rely on him and include it in "Sahih al-Targhib." And so it is with others who attributed to such precious sources for us. Now that some of these sources have been printed, I find that there are notes on such validation or weakening, or similar matters. And peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Welcome. How are you today? Are you well? Praise be to Allah. So the point is, because of these sources that are new for us, I was forced to reconsider all the commentaries, that is, "al-Ta'liq al-Raghib," even the first part that had been printed before, in about two editions, many and very many rulings change. Some of them may strengthen a hadith that I had included in the weak section with some chains that I find in these new sources. And it may be the opposite; it may be that in those sources we relied on, we find a defect that does not allow us to keep it in the authentic section, so we move it to the weak section. And so on. This will happen exactly in "Sahih Abi Dawud" because it was compiled long ago, and now there are new sources that help us increase the verification. Therefore, in reality, I say, or I used to say and I still do, a word that experience has led me to: that knowledge does not accept stagnation, and that any book compiled years ago, whose author is alive, if he prints it as he compiled it in the old days, this does not mean he is advising those who publish the book among them. It is necessary to reconsider it from time to time in light of what is found of sources and works that are old in compilation but new in publication. This is the answer to what you asked about "Sahih Abi Dawud."
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : May Allah bless you.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.