Explanation of the introduction to the book Bulugh al-Maram by Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him), which is his saying: (In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy
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The Shaykh : Shall we begin? Listen.
The reader: In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. Peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his book "Bulugh al-Maram, the Book of Purification" ..
The Shaykh : No, it is the introduction.
The reader: He (may Allah have mercy on him) said in the book Bulugh al-Maram from the Evidence of Rulings:
"Praise be to Allah for His apparent and hidden blessings, past and present, and peace and blessings be upon His Prophet and Messenger Muhammad, his family, and his Companions, who walked in support of His religion with a swift pace, and upon their followers who inherited their knowledge. The scholars are the heirs of the Prophets; may they be honored as both heirs and those from whom the inheritance is received. As for what follows:
This is a concise work that includes the foundations of the hadith evidence for rulings. I have formulated it with utmost precision so that whoever memorizes it among his peers becomes distinguished".
The Shaykh : Among his peers.
The reader: So that whoever memorizes it among?
The Shaykh : Among his peers.
The reader: "So that whoever memorizes it among his peers becomes distinguished, and the beginner student can benefit from it, and the advanced seeker cannot do without it. I have specified, after each hadith".
The Shaykh : How is "after" pronounced? I have "after" (aqib), and if it is not so, it is "after" (aqib) and not "after" (uqayb).
The student: It is marked with a shaddah as "after" (uqayb).
The Shaykh : No, that is a mistake. We have "after" (aqib).
The reader: "I have specified, after each hadith, which of the Imams narrated it, intending to advise the Muslim community. The seven referred to are: Ahmad, al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i, and Ibn Majah. The six are: all except Ahmad. The five are: all except al-Bukhari and Muslim. I may say the four and Ahmad. The four are: all except the first three" ..
The Shaykh : All except.
The reader: "The four are: all except the first three".
The Shaykh : No, "the first ones," "all except the first three"
The reader: "The four are: all except the first three. The three are: all except them and the last one" ..
The Shaykh : And except the last one, "all except them and except the last one".
The reader: "Agreed upon refers to al-Bukhari and Muslim, and I may not mention the others with them. Everything else is clarified. I named it Bulugh al-Maram from the Evidence of Rulings. I ask Allah not to make what we have learned a burden upon us, and to grant us the ability to act upon what pleases Him, Glorified and Exalted is He".
The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
As for what follows: This night is the night of Monday, the eleventh of the month of Jumada al-Ula in the year 1417, and with it we begin our study of Bulugh al-Maram. We ask Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, to grant us all the goal in this world and the Hereafter.
Know first that the foundations of the evidence for the rulings by which Allah has obligated us are two things: the Book and the Sunnah. What is authentic from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) from the Sunnah has the same status as the Book in its entirety, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) warned against those who act upon the Qur'an but do not act upon the Sunnah. He said: meaning: and we do not follow what is not in the Book of Allah. And the meaning of the Messenger saying: is: I do not find it upon that. This is a warning from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to those who take what is in the Qur'an but do not take what is in the Sunnah. So the two foundations upon which the rulings by which Allah has obligated us are built are: the Book and the Sunnah. As for consensus, it is evidence based on the Book and the Sunnah; without the Book and the Sunnah, consensus would not be evidence. Therefore, it is established by the Book and the Sunnah. Likewise, analogical reasoning is established by the Book and the Sunnah, and without the Book and the Sunnah, analogical reasoning would not become evidence. Thus, the establishment of analogical reasoning as evidence was only by the Book and the Sunnah, and the establishment of consensus as evidence was only by the Book and the Sunnah. And at that point, the evidence by which rulings are established is limited to what?
The student: The Book and the Sunnah.
The Shaykh : By the Book and the Sunnah. Good. After this, we say: The Noble Book does not require examination to establish its authenticity, because it is established by the path of mass transmission that yields certain knowledge, which is not subject to doubt or hesitation, because the Muslim community transmitted it generation after generation, and the young from the old, and no one differed on it. For this reason, the scholars said that whoever denies a single letter from the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, that is not a recitation, is like one who denies the Qur'an in its entirety, and thus becomes a disbeliever. So the one who examines the Noble Book of Allah does not need what?
The student: Examination of its authenticity.
The Shaykh : To examine its authenticity. Why? Because it is established by the evidence, by the certain mass transmission that is not subject to doubt. But it requires examination of its indication of the ruling. It requires examination of its indication of the ruling. This is where people differ greatly and extensively. Perhaps some people derive more than one ruling from a single verse, even dozens of rulings, while another derives little or nothing from it. For this reason, when Abu Juhayfa asked Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him): "Did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) leave you with anything?" meaning, it might be said that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) bequeathed the caliphate to Ali ibn Abi Talib, or something similar to what was spread, which the Shi'ah spread at that time. He (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "No, by He who splits the seed and creates the soul, He did not leave us with anything except understanding". And here there is a disconnected exception: "except understanding that Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, grants to one in His Book, or what is in this sheet. He said: What is in this sheet? He said: Intellect, freeing the captive, and that a Muslim not be killed for a disbeliever". The point is his saying: "except understanding", for people differ greatly in their understanding of the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. It is not hidden from us that the principles of exegesis or the rules of exegesis indicate that the first thing by which the Qur'an is interpreted is the Qur'an, because the whole is the speech of Allah, and Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, knows best what He intends by His speech. Then by the Sunnah, then by the sayings of the Companions, especially the jurists among them, then by the sayings of the Tabi'un who took exegesis from the Companions. As for the Sunnah, the one who examines it to establish the ruling needs two things:
The first thing: Its establishment from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
The second point is their indication of the ruling. The Qur'an and the Sunnah share this last aspect, which is the indication of the ruling. However, the Sunnah is unique in that, regarding its establishment from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), what is attributed to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) includes what is authentic, what is good, what is weak, and what is fabricated and falsely attributed to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). For this reason, people needed to know how the attribution to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was verified. So they compiled great hadith books and the rules to be observed, and also books on the men (narrators) and an explanation of their conditions. Then they also compiled the history of the narrators' births and deaths, because the one looking into this needs to know the men and their conditions: are they just or not just? Are they preservers of hadith or not? Then he needs the history of their lives and deaths in order to be safe from judging a chain as connected when it is actually broken. Because if a shaykh died before a certain time, and someone attributed a narration to him whom he did not meet, we know that this narration is broken. Therefore, there must be effort in establishing the Sunnah or in establishing what is attributed to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Consequently, we needed the science of the men (narrators), the science of hadith terminology and its rules, and the review of the scholars' books regarding hadith, which is a broad and tiring field. People, for a long period of time, did not pay much attention to this because they were engrossed in defining the schools of jurisprudence, refining them, and branching out from them. But recently, praise be to Allah, people began to take an interest in the science of hadith, looking into the chain of the hadith, the text of the hadith, and the words of the scholars regarding it. So there has become a great interest in seeking the science of hadith, which is a necessity.
Then the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) compiled books on hadith in various ways. Some compiled them by chapters, some by musnads, and some by history regarding the deaths of the narrators, and so on, as is known in the science of terminology. Among those who compiled by chapters was a judge in Egypt in his time, 'Ali ibn Ahmad ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani (may Allah have mercy on him). He compiled this blessed book, which is "Bulugh al-Maram min Adillat al-Ahkam". It is a concise book, but it is of great benefit. If Allah the Exalted were to grant success to someone to explain it with a comprehensive explanation, such that he speaks about the hadith that requires discussion of its chain and its establishment, and also speaks about its vocabulary in terms of linguistic and legal meaning, and then explains the hadith by clarifying its causes and the circumstances in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) spoke this hadith, and also clarifies the benefits, if this book were granted such an explanation, it would be many volumes and would contain much benefit. But people are mostly inclined to love brevity, out of fear of boredom on one hand, and to avoid hardship and burden. We ask Allah to reward its author with good and to benefit us with it.
The reader: In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. Peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his book "Bulugh al-Maram, the Book of Purification" ..
The Shaykh : No, it is the introduction.
The reader: He (may Allah have mercy on him) said in the book Bulugh al-Maram from the Evidence of Rulings:
"Praise be to Allah for His apparent and hidden blessings, past and present, and peace and blessings be upon His Prophet and Messenger Muhammad, his family, and his Companions, who walked in support of His religion with a swift pace, and upon their followers who inherited their knowledge. The scholars are the heirs of the Prophets; may they be honored as both heirs and those from whom the inheritance is received. As for what follows:
This is a concise work that includes the foundations of the hadith evidence for rulings. I have formulated it with utmost precision so that whoever memorizes it among his peers becomes distinguished".
The Shaykh : Among his peers.
The reader: So that whoever memorizes it among?
The Shaykh : Among his peers.
The reader: "So that whoever memorizes it among his peers becomes distinguished, and the beginner student can benefit from it, and the advanced seeker cannot do without it. I have specified, after each hadith".
The Shaykh : How is "after" pronounced? I have "after" (aqib), and if it is not so, it is "after" (aqib) and not "after" (uqayb).
The student: It is marked with a shaddah as "after" (uqayb).
The Shaykh : No, that is a mistake. We have "after" (aqib).
The reader: "I have specified, after each hadith, which of the Imams narrated it, intending to advise the Muslim community. The seven referred to are: Ahmad, al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i, and Ibn Majah. The six are: all except Ahmad. The five are: all except al-Bukhari and Muslim. I may say the four and Ahmad. The four are: all except the first three" ..
The Shaykh : All except.
The reader: "The four are: all except the first three".
The Shaykh : No, "the first ones," "all except the first three"
The reader: "The four are: all except the first three. The three are: all except them and the last one" ..
The Shaykh : And except the last one, "all except them and except the last one".
The reader: "Agreed upon refers to al-Bukhari and Muslim, and I may not mention the others with them. Everything else is clarified. I named it Bulugh al-Maram from the Evidence of Rulings. I ask Allah not to make what we have learned a burden upon us, and to grant us the ability to act upon what pleases Him, Glorified and Exalted is He".
The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
As for what follows: This night is the night of Monday, the eleventh of the month of Jumada al-Ula in the year 1417, and with it we begin our study of Bulugh al-Maram. We ask Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, to grant us all the goal in this world and the Hereafter.
Know first that the foundations of the evidence for the rulings by which Allah has obligated us are two things: the Book and the Sunnah. What is authentic from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) from the Sunnah has the same status as the Book in its entirety, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) warned against those who act upon the Qur'an but do not act upon the Sunnah. He said:
It is near that one of you will be leaning on his couch, and a matter from my affair will come to him, and he will say: We do not know! We did not find it in the Book of Allah, so we do not follow it!
يوشك أن يكون أحدكم متّكئًا على أريكته يأتيه الأمر من أمري، يقول: ما ندري! ما وجدنا في كتاب الله اتّبعناه!I will not find one of you leaning on his couch
لاألفينّ أحدكم على أريكتهThe student: The Book and the Sunnah.
The Shaykh : By the Book and the Sunnah. Good. After this, we say: The Noble Book does not require examination to establish its authenticity, because it is established by the path of mass transmission that yields certain knowledge, which is not subject to doubt or hesitation, because the Muslim community transmitted it generation after generation, and the young from the old, and no one differed on it. For this reason, the scholars said that whoever denies a single letter from the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, that is not a recitation, is like one who denies the Qur'an in its entirety, and thus becomes a disbeliever. So the one who examines the Noble Book of Allah does not need what?
The student: Examination of its authenticity.
The Shaykh : To examine its authenticity. Why? Because it is established by the evidence, by the certain mass transmission that is not subject to doubt. But it requires examination of its indication of the ruling. It requires examination of its indication of the ruling. This is where people differ greatly and extensively. Perhaps some people derive more than one ruling from a single verse, even dozens of rulings, while another derives little or nothing from it. For this reason, when Abu Juhayfa asked Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him): "Did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) leave you with anything?" meaning, it might be said that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) bequeathed the caliphate to Ali ibn Abi Talib, or something similar to what was spread, which the Shi'ah spread at that time. He (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "No, by He who splits the seed and creates the soul, He did not leave us with anything except understanding". And here there is a disconnected exception: "except understanding that Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, grants to one in His Book, or what is in this sheet. He said: What is in this sheet? He said: Intellect, freeing the captive, and that a Muslim not be killed for a disbeliever". The point is his saying: "except understanding", for people differ greatly in their understanding of the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. It is not hidden from us that the principles of exegesis or the rules of exegesis indicate that the first thing by which the Qur'an is interpreted is the Qur'an, because the whole is the speech of Allah, and Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, knows best what He intends by His speech. Then by the Sunnah, then by the sayings of the Companions, especially the jurists among them, then by the sayings of the Tabi'un who took exegesis from the Companions. As for the Sunnah, the one who examines it to establish the ruling needs two things:
The first thing: Its establishment from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
The second point is their indication of the ruling. The Qur'an and the Sunnah share this last aspect, which is the indication of the ruling. However, the Sunnah is unique in that, regarding its establishment from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), what is attributed to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) includes what is authentic, what is good, what is weak, and what is fabricated and falsely attributed to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). For this reason, people needed to know how the attribution to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was verified. So they compiled great hadith books and the rules to be observed, and also books on the men (narrators) and an explanation of their conditions. Then they also compiled the history of the narrators' births and deaths, because the one looking into this needs to know the men and their conditions: are they just or not just? Are they preservers of hadith or not? Then he needs the history of their lives and deaths in order to be safe from judging a chain as connected when it is actually broken. Because if a shaykh died before a certain time, and someone attributed a narration to him whom he did not meet, we know that this narration is broken. Therefore, there must be effort in establishing the Sunnah or in establishing what is attributed to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Consequently, we needed the science of the men (narrators), the science of hadith terminology and its rules, and the review of the scholars' books regarding hadith, which is a broad and tiring field. People, for a long period of time, did not pay much attention to this because they were engrossed in defining the schools of jurisprudence, refining them, and branching out from them. But recently, praise be to Allah, people began to take an interest in the science of hadith, looking into the chain of the hadith, the text of the hadith, and the words of the scholars regarding it. So there has become a great interest in seeking the science of hadith, which is a necessity.
Then the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) compiled books on hadith in various ways. Some compiled them by chapters, some by musnads, and some by history regarding the deaths of the narrators, and so on, as is known in the science of terminology. Among those who compiled by chapters was a judge in Egypt in his time, 'Ali ibn Ahmad ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani (may Allah have mercy on him). He compiled this blessed book, which is "Bulugh al-Maram min Adillat al-Ahkam". It is a concise book, but it is of great benefit. If Allah the Exalted were to grant success to someone to explain it with a comprehensive explanation, such that he speaks about the hadith that requires discussion of its chain and its establishment, and also speaks about its vocabulary in terms of linguistic and legal meaning, and then explains the hadith by clarifying its causes and the circumstances in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) spoke this hadith, and also clarifies the benefits, if this book were granted such an explanation, it would be many volumes and would contain much benefit. But people are mostly inclined to love brevity, out of fear of boredom on one hand, and to avoid hardship and burden. We ask Allah to reward its author with good and to benefit us with it.