The Shaykh’s remarks on his scholarly experience at the al-Zahiriyyah Library and the manuscripts he consulted.
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The Shaykh : It contains valuable manuscripts, and I extracted what was in them. The number of manuscripts reached, or rather exceeded, three thousand, ranging from small treatises to massive volumes of a hundred pages or more. This is all happening now, and it was not by my planning, for I am a weak servant, but it is the decree of the Almighty, the All-Knowing. If our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [Al-A'raf 7:188], I never had in my mind, nor did it occur to me, that I would migrate again, as I had migrated with my father the first time from Albania to Syria. It never occurred to me that I would migrate again from my place of exile in Damascus to Amman, until I prepared for such copies and manuscripts. I used to say, "One day I will travel to the al-Zahiriyyah Library," and where would my reference be at that time? I had no reference. So it was Allah who put it in my mind to undertake this project as a resource to be ready for me. As for whether I would need it, that was not in my mind at all. So, glory be to Allah, glory be to Allah. It is now my sustenance and material for my projects, which I hope Allah (Mighty and Majestic) will help me to complete. These fall under the general project, which you must have read about, titled "Bringing the Sunnah Closer to the Ummah." Despite the amount printed since that time, and when many universities and university students opened up to the value of hadith science first, and the manuscripts stored in the libraries of the scholars second, I praise Allah abundantly that I know, by the grace of Allah upon me, that I was the cause for opening the minds of the Islamic world in its universities, among its university professors and doctors, to this precious treasure. That is from the grace of Allah upon us and upon people. And the Islamic University has the first merit over all other universities, because through my index of the manuscripts of the al-Zahiriyyah Library, which I compiled, you must have seen this book? The Index of Manuscripts.
The questioner : of the al-Zahiriyyah Library.
The Shaykh : of the al-Zahiriyyah Library. Yes, indeed. It is a volume that is now being reprinted with some editing, with the help of some brothers. The point is that when I was at the university, the university administration wrote to the al-Zahiriyyah Library to photocopy all the manuscripts indexed in this volume. So the al-Zahiriyyah Library transferred these manuscripts, photocopied, to the university. Now, the university draws from it many theses, and even books are being printed now that were manuscripts in my time. And my effort at that time was limited to studying manuscripts, some of whose scripts are barely readable except with great difficulty. The story of each one individually is enough for you, for example. Yes, indeed. Now, and praise be to Allah, there is an interest in publishing these treasures, not only those in the al-Zahiriyyah Library, but in the libraries of the world, even those in the possession of the disbelievers, whom they had stolen from the Muslims by one means or another when they colonized them. So we ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to grant me success in completing the project. And now, as I told you, I am in the process of correcting the proofs of the sixth volume of "Al-Sahihah." And before this meeting, at this very moment, I was studying this hadith: "I warn you of the Dajjal three times." The Messenger (peace be upon him) said:Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 38:394. Some commentaries say that it is al-Khidr, and this stems from the superstition that al-Khidr is still alive, whereas he is a man, and Allah knows best who he is. - Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Excuse me. This is hadith number 2924 in this sixth volume.
The questioner: Allah is the Greatest!
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed, and may Allah protect you, if Allah wills.
And if I knew the unseen, I could have acquired much wealth, and no harm would have touched me.
وَلَوْ كُنْتُ أَعْلَمُ الْغَيْبَ لَاسْتَكْثَرْتُ مِنَ الْخَيْرِ وَمَا مَسَّنِيَ السُّوءُThe questioner : of the al-Zahiriyyah Library.
The Shaykh : of the al-Zahiriyyah Library. Yes, indeed. It is a volume that is now being reprinted with some editing, with the help of some brothers. The point is that when I was at the university, the university administration wrote to the al-Zahiriyyah Library to photocopy all the manuscripts indexed in this volume. So the al-Zahiriyyah Library transferred these manuscripts, photocopied, to the university. Now, the university draws from it many theses, and even books are being printed now that were manuscripts in my time. And my effort at that time was limited to studying manuscripts, some of whose scripts are barely readable except with great difficulty. The story of each one individually is enough for you, for example. Yes, indeed. Now, and praise be to Allah, there is an interest in publishing these treasures, not only those in the al-Zahiriyyah Library, but in the libraries of the world, even those in the possession of the disbelievers, whom they had stolen from the Muslims by one means or another when they colonized them. So we ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to grant me success in completing the project. And now, as I told you, I am in the process of correcting the proofs of the sixth volume of "Al-Sahihah." And before this meeting, at this very moment, I was studying this hadith: "I warn you of the Dajjal three times." The Messenger (peace be upon him) said:
For there was no prophet except that he warned his nation of him, and he is among you, O nation. And he is a curly-haired man, with his left eye rubbed out. And with him is a garden and a fire; his fire is a garden, and his garden is a fire. And with him is a river of water and mountains of bread. And he is given power over a soul, so he kills it, then he revives it, and he is not given power over any other.
فإنه لم يكن نبيٌّ إلا وقد أنذره أمته ، وإنه فيكم أيتها الأمة ، وإنه جعد آدم ممسوح العين اليسرى ، وإن معه جنة ونارًا ، فناره جنة ، وجنَّته نار ، وإن معه نهر ماء وجبال خبز ، وإنه يسلط على نفس فيقتلها ، ثم يحييها ولا يُسلَّط على غيرهاAnd he causes the sky to rain.
وإنه يمطر السماءAnd he causes the earth to sprout.
وإنه ينبت في الأرضAnd he remains on the earth for forty mornings, until he reaches every spring. And he does not approach four mosques: the Sacred Mosque, the Prophet’s Mosque, the Holy Mosque, and the Mount. And whatever is like these things for you, then Allah is not one-eyed; Allah is not one-eyed.
وإنه يثبت في الأرض أربعين صباحًا حتى يبلغ منها كلَّ منهل ، وإنه لا يقرب أربع مساجد : المسجد الحرام ، ومسجد الرسول ، ومسجد المقدس ، والطور ، وما شبه عليكم من الأشياء فإن الله ليس بأعور ، إن الله ليس بأعورThe questioner: Allah is the Greatest!
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed, and may Allah protect you, if Allah wills.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.