A caller presented to the Shaykh his work, which consists of an abridgment of *al-Majmu'* by al-Nawawi, and asked the Shaykh for advice.
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The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : Peace and mercy of Allah be upon you.
The questioner : How are you, my brother?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, I am well.
The questioner : I have a question, am I speaking to Shaykh Nasser? Yes.
The Shaykh : He is with you.
The questioner : Okay, my Shaykh, I have a question regarding Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him). Is his verification of hadiths relied upon?
The Shaykh : To some extent.
The questioner : To some extent.
The Shaykh : Yes, he is not like the others known for their excellence in the science of hadith, such as al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, al-Hafiz Zayn al-Din al-Iraqi, al-Hafiz al-Zayla'i, and others like them.
The questioner : Because I, by the grace of Allah, abridged the book *al-Majmu'*, the section on acts of worship, and presented it to Shaykh Ibn Baz, who then presented it to Shaykh al-Fawzan. They were amazed by the method of abridgment. However, Shaykh al-Fawzan finally gave me two observations. Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan said to me: Why did you not verify or judge the hadiths? As you know, in *al-Majmu'*, al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) judged the hadiths. So I was surprised by this observation, since Imam al-Nawawi had already judged them. Then, while I was comparing al-Nawawi's (may Allah have mercy on him) judgments with those of al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar, if there was a disagreement, I would add a note in the margin explaining that Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) weakened this hadith, whereas Imam al-Nawawi, for example, verified it in *al-Majmu'*. But if they agreed, I would not add a note. Do you think this is sufficient?
The Shaykh : Okay, what did the Shaykh ask of you?
The questioner : He did not ask me for anything, because I first sent the initial parts of the book, and he told me they were very good. Then I sent the final parts, and he said they follow the pattern of the first parts, except he noted two observations. First: he asks you to judge the hadiths that al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) cited. Second: to document the statements of scholars from other schools of jurisprudence. Regarding the issue of documenting the statements of the scholars from other schools that al-Nawawi mentioned, I think it is difficult for me because I abridged the book; I am not a researcher of it. I do not want to research it; I only want to abridge it. As for judging the hadiths that al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) cited, the Imam himself judged them. He did not leave a hadith, to my knowledge. You are fully familiar with *al-Majmu'*; do you remember it, my Shaykh? It is always in your books.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : As you know, Imam al-Nawawi judged the hadiths. And despite this, I compared his judgments with those of al-Hafiz in *al-Talkhis al-Habir* and found agreement in much of it. As for the little where he did not agree, I wrote comments on it. Here, for example, al-Hafiz says this hadith is weak or hasan or such, disagreeing with al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) where he disagrees. I do not know, honestly, especially since the book is now in the process of being printed, so I wanted to seek your fatwa on this matter.
The Shaykh : My brother, the Shaykh asked you for what is right, meaning the reality. But if you have established a methodology and mentioned it in the introduction that you only intended to abridge, then[Al-Baqarah 2:148].
The questioner : Okay, Shaykh, is documenting the statements of scholars part of the abridgment, or is this part of research?
The Shaykh : Peace be upon you. Did you get him a chair or not? Anyway, my brother, this request is reasonable. Do what you are able to do, otherwise Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity. Otherwise, your abridgment based only on comparing al-Nawawi's words with al-Asqalani's words is also a shortcoming, because al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar also sometimes deviates in judging some hadiths, and he may remain silent, and his silence may not be in its proper place, and so on. But the important thing is that Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity.
The questioner : They included it with the first observation, asking why I did not mention the page number and the part number. For example, the Imam mentioned a hadith and said "narrated by Abu Dawud in his *Sunan*." Is that not sufficient for tracing the hadith to its sources?
The Shaykh: No.
The questioner : Is it necessary to mention the page and the part?
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : Glory be to Allah, do you have the intention, my Shaykh, to research such a book, or is it difficult for you?
The Shaykh : Intentions are many, the scope of work is narrower, and life is shorter. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you, my Shaykh.
The Shaykh : May Allah preserve you.
The questioner : If its printing is facilitated, I may send you a copy, if Allah wills, so you can look at it.
The Shaykh : Good, if Allah wills.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good, my Shaykh. Do you advise us of anything?
The Shaykh : May you be safe, and I hope for you success.
The questioner: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : Peace and mercy of Allah be upon you.
The questioner : How are you, my brother?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, I am well.
The questioner : I have a question, am I speaking to Shaykh Nasser? Yes.
The Shaykh : He is with you.
The questioner : Okay, my Shaykh, I have a question regarding Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him). Is his verification of hadiths relied upon?
The Shaykh : To some extent.
The questioner : To some extent.
The Shaykh : Yes, he is not like the others known for their excellence in the science of hadith, such as al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, al-Hafiz Zayn al-Din al-Iraqi, al-Hafiz al-Zayla'i, and others like them.
The questioner : Because I, by the grace of Allah, abridged the book *al-Majmu'*, the section on acts of worship, and presented it to Shaykh Ibn Baz, who then presented it to Shaykh al-Fawzan. They were amazed by the method of abridgment. However, Shaykh al-Fawzan finally gave me two observations. Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan said to me: Why did you not verify or judge the hadiths? As you know, in *al-Majmu'*, al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) judged the hadiths. So I was surprised by this observation, since Imam al-Nawawi had already judged them. Then, while I was comparing al-Nawawi's (may Allah have mercy on him) judgments with those of al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar, if there was a disagreement, I would add a note in the margin explaining that Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) weakened this hadith, whereas Imam al-Nawawi, for example, verified it in *al-Majmu'*. But if they agreed, I would not add a note. Do you think this is sufficient?
The Shaykh : Okay, what did the Shaykh ask of you?
The questioner : He did not ask me for anything, because I first sent the initial parts of the book, and he told me they were very good. Then I sent the final parts, and he said they follow the pattern of the first parts, except he noted two observations. First: he asks you to judge the hadiths that al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) cited. Second: to document the statements of scholars from other schools of jurisprudence. Regarding the issue of documenting the statements of the scholars from other schools that al-Nawawi mentioned, I think it is difficult for me because I abridged the book; I am not a researcher of it. I do not want to research it; I only want to abridge it. As for judging the hadiths that al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) cited, the Imam himself judged them. He did not leave a hadith, to my knowledge. You are fully familiar with *al-Majmu'*; do you remember it, my Shaykh? It is always in your books.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : As you know, Imam al-Nawawi judged the hadiths. And despite this, I compared his judgments with those of al-Hafiz in *al-Talkhis al-Habir* and found agreement in much of it. As for the little where he did not agree, I wrote comments on it. Here, for example, al-Hafiz says this hadith is weak or hasan or such, disagreeing with al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) where he disagrees. I do not know, honestly, especially since the book is now in the process of being printed, so I wanted to seek your fatwa on this matter.
The Shaykh : My brother, the Shaykh asked you for what is right, meaning the reality. But if you have established a methodology and mentioned it in the introduction that you only intended to abridge, then
For each [religious following] is a direction toward which it faces. So race to [all that is] good.
لِكُلٍّ وِجْهَةٌ هُوَ مُوَلِّيهَا فَاسْتَبِقُوا الْخَيْرَاتِThe questioner : Okay, Shaykh, is documenting the statements of scholars part of the abridgment, or is this part of research?
The Shaykh : Peace be upon you. Did you get him a chair or not? Anyway, my brother, this request is reasonable. Do what you are able to do, otherwise Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity. Otherwise, your abridgment based only on comparing al-Nawawi's words with al-Asqalani's words is also a shortcoming, because al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar also sometimes deviates in judging some hadiths, and he may remain silent, and his silence may not be in its proper place, and so on. But the important thing is that Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity.
The questioner : They included it with the first observation, asking why I did not mention the page number and the part number. For example, the Imam mentioned a hadith and said "narrated by Abu Dawud in his *Sunan*." Is that not sufficient for tracing the hadith to its sources?
The Shaykh: No.
The questioner : Is it necessary to mention the page and the part?
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : Glory be to Allah, do you have the intention, my Shaykh, to research such a book, or is it difficult for you?
The Shaykh : Intentions are many, the scope of work is narrower, and life is shorter. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you, my Shaykh.
The Shaykh : May Allah preserve you.
The questioner : If its printing is facilitated, I may send you a copy, if Allah wills, so you can look at it.
The Shaykh : Good, if Allah wills.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good, my Shaykh. Do you advise us of anything?
The Shaykh : May you be safe, and I hope for you success.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.