A student reports to Shaykh Al-Albani the actions of one of the publishing houses in printing a book by Al-Suyuti titled *Ayah al-Kursi and Its Meanings and Virtues* and the deceptions of the book’s editors and the Shaykh’s comment on that.

The questioner : He says to me, "Do you know a book called *Ayah al-Kursi* by Imam Al-Suyuti?" I said to him, "By Allah, my brother, it has not actually come to my attention." He said, "In any case, it is at my home," and he said, "I want to bring it to you so you can see the hadiths in it and so on." I said, "Good, bring it." So, my Shaykh, it is now in my hands as you see.

The Shaykh : This is, Allah knows best, extracted from *Al-Durr al-Manthur*.

The questioner : May Allah be pleased with you, my Shaykh, and it is indeed so.

The Shaykh : Allah knows best.

The questioner : Yes, that is right. They will certainly declare it, but my Shaykh, glory be to Allah, these points, truly, we benefited from them, may Allah honor you, through your lessons and the matters you taught us. That people, my Shaykh, do not have taqwa (mindfulness of Allah) of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in these matters. Now, my Shaykh, the book is *Ayah al-Kursi and Its Meanings and Virtues* by Al-Hafiz Jalal al-Din Al-Suyuti. Here, the editing and commentary are by Yusuf al-Badri, and the review is by Dr. Muhammad Ahmad Ashur. Inside, they clearly state the truth, truly, this.

The Shaykh : What are they doing, I mean?

The questioner : They extracted it, yes.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : What caught my eye, my Shaykh, is that I looked at their takhrij (tracing of hadiths to sources), and there it was: "Al-Dailami narrated it," "Ibn Abi Shaybah narrated it," "Al-Darami narrated it," "Ibn Durrus narrated it," "So-and-so narrated it," "So-and-so narrated it." I mean, takhrij attributing to these books of the Sunnah, Abu Abdullah, my Shaykh.

Another questioner : My Shaykh, peace be upon you.

The questioner : The takhrij, which is, I mean, does not go beyond searching the indexes and so on, but now, my Shaykh, it occurred to me.

The Shaykh : Why is he not the one who extracted the hadith?

The questioner : Yes?

The Shaykh : You are quoting Al-Suyuti, not the one who extracted the hadith?

The questioner : I do not know. I say: My Shaykh, now it occurred to me that perhaps these takhrij are Al-Suyuti’s own takhrij!

The Shaykh : I am not telling you that, I mean, this would be like Al-Sabuni in *Mukhtasar Ibn Kathir*.

The questioner : Yes, yes, this, my Shaykh, I want to say.

The Shaykh : Okay, do you have the book now with you?

The questioner : Yes, it is in my hands, my Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Okay, read any hadith so we can see.

The questioner : Yes, my Shaykh, here—for example—he says.

The Shaykh : Keep it brief!

The questioner : Brief, okay, my Shaykh, good, this is brief. Here is an athar (report), my Shaykh, does this proceed?

The Shaykh : It proceeds.

The questioner : "From Ibn Mas'ud: إن أعظم آية في كتاب الله : اللَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ The greatest verse in the Book of Allah is: Allah, there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsisting. Four, narrated by Sa'id ibn Mansur, Ibn al-Mundhir, Al-Tabarani, and Al-Harawi in *Fada'il*, and Al-Bayhaqi in *Shu'ab al-Iman*."

The Shaykh : This is certainly how they did it, God is greater over them!

The questioner : I said: My Shaykh, in books, truly, for the first time I hear of them, for example, like this book of Ibn Durrus. I said: This book, I mean, we have not heard of it in the world of printed books, we do not know, do you understand, my Shaykh, is this printed?

The Shaykh : No, no, it is not printed; it exists as a manuscript in the Zahiriyyah Library.

The questioner : Glory be to Allah, then this is a strange tadlis (concealment of a defect), my Shaykh.

The Shaykh : *Fada'il al-Quran* by Ibn Durrus...

The questioner : I, yesterday, certainly, for the first time heard of this man, so I said: I will go back to what? To his biography, and indeed I searched for his biography.

The Shaykh : Do you not have *Al-Durr al-Manthur* by Al-Suyuti?

The questioner : No, by Allah, my Shaykh, unfortunately, I do not have it.

The Shaykh : Now you will see, a copy of the original, they are transferring it.

The questioner : By Allah, my Shaykh.

The Shaykh : I mean, they are taking it from the top and bringing it down to the bottom.

The questioner : A strange tadlis, my Shaykh, this!

The Shaykh : I seek refuge in Allah.

The questioner : I said: Glory be to Allah! Then, my Shaykh, the matter is not here; the greater thing is, look at the conclusion, and this means you will find arrogance.

The Shaykh : Yes, the questioner said: "Conclusion, and after this: This booklet, which does not go beyond being a chapter from the book *Al-Durr al-Manthur fi al-Tafsir al-Ma'thur* by Al-Hafiz Jalal al-Din ibn Abd al-Rahman Al-Suyuti, we have extracted it to shed light on it, for the importance its subject carries for every Muslim, and we separated it from the book to increase its clarity and brilliance. We note that we are in the presence of one of the great hafiz (memorizers), and yet some weak narrations have been reported in his book, so we added to it what is authentic and commented at the bottom of every page on the status of the athar or khabar (reports) he cited, as he had corroborating evidence that strengthens it or it was weak and could be supported. We hasten to state that Al-Hafiz Al-Suyuti, for his scholarly integrity, pointed out every source for every narration he cited. In any case, we have prepared an introduction in which we gathered what is authentic regarding the virtues of the noble verse, Ayah al-Kursi, and what one can be reassured to accept and act upon from authentic or good news. We spared no effort in verifying the texts and tracking the corroborating evidence and athar in their proper places, and we do not claim to have reached perfection, and Allah is the one who grants success and is sought for help." Glory be to Allah, my Shaykh! The one who reads this conclusion will think that the group, I mean, glory be to Allah.

The Shaykh : Okay, are they doing anything other than these comments and the takhrij they are stealing from the original?

The questioner : No, my Shaykh, the third verse of Surat Yunus.

The Shaykh : Okay, where are the corroborating evidence and so on that they are talking about?

The questioner : By Allah, my Shaykh, so I was actually stopped by some of the takhrij, so I want to read them to you since now we said that this is by Al-Suyuti and it has strange matters, my Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : For example, the takhrij of a hadith as he says: "Ibn al-Sunni narrated it, and in the hadith there is a weak or unknown man," does Al-Suyuti say this?

The Shaykh : Rarely, I mean, it is not possible, but bring another one?

The questioner : Another one, okay, my Shaykh, here, here he says: "Sa'id ibn Mansur, Al-Hakim, and Al-Bayhaqi in *Al-Shu'ab* narrated it, and Al-Hakim authenticated it, and they did not narrate it, so said: Ibn Kathir," so it seems this became a reversal of words for them, yes, here is another observation we have, he says, he says: "Al-Nasa'i, Abu Ya'la, Ibn Hibban, and Abu al-Shaykh in *Al-'Uzma*, and Al-Tabarani narrated it, and he authenticated it and said: They did not narrate it."

The Shaykh : I seek refuge in Allah!

The questioner : I mean, the takhrij of Al-Hakim, I do not know how they are attributing it to these imams. Here there is also, I think, an observation, my Shaykh, I was surprised to mention it, because there is no benefit in it, but now since we said it is from Al-Suyuti, I do not think it is surprising that he says: "Ibn al-Najjar in *Tarikh Baghdad* narrated it, and Ibn al-Jawzi in *Al-Mawdu'at* mentioned a narration like this narration from Jabir." I think this is normal, my Shaykh, there is nothing wrong with it, but I said: If they say: It was narrated by, Al-Hakim narrated it in *Tarikh Baghdad*, what kind of takhrij is this?! Glory be to Allah!

The Shaykh : Glory be to Allah.