Discussion of the three books of 'Abd al-Haqq al-Isbili: al-Ahkam al-Kubra, al-Ahkam al-Wusta, and al-Ahkam al-Sughra
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The Shaykh : One of them is al-Ahkam al-Kubra in reality, while the others are not.
The student : Shaykh, by Allah, these men, I know them... above the milk.
The Shaykh : There is a copy in the Zahiriyyah Library. I had started working on it about twenty years ago, and my son here is the one I had tasked with copying it. The book was copied, and I began editing it, but many scholarly distractions turned me away. The point is, I did not know that 'Abd al-Haqq al-Isbili had three books on rulings until after the copying. The copy in the Zahiriyyah Library is in a large volume with fine handwriting, and it is titled al-Ahkam al-Kubra. So I began working on it. Later, I learned that he had three books: al-Kubra, al-Wusta, and al-Sughra. I found al-Sughra in the Zahiriyyah Library, so the two books, al-Sughra and al-Kubra, are present in the Zahiriyyah Library, though the latter is so in name only, not in reality. Then I learned that in the Egyptian Library, what is its name, the one in Cairo...
The student : ...
The Shaykh : What?
The student : The Egyptian Library.
The Shaykh : The Egyptian Library has a copy of al-Ahkam al-Kubra. I asked some of our brothers to send me a picture of the first and second pages. At that point, it became clear to me that the writing on the Zahiriyyah copy, which is titled al-Ahkam al-Kubra, does not represent the reality. Because al-Ahkam al-Kubra by 'Abd al-Haqq al-Isbili, the difference between the three books is now apparent to you. In al-Ahkam al-Kubra, he presents hadiths with their chains of narration from the mother books and original sources, the six books and others. So if he quotes from al-Bukhari, he says "al-Bukhari said" and mentions the hadith with its chain. Similarly for Muslim, the four Sunan, and Musnad al-Bazzar, and so on. As for al-Ahkam that is truly al-Wusta, which is in the Zahiriyyah Library, the chains of narration have been abridged from it, and it discusses what should be discussed regarding the validity, goodness, or weakness of these hadiths. This is al-Wusta, and this is the one I had started commenting on. As for al-Sughra, it does not contain verification, but the text of its introduction states that he selected what is authentic from the rulings. He does not discuss them; it is most similar to Ibn Daqiq al-'Id's book, al-Ilmam bi-Ahadith al-Ahkam. And the truth, in my opinion at that time, is that he was very successful in selecting the authentic hadiths in al-Ahkam al-Sughra. This is an introduction to the following question: Is al-Ahkam al-Kubra that al-'Anbari verified the first one, which contains the chains of narration, or is it al-Wusta, which has the chains of narration removed?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good.
The questioner : Shall we start by asking you, Shaykh?
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The student : Shaykh, by Allah, these men, I know them... above the milk.
The Shaykh : There is a copy in the Zahiriyyah Library. I had started working on it about twenty years ago, and my son here is the one I had tasked with copying it. The book was copied, and I began editing it, but many scholarly distractions turned me away. The point is, I did not know that 'Abd al-Haqq al-Isbili had three books on rulings until after the copying. The copy in the Zahiriyyah Library is in a large volume with fine handwriting, and it is titled al-Ahkam al-Kubra. So I began working on it. Later, I learned that he had three books: al-Kubra, al-Wusta, and al-Sughra. I found al-Sughra in the Zahiriyyah Library, so the two books, al-Sughra and al-Kubra, are present in the Zahiriyyah Library, though the latter is so in name only, not in reality. Then I learned that in the Egyptian Library, what is its name, the one in Cairo...
The student : ...
The Shaykh : What?
The student : The Egyptian Library.
The Shaykh : The Egyptian Library has a copy of al-Ahkam al-Kubra. I asked some of our brothers to send me a picture of the first and second pages. At that point, it became clear to me that the writing on the Zahiriyyah copy, which is titled al-Ahkam al-Kubra, does not represent the reality. Because al-Ahkam al-Kubra by 'Abd al-Haqq al-Isbili, the difference between the three books is now apparent to you. In al-Ahkam al-Kubra, he presents hadiths with their chains of narration from the mother books and original sources, the six books and others. So if he quotes from al-Bukhari, he says "al-Bukhari said" and mentions the hadith with its chain. Similarly for Muslim, the four Sunan, and Musnad al-Bazzar, and so on. As for al-Ahkam that is truly al-Wusta, which is in the Zahiriyyah Library, the chains of narration have been abridged from it, and it discusses what should be discussed regarding the validity, goodness, or weakness of these hadiths. This is al-Wusta, and this is the one I had started commenting on. As for al-Sughra, it does not contain verification, but the text of its introduction states that he selected what is authentic from the rulings. He does not discuss them; it is most similar to Ibn Daqiq al-'Id's book, al-Ilmam bi-Ahadith al-Ahkam. And the truth, in my opinion at that time, is that he was very successful in selecting the authentic hadiths in al-Ahkam al-Sughra. This is an introduction to the following question: Is al-Ahkam al-Kubra that al-'Anbari verified the first one, which contains the chains of narration, or is it al-Wusta, which has the chains of narration removed?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good.
The questioner : Shall we start by asking you, Shaykh?
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.