الرُّؤْيَا الْحَسَنَةُ مِنَ اللَّهِ، فَإِذَا رَأَى أَحَدُكُمْ مَا يُحِبُّ، فَلا يُحَدِّثْ بِهِ إِلا مَنْ يُحِبُّ، وَإِذَا رَأَى مَا يَكْرَهُ، فَلْيَتَعَوَّذْ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شَرِّهَا، وَمِنْ شَرِّ الشَّيْطَانِ، وَلْيَتْفِلْ ثَلاثًا، وَلا يُحَدِّثْ بِهَا أَحَدًا فَإِنَّهَا لَنْ تَضُرَّهُ

On authority of Abu Qatadah, he said, ‘I heard the Prophet SAWS saying: “The good dream is from Allah, thus when one of you sees what he likes, then he should not relate it except to who he likes well, and when he sees what he dislikes, then seek refuge in Allah from its evil and from the evil of Shaytan and let him spit dryly 3 times and do not relate it to anyone, thus it will never harm him” [Sahih al-Bukhari #7044, Muslim #2261]

I translated ‘man yuhibbu’ as ‘who he likes well’ instead of ‘who he loves’ since the only Sharh which explains this term with a different wording gives ‘mahbub’ which allows for it.

The Shuruh say:

من أدب الرُّؤْيَا الصَّالِحَة ثَلَاثَة أَشْيَاءَ أَنْ يَحْمَدَ اللَّه عَلَيْهَا وَأَنْ يَسْتَبْشِرَ بِهَا وَأَنْ يَتَحَدَّثَ بِهَا لَكِنْ لِمَنْ يُحِبُّ دُونَ مَنْ يَكْرَهُ

“From the etiquette of the righteous dream are 3 things: 1) that a person praises Allah upon having it, 2) that a person rejoice in it, and 3) that a person speak about it to those he likes well rather than who he dislikes.” [Fat'h al-Bari 12/370]

ولا يقصص رؤياه إلا على الصالحين الذين يحبون له الخير

“He should not relate his dream except to righteous people who wish well for him…” http://www.ahlalhdeeth.com/vb/showthread.php?p=1693394

لأن المحب لايسوءه مايسر به صديقه، بل هو مسرور بما سره وغير حريص أن يتأول الرؤيا الحسنة شر التأويل ولو أخبر بها من لايحبه لم يأمن أن يتأولها شر التأويل، فربما وافق ذلك وجهًا من الحق فى تأويلها

“…since the one he likes well would not find fault with what his friend rejoices in, rather he is delighted with what delights [his friend] and lacks the desire to give the good dream an evil interpretation; and if he relates it to one who does not like him, he is not safe from [his good dream] being given an evil interpretation. Perhaps that [the evil interpretation] will agree with that one aspect of truth in its [correct] interpretation…” [Ibn Battal, Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari 9/557]

وَأَمَّا قَوْلُهُ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي الرُّؤْيَا الْمَكْرُوهَةِ وَلَا يُحَدِّثُ بِهَا أَحَدًا فَسَبَبُهُ أَنَّهُ رُبَّمَا فَسَّرَهَا تَفْسِيرًا مَكْرُوهًا عَلَى ظَاهِرِ صُورَتِهَا وَكَانَ ذَلِكَ مُحْتَمَلًا فَوَقَعَتْ كَذَلِكَ بِتَقْدِيرِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى فَإِنَّ الرؤيا على رجل طائر ومعناه أنها اذا كَانَتْ مُحْتَمِلَةً وَجْهَيْنِ فَفُسِّرَتْ بِأَحَدِهِمَا وَقَعَتْ عَلَى قُرْبِ تِلْكَ الصِّفَةِ قَالُوا وَقَدْ يَكُونُ ظَاهِرُ الرُّؤْيَا مَكْرُوهًا وَيُفَسَّرُ بِمَحْبُوبٍ وَعَكْسُهُ وَهَذَا مَعْرُوفٌ لِأَهْلِهِ وَأَمَّا قَوْلُهُ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي الرُّؤْيَا الْمَحْبُوبَةِ الْحَسَنَةِ لَا تُخْبِرْ بِهَا إِلَّا مَنْ تُحِبُّ فَسَبَبُهُ أَنَّهُ إِذَا أَخْبَرَ بِهَا مَنْ لَا يُحِبُّ رُبَّمَا حَمَلَهُ الْبُغْضِ أَوِ الْحَسَدُ عَلَى تَفْسِيرِهَا بِمَكْرُوهٍ فَقَدْ يَقَعُ عَلَى تِلْكَ الصِّفَةِ وَإِلَّا فَيَحْصُلُ لَهُ فِي الْحَالِ حُزْنٌ وَنَكَدٌ مِنْ سُوءِ تَفْسِيرِهَا وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ

“And as for his SAWS statement regarding the disliked dream and not relating it to anyone, then its reason is that perhaps he is provided a disliked explanation due to the surface of its appearance and that was a possible [explanation], then it takes place like that by the discretion of Allah, exalted is He. For indeed ‘dreams are a bird over a man’ and its meaning is that when it carries two possible manners [to explain it], then one [explanation] is provided [the bird] perches near this description. They said that the surface of a dream can be disliked and have a pleasing explanation and vice versa- this is known to its people. And as for his SAWS statement regarding the well-liked [Mahbub] good dream, do not relate it except to who you like well; then its reason is because when he relates it to who he does not like well, perhaps some hatred or jealousy incites him to explain it with a disliked [interpretation], thus it would alight upon this description or else then sadness and  annoyance would come over him at once from the evil of its explanation, and Allah knows best.” [an-Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim 15/18; Ibn Hajar also mentions something similar but abbreviated in Fat'h al-Bari 12/431]

Wa Allahu Ta’ala A’lam

I drafted the below discussion for a different purpose however I thought I would share.

Please let me know of any corrections that you recommend, In Sha Allah.

The following texts only list 3 Istimdad for Usul: Ilm al-Kalam, Lughat al-Arabiyyah, and al-Ahkam ash-Shari’ah. My argument is that ‘Ilm al-Kalam’ is only part of it since the later texts of Usul included Kalam and Kalami terminologies based on their introduction and predominant usage after the time of Imam ash-Shafi’ee.

Usul al-Fiqh Tarikhahu wa Rijalahu, p. 16 by Dr. Sha’ban Muhammad Isma’il
Al-Ihkam fi Usul al-Ahkam p. 8 by Al-Amidee
Al-Ibhaj fi Sharh al-Minhaj, p. 8 by Taqi ad-Din as-Subki
Sharh al-Kawakab al-Munir, p. 50 by Ibn an-Najjar, in the Tahqiq by Muhammad az-Zuhayli and Nazih Hammad
Irshad al-Fuhul p. 24, by ash-Shawkani

Dr. Sha’ban Muhammad Isma’il mentioned 2 schools of Usul on p. 25 of his book (listed above): the Hijaziyyin and the Iraqiyyin, or Ahl ul-Hadith and Ahl ur-Ra’y.

He states that Ahl ur-Ra’y and Ahl ul-Hadith found faults with one another as a result of their differences and among the complaints lodged by Ahl ur-Ra’y against Ahl ul-Hadith is that they amassed transmissions while comprehending and reflecting very little upon them.

Ahl ul-Hadith lodged the complaint against Ahl ur-Ra’y that they took Aql or ‘Reason’ as a means for giving judgments and relied on speculation.

The first book written on Usul, ar-Risalah by Imam ash-Shafi’ee, was actually requested by and written for Abd ar-Rahman bin Mahdi, one of the A’immah of the school of Ahl ul-Hadith.

The original exposition of Usul by Imam ash-Shafi’ee was adopted by others and additional ‘Usul’ were added to it, such as ‘Istihsan’, Ijma’ of Ahl ul-Madinah, and Maslahah al-Mursalah.

[My points] This leads to the next point, and that is the Mutakallimeen are considered to be among those who took up the Usul as laid down by ash-Shafi’ee and added to it. Their Usul are distinguished from that of Imam ash-Shafi’ee precisely because of what they added to it. There is no attribution of Imam ash-Shafi’ee to their school rather they simply adopted his Usul, after the fact, and this differs from the example of Ahl ul-Hadith in that Imam ash-Shafi’ee was from among their school in Usul and merely expounded what the majority of them were upon.

Dr. Sha’ban goes on to make the distinction of the path of the Fuqaha and that of the Mutakallimeen in his explanation of the direction that people took the Usul of ash-Shafi’ee after the fact. The Tariqah of the Fuqaha is populated with Hanafi jurists who authored the first books of Usul and added to that of ash-Shafi’ee.

Among the scholars of the Tariqah of the Fuqahah are: al-Karkhi (Hanafi- 304H), his student-Abu Bakr ar-Razi al-Jassas (Hanafi- 270H), ad-Dabusi (Shafi’ee- 430H), al-Bazdawi (?- 482H), as-Sarkhasi (Hanafi- 490H).

It should be pointed out, that al-Karkhi was declared by adh-Dhahabi as the ‘chief of of I’tizal’, may Allah forgive him. Likewise his student al-Jassas is also said to have inclined towards I’tizal, specifically in regards to ar-Ru’yah of Allah, and again we ask Allah to forgive him.

The first 2 scholars to author texts on Usul after ash-Shafi’ee were scholars who inclined towards I’tizal, and they adopted and added to the work of ash-Shafi’ee- whatever they preserved from the Usul of ash-Shafi’ee is good and whatever they added to it of Kalam, Aql, and other Usul is not from ash-Shafi’ee, rather it is from the Mu’tazilah.

Among the scholars of the Tariqah of the Mutakallimeen are: Abd ul-Jabbar al-Mu’tazili (415H), at-Tayyib al-Mu’tazili (436H), al-Juwayni (Shafi’ee- 478H), al-Ghazzali (505H). Dr. Sha’ban states that these 4 scholars wrote the pivotal books in the path of the Mutakallimeen, and Fakhr ar-Razi (606H) and al-Amidee (631H) abridged those works.

Again, I must point out the basis for my assertion that the first 2 scholars in both schools were from the Mu’tazilah, and this in fact is the source and origin of the Usul of Kalam, Aql, and Mantiq added to the Usul of Imam ash-Shafi’ee and never added to the Usul of Ahl ul-Hadeeth.

In the beginning of the 7th century Hijree the two paths of the Hanafiyyah and the Mutakallimeen were reconciled and combined, and this was pointed out by Ibn as-Sa’ati (694H), Ubayd Allah bin Mas’ud (747H) and Taj ad-Din as-Subki (771H).

What can be deceptive is the complete and utter lack of mention of the Mu’tazilah on the part of the Asha’irah and Mutakallimeen in citing the origins of their paths (Tariqat) in Usul, and the lack of mention of the 2 original schools- Ahl ul-Hadith and Ahl ur-Ra’y. They like to give the impression that the roots of their paths are found in Companions like Umar RA and Ibn Mas’ud RA, Tabi’een, Atba’ at-Tabi’een, and Imam ash-Shafi’ee.

Rather the lack of mention of the Mu’tazilee origins and the dispraise of Kalam and the Mutakallimeen on the part of Ahl ul-Hadith and many scholars throughout time seems intentional much of the time. The Asha’irah and Maturidiyyah are the offspring of the marriage between the Mu’tazilah and Ahl ur-Ra’y, as history shows, and their mistakes are in applying Kalam, Mantiq, and Aql to the Attributes, the Qur’an and Sunnah. The contributions of the Mutakallimeen are in their application of the above ‘additional’ Istimdad al-Usul to the organization and categorization of Fiqh, and their largest mistakes are in applying it Aqidah.

Allahu A’lam

Please take a moment to look through my new website called ‘The Genesis Constellations’. It is part of my humble attempt at retaking the night sky from the polytheists and astrologers by recasting the constellations in light of the account of Adam and Eve.

I believe that it is incumbent upon Muslims, Jews and Christians to work together in replacing the idols and gods of the Greeks with the account of our father and mother, Adam and Eve.

Please support this effort, In Sha Allah.

Jazakum Allahu khayran

www.thegenesisconstellations.com

Some quotes for everyone:

Al-Ulwan said in his Sharh of at-Tirmithi 1/102 after stating in one transmission of Imam Ahmad that the sighting of the crescent of one town necessitates fasting for the other that: this transmission was further specified on authority of Imam Ahmad that the sighting of the crescent of one town suffices for the people of another without obligation, and this is the most famous opinion in the school of Imam Ahmad.

Imam Muhammad bin Muhammad al-Mukhtar ash-Shanqiti said in Sharh Zad al-Mustaqni 14/100: As for if we say- ‘Indeed the sighting of the crescent for one town is the sighting for another’, then surely that would be the reason for the controversy.

Abu Muhammad al-Kittani says in his treatise regarding those who rely on the narration of Kurayb 1/2 that the opinion ‘for each town is its own sighting of the crescent’: Was attributed by Ibn Abd al-Barr to Ibn Abbas, Ikrimah his freed slave, al-Qasim bin Muhammad bin Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, Salim bin Abd Allah bin Umar, Ibn al-Mubarak, and Ishaq bin Rahwayh. And it was attributed to Imam Malik with what was transmitted by his companions in al-Madinah, among them al-Mughirah, Ibn Dinar, and Ibn al-Majishun. Also he states on the same page that: Al-Mawardi related this in one route to ash-Shafi’ee without giving preference to one opinion over the other.

An-Nawawi said in Sharh Sahih Muslim 4/60: And the correct view according to our companions is that the sighting of the crescent is not applied in general to everyone, rather it is specific to whoever is at the distance of which the prayer is shortened (or less).

At-Tirmithi said in his Sunan 1/6: To act upon the narration (of Kurayb) according to the People of Knowledge is that for every townsfolk is their sighting of the crescent.

It is interesting to also note that al-Qirafi of the Malikis also favored the view that ‘for every town is its sighting’ even though the majority of the Malikiyyah might have held otherwise.

I agree with ash-Shanqiti on this point though- to try and force everyone to have one Eid or to begin and end fasting on one day is what causes the controversy, especially without a central Muslim authority.

What the quotes should show is that there are differing transmissions from Imam Malik and Imam Ahmad on the matter, so I don’t think it is fair to attribute the famously held opinion of the schools to the two Imams in absolute terms. To be honest though I’m not sure how the Tarjeeh was made on the matter within the schools, and to some it may be something that is certain.

Edit:

Ibn Hajar said in Fath al-Bari 4/23:

(The sighting of the moon in one town suffices for another) is the majority opinion among the Malikiyyah, however Ibn Abd al-Barr related a contradictory consensus and he said that they agreed that the sighting of the crescent in distant cities is not taken into consideration, such as between Khurasan and al-Andalus…

So really that just leaves the Hanafis among whom there is not a difference of opinion from their major early and later scholars…

The original title of this work is: Jāmi’ al-Bayān fī Ta’wīl al-Qur’ān

The author’s full name is: Abu Ja’far Muhammad bin Jarīr bin Yazīd bin Kathīr bin Ghālib al-Āmilī at-Tabarī (224-310H/839-929M)

Brief Biography:

He was born in Tabaristān and began seeking knowledge when he was 16 years old. He traveled to Baghdād and settled there after he visited a number of other towns.

Scholars praised at-Tabarī  a great deal, saying that he was trustworthy, himself a Scholar, one of the great leaders of the people of the Sunnah, his statements are taken and he is to be turned to on account of his volume of knowledge and soundness of his methodology.

He authored a number of beneficial texts, there most standout being his exegesis of the Qur’ān. His exegesis is the first one to reach us complete, and every exegesis to come after depends upon it, and due to this the Scholars considered at-Tabarī  to be the ‘father’ of exegesis.

He is also considered to be the ‘father’ of history as well due to his great book about history which has no equal, however he does not limit himself to what is authentic in it; it is called History of the Nations and Kings. He also authored a beneficial book called Tahthīb al-Āthār, and others.

Translated from the Global Arabic Encyclopedia Source

At-Tabarī’s Methodology in His Exegesis:

Translated from Shaykh Musa’id at-Tayyar’s A Summary of the Methodology of at-Tabarī in His Tafsīr

Honorable Brothers:

Greetings to you, and the Mercy of Allah, and His Blessings- as for what follows:

I present to you a summarized outline describing the route of Ibn Jarīr in his book, from the standpoint of a reminder, since a detailed discussion of the methodology of this Imaam could not be completed at this point, and how good is not catching all of it, while not neglecting a majority of it, better than not catching anything at all.

Ibn Jareer dictated his book Jāmi’ al-Bayān an Ta’wīl Āyy al-Qur’ān to his students from 283H to 290H, then it was recited back to him in 306H. Far and wide Scholars praised his book, and at-Tabarī  furnished an academic introduction for his exegesis assembling in it discussions of issues surrounding the sciences of the Qur’ān, like, the language in which the Qur’ān was revealed and the seven modes, those words not originally Arabic found therein, routes of exegesis, and various categories according to him which are ‘statements regarding the objectives whose aim is arriving at knowledge of the interpretation of the Qur’ān’, interpretation of the Qur’ān by means of critical thought, and he mentioned those whose transmissions were approved of and those whose transmissions were not approved of in exegesis.

Next he mentioned a discussion regarding interpretation of the various names of the Qur’ān, its chapters and verses; after that a discussion regarding interpretations of the opening of the book; a discussion regarding seeking refuge upon reading, and then a discussion on the Basmalah.

Then he began the exegesis with al-Fātihah until finishing with his exegesis of an-Naas.

-He would divide the verses which he wished to explain into groups, then he would explain every group and would dedicate himself to explaining these groups, then mention their most suitable meaning after wards, or he would mention a meaning while giving it precedence if there was a difference of opinion regarding its explanation.

-When there did not exist a difference of opinion between the people of interpretation he would explain the most suitable explanation then say: ‘And the people of interpretation said the same as what we said regarding that’.

-And when there existed a difference of opinion among the people of interpretation, then he would mention the most suitable explanation, then he would provide the textual references for the existing difference of opinion, and he would say: ‘And the people of interpretation differed in regards to interpreting that, thus some of them said the likes of what we have said about it’.

And he would mention the differences of opinion of the people of interpretation after the expounded section right away, then he would mention the most suitable explanation while giving it precedence.

-And among his conventions is to preface every statement with his words: ‘thus some of them said…’, then he would say: ‘whoever said that mentioned…’, then he would mention their statements supported by them with what reached him on their authority as far as chains are concerned; then he would say: ‘And others aside from them said…’ and ‘And others said…’, then he would mention their statements, and when he finished providing their statements, he would give precedence to what he determined was correct; and prevalent among Abu Ja’far’s expressions are: ‘And the statement which to me is most suitable for declaring correct is the statement of those who said…’ or he would mention an expression very close to that, then he would mention his preference, and his references for his preference; and prevalent among his references are academically founded preponderances, and it is by this that his exegesis is distinguished.

-He would rely upon the statements of three generations among the generations of interpreters of the Salaf, and they are the Companions, Tābi’īn, and Atbā’ at-Tābi’īn, and there is no specific order in which he would mention their statements, and indeed he would more often than not delay transmissions on authority of Ibn Zayd (d. 182).

-He would adhere to mentioning what he related on their authority with chains going back to them, even enumerating the chains in regards to a single statement.

-He would relate a statement of an individual from the three generations and rely upon it when there did not exist any others.

-He would rarely prefer a statement from anyone outside these three levels, and it was one of the conditions in his book to not extract an explanation outside of the statements of these three generations (see Tafsīr at-Tabarī , al-Halabī 1:41).

-And due to this he would reject the statements of the people of the Arabic language contradicting the statements the Salaf; he would approach disagreements and not rely upon them unless something was not rejected by the Salaf in part of a section of the verse (see his explanation for ‘And’ in the verse {…And He who created us}[TaHa: 72}, thus he relied upon what al-Farrā’ mentioned of the possible explanations).

And when he mentioned the scholars of Arabic he would rarely mention their names, and he would only ascribe to them their area of expertise in which they stood out and their cities which they belonged to, like his statement: ‘Some of the grammarians of al-Basrah said…’, and mostly what he transmits on their authority is related to syntax.

-At-Tabarī would rely on investigating the soundness of the expounded meaning and its agreement with the context; and this was the methodology of most of his exegesis, and he would rely upon the soundness of the meaning in preferring between statements.

-He would rarely clarify the grades of the chains of the reports, and it was not his methodology to critique chains of the exegesis, just as he would not resort to what is said from the direction of: ‘Whatever is your support then so goes your reference’.

-He did not, for the most part, distinguish between the levels of the Salaf in terms of preference, and he could likely give priority to a statement of the Atbā’ at-Tābi’īn or Tābi’īn over that of a Companion.

-He would indeed give priority at some point to the statements of the Companions, specifically in whatever was related to (reasons) for revelation.

-He would give priority to the statements of the majority over those of others, and he would take into consideration consensus, and he would consider those statements which contradicted them as abnormal.

-He would consider the absence of a statement from the Salaf proof of their consensus to abandon an issue, and this proof would take precedence according to him.

-He did not restrict himself to taking the statements of the Companions in regards to matters of the Unseen.

-He would not offer that which was transmitted from Banee Israa’eel in so much as he would obtain it by means of a report transmitted on authority of the Salaf, and he would construct the meaning based upon the sum total of what was demonstrated by the verse in terms of the meaning (see Tafsīr at-Tabarī , al-Halabī 1/274).

-He would delay in offering the statements of the people of the Arabic language and do so after presenting the statements of the Salaf, and only after giving his preference between the statements of the Salaf.

-He would not accept the statements of the linguists which contradicted the statements of the Salaf, even if there was a sound reason for the meaning they presented.

This is what I wanted to comment on regarding the methodology of at-Tabarī , and there remain some issues that perhaps Allah will present the good fate of writing it, specifically what is related to recitation- and Allah is the giver of success.

Original Arabic Source

Sorry but I’ve got it in for these ‘Arabic Language Institutes that only few can afford, and even fewer can get to, so please pardon this do-it-yourself service announcement…

Here is the self-study course and materials that I used to get started (the links are just examples of how accessible the books are, and their titles- I do not mean to advocate purchasing from any particular vendor or publisher):

Arabic Grammar text:

http://www.amazon.com/Standard-Arabi…/dp/0521774659

Arabic-English dictionary:

http://www.amazon.com/Al-Mawrid-Arabic-English-Dictionary-Baalbaki-Rohi/dp/B003X5OHEO/ref=sr_1_51?ie=UTF8&qid=1321170727&sr=8-51

Saheeh al-Bukhaaree (Arabic and English):

http://store.dar-us-salam.com/product/H02c.html

The reason I prefer the grammar book above is because it seems to include many of the rules of ‘Arabic grammar and explains everything entirely in English- though it always provides the ‘Arabic terminology for the parts of speech and gives all the examples in ‘Arabic…

The ‘Arabic-English Al-Mawrid has almost never failed me where it comes to finding definitions, and I simply cannot stand the Hans-Wehr or Lane’s Lexicon dictionaries. Also, the English-Arabic dictionaries will only be useful if you want to draft something in ‘Arabic yourself and need to look up English words to find the ‘Arabic.

Saheeh al-Bukhaaree is the best bet for starters since it contains some of the most well-known narrations, and seems to have the easiest ‘Arabic to understand. I know that may seem weird to some, that statement, but trust me, you do not want to start out with al-Muwata of ‘Imaam Maalik- the ‘Arabic is extremely difficult to understand and hard to find in the dictionary as well. I started out with al-Muwata and can still remember the looks on ‘Arabs faces when I asked them to help me with some terms whenever I didn’t have my al-Mawrid with me- huh?

Course:

Start writing out narrations by hand in ‘Arabic, start with the shorter narrations, look up each word, and write down the definitions. Transcribe narrations, particularly those of interest to you, while you also transcribe the lessons in the grammar book. Apply whatever you learn in the grammar book to your transcriptions of Saheeh al-Bukhaaree.

The grammar book referenced above contains the verb charts for most combinations of 3 and 4 letter roots, with most variations of the varying weak radicals of the root. This will come in handy when you start looking up verbs to find out what tense and form they are in, in order to translate them more accurately…

Seriously, within about the first 90 pages or so of the grammar book, one will have a fairly strong grasp of the basics of ‘Arabic grammar and morphology. It’s up to you to do the exercises or not- I did not since I do not intend on bringing any grievances before parliament, congress or the U.N….

At first copying even one narration in ‘Arabic would take me at least 2 days, spending an hour or so per day, as I did not even know the alphabet at the time. Also, in the beginning I would take very long to find the definitions since it can be difficult to find the correct root when the verb is in a different form or tense than the root form of perfect tense, 3rd person singular (which is how ‘Arabic-English dictionaries entries are found).

For example, transcribe by hand the narration:

عَنْ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ الْإِيمَانُ بِضْعٌ وَسِتُّونَ شُعْبَةً وَالْحَيَاءُ شُعْبَةٌ مِنْ الْإِيمَانِ

Looking up each word, you will find the definitions:

‘an= ‘from’ (in the context of the chains of narration it almost always means ‘on authority of’)

an-Nabee= ‘the Prophet’ (noun: it ends in kasrah since it is the object of the preposition ‘an or ‘from’)

Sallaa= ‘may (Allah) send prayers’ (is a 3rd person masculine singular verb, with subject ‘Allah’ following, accompanying preposition ‘alay-hi, though separated by the subject)

Allahu= ‘Allah’ (noun: with dhammah indicating He is the subject of both verbs ‘sallaa’ and ‘sallama’ in the clause)

‘alay-hi= ‘upon-him’ (preposition ‘alaa, or ‘upon’, with masculine singular pronoun -hi, or ‘him’, affixed to the end)

wa= ‘and’

sallama= ‘may (Allah) send greetings (upon him)’ (3rd person masculine singular verb, which also takes on the subject ‘Allah’ and the preposition ‘alay-hi, ‘upon him’ through reflection and word order)

qaala= ‘he said’ (3rd person masculine singular form of the verb, subject is referring back to an-Nabee with the implied subject ‘he’)

al-’eemaanu= (the) ‘Belief’ (noun: is nominative, or the subject due to its’ ending in dhammah; ‘the’ is dropped in the translation due to its’ actually being a definite article intended to show ‘true’ Belief and not just any belief)

bidh’un= ‘a number from 1-10′ (noun: derived from badha’a, the verb meaning ‘to cut, split’; it is a masdar, or verbal-noun, or a noun form derived from the verb explained by the ‘Arabic linguists and shaarih ‘Ibn Hajar to be any number between 1 and 10)

wa= ‘and’

sittuuna= ‘sixty’ (noun: it has the fathah on the end to indicate accusative; for some reason even though the number is describing the word ‘branch’ which appears feminine due to the ta marbutah, the tens up to 90 in ‘Arabic will always have the masculine plural -uuna or -eena ending)

shu’bat-an= ‘branches’ (feminine noun with tanween, or nunnation -an at the end to show accusative and indefinite, it functions to indicate the word as the indefinite object of the predicate clause, as opposed to the primary clause)

wa= ‘and’

al-hayaa’u= ‘shyness/modesty’ (noun: this word begins a new subordinate clause and so has a dhammah indicating that it is the new subject of the clause)

shu’batun= ‘a branch’ (noun: the -un ending is again tanween or nuunation of the ending dhammah to indicate it is the accusative indefinite noun of a verbal sentence, or the object as opposed to the subject)

min= ‘from’ (a preposition)

al-’eemaani= (the) ‘Belief’ (noun object of a preposition always takes a kasrah on the end)

Then try to put together all of the definitions with appropriate placement due to the rules of grammar into a comprehensible translation. What is important to realize is in this whole narration there are no verbs expressed after Qaala, so the verbs are all present tense and hidden.

So the translation would read:

“On authority of the Prophet, may Allah send prayers and greetings upon him, he said: Belief is a number from 1-10 and (plus) is 60 branches; and modesty is a branch of Belief…”

So you see the verb ‘is’ cannot be found in the ‘Arabic since it is a present tense form of the verb ‘to be’.

It may take some time before you reach the point where you are explaining even in as much (or little, depending on who you are) detail as I did above, but that’s the idea, to keep progressing as much as possible…

I know there is far more that can be explained about the above narration, and I may not have gotten everything correct, however that is leaps and bounds from where I was just 4 years ago, lip-syncing the Qur’aan, and envying others who even comprehended somewhat the ‘Arabic involved.

And yes there is a whole deal in the explanation of the narration about the whole 60-something parts of Belief, and the other narrations that state 70- that’s not really part of all of this, and the narration says what it says…

Eventually people who persevere will eventually also begin to utilize the expansions or shuruuh of the narrations that aid greatly in understanding the difficult terms like ‘bidh’un’ and the 1-10 parts plus 60 issue, etc…

I have been studying ‘Arabic on my own, since the fall of 2004, and while I could have waited until I had the money and time to dive into ‘Arabic, I did not, and am very happy to have persisted in study.

I would be happy to help out anyone who would like to know how to get started on their own, and answer any questions about the books and how to use them.

With all the effort many people exert on secular studies and work, there is no excuse for any hesitation and lack of effort to learn the language of the Qur’aan and Sunnah, hiding behind the excuse of not being able to travel half-way around the world, and not having the small fortune it would take to do so…

By studying on your own you may not get a degree, obtain any special status as an alumni of a ‘real overseas institute’, or get to the top of the list in any Islamic centre or masjid to lead the prayer as a self-taught student of ‘Arabic and Islam, however you will have absolved yourself of the sin of having been given enough intellect to figure out how to use these machines, but not having learned the Deen of Allah, Exalted is He, and the meaning of the Qur’aan al-Kareem…

If this hopeless Caribbean, lost in Mexico, with as much resources as a pauper can get the books together and spend enough time to figure things out, then so can you, so let’s get it together then shall we?

The discussion revolves around a translation in-progress of the book.

Previous discussion can be downloaded here: http://www.archive.org/details/KitabAl-arshPart2&reCache=1

I have found a the book called: “The Book of Establishment of Limit (Hadd) for Allah, Lofty and Exalted is He, and That He is Seated (Qaa’id), and Sitting (Jaalis) upon His Throne” by the Hanbali Scholar, Abu Muhammad Mahmud bin Abil-Qasim bin Badran al-Anmi ad-Dashti (d. 661H).

It is an amazing book filled with proofs and evidences that support exactly what the title says.

Here is a small biography of the Imam:

Entry #182 from ath-Thahabi’s Tarikh al-Islam Volume 12 Page 60 (Maktabat ush-Shaamalah)

Mahmud bin Abul-Qasim Isfandiyar bin Badran bin Ayan

The Zahid, the Alim, Abu Muhammad ad-Dashti, al-Irbili

He heard a great deal from: Ja’far al-Hamdani, Abul-Hasan bin al-Muqir, Abul-Qasim bin Rawahah, adh-Dhiya al-Maqdisi, Ibn Khalil, Ibn Ya’ish and their level.

He was content and patient upon poverty. He worked hard with Hadith, he transcribed parts, he wrote refutations; well-known for wearing a perfumed Quba’, red fur and a raw cotton Thawb. He would command with good and forbid rejected things, calling to the Sunnah and a shield to innovation, conquering the negation of the reported Attributes. He received curses and accusations of innovation due to that, and they accused him of likening Allah to having a body (Tajseem). He was free from that, may Allah have mercy on him, rather what reduced his virtue was being incapable of repayment of debts.

And once he entered upon the Sultan, King Nasr, and he rejected some of his defects, then the Sultan struck him and had him removed.

He authored commentaries and syntheses.

Of those who transmitted on his authority are: the son of his brother Shihab ud-Din Ahmad and others.
He passed away on the 11th day of Rajab and was around 60 years old; he was buried at the foot of al-Muqattam (a mountain near Cairo).

And of those he transmitted from him are: ad-Dimyati in his Mu’jam.

And when he insulted the king an-Nasr, he repented and sent to him seeking that he reconcile with him, thus he said: ‘Would you like that I enter and that I be addressed with what I addressed you with and repeat with my beating.’

Lu’lu’ Bahlub, a deputy of the sultanate, struck him once because ad-Dashti would recite the praises of the Companions, and (ad-Dashti) intended that he hear him that day of Jumu’ah. Lu’lu’ was a Shi’ah and that is why he struck him.

He disapproved of al-Badra’ee (the messenger of the Khalifah between the companions of Egypt and Sham) standing upon the supplication for the Khalifah in the land of the Excellency.

He fasted a great deal and when he broke the fast, he broke it with 14 bites of food or the likes. He would report that Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, limited himself to that as well. He would censure the great Amirs and he would be harsh to them in the gathering places. He would not accept from anyone anything, and he would suffice himself with a small amount (of things), may Allah have mercy on him.

Here is a copy of the book in Word format for download:

كِتَابُ إِثْبَاتِ الْحَدِّ للهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ

This is a small instructional document in a planned series of documents on how to use various texts to conduct a preliminary investigation for a statement found in an Islamic text or lecture. What is important is to have the right references available and to interpret the statements found in the texts in accordance with how the scholars intended them.

In no way are these document intended to produce results about specific narrations that supersede the conclusions of one or another Muhaddith. This document is not intended to take the place of true scholarship.

Rather the intention behind the compilation of these documents is to exhibit for the readers the possibility of alternative methods of investigation utilizing agreed upon texts in the sciences to arrive at a preliminary conclusion regarding narrations.

The first document will deal with finding out the provenance of a narration. Subsequent posts shall deal with the views of the various scholars on grading a narration, reviewing whatever linguistics are involved, explanations provided by the Fuqaha, and finally if the narration has any applications. I would like to stress at this point, this post is only the first step in conducting a preliminary investigation.

Here is the scenario:

Your reading a book or listening to a lecture and the speaker or author mentions a statement and attributes it to the Messenger of Allah, peace upon him, and you have never heard it before. You want to know first- is this authentically attributed to the Prophet, peace upon him, and second- what is the position of the scholars on this narration, i.e. how do they explain or implement it.

So let’s begin with a statement attributed to the Prophet, peace upon him.

أخوف ما أخاف على أمتي كل منافق عليم اللسان

“Most frightening is what I fear for my Ummah from every eloquent hypocrite”.

If the lecture is in Arabic, it makes the search a bit easier, however if the lecture or book is in english, then the search terms must be reverse translated- meaning various combinations of potential Arabic terms must be alternately searched until the statement closest in meaning to the english is found.

There will be a separate document detailing methods of reverse translation, In Sha Allah.

So let’s assume the quote being searched is in Arabic for the sake of brevity and purposes of this document.

What we want to know is, what major texts quote this statement.

First we want to search for any variants of the narration, and so we take a phrase from it to both open and limit the search results at the same time. If we take too much of the statement, then it will eliminate potential matches with small differences in wording. If we take phrases that are too common in narrations, then we will end up with hundreds of results.

In this statement I select the wording: كل منافق عليم اللسان.

If the statement is indeed attributed to the Prophet, peace upon him, and if there is one book that would most likely contain the reference, then it is Jami al-Jawami by as-Suyuti. The book does not contain all the narrations, but is the most likely to reference it if indeed the sought after quote is in a major scholarly collection of narrations.

Once we find all the references to major collections, we can then narrow our search to specific explanations provided by the scholars who verified those texts, or we can then refer to the judgments of those scholars who graded the narrations in any given collection.

Jami al-Jawami is not intended as the begining and end point of an investigation, rather it is the beginning. Of course if we find a reference with an exact wording in Jami al-Jawami, and it is to the Shaykhayn, then we need look no further for the grade, however we still need the explanation. If we find references to collections which are known to collect both weak and authentic narrations, then the search goes on for the grade and explanation.

Jami’ al-Jawami of as-Suyuti has 6 results:

احذروا كل منافق عليم اللسان (أحمد ، وأبو يعلى ، والبزار عن عمر) [المناوى

أخرجه أحمد (1/22 ، رقم 143) ، والبزار (1/434 ، رقم 305) . قال الهيثمى (1/187) : رواه البزار ، وأحمد ، وأبو يعلى ، ورجاله موثقون.

وللحديث أطراف أخرى منها : "إن أخوف

#763- “Be cautious of every every eloquent hypocrite”- Ahmad, Abu Ya’la, and al-Bazzar on authority of Umar [al-Manawi]

Ahmad came out with it in 1/22 #143, al-Bazzar in 1/434 #305, and al-Haythami said in 1/187: ‘Al-Bazzar, Ahmad, and Abu Ya’la transmitted it, and its men are verified’.

And for the narration is another variation from it: “Indeed most frightening…”

أخوف ما أخاف على أمتى كلُّ منافق عليمُ اللسان -ابن عدى عن عمر. أخرجه ابن عدى (3/104 ، ترجمة 640 ديلم بن غزوان أبو غالب) . وأخرجه أيضًا : الفريابى فى صفة المنافق (ص 52 ، رقم 24) ، والبزار كما فى كشف الأستار (1/97 ، رقم 168) ، والضياء (1/343 ، رقم 235) . قال الهيثمى (1/187) : رواه الطبرانى فى الكبير ، والبزار ، ورجاله رجال الصحيح.

وللحديث أطراف أخرى منها : “إن أخوف ما أخاف” ، وسيأتى فى مسند عمر

#943- “Most frightening is what I fear for my Ummah from every eloquent hypocrite”- Ibn Adee on authority of Umar. Ibn Adee came out with it in 3/104, biography #640 of Daylam bin Ghazwan Abu Ghalif. Al-Firyabi came out with it in Sifat al-Munafiq p. 52, #24, al-Bazzar came out with it just as in Kashf al-Astar 1/97, #168; adh-Dhiya’ 1/343, #235. Al-Haythami said in 1/187: “at-Tabarani transmitted it in al-Kabir, and al-Bazzar, and its men are men of the Sahih”.

And for the narration is another variation: “Indeed Most Frightening…” and will come in the Musnad of Umar.

إن أخوف ما أخاف على أمتى كل منافق عليم اللسان- أحمد ، وابن أبى الدنيا فى ذم الغيبة ، وابن عدى ، ونصر فى الحجة  والبيهقى فى شعب الإيمان ، والضياء عن عمر.

أخرجه أحمد (1/22 ، رقم 143) وابن أبى الدنيا فى ذم الغيبة (ص 91 ، رقم 8 ) وفى الصمت (ص 109 ، رقم 148) ، وابن عدى (3/104 ترجمة 640 ديلم بن غزوان أبو غالب) ، والبيهقى فى شعب الإيمان (2/284 ، رقم 1777) ، والضياء (1/343 ، رقم 235.

#6024- “Indeed most frightening is what I fear for my Ummah from every eloquent hypocrite”- Ahmad, Ibn Abi ad-Dunya in Thamm al-Ghibah, Ibn Adee, Nasr in al-Hujjah, al-Bayhaqi in Shu’ab al-Iman, and adh-Dhiya’ on authority of Umar.

Ahmad came out with it 1/22 #143, Ibn Abi Dunya in Thamm al-Ghibah p. 91 #8, and in as-Samat p. 109, #148, Ibn Adee 3/104, biography #640 of Daylam bin Ghazwan Abu Ghalib, al-Bayhaqi in Shu’ab al-Iman 2/284 #1777, and adh-Dhiya 1/343 #235.

عن الأحنف بن قيس قال : سمعت عمر بن الخطاب يقول كنا نتحدث إنما هلك هذه الأمة كل منافق عليم اللسان (جعفر الفريابى فى صفة المنافق ، وأبو يعلى فى معجمه ، ونصر ، وابن عساكر) [كنز العمال 29397]

أخرجه الفريابى فى صفة المنافق (1/52 ، رقم 24) ، وابن عساكر (24/310

#30,198- “On authority of al-Ahnaf bin Qays, he said: ‘I heard Umar bin al-Khattab saying: ‘We would say: ‘Indeed every eloquent hypocrite destroys this Ummah”- Ja’far al-Firyabi in Sifat al-Munafiq, Abu Ya’la in his Mu’jam, Nasr, and Ibn Asakir [Kanz al-Amal #29,397]

Al-Firyabi came out with it in Sifat al-Munafiq 1/52 #24, and Ibn Asakir 24/310.

عن الأحنف عن عمر قال : كنا نقول فى عهد النبى  – صلى الله عليه وسلم -  إنما يهلك هذه الأمة كل منافق عليم اللسان فاتق يا أحنف أن تكون منهم (العسكرى فى المواعظ) [كنز العمال 29405

#31,044- “On authority of al-Ahnaf, on authority of Umar, he said: ‘We would say upon the guidance of the Prophet, peace upon him, “Indeed this Ummah would be destroyed by every eloquent hypocrite, so fear Allah, Oh Ahnaf, that you might be from them”- Al-Askari in al-Muwa’ith [Kanz al-Amal #29,405].

عن الحسن قال : لما قدم وفد البصرة على عمر فيهم الأحنف بن قيس سرحهم وحبسه عنده حولا ثم قال : هل تدرى لم حبستك إن رسول الله  – صلى الله عليه وسلم   حذرنا كل منافق عليم اللسان وإنى تخوفت أن تكون منهم ولست منهم إن شاء الله (ابن سعد ، وأبو يعلى) [كنز العمال 29394

أخرجه ابن سعد (7/94

#31,314- “On authority of al-Hasan, he said: ‘When the delegation of al-Basrah arrived to Umar, among them was al-Ahnaf bin Qays; (Umar) pulled him aside from them and kept him back drawing him near, then said: ‘Understand that I did not detain you (except to tell you) that the Messenger of Allah, peace upon him, cautioned us of every eloquent hypocrite, and indeed I fear that you be from them, and may you not be from them, if Allah wills’- Ibn Sa’d, and Abu Ya’la [Kanz al-Amal #29,394]

Ibn Sa’d came out with it in 7/94.

As you can see, we have quite a number of references by as-Suyuti for the quote attributed to the Prophet, peace upon him. I must admit, that there are a couple which I had never heard of before.

So, the next document will look at every single book and author referenced, and In Sha Allah I will give a brief description for each, and we will go from there.

May Allah, Lofty is He, accept this from me, and forgive me any mistakes therein, and let it serve to benefit only.

I took some time yesterday to put together the next couple of posts in order to pay my respects to the Imam, the Shaykh, the Muhaddith Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti and his very beneficial compilation entitled Jami al-Jawami, which is, in fact his two books Jami al-Kabir and Jami as-Saghir in one.

The books is a great tool and reference for anyone wanting to know very quickly what statements are from the Prophet, peace upon him, and what major collection has the narration. As-Suyuti provides anecdotal information and oftentimes quotes from other Muhaddithin regarding the narration, as will be shown.

A summary about the book and as-Suyuti’s approach to its compilation.

As-Suyuti intended to collect in his Jami’ all narrations on authority of the Prophet, peace upon him, transmitted by a Companion, may Allah be pleased with them, whether 1 or 10 Companions transmitted it. He also intended to collect all narrations be they weak, fair, or authentic and arrange them in the form of a Musnad, or according to the Companion who transmitted the narration. As-Suyuti also omitted all the chains.

Jami’ al-Jawami was intended as a reference for all the narrations compiled by the following Muhaddithin. Following each scholar is the abbreviation intended to take the place of the name of the scholar or the title of the book referenced:

Al-Bukhari (خ)

Muslim (م)

Ibn Hibban (حب)

Al-Mustadrak of al-Hakim (ك)

Al-Mukhtarah of adh-Dhiya’ al-Maqdisi (ض)- [as-Suyuti says in his introduction that all of what is in these 5 are ascribed authenticity]

Abu Dawud (د – if he remained silent about a narration it was strong, and whatever Abu Dawud declared weak, as-Suyuti reported it)

At-Tirmithi ( ت – with the comments of at-Tirmithi)

An-Nasa’i (ن)

Ibn Majah (هـ)

Abu Dawud at-Tayalisi (ط)

Ahmad ( حم) and the additions of Abd Allah are notated with عم)

Sa’id bin Mansur (ص)

Ibn Abi Shaybah (ش)

Abi Ya’la (ع)

All 3 books of at-Tabarani (al-Kabir طب; al-Awsat طس; as-Saghir طص)

Ad-Daraqutni (قط)

Al-Hilyah of Abu Nu’aym (حل)

Sunan al-Kubra of al-Bayhaqi (ق), (if it was from another book then he said so, and Sha’b al-Iman is هب; and in this book are authentic, fair and weak narrations, and mostly al-Bayhaqi clarified which was which)

[As-Suyuti mentions here that all of what is in Musnad Ahmad is Maqbul or accepted, thus indeed the weak which is in it is closer to fair]

Al-Uqayli from adh-Dhu’afa (عق)

Ibn Adee in al-Kamal (عد)

Al-Khatib (خط- if it was from his Tarikh Baghdad nothing is said, and if not then he clarifies it)

Ibn Asakir (كر- from his Tarikh Dimashq)

[And everything from these previous 4 books, or to al-Hakeem at-Tirmithi in Nawadir al-Usul, or al-Hakim in his Tarikh, or ad-Daylami in Musnad al-Firdaws- then if it is weak then the grade was dispensed with, if it also came from a higher chain then it was clarified]

Whatever is ascribed to Ibn Jarir is from Tahthib al-Athar, and if it was his Tafsir or his Tarikh, he clarified it.

Next In Sha Allah, I’ll take a narration and use Jami al-Jawami to find out the source texts, and then breakdown the entry for the narration, explaining the references and quotes.