In the Qur’an Allah Ta’Ala Says that He Sent with the Holy Books that the Prophets brought, also a Hikmah. Hikmah in Arabic means wisdom and the person who can speak the Arabic of the Qur’an can understand that here the Hikmah that came with the Holy Books, is the way that the Prophets applied the knowledge of the Holy Books, which is the Sunnah (Sunnah in Arabic means way).

The Sunnah explains the Qur’an. For example the Qur’an Orders us to do Salah, the Sunnah Explains to us how to do the Salah in a very detailed way. It is impossible to accept only one and not the other.

We have the Qur’an with us and no one can alter the Qur’an, but we ask ourselves where is the Sunnah that was Given by Allah Ta’Ala to our Prophet and that he brought to us along with the Qur’an. In Surah Hijr in Ayah 9 Allah Ta’Ala Says that He is Protecting the Zikr; which in Arabic means remembrance and the person who can speak the Arabic of the Qur’an can understand that here the word Zirkr means the Qur’an and the Sunnah. Prophet Muhammad Salallahu Aleyhi wa Sallam taught the Qur’an and Sunnah to his companions - Allah be Pleased with them (Sahabah- Radiallahu Anhum). In the Qur’an Allah Ta’Ala Said that He is Pleased with them, meaning that they are reliable and that they don’t make false statements. The Sahabah Radiallahu Anhum taught the Qur’an and Sunnah to the next generation, who are called the Tabaiin and the Sahanah said about the Tabaiin that they are reliable and that they don’t make false statements. The Tabaiin taught the Qur’an and Sunnah to the next generation who are called the Taba-tabaiin and the Tabaiin said that the Taba-tabaiin are reliable and that they don’t make false statements. Then the Taba-tabaiin taught the Qur’an and Sunnah to the scholars, Ulema in Arabic, in the next generation and said that they are reliable and that they don’t make false statements. The scholars, Ulema, taught the Qur’an and Sunnah to the next generations of Ulema and said that they are reliable and that they don’t make false statements. To this day we have the Ulema who are described by the Ulema before them as reliable and as ones who don’t make false statements. That way the Qur’an and the authentic Sunnah has been protected and conveyed to us. The narrators of the Hadith knew who was reliable and who wasn’t reliable for transmitting the Hadith. During the time of the Sahabah records were beginning to be made about the narrators of the Hadith and during the time of the Tabaiin more records were made. After that during the time of the Taba-tabaiin even more records were made and after them reliable Ulema wrote books with information going to very small details about the lives of people who narrated the Hadith of Prophet Muhammad Salallahu Aleyhi wa Sallam. Hadith means news, talk, in Arabic language and in the terminology of the Sunnah it means what the Prophet Salallahu Aleyhi wa Sallam, said, did, approved by being silent and his attributes both physical and his attributes with respect to his personality Salallahu Aleyhi wa Sallam.

The Ulema teach us Allah Ta'Ala’s Religion through Lessons. All the teachings were taught and transmitted in the same way the Hadith were transmitted. The Books of Jarh wa Taadil containing the names and biographies of the narrators of the Hadith and from them one can learn who were the reliable teachers of Allah’s Religion Islam. Jarh in Arabic means wound and in the terminology of Hadith (Mustalahu l’Hadith is what that field is called) it refers to people who were not qualified to transmit Hadith due to their incompatibility to do so. Taadil in Arabic means justifying and in the terminology of Hadith (Mustalahu l’Hadith) it refers to the reliable narrators of Hadith. If a person is considered by reliable Ulema to be Majruh, wounded in Arabic, that means the person is unreliable in transmitting Hadith or any other information regarding Allah’s Religion Islam. If a person is considered by reliable Ulema to be Aadil, just in Arabic, that means the person is reliable in transmitting Hadith or any other information regarding Allah’s Religion Islam. Just like with accepting information about what the Messenger of Allah said or did is acceptable only from reliable, Aadil, persons, so are all other things such as: what the Sahabah, Companions of the Prophet said, or the reliable scholars, Ulema, from later dates, or historical events.

If a person comes to teach Allah’s Religion Islam to others then, that person needs to teach Islam and not something that is not Islam. In order to do that the person needs to know Islam. That means the pperson has to have the knowledge from the source going from him to his teacher and his teacher’s teacher to the Ulema and to the Taba-tabaiin and Tabaiin and Sahabah and back to the Prophet and to Allah Ta’Ala. Everything has it’s way of tracing back to the Ulema and to the Taba-tabaiin and Tabaiin and Sahabah and back to the Prophet and to Allah Ta’Ala. If it doesn’t have that tracing going back to Allah Ta’Ala then it’s not Allah Ta’Ala’s Religion Islam.

If a person says that Sahabah were not honest, then what guarantees that the Tabaiin were honest? Likewise what guarantees the Taba–tabiin were honest and then what guarantees that the Ulema were honest? What guarantees that the people who that person claims to be the Ulema and his teachers were honest?

If a person comes says that some Sahabah were honest and that some weren’t that is a false statement because all the Sahabah met at the Prophets last sermon and because they all guaranteed for each other to be honest.

If a person accepts Islam, not from some whims, nor for wordily benefits, nor because of depression or some psychological disorder, but from true understand and belief that there is Allah and that Muhammad Salallahu Aleyhi wa Sallam is the Messenger of Allah, then that person can’t on one hand accept following what is taught by the Ulema today going back to Ulema before and to the Taba-tabaiin and Tabaiin and Sahabah and back to the Prophet and to Allah Ta’Ala and at the same time accept something that people call Islam but that isn’t Islam and doesn’t trace back to Ulema before and to the Taba-tabaiin and Tabaiin and Sahabah and to the Prophet and to Allah Ta’Ala.

If a person didn’t accept Islam because of understanding that there is Allah and His Messenger Muhammad Rasulullah Salallahu Aleyhi wa Sallam and that the Qur’an is, a Miracle, Mujiza, a Book that cannot be altered, and that there is a Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad Salallahu Aleyhi wa Sallam transmitted to us through people about whom Allah Ta’Ala Said in the Qur’an are reliable, the Sahabah and to the ones that follow in that line of reliable narrators, Tabaiin, Taba-tabaiin and Ulema, then that person is ready to accept anything regardless of it being true or false.

People who don’t accept Islam with the understanding of being honest and taking Islam by tracing it back through reliable narrators to the Sahabah and the Prophet and Allah Ta’Ala, never side with the people who are trying to be honest and truthful in accepting Allah Ta’Ala’s Religion Islam. They caused great damage to Muslim territories and hurt many good people in the past centuries and they continue to do that in our time. They caused the demise of the Islamic society in Spain, which led to the strengthening of Spaniards and the English, who invaded Turtle Island. Nowadays we see those people coming and settling on Turtle Island with the help of their European friends and they try to preach to us their versions of so called Islam. It’s interesting to notice that Turtle Island Native storytellers on the Red Road are better than them when it comes to transmitting narrations from generation to generation and keeping them original.

How can a person say this is how Islam came to us through the reliable people and then come out and say that they were wrong and that some other people practicing some different practices from them were doing the right thing? If the reliable people who brought us Allah Ta’Ala ‘s Religion Islam were wrong than that means they were unreliable, so who were the reliable people then bringing the correct religion?

How can a person say that they accept Islam and that Muhammad Salallahu Aleyhi wa Sallam was Allah’s Messenger but that he wasn’t supposed to be and that Ali Radiallahu Anhu his cousin was supposed to be a prophet instead?

How can a person say that Allah Ta’Ala Sent us the Qur’an, a Mircle from Him, but that it is distorted and that an Imam who is in hiding since the first generations of Muslims of the followers of Prophet Muhammad Salallahu Aleyhi wa Sallam will come and bring the real Qur’an?

How can a person say that Allah Ta’Ala Sent us the Qur’an and the Sunnah but that the Sunnah is distorted by people and that there is no need for it?

The only answer is that this kind of following contradictions is possible in places where people are already Muslims by birth and don’t care to learn Islam but rather enjoy following their whims and customs that they claim to be from Islam but have nothing to do with Islam.

Wallahu Mustaan- May Allah Ta’Ala Guide us all

At first Prophet’s companions the, Sahabah - Allah be Pleased with them - Radiallahu Anhum spoke the language of the Qur’an. They lived the Sunnah with the Prophet Salallahu Aleyhi wa Sallam. Then when the next generation of Muslim came, the Sahabah taught the followers, in Arabic Tabiin, the Qur’an as well as the Sunnah. Then when the next generation of Muslims came, the Tabiin taught the followers of the followers, in Arabic Taba-tabiin, the Qur’an and the Hadith and understandings of the laws in the Qur’an and Hadith as a separate lesson, in Arabic Fikh . Fikh in the Arabic language means understanding and refers to Jurisprudence. Then in the next generation nonArabs accepted Islam on large scale and Arabic had to be taught to them. Likewise people with mixed up beliefs occurred among them and correct beliefs had to be taught to them, Aqueedah in Arabic. Besides correct beliefs being taught to them, the correct way to understand the Qur’an, Hadith and Fikh had to be taught to them. Thus teachings of the explanation of the Qur’an, Tafsir and the fundamentals of it, Usulu Tafsir, were taught. Fikh was taught along with the correct way of deriving Fikh from the Qur’an and Sunnah. This teaching is called Usulu l’Fikh, fundamentals of Fikh. The knowledge of the narrators of Hadith and the terminology of Hadith was taught as Mustalahu l’Hadith. As time passed and new generations of Muslims kept came, the lessons branched out to more lessons as people needed to study more subjects to be able to grasp the correct understandings. At the end of the 20^th century Tahrij, extracting Hadith from books of Hadith became a new lesson, At the beginning of the 20^th century it was enough to teach Mustalahu l’Hadith and Jarh wa Taadil, but as students comprehension capacities fell and more and more Muslim youth went astray into politics and sports and fashion and other Tahrij became a new class in schools. I find it insulting to my intelligence to teach me how to find Hadith in the books, therefore I refuse to accept it as a lesson separate from Mustalahu l’Hadith.

The Ulema teach us Allah Ta'Ala’s Religion through Lessons such as the following: (1) Aqueedah which means belief, (2) Fikh for beginners which is learning how to do basic deeds such as Wudu and Salah, (3) Qur’an, (4) Hadith, (things that the Prophet said, did, approved by being silent about and his characteristics both ethical and physical), (5) Sirah which is the life of the Prophet Salallahu Aleyhi wa Sallam, (6) Mustalahu l’Hadith, terminology of the Hadith, which is how to get to the authentic Hadith, (7) Usulu Fikh, fundamentals of deriving Fikh, (8) Usulu Tafsir, fundamentals of deriving the explanations of the Qur’an, Tafsir, (9) Jarh wa Taadil, which is learning about the narrators of the Hadith, (10) Nahu, grammer, (11) Sarf, the knowledge of suffixes, (12) Balaghah, clarity in speech and writing, (13) Fikh at higher levels, (14) Tafseer, explanation of Qur’an.

Here is a list of some of the people that Allah Ta’Ala Used to Uphold His Religion Islam on earth over the centuries:

The Sahabah are all people that saw the Prophet and died believing, with Iman. The Tabaiin are all people that saw the Sahabah and died with Iman. Taba-tabiin are all people that saw the Tabiin and dies with Iman.

Tabaiina are divided into 3 groups: The big and they are the ones who lived with the Sahabah like Mujahid and ibn Kuteyba and Shuba, the middle and they are the ones who saw the Sahabi at the end of their lives like Sufyan ath Thawry, and the small like Abdullah bin Mubark and Hasan Al Basri.

2^nd Century [150 H. (H stands for years after the Hijrah )]

Tabaiin like Shuba, Malik, Hisham Ad Dustowayi, Muamir

After them Tabiin like ibn Mubrak, Husheym, ibn Uyeyna, and after them Tabaiin like Yahya bin Said Al Kahtan and his students Alibin Al Medini and Yahya bin Main.

3^rd Century

204 H Imam Shafii

204 H Imam Teyalisi

230 H ibn Saad

241 H Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal

255 H Imam Darimi

256 H Imam Bukhari

261 H Imam Muslim

275 H Imam Abu Dawud

279 H Imam Tirmidhi

4^th Century

303 H Imam Nisai

310 H ibn Jerir at Tabari

360 H Ramhurmuzi

360 H Imam Tabrani

375 H ibn Maja

5^th Century

405 H Imam Hakim

430 H Ahmad bin Abdullah Al Asfahani

458 H Imam Beyhaki

463 H Imam Hakim

6^th Century

544 H Kadi Ayad

580 H Meyaniji

7^th Century

606 H ibn Athir

643 H Imam Ash Shahrazuri

670 H Imam Kurtubi

8^th Century

702 H ibn Dakik Al Eid

728 H Sheykh ul Islam ibn Taymiyah

748 H Imam Dhahabi

751 H ibn Qayum Aj Jawziyah

774 H ibn Kathir

790 H Shatibi

794 H Zarkashi

9^th Century

805 H Balkini

806 H Zeyn Al Iraqi AbdurRahman bin Huseyn

807 H Imam Heythamy

855 H ibn Hajr Askalni

879 H Kasim bin Kutlubagha

885 H Ibrahim Al Baqai

10^th Century

902 H Sakhawi

911 H Jelaluddin Syuti

925 H Sheykh Zakriyah Al Ansari

983 H AbdurRahman bin Abu Bakr Zeynuddin Al Ayni

999 H Abdullah bin Muhammad Shanshuri Al Fardi

11^th Century

1014 H Ali bin Sultan Al Qari

1031 H AbdurRauf Al Manawi

12^th Century

1138 H Muhammad Sadiq bin AbdulHadi As Sindhi

13^th Century

1205 H Zabidi

1229 H Muhammad bin Sadan Al Hajiri

14^th Century

1304 H Muhammad AbdulHay Al Laknawi

1307 H Al Kanuji

1329 H Ahmad bin Ibrahim bin Isa

1332 H Jamaluddin Al Qasimi

1389 H Sheykh Muhmmad bin Ibrahim bin AbdulLatif Aal Sheykh

1393 H Shanketi

15^th Century

1416 H Sheykh Bediuddin As Sindhi

1420 H Sheykh bin Baz

1420 H Sheykh Al Albani

This is just a glimpse of the scholars, Ulema, over the centuries and we have Ulema today in 1427 years after the Hijrah.

To show you the books I need to explain what they are, therefore I will try my best to do so and I’ll try to explain the lessons that they are related to.

The word Aqueedah means belief and there are books that Ulema wrote to teach people the correct beliefs, Aqueedah. Besides the Aqueedah books Ulema wrote books on what is known as Rakaaik, which in Arabic means soft, watered down, and it refers to the things that soften the heart. For example in his Jawaabu l’Kafi Liman Sa’ala en Dawa’a Shafi (A sufficient answer for the one who asked for a medicine that cures), Sheykh ibn Qayum Aj Jawziyah wrote that Sheytan has seven traps for every human and they are: 1).Shirk, 2).Bida'a (to innovate in Religion), 3).Kabirah(great sin), 4).Saghira(small sin), 5).Mubahaat(deeds that are neither good deeds nor bad deeds), 6). To do a smaller good deed instead of the greatest possible good deed (Sheytan Lanatullahi aleyhi opens up 99 doors of good for a person trying to lure him into a 100th door of evil), 7). If a person aims to do the greatest possible deed Sheytan Lanatullahi aleyhi calls all his soldiers from jin and man to stop that person and that person is in Jihad till death. In his book Madariju Salikeen (Steps of the Ascenders) he wrote that the human heart is like a bird, with the head of the bird being the love towards Allah and the wings one being the hope in Allah’s Mercy and the other being fear of Allah. If the bird’s head is cut off then it’s dead and if the wings are impaired then anyone can catch that bird. By the way we feel that when we read Surat ul Fatiha. Al Hamdulillah makes us love Allah, Ar Rahman ir Rahim makes us hope for His Mercy and Maliki Yawmi Din makes us fear Allah. These sorts of teachings soften the human heart and bring the person closer to worshipping the Creator.

There are Aqueedah books that are read as standard schoolbooks and by school I mean the type of schools that teach the way it was being taught through the centuries not the european style of sitting behind desks infront of a board on the wall, with a bell and without Wudu, maybe even without Gusl and maybe without Bismillah.

These are Aqueedah books:

Usulu d’Dini th’Thalatha by the Sheykh and this is the first Aqueedah book everyone reads

Kitbu t’Tawhid also by the Sheykh and this book goes right along with the Usulu d’Dini th’Thalatha

Aqueedatu Wastiyah (a letter also by Sheykhu l’Islam ibn Taymiyah) with an explaination by Khalik Haras

Aqueedatu t‘Tadmuriyah a letter also by Sheykhu l’Islam ibn Taymiyah

Aqueedatu l’Ikmaliyah a letter also by Sheykhu l’Islam ibn Taymiyah

Aqueedatu t‘Tahawiyah a letter by Imam Tahawy with an explanation by ibn Abu Izz

Menhaju s’Sunnah by Sheykhu l’Islam ibn Taymiyah

And the list goes on some. Some of Sheykh u l’Islam’s books were asked by Europeans not to be translated to English in fear that European people will massively convert to Islam.

Sheykh ul Islam wrote about those people the book Jawabu s’Sahih Liman Beddal Dinu Masih and also Hidaytu l’Hiyara li Kulli Yahudi wa Nasara and other books to.

These are some books about the Rakaaik:

Jawabu l’Kafi liman Sa’ala en Dawau sh’Shafi by Sheykh ibn Qayum Aj Jawziyah

Miftahu d’Dari s’Sa’ada by Sheykh ibn Qayum Aj Jawziyah

Ighathatu l’Lihfan min Masaidi Sheytan by Sheykh ibn Qayum Aj Jawziyah

The explanations of the Qur’an are called Tafasir and the teaching about how to do Tafsir is Usulu Tafsir meaning fundamentals of Tafsir. One day Ali Radiallahu Anhu met a man and asked him if he knew what Nasikh and Mansukh is. The man said no. To that Ali Radiallahu Anhu told him"You destroyed yourself and others." When a law is replaced with another law by Allah Ta’Ala, the old law is called Mansukh and the new law is called Nasikh. The laws from the time of Musa and Isa are all Mansukh and the laws we have now are Nasikh. There is Mansukh laws in the Qur’an. The person not knowing those laws may implement them and do something that is prohibited by Allah Ta’Ala. This for example is taught in the lessons of Usulu Tafsir among the numerous teachings of Usulu Tafsir.

Tafsiru t’Tabari, Tafsir by Imam Tabari, Ulema say that this is the one and only best Tafsir book on the planet because nobody wrote a better book of Tafsir bringing the explanations with the Hadith and sayings of the Sahabah. The sayings of the Sahabah are called singular Athr, plural Athaar.

Tafsiru l’Kurtubi, Tafsir by Imam Kurtubi

Tafsir ibn Kathir, Tafsir by Sheykh ibn Kathir

Tafsir by Sa’adi

Duru l’Manthur by Jelaluddin Syuti, This Tafsir is with Hadith and sayings of the Sahabah (Athr) and some sayings of the Tabaiin. Note that there is a Tafsiru Jelaleyn mentioning Syuti and it has unacceptable Aqueedah in it. People who like to inovate things and pretend their innovations are a part of Allah’s religion Islam like the Tafsiru Jelaleyn because it supports their ways.

Itqan fi Ulumi l’Qur’an by Jelluddin Syuti (best book on this subject)

Tahdhib wa Tartibu l’Itqan fi Ulumi l’Qur’an by Bazmul

Asbabu Nuzul means causes for coming down and it means the causes why certain portions of the Qur’an came, the incidents that happened on earth and the Revelations that followed.

Asbabu Nuzul by Jelaluddin Syuti

Sahih Asbabu Nuzul by Sheykh Mukbil

Books of Hadith have been written according to various subjects.

Jamia are Hadith books arranged according to all topics. Examples of Jamie are Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. All the Ulema and all Muslims agreed that all the Hadith in these two books are authentic. After investigating how thorough Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim were in making sure they record only authentic Hadith in their Jamia books of Hadith, it is has been concluded that all the Hadith are authentic in these two books without any doubt. Even nonMuslim researchers say that about Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.

Sunnen are books of Hadith arranged by subjects in Fikh

Sunnen of Imam Tirmidhi

Sunnen of Imam Abu Dawud

Sunnen of Imam An Nisaii

Sunnen of Imam ibn Maja

Muwata of Imam Maliki (Muwata means easy)

Al Um by Imam Shafii

Sunnen of Imam Darimi

Sunnen of Imam Darkutni

Sahih of ibn Habban

Sahih of ibn Huzeyma, In it Imam ibn Huzeyma wrote the chain of narrators of the unreliable Hadith backwards making it easier to be checked.

Mustadrak are books of Hadith that record the Hadith that were collected by a certain scholar but were not recorded in a book written by the scholar. Similarly Mustakhraj are books with the Hadith that were left out from a book because the writter of the book didn’t want his book to be to long. Imam Hakim wrote a Mustadrak book recording the Hadith of Imam Bukhari and Muslim that were not included in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. Imam Bukhari would see one Hadith containing the information presented in another two or three Hadith and he would then record in his book only the one Hadith in order to avoid repetition. Imam Muslim however would record a Hadith that best covers a subject and then underneath it he would put the rest of the Hadith that he had with him regarding that subject. In our time we have Sahih Muslim in a shortened versions in one volume which is very handy and can be taken by a person anywhere as opposed to having to carry many volumes.

Musnad are books of Hadith with the Hadith listed in the alphabetical order of the Sahabah that narrated them like Musnad by Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal and Musnad by Imam Tayalisi and Musnad by Imam Bazar.

Mujem are books of Hadith listed in the alphabetical order of the cities that they came from like the three Mujems by Tabrani, The big Mujem, the middle Mujem and small Mujem, Mujemu l’Kabir, Mujemu l’Wasat, Mijemu s’Saghir.

Musannaf are books of Hadith and the sayings of the Sahabah like Mussanaf by AbdurRazaq and Musannaf by ibn Abi Sheyba

Juz are books of Hadith on just one topic like Imam Bukhari’s books: Kira’atu l’Khalfa l’Imam and Rafu l’Yedeyn.

Books containing Mursal Hadith are books that contain Hadith that are missing the Sahaba in the narration such as the compilation of such Hadith by Imam Abu Dawud, Marasil li Abi Dawud.

Compilations of invented Hadith, lies, which is called Mawduo, are books called Kutubu l’Mawduaat like the book Keshfu l’Khafa (Exposing the hidden) by Ajluni.

Atrafu l’Hadith means sides of the Hadith and this refers to books which are lists of Hadith arranged alphabetically by the letter of the phrases they begin with for easy access to the Hadith such as the book Tuhfatu l’Eshraf by Mizzi and the book Mawsua fi Etrafu l’Hadith by Zaghlul.

Ulema would separate Hadith that were found only in a particular Hadith book and were not in other well known Hadith books. That way one could take the well known Hadith books and the collection of the Hadith from the other Hadith book without the Hadith already in the well known books. This sort of collection of Hadith is called Zawaid. For example Abdullah son of Imam Ahmad had his father’s Hadith book, the Musnad of Imam Ahmad. He also had the Hadith books of other famous Ulema. He then wrote down all the Hadith that were in his father’s Hadith book and not in the other famous Hadith books. This collection is called Zawaid of Abdullah bin Ahmad over his father’s Musnad, Zawaid Abdullah bin Ahmad Ala Musndi Abihi. For example if you had Bukhari and Muslim and Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud and Nisaii and ibn Majah’s books with you and you wanted Imam Ahmad’s Hadith book aswell, you could take the Zawaid his son wrote and avoid having to read through the whole Musnad of Imam Ahmad and repeat reading the same Hadith present in the other books. The other famous Zawaid book is Mutalibu l’Aliyah Ala Masanidu Thamaniyah by ibn Hajar Askalani.

Long ago when a certain subject would be discussed Ulema would compose a collection of Hadith on that subject and call the book Sunnah like the book Sunnah by ibn Hilal.

There are books of Hadith with hidden errors, illel. These books show apparently authentic Hadith that are not authentic. For example there are narration saying that a reliable person heard from another reliable person but it’s not true and there is an unreliable person in between that was left out by the person who was writing the chain of narration. This hidden error is called illa.

Illel by Abu Hatim

Illel by Tirmidhi

Illel by Darkutni (Imam Darkutni would fall asleep while his students would read the Hadith to him, then if they would make an error he would wake up and correct the error immediately. Like when a person would wake up if someone threw water in their face.)

Rijal books are collections of biographies of people in general, narrators of Hadith and others. They can be books with biographies of the Sahabah only or biographies of narrators of Hadith including Sahabah only or biographies of narrators of Hadith of certain books only or biographies of narrators of Hadith and also of scholars, judges, governors and other relevant people. Rijal means men but in Arabic the word Rijal covers both men and women. In the Qur’am and the Hadith if a law addresses men then it covers both men and women, but if it addresses women then it doesn’t address men. For example the law says that women do not do Salah during the monthly period, and that law obviously doesn’t include men. Some of the Rijal books are:

Al Isaba fi Tamizi Sahaba by ibn Hajar Al Askalani (this is the best book with biographies of Sahabah that we have available)

Usudu l’Ghaba by ibn Athir (this is a reliable book with biographies of Sahabah)

Siyru l’Elamu n’Nubala by Imam Dhahabi

Tarihu l’Kabir by Imam Bukhari

Tarihu l’Saghir by Imam Bukhari

Mizanu l’Ittidal by Imam Dhahabi

Lisanu l’Mizan by ibn Hajar Askalani which he wrote according to Mizanu l’Ittidl by Imam Dhahabi.

Tarih books are collections of narrators of Hadith of cities. Like Tarihu l’Baghdad by Hatib Al Baghdadi recording narrators who came to Bagdad and narrated a Hadith and like Tahdhibu t’Tarihi l’Dimishk by Al Askari. Dimishk is Damascus. Tahdhib means abbreviation, shortened version. A narrator of Hadith is called Rawi in Arabic and the plural or Rawi is Ruwaat.

Jarh wa Tadil books are books of narrators of Hadith both Majruh, not reliable and Adil, reliable. Some of the Jarh wa Taadil books are:

Ilmu Jarhi wa Ta’adili by ibn Kasim

Kamal fi Asmai Rijal by Makdisi, this is the book of all the narrators of the six Hadith books (Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Nisai, ibn Maja) and it hasn’t been printed. It’s in the archive and in it’s original form like Makdisi left it for us.

Imam ibn Hajar Askalani made a shortned version of this book calling it Tahdhibu l’Kamal. Then he wrote a shorter version of that calling it Tahdhibu t’Tahdhib and then an even shorter version of that calling it Takribu t’Tahdhib.

Tabakat books are collections of the narrators of Hadith arranged according to levels, levels of reliability or knowledge or the time in which they lived etc depending what the author put as levels in his book. There is Tabakat ibn Saad, a book by ibn Saad, Tabakatu l’Hufaz by Jelaluddin Syuti, Safatu s’Safwa by AbdurRahman ibn Jewzi which is an abbreviation of Hilyatu l’Ewliya by Abu Naim Al Asfahani.

Duafa is the plural of Daif (d is the daad not dal, some people write it as z) which means weak and the books of the Duafa record the weak, unacceptable narrators of Hadith. Like the book Kamil fi Duafa by Imam Ukeyli and Mughni fi Duafa by Imam Dhahabi. All the people in this book are in his book Mizanu l’Ittidal.

Kuna is the plural of Kunya and it the "Abu …" wording before the person’s name, like Abu Bakr and Abu Hureyra. There are books with names of narrators listed in the alphabetical order of their Kunyas, Kuna, like the book Kuna by Dulabi

Wafayaat means deaths and there are books of lists of narrators going by the dates of their deaths like the book Wafayatu l’Eyan

Books with explanations of Hadith, are called Shurahat. Here are some essential Shurahat:

Fethu l’Bari by ibn Hajar, an explanation of Sahih Bukhari

Imam Nawawi’s explanation of Sahih Muslim

Aridatu l’Ahwadi by ibn Al Arabi, an explanation of Sunneni Tirmidhi

Mualimu s’Sunnah by Mundhiri, an explanation of Sunneni Abi Dawud

Jelaluddin Syuti’s Sunneni Nisai explanation

Misbahu z’Zujaja fi Sharhi Zawaidi ibn Maja by ibn AbdulBarr

Mustalahu l’Hadith (terminology of Hadith) teaches how the Hadith were collected from narrators and how they are studied for authenticity.

Mandhumatu l’Beykuniyah by Beyhaki

Nuzhatu Nadhar Sherhi Nuhbatu l’Fikr by ibn Hajar Askalni

Baithu l’Hathith by ibn Kathir

Tadribu r’Rawi fi Sherhi Takribu n’Nawawi by Jelaluddin Syuti

Nukat by ibn Silah and his book best shows the rulesof Mustalahu l’Hadith

Asbabu Wurudu l’Hadith means causes for the being of Hadith and it refers to the whole story how the Hdith took place, the whole incidents that happened on earth and the Revelations that followed, the Hadith that came as a result of that.

Asbabu l’Hadith by ibn Hamza

Asbabu Wurudu l’Hadith by Jelaluddin Syuti

Fikh in Arabic means understanding and it refers to understanding the laws from the statements in the Qur’an and Sunnah.

Nilu l’Awtar by Shawkani

Subulu s’Salam by Sana’ni

Zadu l’Ma’ad by ibn Qayum Aj Jawziyah (the 1^st volume is about the life of the Prophet)

Mahalla by ibn Hazm

Usulu l’Fikh is the knowledge of how to get to Fikh, meaning how to get to the laws in the Qur’an and Sunnah. One cannot just read the Qur’an and Hadith and decide on a law without knowing the basics of how that is done. Usulu l’Fikh means fundamentals, of Fikh. Usulu l’Fikh books are read just likeall other educational books, one by one starting with easy to read small ones to more expanded ones. The last books of Usulu lFikh that are read and the oldest ones that require knowing many other things before reading them in order to learn from them. The book Risalah by Imam Shafii is a book like that. It covers everything in Usulu l’Fikh. Understanding a single sentence in the Risalah could take a person days because Imam Shafii gives a law and a phrase from the Qur’an and Hadith and if the person doesn’t know what that carries then that person will just read over it and miss what Imam Shafii is teaching.

Warakat by Jewayni

Usul min Ilmi l’Usul by Sheykh ibn Utheymeen Rahimahullah

Al Wajiz by AbdulKarim Zeydan

Irshadu l’Fuhul by Shawkani

Ahkam fi Usuli l’Akhkam by Imam ibn Hazm who was Zahiri (It is important to know what that is. Zahiris say they accept only the outside said meaning of the Qur’an and Hadith not any inner meaning but in reality they do accept the inner meaning and they are not any different from the other schools of Fikh. Ulema say that not everything is without an inner meaning including Ibn Hazm in this book, though he claimed not to do so. This is one of the few books that bring evidence from the Qur’an and Hadith for every word in it.)

Elamu l’Muwaqi’in by Sheykh ibn Qayum Aj Jawziyah

Ar Risalah by Imam Shafii

Nahu means grammer in Arabic and the basic Nahu books to learn from is first the Tuhfatu Sinniya Sharhi Mukaddimtu l’Ajumiyah. After completing it, the next Nahu book is Katru n’Nada wa Bilu s’Sada and finally Alfiyatu Malik’s explanation by ibn Aqil and a firm knowlidge of grammer is aquired by doing that. Sarf is the knowledge of how words change and it is covered in the mentioned books however one may learn it separately but not waste time with innovators who want to distract students from learning Allah’s Religion Islam and redirect them to studying the Arabic language and matters that are not even from the Arabic language but from Latin and Greek such as Greek metaphoric expressions.

Two very good Arabic dictionaries are Lisanu l’Arab by Mundhiri and Kamusu l’Muhit. Dictonaries with pictures are popular with people but not what should be inside a place of knowlidge of the Qur’an and Sunnah. Dictionaries from our scholars are the correct dictionaries to have.

Syratu Nabawiyah is the life or our Prophet. Today’s books on the Syratu Nabwiyh are filled with lies, Mawduaat. Like the song talaat il bedru aleyna, they made that song up and said the Sahabah sang it wa Subhanallah.

The two most reliable books that can be read and that are easier to check for authenticity while reading are:

The first volume of Zaadu l’Muaad by Sheykh ibn Qayum Aj Jawziyh (the rest of the volumes are about Fikh) and the book Syratu n’Nabawiyah by ibn Hisham.

There are also history, Tarih, books and Ulema said that history is not evidence for anything, Ayat and Hadith are evidence.

One such book is Tarih by Imam Tabari and Imam Tabari wrote at the beginning of the book: I brought you here everything with the chains of narrators so check into them. There are many weak chains of narrations and unacceptable narrations in it, but as Imam Tabari said it’s a composition of historical events with chains of narrators, some acceptable some unacceptabl. Other similar books are Tarihu l’Islam by Imam Dhahabi and Bidayah wa n’Nihayah by ibn Kathir which fell into the hands of some Rafida, (they call themselves Shiia) and they made changes to it with their hands, so the original manuscript has been tempered with. Same happened with other manuscripts that nonMuslims got their hands on. Another history book is Tarihu l’Khulaf by Jelaluddin Syuti but it’s mainly a list of names.

These are just a few of the most important books, the books that scholars have are like the ocean. Most have not been printed and are accessible in archives in manuscript form. In a bookstore with the books of the scholars one can easily spend a whole month going through the books looking at the summary of topics only, while our Ulema have books like that in their memory. Normally they know at least 20 000 Hadith with the names of narrators of the Hadith and knowing their biographies. As an example Fahad Aj Joheny, a friend of mine who lives in Mekka knows a scholar of African origin living in Mekka who knows all the narrators of the 6 books of Hadith (Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, an Nisaii, Ibn Majah) like one knows his own children, not to mention that my friend Fahad who is not a sholar speaks only with Hadith and with the chain of narrators of the Hadith and he knows who the narrators are. For the students memorizing all of Sahih Bukhari is nothing special while knowing all the narrators of the six books of Hadith is a must.

My wish is that here on Turtle Island our Turtle Island Aboriginal Muslim brothers can sit and work with the books and contribute to the Ummah in helping with work with the Sunnah and all the knowledge, ilm, and be people that Allah Ta’Ala Uses to Uphold his Religion on earth. That we have Native owned Muslim land, truly Turtle Island and a masjid with a mektaba and books and do Tahrij and Tahkik and Tafsir and Shuruhaat. Separate from Rum (the westernized world), and tied by land across the north with Muslim territories of the Tatar and Kazakh and down to Mekka and the lessons our Ulema teach in the Haram. This honorable Dawah from Mekka into the Arctic was started by Kuteyba bin Muslim at the time of the Khilafatu Nubuwa under the order of the Khalifa of Rasulullah and it stopped short of the north part of Turtle Island. For me it is an honor to continue it and it is my hope that the noble work of supporting the work of the Ulema from here from that direction will happen. Do Ulema come from London, Paris, New York? No, but there are Ulema like Imam Dhahabi who came from lands where people are Natives and live on the land, what’s more it’s a place in a way related to Turtle Island. Therefore my hopes are high that men in the sense of Rijal in Jarh wa Taadil terminology, men that left a legacy after them and who Allah Ta’Ala Used to uphold his Religion on earth, can come out of Turtle Island. I am willing to strive towards struggling for that to happen.

Allah Ta’Ala Knows Best

May Allah Ta’Ala Accept our efforts.