Appendix 3:

The following has been copied from:

www.islam-qa.com

The authors of the Six Books

Question:
Who are the authors of the Six Books, and are there any da�eef (weak) ahaadeeth in their books?

Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.  

The authors of the Six Books are: 

1-     Imam al-Bukhaari

2-     Imam Muslim

3-     Imam Abu Dawood

4-     Imam al-Tirmidhi

5-     Imam al-Nasaa�i

6-     Imaam Ibn Maajah 

There follow brief details about each of them. 

1 � Imam al-Bukhaari 

His full name was Abu �Abd-Allaah Muhammad ibn Ismaa�eel ibn Ibraaheem ibn al-Mugheerah ibn Bardizbah al-Ja�fi al-Bukhaari. His grandfather al-Mugheerah was a freed slave of al-Yamaan al-Ja�fi, the governor of Bukhaarah, so he took his name after he became Muslim. Imam al-Bukhaari was born in Bukhaara in 194 AH. He grew up an orphan and started to memorize ahaadeeth before he was ten years old. When he was a young man he set out to travel to Makkah and perform the obligation of Hajj. He stayed in Makkah for a while, studying under the imams of fiqh, usool and hadeeth. Then he began to travel around, going from one Islamic region to another, for sixteen years in all. He visited many centers of knowledge where he collected ahaadeeth of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) until he had compiled more than 600,000 ahaadeeth. He referred to one thousand scholars of hadeeth and discussed these reports with them. These scholars were people who were known for their sincerity, piety and sound belief. From this huge number of ahaadeeth he compiled his book al-Saheeh, following the most precise scientific guidelines in his research as to their authenticity and in distinguishing the saheeh (sound) from the weak, and in finding out about the narrators, until he recorded in his book the most sound of the sound, although it does not contain all the saheeh ahaadeeth. The book�s full title is al-Jaami� al-Saheeh al-Musnad min Hadeeth Rasool-Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) wa Sunanihi wa Ayaamihi. 

The governor of Bukhaara wanted al-Bukhaari to come to his house to teach his children and read ahaadeeth to them. But al-Bukhaari refused and wrote to him: �Knowledge is to be sought in its own house,� meaning that knowledge is to be sought not summoned. Whoever wanted to learn from the scholars should go to them in the mosque or in their houses. So the governor bore a grudge against him and ordered that he be expelled from Bukhaara. So he went to the village of Khartank which is near Samarqand, where he had relatives, and he settled there until he died in 256 AH at the age of 62. May Allaah have mercy upon him. 

2 � Imam Muslim 

His full name was Muslim ibn al-Hajjaaj ibn Muslim al-Qushayri al-Nisapoori Abu�l-Husayn. He is one of the leading scholars of hadeeth and one of the most knowledgeable. He was born in Nisapoor on the day that Imam al-Shaafa�i died in 204 AH. He studied in Nisapoor, and when he grew up he traveled to Iraq and the Hijaaz to learn hadeeth. He heard ahaadeeth from many shaykhs, and many scholars of hadeeth narrated from him. The most famous of his books is his Saheeh which is known as Saheeh Muslim. This is one of the six reliable books of hadeeth. He spent nearly fifteen years compiling this book, which is second only to Saheeh al-Bukhaari in status and in the strength of its ahaadeeth. Many scholars have written commentaries on his Saheeh. 

His books also include Kitaab al-Tabaqaat, Kitaab al-Jaami� and Kitaab al-Asma�, and others which exist in printed and manuscript form. He died in the city of Nasarabad, near Nisapoor, in 261 AH, at the age of 57. May Allaah have mercy on him. 

3 � Imam Abu Dawood 

His full name was Sulaymaan ibn al-Ash�ath ibn Shaddaad ibn �Amr ibn Ishaaq ibn Basheer al-Azdi al-Sajistani, from Sajistan. Abu Dawood was the leading hadeeth scholar of his age. He is the author of al-Sunan, which is one of the six reliable books of hadeeth. He was born in 202 AH. He traveled to Baghdad where he met Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal and stayed with him; he also looked like him.  He also traveled to the Hijaz, Iraq, Khurasaan, Syria, Egypt and the borders of the Islamic world. Al-Nasaa�i, al-Tirmidhi and others narrated hadeeth from him. He attained the highest degree of piety and righteousness. His book al-Sunan includes more than 5300 ahaadeeth. 

The caliph Abu Ahmad Talhah (al-Muwaffaq al-�Abbaasi) asked three things of him: the first was that he should move to Basrah and settle there, so that seekers of knowledge could come to him, thus bringing more people to settle there. The second was that he should teach al-Sunan to his children. The third was that he should give exclusive classes to his children, for the children of the caliph should not sit with the common people. Abu Dawood said to him: As for the first, yes; as for the second, yes; as for the third, no way, because all people are equal when it comes to knowledge. So the sons of al-Muwaffaq al-�Abbaasi used to attend his lessons, and they would sit with a screen between them and the people. He remained in Basrah until he died in 275 AH. May Allaah have mercy on him. 

4 � Imam al-Tirmidhi 

His full name was Muhammad ibn �Eesa ibn Soorah ibn Moosa ibn al-Dahhaak al-Salami al-Tirmidhi, Abu Eesa. He came from Tirmidh, once of the cities of Transoxiana, after which he was named. He was one of the leading scholars of hadeeth and memorization of hadeeth. He was born in 209 AH and studied under al-Bukhaari; they had some of the same teachers. He began to seek ahaadeeth by travelling to Khurasaan, Iraq and the Hijaz. He became famous for his memorization of hadeeth, trustworthiness and knowledge.  His shaykhs included Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Abu Dawood al-Sajistani. He compiled al-Jaami� which is counted as one of the six reliable books of hadeeth. In this book he examined the ahaadeeth in detail, which is of benefit to students of fiqh, because he mentions the ahaadeeth and most of his ahaadeeth deal with rulings of fiqh. He mentions the isnaads and lists the Sahaabah who narrated the hadeeth, so what he believes is saheeh he says is saheeh, and what he believes is da�eef he says is da�eef. He explains who among the fuqaha� accepted the hadeeth and who did not. His Jaami� is the most comprehensive of the books of al-Sunan, and is the most useful to the muhaddith (hadeeth scholar) and faqeeh. His other works include Kitaab al-Shamaa�il al-Nabawiyyah and al-�Ilal fi�l-Hadeeth. He was blind for the latter part of his life, after he had travelled around and compiled saheeh reports from prominent and well-versed scholars. He died in 279 AH at the age of 70. May Allaah have mercy on him. 

5 � Imam al-Nasaa�i 

His full name was Ahmad ibn Shu�ayb ibn �Ali ibn Sinaan ibn Bahr ibn Dinar al-Nasaa�i, Abu �Abd al-Rahmaan. He came from the city of Nasa in Khurasaan, after which he was named (Nasawi or Nasaa�i). He was born in 215 AH, and he was one of the leading scholars and muhaddiths of his time. His comments on al-jarh wa�l-ta�deel (the study of the soundness or otherwise of narrators of hadeeth) are highly esteemed by the scholars. Al-Haakim said: I heard Abu�l-Hasan al-Daaraqutni say more than once, �Abu �Abd al-Rahmaan is the foremost among all scholars of hadeeth, and he is the best evaluator of narrators of his time.� 

He was extremely pious and righteous, and he used to regularly observe the best kind of fasting (the fasting of Dawood), he used to fast on alternate days. He lived in Egypt, where his books became famous and people learned from him. Then he moved to Damascus, where he died on Monday 13 Safar 300 AH, at the age of 85. May Allaah have mercy on him. 

6 � Imam Ibn Maajah 

His full name was Muhammad ibn Yazeed al-Rab�i al-Qazwayni, Abu �Abd-Allaah. His father Yazeed was known as Maajah, so he was known as Ibn Maajah. The name al-Rab�i refers to Rabee�ah, after whom he was named because his father was a freed slave of Rabee�ah . He was a famous hafiz and the author of the book of hadeeth called al-Sunan. He was born in Qazwayn, after which he was named, in 209 AH. He travelled to Iraq, Basrah, Kufa, Baghdad, Makkah, Syria, Egypt and al-Rai to write down hadeeth. He wrote three books during his travels: a book on Tafseer; a book on history, in which he compiled the reports of men who had written down reports of the Sunnah from the time of the Sahaabah until his own time; and his book al-Sunan. Ibn Maajah died on Monday 22 Ramadaan 273 AH, at the age of 64. May Allaah have mercy on him. 

Ruling on the ahaadeeth in these books: 

With regard to Saheeh al-Bukhaari and Saheeh Muslim, the ummah accepts the ahaadeeth that are contained in these books, and they are agreed that everything in them is saheeh apart from a very few phrases which al-Bukhaari and Muslim narrated in order to explain why they are not sound, either explicitly or implicitly, as the scholars who wrote commentaries on these two books, such as Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him), have explained. With regard to the other books of Sunan, they are not free of some da�eef (weak) ahaadeeth here and there. Some of them are noted as such by the authors themselves, and others have been pointed out by other scholars. They did not point out all the weak ahaadeeth, because they narrated the ahaadeeth with their isnaads, so it is easy for the scholars to tell the saheeh ahaadeeth from the da�eef by checking the chain of narrators and knowing who is reliable and who is weak.

Among the famous scholars in this field were Ahmad, al-Daraqutni, Yahya ibn Ma�een, Ibn Hajar, al-Dhahabi, al-Waaqi and al-Sakhaawi. Among the contemporary scholars in this field are al-Albaani, Ahmad Shaakir and others. May Allaah have mercy on them all.

And Allaah knows best.

Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid

Now a portion I higlhlighted above i.e. :

...Among the famous scholars in this field were Ahmad, al-Daraqutni, Yahya ibn Ma�een, Ibn Hajar, al-Dhahabi, al-Waaqi and al-Sakhaawi. Among the contemporary scholars in this field are al-Albaani, Ahmad Shaakir and others. May Allaah have mercy on them all...

Gives the names of famous scholars who did cecking of Hadith.

Besides the collections mentioned above there are also other Hadith Books from which Authentic Hadith can be used.

Page written and being managed by Asim Iqbal 2nd

What will internet users get freely if Dar-us-Salam takes shame and realizes that it must offer the 6 popular Hadith books in English freely online on internet and realize that Islam is more important than petty worldly benefits, the users can get freely the Siha Sitta in English Insha'ALLAH!

I think Dr Zakir Naik is also related to India branch of Dar-us-salam and he can be used to publicly expose Dar-us-Salam via Peace TV if it refuses even his request to offer all the Siha Sitta Books in English complete with each and every word as in the printed edition.

The following message has been copy pasted from Dar-us-salam just as a preview of what users can get if they succeed in pressurizing Dar-us-Salam to offer all this freely online on internet for free download, search and access.

Dar-us-salam says on

http://www.dar-us-salam.com/SihahSittahEnglish.html

"Great News for the Seekers of Knowledge!

For the first time in the history of Islam, the most authentic six books of hadith are translated in English language.

The international publishing house DARUSSALAM (RIYADH), known for its focus on important classical Islamic works, renowned for their publications of the Noble Qur�an English translation of the Qur�an, and the ten volume English translation of the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir, and the nine volume English translation of Sahih al-Bukhari, is grateful to announce the publication of the English translations of the remaining five, of the Six Famous Books of Hadith, collections commonly known as �Saha Sittah� (The Six Books).

The first of these to be completed for distribution is Sunan Ibn Majah, which is available in five volumes, totaling 2678 pages. Thereafter, the complete translation of Sahih Muslim in 7 volumes, totaling 3758 pages, Sunan at-Tirmidhi in six volumes, Sunan an-Nasa�i in 6 volumes, and Sunan Abu Dawud in 5 volumes, remaining each volume more than 530 pages.

Including the previously published English translation of the nine volume set of Sahih al-Bukhari, the entire collection of the translation of the Six Books of Hadith will span 38 volumes.

For the first time in history, English readers will have access to every single hadith in the entire Six Books collection.

This is a landmark event in the progress of Islamic publishing in the English language, and a welcomed indication of the spread of Islam, and the demand for authentic books in English, as well as other languages.

This announcement was made by Mr. Abdul Malik Mujahid, the general manager of Darussalam publishers and distributors.

According to Mr. Abdul Malik Mujahid General Manager of Darussalam Publications, this project should be available in the market by the end of November 2007, before Hajj (in KSA). He reminds that �this is the real heritage of the Muslim Ummah and every library, information center mosques and Islamic center is in need of these authentic sources of Islam.�

Moreover, he said, in an interview that �maximum efforts have been put to keep this project free of errors with more than 5 years and a highly qualified team from different parts of the world who have participated to complete this project.�

He ensures that the people who are seeking knowledge and love the Prophet�s traditions (hadith), will appreciate this project, by the Will of Allah.

HISTORY OF THE PUBLICATIONS

The translations of the remaining five of the Six Books, were based upon Darussalam�s previously published Arabic editions of the Six Books.

These Arabic texts were verified by a team of scholars, under the supervision of Shaykh Salih bin `Abdul-`Aziz Aal ash-Shaykh, the head of the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Islamic Affairs. The verification process was based upon the most important previously published editions and manuscripts, from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon, Pakistan, India, and Turkey, as well as other lands.

For over five years, a grand team of highly qualified translators and editors, from various nations reaching across the globe from Saudi Arabia to America, worked on bringing these texts � among the Usul (fundamental texts) of Islam � into a clear, refined and precise English translation, so that the average English reader may have access to these important Islamic texts that were otherwise never made available to them in their entirety.

While in the past, companies have marketed software for computers that left the English readers with the impression that they contained the narrations of all of these books, the truth is that these programs and collections contained only some of these narrations, being taken from other collections, like translations of Mishkat al-Masabih, for example. Additionally, the advent of the internet and the circulation of these narrations found in these poorly translated software compilations, which were improperly referenced � be it the numbering system used, or the actual source texts from which they were portrayed to be derived � has lead to a great deal of confusion among the English readers.

Only with the complete translations of the Six Books � and in the form compiled by the illustrious Imams of Hadith � could the English readers truly get to the source of the hadiths of the Noble Messenger, Muhammad (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam), and the understanding of the blessed religion of Islam, passed down by the righteous predecessors, generation after generation through chains of narration.

 VALUABLE COMMENTARY AND CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE TRANSLATIONS

After the painstaking efforts to translate these five collections into the English language, each with introductions, the translations underwent the process of proof-editing. Each page contains a column for the translation, next to a column for the Arabic text, with complete vowel markings. Then, along with the translators� footnotes for important matters, an additional valuable commentary was added, in order to explain important matters that may not be clear to the English readers. The commentary also has the added benefit of indicating the appropriate application of the hadiths to modern dilemmas which Muslims struggle with in various parts of the Islamic world.

Since Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim are the only hadith collections in which every hadith is authentic, and the Four Sunan compilations will invariably contain some weak narrations � according to the grading systems of the great scholars of Hadith � the grade for each hadith in the Four Sunan compilations has been provided, from the Arabic work compiled by the Honorable Shaykh Zubayr `Ali Za`i, and included in the translation of each of the Four Sunans, clearly mentioning the grade after each and every hadith.

With these added benefits, the English readers will finally have access to an authentic translation of all of the hadiths in the Six Books collection along with important commentary, an indication of which narrations are authentic and which are not authentic, side by side with the Arabic text and complete vowel markings.

Indeed all praise is due to Allah, who has facilitated that this noble endeavor be brought to fruition in pursuit of serving the teachings of the Qur�an, the Book of Allah the Most Exalted and the Sunnah of His Messenger (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam).

AVAILABILITY

All the books are expected to be published by the end of 2007 and will be available online (Houston, Texas, USA Branch) in the 2nd quarter of 2008, Insha-Allah. To be notified of their arrival please subscribe to our Newsletter or keep checking our website www.Dar-us-Salam.com for updates. "

Authentic Hadith defense:

http://ccminc.faithweb.com/iqra/articles/authsun/index.html (Detailed book proving Authentic Hadith using Qur'an , historical evidence and more...)

www.islamic-awareness.org/Hadith/ (Hadith defense resources with evidences)

www.ahya.org/news/chadeeth.pdf (The compilation of Hadith. Right click mouse and choose "save target as" to download it.) 

http://thetruereligion.org/modules/wfsection/article.php?art icleid=259&page=10 (Hadith defense section from an authoritative exposition by Abdur Raheem Green)

www.islamtomorrow.com/hadeeth/index.asp (10 Hadith questions and more�)

http://muslim-canada.org/ch2hamid.html (Preservation of the original teachings of Islam)

www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/ (various resources)

asimiqbal.2.googlepages.com/hadeeth.htm (Many Ayaat translations to support Authentic Hadith defense)

Unity of all Muslims on Hadith Project

www.whyislam.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3772&PN=1 (Preservation and importance of Hadith)

http://albalagh.net/prophethood/response_rejecters.shtml (a look at Hadith Rejecters' Claims)

www.islaam.com/Section.aspx?id=8 (articles on Sunnah defense)

http://thetruereligion.org/modules/wfsection/article.php?art icleid=312

Keep visiting:

http://asimiqbal.2.googlepages.com/