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1. Ar. Sunnah: Way, Path, Tradition, Example. See An Introduction to the Sunnah by Suhaib Hasan (Understanding Islam Series no. 5, published by Al-Quran Society), for Qur'anic proofs of revelation besides the Qur'an, the importance of the Sunnah, and a brief history of the collections of Hadith. See also Imam al- Shafi'i's al-Risalah for the authoritative position of the Sunnah (Eng. trans., pp. 109- 116).
2. Related by Imam Muslim in the Introduction to his Sahih - see Sahih Muslim (ed. M.F. 'Abdul Baqi, 5 vols., Cairo, 1374/1955), 1:15 & Sahih Muslim bi Sharh an-Nawawi (18 vols. in 6, Cairo, 1349), 1:87. The existing English translation of Sahih Muslim, by Abdul Hamid Siddiqi, does not contain this extremely valuable Introduction.
3. Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi, Al-Jarh wa l-Ta'dil (8 vols., Hyderabad, 1360-1373), 1:20.
4. Sahih Muslim, 1:15. See Suhaib Hasan, Criticism of Hadith among Muslims with reference to Sunan Ibn Maja (Ta Ha publishers / Al-Quran Society, London, 1407/1986), pp. 15-17 for discussion of this statement of Ibn Sirin.
5. Remarks like these are exceptions from the basic Islamic prohibition of backbiting (ghibah) another Muslim, even if the statement is true. Such exceptions are allowed, even obligatory in some cases, where general benefit to the Muslim public is at stake, such as knowing which ahadith are authentic. See e.g. Riyad al-Salihin of al-Nawawi, Chapter on Backbiting, for the justification for certain types of backbiting from the Qur'an and Sunnah.
6. Muhammad Adib Salih, Lamahat fi Usul al-Hadith (2nd ed., al-Maktab al-Islami, Beirut, 1389), p. 143.
7. Tahir b. Ahmad al-Jaza'iri, Taujih al-Nazar ila Usul al-Nazar (Maktaba 'Ilmiyyah, Madinah, N.D.), p. 68.
8. Muhammad b. 'Abdullah al-Hakim, Ma'rifah 'Ulum al-Hadith (ed. Mu'azzam Husain, Cairo, 1937), p. 17.
9. ibid.
10. Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti, Tadrib al-Rawi (ed.A.A. Latif, 1st ed., Cairo, 1379/1959), 1:197.
11. Al-Dhahabi, Talkhis al-Mustadrak (printed with Mustadrak al-Hakim, 4 vols., Hyderabad), 3:176.
12. Abu 'l-Fida' 'Imad al-Din Ibn Kathir, Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Azim (4 vols., Cairo, N.D.), 1:80.
13. Yusuf b. 'Abdullah Ibn 'Abdul Barr, Tajrid al- Tamhid lima fi l-Muwatta' min al-Asanid (Cairo, 1350), 1:2.
14. ibid.
15. al-Suyuti, 1:198.
16. For the discussion in detail, see al-Shafi'i, al-Risalah (ed. Ahmad Shakir, Cairo, 1358/1940, pp. 461-470; English translation: M. Khadduri, 2nd ed., Islamic Texts Society Cambridge, 1987, pp. 279-284, where the mursal hadith has been translated as "interrupted tradition").
17. al-Suyuti, 1:199; Muhammad b. Mustafa al- Ghadamsi, Al-Mursal min al-Hadith (Darif Ltd., London, N.D.), p.71.
18. Ibn al-Qayyim, I'lam al-Muwaqqi'in (2nd ed., 4 vols. in 2, Dar al-Fikr, Beirut, 1397/1977), 1:31.
19. Ibn Hazm, Al-Ihkam fi Usul al-Ahkam (Matba'ah al-Sa'adah, Cairo, 1345), 2:135.
20. Al-Hazimi, Shurut al-A'immah al-Khamsah (ed. M.Z. al-Kauthari, Cairo, N.D.), p. 45.
21. According to the different interpretations of this verse, "they" here could refer to those who stay behind, or those who go forth.
22. al-Hakim, p. 26.
23. ibid.
24. Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Al-Kifayah fi 'Ilm al- Riwayah (Hyderabad, 1357), p. 387.
25. ibid., pp. 411-413.
26. Zain al-Din al-'Iraqi, Al-Taqyid wa 'l-Idah Sharh Muqaddimah Ibn al-Salah (al-Maktabah al- Salafiyyahh, Madinah, 1389/1969), p. 72
27. Ibn Taymiyyah, Minhaj al-Sunnah an-Nabawiyyah fi Naqd Kalam al-Shi'ah wa 'l-Qadariyyah (al- Maktabah al-Amiriyyah, Bulaq, 1322), 4:117.
28. Al-Dhahabi, Al-Muqizah (Maktab al-Matbu'at al- Islamiyyah, Halab, 1405), p. 40.
29. al-Jaza'iri, p. 33.
30. ibid.
31. Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, Sharh Nukhbah al-Fikr (ed. M. 'Aud & M.G. Sabbagh, Damascus, 1410/1990), pp. 8-9.
32. al-Jaza'iri, p. 49; Muhammad b. Isma'il al- Amir al-San'ani, Taudih al-Afkar (2 vols. ed. M.M. 'Abdul Hamid, Cairo, 1366), 2:405.
33. al-San'ani, 2:409.
34. al-Hakim, pp. 96-102.
35. al-San'ani, 2:455.
36. al-'Iraqi, p. 268.
37. al-San'ani, 2:406.
38. al-'Iraqi, p. 96.
39. ibid.
40. Ibn Hajar, Tabaqat al-Mudallisin (Cairo, 1322), p. 7f.
41. al-'Iraqi, p. 98.
42. al-Hakim, pp. 30-34.
43. ibid., p. 119.
44. Ibn Kathir, Ikhtisar 'Ulum al-Hadith (ed. Ahmad Shakir, 2nd imp., Cairo, 1951), p. 57.
45. al-Suyuti, 1:235; M. A. Salih, p. 260.
46. al-San'ani, 2:3.
47. ibid., 2:6.
48. al-Khatib, p. 431.
49. Ibn Kathir, Tafsir, 4:349.
50. Ibn Kathir, Ikhtisar, p. 62.
51. al-Suyuti, 1:248.
52. al-Hakim, p. 39.
53. al-'Iraqi, p. 129f.
54. al-Suyuti, 1:274.
55. Ibn Kathir, Ikhtisar, p. 72.
56. ibid.
57. Ibn 'Abdul Barr, Al-Tamhid, 3:32, as quoted by Luqman al-Salafi, Ihtimam al-Muhaddithin bi Naqd al-Hadith, p. 381f.
58. Ibn Kathir, Ikhtisar, p. 88.
59. ibid., p. 87.
60. Shams al-Din Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Rahman al- Sakhawi, Fath al-Mughith Sharh Alfiyyah al-Hadith li 'l-'Iraqi (Lucknow, N.D.), 1:278.
61. 'Uthman b. 'Abdal-Rahman al-Dimashqi Ibn al-Salah, 'Ulum al-Hadith (commonly known as Muqaddimah, ed. al-Tabbakh, Halab, 1350), p.116.
62. 'Ali b. 'Abdullah b. Ja'far Ibn al-Madini, Kitab al-'Ilal, p. 58. Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani mentions that the Imams of Hadith have agreed that al-Hasan al-Basri did not hear a single word from 'Ali.
63. Sahih Muslim, 4:2149 (English transl., IV:1462, Sharh Nawawi, 17:133).
64. Ibn Taimiyyah, Majmu' Fatawa (37 vols., ed. 'Abd al-Rahman b. Qasim & his son Muhammad,Riyad, 1398), 18:18f. Ibn Taimiyyah mentions that Imam Muslim's authentication of this hadith is supported by Abu Bakr al-Anbari & Ibn al-Jauzi, whereas al-Baihaqi supports those who disparaged it. Al-Albani says that it was Ibn al-Madini who criticised it, whereas Ibn Ma'in did not (the latter was known to be very strict, both of them were shaikhs of al-Bukhari). He further says that the hadith is sahih, and does not contradict the Qur'an, contrary to the probable view of the scholars who criticised the hadith, since what is mentioned in the Qur'an is the creation of the heavens and the earth in six days, each of which may be like a thousand years, whereas the hadith refers to the creation of the earth only, in days which are shorter than those referred to in the Qur'an (Silsilah al-Ahadith as-Sahihah, no. 1833).
65. al-Dhahabi, p. 27.
66. al-Shafi'i, p. 370f (Eng. trans., pp. 239- 240).
67. al-Dhahabi, p. 24.
68. al-Nawawi, Muqaddimah, p. 14.
69. al-Tibi, al-Husain b. 'Abdullah, al-Khulasah fi Usul al-Hadith (ed. Subhi al-Samarra'i, Baghdad, 1391), p. 36.
70. ibid., p. 38.
71. al-Nawawi, Muqaddimah, p. 43.
72. al-Dhahabi, p. 26.
73. ibid., pp. 32-33.
74. al-Albani, Silsilah al-Ahadith al-Sahihah, no.62.
75. al-Jaza'iri, p. 149.
76. al-Sakhawi, 1:99.
77. al-Dhahabi, pp. 33-34.
78. ibid., p. 36.
79. al-Sakhawi, 1:264.
80. ibid., 1:275.
81. al-Nawawi, Taqrib, 1:275.
82. See Ibn al-Qayyim, al-Manar al-Munif fi 'l- Sahih wa 'l-Da'if (ed. A.F. Abu Ghuddah, Lahore, 1402/1982), pp. 102-105 for a fuller discussion. Ibn al-Qayyim mentions more than ten clear indications of the forgery of the document, which the Jews repeatedly attempted to use to deceive the Muslims over the centuries, but each time a scholar of Hadith intervened to point out the forgery - such incidents occurred with Ibn Jarir al-Tabari (d. 310), al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (d. 463) and Ibn Taimiyyah (d. 728), who spat on the document as it was unfolded from beneath its silken covers.
83. Suhaib Hasan, Criticism of Hadith, pp. 35-44.
84. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) allowed such narrations, but they are not to be confirmed nor denied, except for what is confirmed or denied by the Qur'an and Sunnah. See e.g. An Introduction to the Principles of Tafseer of Ibn Taimiyyah (trans. M.A.H. Ansari, Al-Hidaayah, Birmingham, 1414/1993), pp. 56-58.
85. ibid., p. 156.
86. See Muqaddimah Ibn al-Salah.
87. Fatawa Ibn Taimiyyah, 6:379-382.
88. Isma'il b. Muhammad al-'Ijlouni, Kashf al-Khafa' (2 vols. in 1, Cairo/Aleppo, N.D.), no. 2016.
89. Al-Albani, Silsilah al-Ahadith al-Da'ifah, no. 282.
90. Kashf al-Khafa', no. 2256.
91. Sahih al-Jami' al-Saghir, no. 2163; Silsilah al-Ahadith al-Sahihah, no. 1691.
92. Kashf al-Khafa', no. 2532; Al-Da'ifah, no. 66.
93. Al-Da'ifah, no. 58.
94. Kashf al-Khafa', no. 1102; Al-Da'ifah, no.36.
95. Al-Sahihah, no. 1761.
96. Kashf al-Khafa', no. 2130.
97. Kashf al-Khafa', no. 618.
98. Da'if al-Jami' al-Saghir, nos. 1410, 1416.
99. Kashf al-Khafa', no. 1078; Al-Da'ifah, no. 593.
100. Kashf al-Khafa', no. 1665; Sahih al-Jami' al-Saghir, nos. 3913-4.
101. Al-Da'ifah, no. 416; Da'if al-Jami' al-Saghir, nos. 1005-6.
102. Kashf al-Khafa', no. 2276.
103. Kashf al-Khafa', no. 1362.