In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Most Mercy-Giving. Upon the passing of my mentor and intellectual guide, Mawlānā ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm Chishtī Ṣāḥib (al-Nuʿmānī), who his students affectionally call Ustādh Jī or just Haḍrat Chishtī Ṣāḥib, I find myself struggling to find the right way of expressing my grief and loss. It is, no… Continue reading Memories of My Mentor: Mawlānā Dr. ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm al-Nuʿmāni Chishtī
Category: Hadith
The Attribution of Prophetic Events to the Day of ʿĀshūrā
[I found this somewhat unfinished research on my computer. Seeing as today is the 10th of Muḥarram, or ʿĀshūrā, I thought it would be useful to students of knowledge to post whatever research I had gathered to date on the authenticity of the attribution of certain prophetic events to this day. Interestingly enough, the 10th… Continue reading The Attribution of Prophetic Events to the Day of ʿĀshūrā
ʿAllāmah al-Kawtharī’s List of Ḥanafī Hadith Masters
The following list a selection from notes that were compiled for one of the appendices to the forthcoming (in shā Allāh) translation of Imam ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq al-Dihlawī’s Muqaddamah fī Uṣūl al-Ḥadīth. The list has had to be refined, edited, and truncated for publishing purposes. I thought the rough notes would still benefit certain interested readers,… Continue reading ʿAllāmah al-Kawtharī’s List of Ḥanafī Hadith Masters
Al-Biḍāʿat al-Muzjāt li man Yuṭāliʿu al-Mirqāt by Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm al-Nuʿmānī
After a recent post in which I quoted from my ustādh’s work, I received a number of requests for the book and some feedback about its unavailability. Subsequently, I requested a colleague, Mawlana Kamil Uddin, to help me scan the 92 page work so that I could share it with others even though a new… Continue reading Al-Biḍāʿat al-Muzjāt li man Yuṭāliʿu al-Mirqāt by Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm al-Nuʿmānī
A Suggested Curriculum of Study for the Hanafi Student of Hadith
In our shaykh Mawlānā ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm al-Nuʿmānī’s invaluable foreword to Mullā ʿAlī al-Qārī’s Mirqāt al-Mafātīḥ – modestly entitled al-Biḍāʿat al-Muzjāt li man Yuṭāliʿu al-Mirqāt (Scanty Merchandise for the One who Studies the Mirqāt) – the erudite hadith scholar Imam ʿAbd al-Bārī ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Anṣārī al-Laknawī is quoted from a passage of his prolegomena to his al-Taʿlīq al-Mukhtār ʿalā Kitāb al-Āthār. In… Continue reading A Suggested Curriculum of Study for the Hanafi Student of Hadith
On the Validity of Backbiting in Hadith Criticism
Question: When we talk about a specific narrator being ʿādil (upright), isn’t it backbiting to label someone a liar or a sinner? How is this justified? Answer: In the name of Allah, the All Merciful, the Most Mercy-giving. The act of backbiting (ghībah) as it applies to speaking unfavorably of a person who is not present is… Continue reading On the Validity of Backbiting in Hadith Criticism
The Solitary Report (Khabr Wāḥid) in the Ḥanafī Madhhab: Selection from an Unpublished Article
The khabar wāḥid (sometimes translated as a “solitary report”), as defined by the Ḥanafī jurists, refers to a narration that is transmitted by any number of narrators that does not reach the level of mashhūr or mutawātir. (Bazdawī 112) It may be narrated by one, two, or any other varying number of narrators at every… Continue reading The Solitary Report (Khabr Wāḥid) in the Ḥanafī Madhhab: Selection from an Unpublished Article
Commentary on the Hadith of Shaytan and Eating with the Left Hand
أخبرنا مالك أخبرنا ابن شهاب عن أبي بكر بن عبيد الله عن عبد الله بن عمر أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم قال : إذا أكل أحدكم فليأكل بيمينه وليشرب بيمينه فإن الشيطان يأكل بشماله ويشرب بشماله قال محمد : وبه نأخذ . لا ينبغي أن يأكل بشماله ولا يشرب بشماله إلا من… Continue reading Commentary on the Hadith of Shaytan and Eating with the Left Hand
The Hadith of Abu Hurayrah Delivering a Lecture Before the Jumu’ah Khutbah
Question: I was discussing with a friend the idea of giving a speech before the Arabic khutbah and he mentioned that Abu Hurayrah used to give a speech in Masjid Nabawi before the actual khutbah. Do you know where he got this from and where I can find this hadith?
Reading List of Recommended English Books on the Prophetic Biography
The list of available works on the Sīrah, or prophetic biography, is almost too long to mention. I have, therefore, confined this list to English works and, then, to works that are the most useful for students of my Sirah courses (HST101: Prophetic Biography – The Makkan Era and HST102: Prophetic Biography – The Madinan… Continue reading Reading List of Recommended English Books on the Prophetic Biography
Bilal Ali 