Imam Abul-Husain Muslim - Sahih Muslim (Volume 1) (Al-Minhaj bi Sharh Sahih Muslim)

S a hih Muslim: With Full Commentary by Imam al-Nawaw i

First published in England by

THE ISLAMIC FOUNDATION,

Markfield Conference Centre,

Ratby Lane, Markfield,

Leicestershire, LE67 9SY,

United Kingdom

Website: www.Islamic-foundation.com

Email:

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Copyright Adil Salahi 2019

All Rights Reserved

The right of Adil Salahi to be identified as the translator of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patent Act 1988.

Rights managed through co-publishing agreement with ICMG Australia,

1575 Sydney Road,

Campbellfield, VIC,

Australia, 3061.

With special thank you for the immense contribution of ICMG Youth Australia.

Cataloguingin-Publication Data is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-0-86037-786-3 casebound

ISBN: 978-0-86037-796-2 paperback

ISBN: 978-0-86037-791-7 ebook

Cover Design by: Jannah Haque

Typesetting by : Naiem Qaddoura

Printed by : Clays Ltd.

CONTENTS

TRANSLITERATION TABLE

Arabic Consonants

Initial, unexpressed medial and final:

a	d	d	k
b	dh	t	l
t	r	z	m
th	z	[	n
j	s	gh		h
h	sh	f	w
kh	s	q	y

With a shaddah , both medial and final consonants are doubled.

Vowels, diphthongs, etc .

Short:		a		i		u
Long:		a		i		u
Diphthongs:		aw
	ay

In the name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Ever Merciful

PREFACE

We live in a time when people can spread their views around the globe at the touch of a button. Yet such views may come from people of little knowledge who can confuse and even misguide others. This is a concern that has become particularly acute with the widespread misrepresentation of Islam, both by those hostile towards it, and, unfortunately, even those who claim to profess it. Through their evil but eloquent schemes, such people can misrepresent the sacred teachings of this religion, and direct the ignorant and the ill-fated to perpetrate heinous crimes against both an innocent public and an innocent religion. Such deception and misinterpretation has sadly become all too common in our day, and among its causes is, undoubtedly, the relative inaccessibility of sound Islamic scholarship and literature in the English language. An additional cause is the suggestion that there is no difference between experts and non-experts. It is as though God never declared in His Book: How can those who know be equal to those who do not know? (39: 9)

A plethora of problems can arise when non-experts begin to consider themselves experts on a subject matter. One can vividly illustrate with the example of a person who requires medical attention. A sensible individual would choose to be treated by a medical professionalan expert in the fieldrather than risk their health by consenting to a medical procedure from someone who fancies themselves a doctor simply because they have read a medical textbook in their spare time. Indeed, there are serious legal consequences for those who claim to practice medicine without a recognized licenceone which is granted because they have been through rigorous training and examination. Such legal repercussions are entirely appropriate of course, for such frauds place peoples worldly lives at risk. Yet why is it that when it comes to our health we seek an expert opinion, but when it comes to our everlasting Hereafter so many of us prefer to follow someone who considers himself an expert after reading just a couple of books? Simply put: why do we risk our eternity by following those who are not qualified? Why do we not seek out recognized experts? As God the Almighty says: ask the people of knowledge if you do not know . (16: 43) It is precisely to address this gap between scholarly works and non-scholarly opinions that we have endeavoured to produce this invaluable resource.

After reading the entirety of al-Minh a j in Turkish, the Director of Organisational Management at Islamic Community Milli Gorus (ICMG) Youth Australia, Adem Temel, conducted a meeting with our small team in which we studied the book and recognized how blessed we were to have access to such a stupendous work. It was evident that the renowned scholar and author of al-Minh a j , Imam al-Nawaw i , may God have mercy on him, had wisdom and knowledge many today are in desperate need of. Indeed, a l-Minh a j is one of the greatest and most respected commentaries on S a hih Muslim . While an English translation of a hadith can struggle to convey its apparent meaning, let alone the appropriate context and other subtleties, commentaries by experts like Imam al-Nawaw i can shed light on hadiths more comprehensively and thus give us greater access to the intended meaning while guarding us against misunderstanding. During a subsequent meeting, our team compared the Turkish translation of F i Z il a l al-Quran with the English translation by Dr Adil Salahi and were impressed by the remarkable consistency between the two translations. Immediately thereafter, the team made the decision to contact Dr Salahi with a view to proposing that he translate Imam al-Nawaw i s al-Minh a j into English. We were overjoyed to hear his positive response.