The grant of the العلام شرح بلوغ المرام 1/ 11 complete

To Sheikh Abdullah Saleh Al-Fawzan All praise be to Allah, we praise Him, seek His help, ask for His forgiveness, and seek refuge in Allah from the evil of ourselves and the bad of our deeds. Whom Allah guides, there is no misleader for him, and whom He misleads, there is no guide for him. I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon him, his family, his companions, and those who follow them with goodness until the Day of Judgment. After: Knowledge is the noblest of pursuits, and the greatest of desires. Through it, the servant reaches the stations of the righteous and the pious, and the highest ranks in this world and the Hereafter. Among the most noble sciences, and the highest in rank — after the Book of Allah — is the knowledge of the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, in narration and understanding. Both are the foundation of deriving legal rulings. The early scholars paid attention to this type of evidence and adopted various methods in their compilations. One of these methods was to restrict to the Hadiths of legal rulings and to isolate them from Hadiths about beliefs, wars, virtues, manners, and others, to facilitate memorization for students and to make it easier to reference during deduction. Among those who compiled on this method was the Hafiz Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani (may Allah have mercy on him), who died in 852 AH. He collected in his book "Buloog al-Maram min Adillah al-Ahkam" (The Reached Goals from the Evidence of Rulings) the fundamentals of Hadiths of legal rulings, arranged them according to well-known jurisprudential chapters, to make review easier for the reader. He did not limit himself to authentic Hadiths but also included some weak Hadiths to inform the student of what has been reported regarding the issue from weak Hadiths. Knowing the authentic from the weak is knowledge, and knowing the weak is also knowledge. He aimed for the student to strive in studying them; if there are supporting evidences or other chains, he examined them, and it became clear whether some could strengthen others or not. The Hafiz confined himself to general books and chapters without assigning a title to each Hadith — as Al-Majd Ibn Taymiyah did in "Al-Muntaqa" — and mentioned at the end the "Jami" of manners, as if intending to provide the student with these Hadiths after memorizing the Hadiths of rulings, because they are most in need of them. The number of Hadiths in the book reached 1,568, though this number may increase or decrease depending on the different editions or perspectives on the narrations and reports. This book has many advantages, which the observant reader can deduce. Among the most prominent are: 1. It arranged its books, chapters, and Hadiths according to jurisprudential chapters, mentioning the name of the book, then the chapter, then listing the relevant Hadiths. Sometimes it mentions the book name and then lists the Hadiths without a chapter, as in the "Book of Funerals" and the beginnings of "Zakat," "Sawm," "Marriage," and others. 2. It limited itself to the raised Hadiths, mentioning only a few Muwatta (stopped) Hadiths, as in the "Book of Marriage," "Chapter of Ilyaa," "Chapter of Waiting," and others. 3. It summarized long Hadiths beautifully, without changing the wording or delaying the mention of later parts, focusing only on the point of evidence. 4. It omitted the chains of narration, focusing only on the highest narrator, and may mention those before him for a purpose, which is very rare. 5. It often indicates the degree of the Hadith's authenticity, whether it is sound, good, or weak, either by quoting others or by his own judgment. This is one of the most important features, although he rarely explained the reason for weakness, perhaps for brevity. These features were absent in Al-Majd Ibn Taymiyah's "Al-Muntaqa," which only summarized the chains and clarified their sources without indicating their grades. 6. Sometimes, he mentions issues in the chains such as sending, interruption, or stopping, and may prefer one if there are multiple chains, all in brief wording. 7. Occasionally, he mentions narrations and supplementary Hadiths related to the original Hadith, only for a benefit, such as restricting an absolute, clarifying a vague point, explaining a concealed matter, or resolving a contradiction. I paid particular attention to this aspect, noting the Hafiz's purpose in mentioning these reports after the original Hadith, which I believe the commentators overlooked. Allah has granted this book acceptance among scholars old and new. Scholars praised it, students circulated it, and they committed it to memory. It was taught in some curricula, and scholars explained and clarified it. It was also served from a Hadith perspective by authenticating and referencing its Hadiths to their sources, among other efforts. My method of explaining the book is as follows: First: I discuss each Hadith in the form of points, after giving a title that defines its subject and clarifies its meaning. The points are: * The first point: in the biography of the narrator, to briefly identify him. * The second point: in authenticating the Hadith of the chapter, relying on the sources mentioned by the Hafiz, and arranging them as he did, unless there is a reason to add more, indicating its location in the volume or page, or just the number if sufficient. I may mention the name of the book and chapter with the number to clarify the subject and location of the Hadith, especially in "Sahih al-Bukhari," "Sahih Muslim," and the Sunan, noting that the chapters in "Sahih Muslim" are not from him. I then cite the chain of narration as needed, sometimes quoting the wording of the Hadith from its source if the Hafiz did not mention it fully or if there are differences, then I judge the Hadith as the Hafiz did, with additional supporting words from scholars. I also mention related reports sometimes, explaining their purpose in the context. * The third point and beyond: concerning issues related to the Hadith, starting with explaining the words of the Hadith and including the biographies of those mentioned in the text. Second: I focus only on jurisprudential issues derived from the Hadith, without diverging into other issues, because the aim is to clarify the jurisprudence of the Hadith, not to list all jurisprudential matters. This is the domain of fiqh books. I avoid lengthening the explanation to prevent increasing the size of the book. I usually mention references for jurisprudential issues, and what I have quoted from Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Baz, may Allah have mercy on him, is attributed to its source, or from the "Buloog" explanation recordings. A comprehensive index will be at the end, God willing. Third: I do not address controversial issues or debates over evidence, but I only state the preferred opinion supported by evidence, and I avoid what has no evidence unless the disagreement is strong or the Hafiz mentioned evidence for both sides in his book. I then clarify the preferred opinion to resolve apparent contradictions from the evidence of either side. Finally, I ask the dear reader, if he notices any slip of the pen or misunderstanding in what I have written, to kindly write to me, and I will be rewarded and appreciated for correcting it in the future. The ears are listening, and the chest is open. Human writings are subject to error, so shortcomings and deficiencies are inevitable. I named this explanation: "The Gift of the Scholar in Explaining Buloog al-Maram." May Allah make my work sincere, purely for His Face, beneficial for His servants. May Allah's peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, his companions, and those who follow them with goodness until the Day of Judgment. Written by: Abdullah bin Saleh Al-Fawzan