Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam

An Exposition of Fifty Hadith from the Comprehensive Sayings (Jawami' al-Kalim)

Author: Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali

Know, my Muslim brother, that Allah the Almighty has blessed us with this religion and has appointed messengers and prophets whom He chose from among humanity to call to Him and to act upon it. And among the completeness of His bounty upon us is that He made heirs for the prophets and messengers who inherited from them knowledge, virtue, and character. Allah cast light into their hearts, and with it, they taught people the religion and called to Allah the Almighty. Among these scholars whose hearts Allah illuminated with knowledge and faith is the Hafiz Zayn al-Din Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali, the Imam, the Jurist, the Hadith scholar, the Preacher, the author of unique works in their subject matter, rich in their content, whom Allah blessed with His grace and mercy with abundant knowledge, sound intellect, and broad horizons. Among his works that had a great impact on people is this book, which he named: "Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam fi Sharh Khamsina Hadithan min Jawami' al-Kalim" (A Compendium of Sciences and Wisdom in the Commentary of Fifty Hadith from the Comprehensive Sayings). It is a commentary on Imam al-Nawawi's book "Al-Arba'in" (The Forty), which originally contained forty-two hadith. He (may Allah have mercy on him) added eight more hadith to it, then expounded on all of them in this book that we are discussing. Ibn Rajab's book compiled hadith that scholars described as the pillars of the religion and explained them in a unique style, combining the method of the people of Hadith – through his نقل (transmission) of many hadith and narrations, along with explaining the different narrations and chains, and discussing their isnads (chains of transmission) in terms of criticism and justification, authentication and weakening, and mentioning supporting evidence and follow-ups – with the educational approach to refining souls, which represents the methodology of educators; distinguished by his transmission of wisdom, admonitions, and delicate matters of the heart, and the like. Despite the treasures contained in this book that we mentioned earlier, it also did not lack the mention of many jurisprudential benefits and issues that a Muslim would hardly find gathered in any other book. The author distinguished it by transmitting the majority of opinions on a single issue, making the book a reference for both Hadith scholars and jurists.