Collection of Sciences and Wisdom

Explanation of fifty hadiths from the comprehensive sayings

Author's name: Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali

Know, my Muslim brother, that God Almighty has bestowed upon us this religion and appointed messengers and prophets whom He chose from among mankind to call people to it and to act upon it. Part of His favor upon us is that He made successors for the prophets and messengers, who inherited from them knowledge, virtue, and good character. God cast light into their hearts, and through it they taught people the religion and called them to God Almighty. Among these scholars whose hearts God illuminated with knowledge and faith is the scholar Zayn al-Din Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali, the imam, jurist, hadith scholar, preacher, author of unique works on their subject matter and rich in content. God bestowed upon him, through His grace and mercy, abundant knowledge, sound judgment, and broad horizons. Among his works that had a profound impact on people is this book, which he titled: “A Collection of Knowledge and Wisdom in Explaining Fifty Concise Hadiths,” a commentary on al-Nawawi’s “Forty Hadiths,” which originally contained forty-two hadiths. He—may God have mercy on him—added eight more hadiths and then explained them all in the book we are discussing. Ibn Rajab’s book compiles hadiths that scholars have described as the foundation of the religion, and he explains them in a unique style. He combines the methodology of the scholars of hadith—through his transmission of numerous hadiths and narrations, along with the explanation of the narrations and their chains of transmission, critical analysis and justification of their chains, their authentication and weakening, and the mention of supporting evidence and corroborating narrations—with the educational approach to refining souls, which represents the methodology of educators. This approach is distinguished by its inclusion of wisdom, admonitions, and spiritual insights—and the like. In addition to the treasures this book contains, as mentioned above; It also included many benefits and jurisprudential issues that a Muslim would hardly find compiled in any other book, which the author distinguished by conveying most of the opinions on a single issue, until the book became a reference for scholars of Hadith and jurisprudence.