التلخيص الحبير

This is _the_ Takhrῑj book to have in your library.

One of the most important Fiqh books written is the book of Imām al-Rāfiʽῑ titled _Fatḥ al-‘Azῑz_ (فتح العزيز), famously known as _Al-Sharḥ al-Kabῑr_ (الشرح الكبير). It is a commentary of Imām al-Ghazālῑ’s book _Al-Wajῑz_ (الوجيز), which is based upon the magnum opus of his teacher, Imām al-Ḥaramayn al-Juwaynῑ titled _Nihāyah al-Māṭlab_ (نهاية المطلب); a book widely thought to be a commentary of _Mukhtasar al-Muzani_ (مختصر المزني).

Al-Rāfiʽῑ’s book became widely accepted. After all, he is the most prominent figure in the Shāfiʽῑ Madhhab along with Imām al-Nawawῑ. Amongst the books written on the commentary of Imām al-Rāfiʽῑ was a book by Ḥāfiẓ Ibn al-Mulaqqin titled _Al-Badr al-Munῑr_ (البدر المنير). In this book, Ibn al-Mulaqqin sources all of the Aḥādῑth found in Al-Rāfiʽῑ’s commentary and studies the level of each Ḥadῑth in terms of authenticity by looking at the books of _Al-Jarḥ wa’l-Taʽdῑl_, the books of _Rijāl_, the books of _‘Ilal_, the books of _Aḥādῑth al-Aḥkām_ and many more books.

This was a huge book which has only recently been printed. However, _Al-Badr al-Munῑr_ (البدر المنير) contained extra detail which could have been omitted, such as presenting the same chain of narration multiple times and juristic explanations of certain difficult words. Hence, a summary of _Al-Badr al-Munῑr_ (البدر المنير) was written by the Ḥadῑth master Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar titled _Al-Tamyῑz_ (التمييز), famously known as _Al-Talkhῑṣ al-Ḥabῑr_ (التلخيص الحبير) which was approximately a third of the size of _Al-Badr al-Munῑr_ (البر المنير).

_Al-Talkhῑṣ al-Ḥabῑr_ (التلخيص الحبير) is a unique book. It was printed well before _Al-Badr al-Munῑr_ (البدر المنير), and therefore, it is oft-quoted in books like _Maʽārif al-Sunan_ (معارف السنن) of Al-Bannūrῑ and _Tuḥfah al-Aḥwadhi_ (تحفة الأحوذي) of Mubarapurῑ. In this book, Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar did not only summarise _Al-Badr al-Munῑr_ (البدر المنير), rather, he added all the fawā’id from many other scholars who had written upon the Aḥādῑth found in Al-Rāfiʽῑ’s book before Ibn al-Mulaqqin such as Badr al-Din Al-Zarkashῑ and Badr al-Din Ibn Jamāʽah. He also added relevant discussions from _Naṣb al-Rāyah_ (نصب الراية) of Ḥāfiẓ al-Zaylaʽῑ.

He has ordered the presentation of the Aḥādῑth and statements of the scholars of _Al-Jarḥ wa’l-Taʽdῑl_ in _Al-Badr al-Munῑr_ (البدر المنير) in a more organised manner. Similarly, whilst Ibn al-Mulaqqin may at times only source a Ḥadῑth to one recognised book of Ḥadῑth, Ibn Ḥajar will find many more references for that Ḥadῑth. Furthermore, at times, Ibn al-Mulaqqin struggled to find the Ḥadῑth, Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar finds this Ḥadῑth.

Once all of this is taken into consideration, this book is essentially one of the most important books written in the field of sourcing Aḥādῑth and commenting upon the various Aḥādῑth. It even assists in giving a practical demonstration of how a ruling on a certain narrator has been derived, and how this ruling has affected the entire juristic ruling extracted by the different schools of thought.

Ismaeel Books