Imām Muslim’s Book Of Knowledge
Shaykh Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī
A time is approaching in which the knowledge will be taken away, and trials (Fitan) will appear, and greed will be present.
Chapter: Regarding The Raising up of Knowledge And The Appearance Of Ignorance1
1856 – From Anas Ibn Mālik (raḍī Allāhu ʿanhu) who said, ” Should I not narrate to you a ḥadīth which I heard from the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) not narrated by any of you, nor will you hear like it? “Verily from the signs of the hour is the raising of knowledge, and the manifestation of ignorance, and the spreading of adultery/fornication (Zinā), and the drinking of intoxicants, and the departure of men, and the remaining of women. Until there will be fifty women to be cared for by one man.”2 [Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (8/58)]
Chapter: Regarding the Taking Away of Knowledge
1857 – From Abī Hurayrah (raḍī Allāhu ʿanhu) who said, Allāh’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “A time is approaching in which the knowledge will be taken away, and trials (Fitan) will appear, and greed will be present 3, and al-Harj will increase.” They said, “And what is al-Harj?” He said, “Killing.” [Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (8/59)]
Chapter: Regarding The Taking Away of Knowledge By Taking Away the Scholars
1858 – From ʿAbdullāh Ibn ʿUmar Ibn al ʿĀs (raḍī Allāhu ʿanhu) who said, “I heard the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) saying, ‘Verily Allāh does not take away knowledge by snatching it away from the people, rather He takes it away by taking away the scholars until there is not one scholar left. So The people will take ignorant leaders, so they will be asked, and they will give rulings without knowledge. So they will be misguided, and they will misguide. [Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (8/60)]
Chapter: Whoever Takes A Good Way or Bad In Islām
1859 – From Jarīr Ibn ʿAbdullāh (raḍī Allāhu ʿanhu) who said: “People from amongst the Arabs came to the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) with wool on them. So he incited the people to give charity, but they were slow on that, until I saw that (displeasure) on his face.” He said, “Then a man from the Ansār came with a bag from paper, then others came. Then they followed until it was known that there was happiness on his (ﷺ) face. So the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) said, ‘Whoever takes in Islām a good way, and it is acted upon after him; There is for him a like reward from the performers of it without there being anything decreased from their reward. And whoever takes a sinful way, and it is acted upon after him, there is written for him a like burden from the performers of it, and there is not decreased from their burden, anything.'” [Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (8/61)]
Chapter: Whoever Calls To Guidance or Misguidance
1860 – From Abī Hurayrah (raḍī Allāhu ʿanhu) that the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) “Whoever calls to guidance has a reward like the rewards of those who follow him, without that decreasing anything from their reward. And whoever calls to misguidance, there is on him sin from the sins of those who follow him, not decreasing that from their sins anything.” [Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (8/62)]
Chapter: Regarding The Writing of The Qurʾān and a Warning Against Lying On The Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ)
1861 – From Abī Saʿīd al-Khudrī (raḍī Allāhu ʿanhu) that the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) said, “Do not write from me, and whoever writes from me other than the Qurʾān, then let him erase it.[4] And narrate from me, and there is no problem. And Whoever lies on me [Hammaam said, “He must be careful”, He said, “purposely”][5], then let him settle on his seat in the Fire. [Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (8/229)]
1862 – From Mughīrah Ibn Shu’bah (raḍī Allāhu ʿanhu) who said: “I heard the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) saying, ‘Verily a lie on me is not like a lie on anyone else. So whoever lies on me purposely, then let him settle on his seat in the Fire.'” [Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (1/8)]
1863 – From Samūrah Ibn Jundub and from Mughīrah Ibn Shu’bah (raḍī Allāhu ʿanhu) who said, “The Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) said, ‘Whoever speaks about me a statement, and he suspects that it is a lie, then he is one of the liars. [Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (1/7)]
Endnotes:
[1] Translators Note: This is a collection of ḥadīths from Kitāb al-ʿIlm in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim. They were taken from al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Mundthiree’s abridgment of Imām Muslims book. The original place of each ḥadīth in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim is provided at the end of each. Unless otherwise stated, the additional comments are by Shaykh al-Albānī.
[2] Shaykh al-Albānī says, “He is the one who will be the caretaker of their welfare, he will not be their husband.”
[3] Shaykh al-Albānī says about this statement, “That is: it will be put into the hearts.”
[4] Shaykh al-Albānī says about this statement, “This has been abrogated by many ḥadīths which command with the writing of prophetic ḥadīths.”
[5] Shaykh al-Albānī says, “This word ‘purposely’ is established from many chains of narration, and it has reached the standing of recurrent (tawātur). So Hammaam does not compel doubt in it.”
Translators Note: For an excellent discussion of this topic, see “When Were Ḥadīths First Written?”, which is also published by TROID.
Translated by Maaz Qureshi