For Immediate Release: 9/1/07 -
www.Dar-us-Salam.com (PRESS RELEASE)
Great News for the Seekers of Knowledge!
For the first time in the history of Islam, the most authentic six books of hadith are translated in English language.
The international publishing house DARUSSALAM (RIYADH), known for its focus on important classical Islamic works, renowned for their publications of the
Noble Qur’an English translation of the Qur’an, and the ten volume English translation of the
Tafsir of Ibn Kathir, and the nine volume English translation of
Sahih al-Bukhari, is grateful to announce the publication of the English translations of the remaining
five, of the
Six Famous Books of Hadith, collections commonly known as “
Saha Sittah” (The Six Books).
The first of these to be completed for distribution is
Sunan Ibn Majah, which is available in five volumes, totaling 2678 pages. Thereafter, the complete translation of
Sahih Muslim in 7 volumes, totaling 3758 pages,
Sunan at-Tirmidhi in six volumes,
Sunan an-Nasa’i in 6 volumes, and
Sunan Abu Dawud in 5 volumes, remaining each volume more than 530 pages.
Including the previously published English translation of the nine volume set of
Sahih al-Bukhari, the entire collection of the translation of the
Six Books of Hadith will span 38 volumes.
For the first time in history, English readers will have access to every single
hadith in the entire
Six Books collection.
This is a landmark event in the progress of Islamic publishing in the English language, and a welcomed indication of the spread of Islam, and the demand for authentic books in English, as well as other languages.
This announcement was made by Mr. Abdul Malik Mujahid, the general manager of Darussalam publishers and distributors.
According to Mr. Abdul Malik Mujahid General Manager of Darussalam Publications, this project should be available in the market by the end of November 2007, before Hajj (in KSA). He reminds that “this is the real heritage of the Muslim Ummah and every library, information center mosques and Islamic center is in need of these authentic sources of Islam.”
Moreover, he said, in an interview that “maximum efforts have been put to keep this project free of errors with more than 5 years and a highly qualified team from different parts of the world who have participated to complete this project.”
He ensures that the people who are seeking knowledge and love the Prophet’s traditions (hadith), will appreciate this project, by the Will of Allah.
HISTORY OF THE PUBLICATIONS
The translations of the remaining five of the
Six Books, were based upon Darussalam’s previously published Arabic editions of the
Six Books.
These Arabic texts were verified by a team of scholars, under the supervision of Shaykh Salih bin `Abdul-`Aziz Aal ash-Shaykh, the head of the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Islamic Affairs. The verification process was based upon the most important previously published editions and manuscripts, from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon, Pakistan, India, and Turkey, as well as other lands.
For over five years, a grand team of highly qualified translators and editors, from various nations reaching across the globe from Saudi Arabia to America, worked on bringing these texts – among the
Usul (fundamental texts) of Islam – into a clear, refined and precise English translation, so that the average English reader may have access to these important Islamic texts that were otherwise never made available to them in their entirety.
While in the past, companies have marketed software for computers that left the English readers with the impression that they contained the narrations of all of these books, the truth is that these programs and collections contained only some of these narrations, being taken from other collections, like translations of
Mishkat al-Masabih, for example. Additionally, the advent of the internet and the circulation of these narrations found in these poorly translated software compilations, which were improperly referenced – be it the numbering system used, or the actual source texts from which they were portrayed to be derived – has lead to a great deal of confusion among the English readers.
Only with the complete translations of the
Six Books – and in the form compiled by the illustrious Imams of
Hadith – could the English readers truly get to the source of the
hadiths of the Noble Messenger, Muhammad (
sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam), and the understanding of the blessed religion of Islam, passed down by the righteous predecessors, generation after generation through chains of narration.
VALUABLE COMMENTARY AND CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE TRANSLATIONS
After the painstaking efforts to translate these five collections into the English language, each with introductions, the translations underwent the process of proof-editing. Each page contains a column for the translation, next to a column for the Arabic text, with complete vowel markings. Then, along with the translators’ footnotes for important matters, an additional valuable commentary was added, in order to explain important matters that may not be clear to the English readers. The commentary also has the added benefit of indicating the appropriate application of the
hadiths to modern dilemmas which Muslims struggle with in various parts of the Islamic world.
Since
Sahih al-Bukhari and
Sahih Muslim are the only
hadith collections in which every
hadith is authentic, and the
Four Sunan compilations will invariably contain some weak narrations – according to the grading systems of the great scholars of
Hadith – the grade for each
hadith in the
Four Sunan compilations has been provided, from the Arabic work compiled by the Honorable Shaykh Zubayr `Ali Za`i, and included in the translation of each of the
Four Sunans, clearly mentioning the grade after each and every
hadith.
With these added benefits, the English readers will finally have access to an authentic translation of all of the
hadiths in the
Six Books collection along with important commentary, an indication of which narrations are authentic and which are not authentic, side by side with the Arabic text and complete vowel markings.
Indeed all praise is due to Allah, who has facilitated that this noble endeavor be brought to fruition in pursuit of serving the teachings of the Qur’an, the Book of Allah the Most Exalted and the Sunnah of His Messenger (
sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam).
AVAILABILITY
All the books are expected to be published by the end of 2007 and will be available online (Houston, Texas, USA Branch) in the 2nd quarter of 2008, Insha-Allah. To be notified of their arrival please
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