Nukhbat al-Fikar
Course Type: Usool al-Hadith (Science of Hadith)
Nukhbat al-Fikar fi Mustalah Ahlil Athar (Ibn Hajr al-Asqalaani)
Thoughts on the Nomenclature of Hadith Specialists
This is the fundamental primer in the Science of Mustalah al-Hadith (Hadith Classification) having been authored by arguably the foremost authority in Mustalah al-Hadith, the illustrious Hafidh Ibn Hajr al-Asqalaani (RA)
Scholars past and present are unanimous in the acceptance of this text and the benefit that it contains for the student of knowledge who wants to begin grasping the essentials in this field; hence its popularity throughout the Muslim world in both traditional institutes and Islamic universities.
Essentially, the text is a masterpiece summarising volumes of research in this complex science in to a skillfully written compendium comprising fewer than ten pages that have won so much acclaim that over 15 treatises have been written on it.
By the end of the course, a student will be able to understand the following:
- Mustalah al-Hadith (Study of Hadith terminology)
- The Sciences of I’lal al-Hadith (Hadith vitiation)
- The canonical Hadith collections and their compilers
- Categories of Hadith based on frequency of narration
- Principles of Jarh wa Ta’deel (Narrator criticism)
- Ranking of Hadith and its practical importance
- Resources to check the authenticity of Hadith
- Commonly used weak and fabricated Hadith
- The unique feature of Isnaad and its importance
Students must be able to:
- read Arabic with vowels
- dedicate 3-4 hours per week
- use PDF and Word files
- attend weekly class for 1:15
- Audio recording in Arabic of the full text
- Arabic text of Nukhbat al-Fikar with full tashkeel (Arabic Vowels) in PDF & WORD
- Complete English translation of Arabic text.
- Full written commentary in both English and Arabic
- PowerPoint Presentation for ease of understanding
- Detailed biography of Hafidh Ibn Hajr and his works
- Supplementary materials related to the Science
- Bi-weekly progress-check worksheets
This fifteen-week course will cover the complete text as well as parts of its exegesis also authored by al-Hafidh ibn Hajr and entitled Nuzhat al-Nazar. If you are interested in studying this course and would like to know course dates, please register your interest by filling out the form at admissions.
This is an Ijazah course and students who attend and understand the principles covered in the text will be honored with a written Ijazah going back to al-Hafidh Ibn Hajr al-Asqalaani. For more detailed information please see FAQs
Hadith Studies Nukhbat al-Fikar
Brief Biography
Shaykh al-Islam Abul Fadl Shihabuddin: Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Muhammad al-Kinaani al-Shafi'ee commonly known as Ibn Hajr al-Asqalaani was born on the 22nd of Shabaan 773 AH in Egypt where he lived for most of his life. Both his parents who were originally from Asqalaan in Palestine died before he reached the age of five and he was raised by his stepmother’s brother Shaykh Zakiuddin al-Kharuwbi, who upon seeing his potential, took him to study in the local school were he memorized Surah Maryam on his first day. In this way, he continued his Islamic education and by the age of nine, he had memorized the Quran as well as several classical Islamic texts including Umdatul Ahkaam (a text we currently teach).
As with all great scholars, he decided to travel in pursuit of knowledge and traveled frequently and extensively throughout the Muslim World studying with eminent scholars in Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Yemen, and Hijaaz.
Some of the most famous teachers that he studied with were:
(Hadith) Al Hafidh Zainuddin al-'Iraqi (725-806 AH)
(Fiqh) Sirajuddin Umar bin Raslaan al-Balqini (704-805 AH)
(Fiqh/Hadith) Sirajuddin Umar bin al-Mulaqin (723-804 AH)
(Arabic) Mohammed ibn Yaqub al-Ferouzabbadi) (729-817 AH)
(Bukhari) Afifuddin Abdullah ibn Mohammed al-Nashawi (705-790 AH)
Apart from his main pursuit of learning and teaching the Sacred Sciences, he was charged by the Egyptian Administration with numerous responsibilities that included being the Chief Justice at court and the Chief Lecturer for Friday sermons at Azhar University.
He was known for his extreme love for the Science of Hadith memorizing over 20,000 Hadith. His dedication in this field led him to earn numerous accolades from his contemporaries such as Ameerul Mumineef fil Hadeeth (Commander of the Faithful in Hadith) and al-Hujjah al-Hafidh al-Asr (The Proof and Memorizer of his era).
He continued in earnest treading the path of knowledge even past the age of sixty where he would teach as well as simultaneously author books for his students – one such work written by him on the road is Nukhbat al-Fikar.
Ultimately, he authored over 150 works, many voluminous and covering all spheres of knowledge including history, poetry, jurisprudence and Hadith. His magnum opus was the magnificent 18-volume Fath ul-Bari exegesis of Sahih al-Bukhari that is reported to have taken him over 25 years to complete.
Arguably the most indispensable collection of Hadith related to the Prophet’s (salalahu alayhi wa salam) blessed biography. It was compiled by the eminent Muhaddith, Imam al-Tirmidhi less than 3 centuries after the passing away of the Prophet Mohammed (salalahu alayhi wa salam).
This is the fundamental primer in the Science of Mustalah al-Hadith (Hadith Classification) having been authored by arguably the foremost authority in Mustalah al-Hadith, the illustrious al-Hafidh Ibn Hajr al-Asqalaani (RA)
The Muwatta of Imam Malik is a collection of over 1900 Prophetic sayings (ahadith) as well as the legal standpoints of his companions (Sahabah), their students (Tabi'een) and practices of the Madinan People.