The Faculty of Hadith of Toronto announces with great pleasure the publication of the manuscript copy of Sahih Muslim of al-Hafidh Abul-Abbas Ahmed ibn Thabit ibn Mohammed at-Tarqi al-Asbahani (d.521 AH) in his writing.
He heard it in the year (486 AH) upon Abu Bakr Ahmed ibn Zahir at-Tusi (d.487 AH), who narrates it upon Abu Bakr Mohammed ibn Ibrahim al-Farisi (d.428 AH), who narrates it upon Abu Ahmed Mohammed ibn Isa al-Juludi (d.368 AH), who narrates it upon Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Mohammed ibn Sufyan, who narrates it upon the author Abul-Hussein Muslim ibnul-Hajjaj an-Naisaburi (d.261 AH).
It is the oldest complete manuscript copy of Sahih Muslim in existence, and is being published for the first time identical to the original copy in colour format in its entirety.
It consists of two volumes:
The first volume (sections 1-13) is preserved in Khuda Baksh Library in India.
The second volume (sections 14-24) is preserved in Atif Efendi Library in Turkey.
Ahrar Mohammed Shareef (PhD research scholar at the College of Hadith and Islamic Studies, Islamic University of Madinah) has presented a detailed study and description of the manuscript, and prepared it for publication by treating and enhancing its folio images, numbering its books, chapters and Hadiths, and cross-referencing it with the edition of al-Matbah al-Amirah.
The second volume (preserved in Atif Efendi Library in Turkey under no. 588) of the manuscript has been published in print form previously by al-Ustadh Mohammed Abdullah ash-Shaar in (2017) by Darul-Hadith al-Kattaniyah in Tangier, Morocco and Maktabah Nizam Yaqubi al-Khassah in Manama, Bahrain in black and white format without any detailed study or service of the manuscript text in the margins, and the high-quality colour copy of this volume has been made available online since (2020), such as on the channel of Atif Efendi Library on Telegram on this link: t.me/s_muslem/457
al-Ustadh Nizam Mohammed Yaqubi mentioned in the introduction of the aforementioned printed edition: "This manuscript copy of Sahih Muslim that we are introducing today is from its oldest complete copies as far as we know and have discovered until now. However, it has been split into two parts, the first part being preserved in Khuda Baksh Library in India, and the second part being preserved in Mustafa Atif Efendi Library in Istanbul [Turkey]. We obtained a copy of the second part from Istanbul with extreme ease by the grace of Allah, and when we discovered that the first part of this same manuscript is preserved in Khuda Baksh Library we tried our best to obtain it. We personally contacted the library, sent our representatives, and utilized the scholars of India as intermediaries but did not receive any positive response from those in charge of the library. Allah knows that we used all our might and resources in order to obtain a copy of this volume from India. Days went by and we continued to wait for any sign of receptiveness from the library, until the most we were able to obtain was a black and white copy of some folios from the beginning and end of the manuscript, which was neither sufficient nor appropriate to publish in print form. Then we received almost 50 folios from the manuscript due to the efforts of some noble scholars of India, but found the copy to be extremely poor, and noticed that those in charge of the library did not know the true value of the manuscript, and hence, did not take proper care of it. The manuscript has been restored with ordinary tape which has damaged its folios, and it is not possible to remove the tape now, which causes light to reflect on it during the process of copying, and we seek Allah's aid."
The preparer of this manuscript strove for a period of one year in order to obtain a copy of the first volume (preserved in Khuda Baksh Library in India under no. 191) of this manuscript in high-quality colour format.
Thereafter, he exerted continued efforts for a period of another year treating and enhancing the folio images of both volumes, along with other services of the manuscript text in the margins as has been illustrated in the attached samples of the work.
The Faculty will publish limited copies of this work in print form; hence, those interested in acquiring a copy are requested to contact it via its email: info@facultyofhadith.ca or WhatsApp: (+1) 416 900 7564 or its accounts on social media.
Additionally, the Faculty has decided to make a complete digital copy of this work available online free of cost for researchers, editors, and those specializing in Hadith studies on its website: facultyofhadith.ca
The Faculty reserves all rights of this digital publication, and does not allow publishing it in print form or circulating it by any means, all the while announcing its willingness in reaching an agreement with those who which to publish it in print form or circulate it after attaining official written permission from the Faculty. The Faculty is a not-for-profit organization dependent upon the contributions of its supporters after the blessings of Allah; consequently, the donations of philanthropists will help it in continuing to produce such works and achieving several of its academic projects.
