A few people have recently asked the question concerning what are the best versions available of the well known Hadīth texts or the Ummuhāt’l-Kutub in Hadīth such as the “Six Major Books” otherwise known as the Kutub’l-Sittah (and not the “Sahīh Sittah” as they are erroneously called by some).
For any Hadīth student, it is useful to know this information as well as knowing the difference between what “the best version” actually means – for beginners, the “best” version means the latest print, or the latest “tahqīq” or the “one with full tashkīl (!)” or the version printed by a certain partisan publisher etc.
As for the scholars, the “best” version usually refers to that text which has had the highest level of work done on it, checking of manuscripts, verification of chains, authenticating of the actual texts, numbering and order etc. This is what is referred to as tahqīq. As for what some people refer to when a Hadīth scholar goes over the existing narrations in a text and then rules on their authenticity and weakness himself, then at best this is called takhrīj if the scholar has utterly exhausted all possibilities for that narration existing in all its forms and then ruling upon the apparent and hidden faults of those combined chains. If it is just a simple “sahīh” or “dha‘īf” ruling that is offered then this is normally someone’s little project because it is not from the classical types of work done to a text, yet it has proved useful in modern times for those who want a simple and quick ruling on various traditions, despite the obvious detail and quality lacking for those who are dependent on this method.
Significantly, the science of tahqīq and takhrīj will now be given a higher importance after the recent Turkish announcement to try and destroy the sacred tradition by re-interpreting, re-evaluating and re-establishing the sources of Islam in the light of the modern day context. Clearly, the rightly-guided scholars of all eras have been revising opinions in those areas that allow such revision but we mustn’t drop our guard against the secular might of the Turkish movement who have anything but such sincere interests at heart. Indeed how could it else be with the Turkish nation and their official creed about which Hakim Murad so accurately said, “There is no God at all, and Atatürk is His prophet.”
Thus, in the light of the constant attack from both East and West against what really constitutes our tradition and what doesn’t, as well as the Islamic Nation’s relentless pursuit of perfection in its sciences, here is a list of the best and most authentic versions and tahqīqāt of the major texts.
And it is irony mixed with sadness itself that we start with the first and greatest of all these texts, the Sahīh of Imām al-Bukhāri, and we realise that the best, single, complete and most authentic version of the text is the Ottoman inspired Sultāniyyah version. If Sultān ‘Abd’l-Hamīd has nothing else in his scale of good deeds, perhaps this might be enough? How we wish that the Ottoman empire might rise again to former glories…
After the Sultāniyyah version of the Sahīh, the next best to use is the version authenticated by Mustapha Dīb al-Bughā.
For the Sahīh of Imām Muslim, we rely on the version of Muhammad Fu’ād ‘Abd’l-Bāqi.
For the Muwatta of Imām Mālik, we rely on the version of Muhammad Fu’ād ‘Abd’l-Bāqi as well as the equally good version by Bashhār ‘Awwad al-Ma‘rūf.
For the Musannaf of ‘Abd’l-Razzāq, it is the classic Indian version by Habīb’l-Rahmān al-A‘zami which is relied upon.
For the Musannaf of Ibn Abi Shaybah, the current version by Muhammad al-‘Awwāmah has established itself as the best and most accurate available.
For the Musnad of Imām Ahmed, we rely on the new version by Shu‘ayb al-Arna‘ūt and his team for it is the most authenticated and exact.
For the Sunan of Imām Abu Dāwūd, we rely on the version of ‘Izzat ‘Ubayd Al-Da‘ās and also that by Bashhār ‘Awwad al-Ma‘rūf.
For the Sunan of Imām al-Tirmidhi, we rely on the version by Bashhār ‘Awwad al-Ma‘rūf again.
For the Sunan of Imam al-Nasā’i, we rely on the version of ‘Abd’l-Fattāh Abu Ghuddah.
As for the Sunan of Ibn Mājah then both the versions by Muhammad Fu’ād ‘Abd’l-Bāqi and Bashhār ‘Awwad al-Ma‘rūf are relied upon.
May Allah have mercy upon all the original authors, those scholars after them that kept the link going, and those today whose concern for the sacred tradition has ensured that this religion remains complete and invincible until the Final Day, amīn.
