7 – Shaykh Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾūṭ undertook the takhrij (source documentation) of all the hadiths and historical reports cited in this book. They are exceedingly numerous, especially those whose sources lie in the early collections of the Sunnah and their references—whether printed or still in manuscript, so far as we were able to consult them. For each narration he records the volume and page on which it appears; and whenever a source exists in more than one edition, he also notes the title of the book and the relevant chapter, so as to assist the reader who may not have access to the edition he himself used.

He then states the grade of every hadith—sound or otherwise—according to the established principles and rules of hadith methodology.

We wish to stress here that the critical evaluation of narrations and the distinction between what is authentic and what is deficient is a matter that merits the utmost attention in the editing of Islamic heritage, especially in our own age, when this science has almost died out and it is rare to find anyone who masters it and perseveres in its demands. For many weak and fabricated hadiths and reports scattered throughout works of history and biography are seized upon uncritically by men of letters, writers, preachers, and teachers; they circulate on their tongues or are cited in their writings and sermons. The general public then receives them, relies upon them, and acts on the lessons they appear to impart. One need hardly elaborate on the damage these narrations inflict upon creed and worship, behaviour and thought, and even social life—the evil consequences, dangerous deviations, and distortion of the realities of Islam that follow.

This is what impelled us to study the isnāds (chains of transmission) of the reports in this book, critique their narrators, determine which are sound and which are not, and set all of that out clearly, so that the reader may be fully informed: discarding every weak narration, avoiding it, and warning against falling into it.

We hold that anyone who embarks on editing a work of history, or of biographical literature,