and some other reports which slipped past him—either in both their chains and their texts, or in their chains alone—are likewise authentic. One of these I cited earlier in my reply to Shaykh Abū Zuhrah ⦗12⦘, and another in my critique of Shaykh al-Ghazālī and his deference to Ibn Ḥazm ⦗29⦘.

In order to set forth these scholarly facts that have eluded many preachers, I composed this treatise, hoping that Allah—glorified and exalted—will make it beneficial to all who yearn for the Abode of the Hereafter and strive for it as it should be striven for. I have arranged the work in eight chapters:

1. Chapter One: Authentic hadiths on the prohibition of singing and musical instruments. p. 36.
2. Chapter Two: An explanation of the key terms found in those hadiths. p. 75.
3. Chapter Three: A rebuttal of Ibn Ḥazm and others who challenged some of these reports. p. 80.
4. Chapter Four: How the hadiths prove the prohibition of musical instruments in all their forms. p. 92.
5. Chapter Five: The jurists’ positions concerning the prohibition of instruments. p. 98.
6. Chapter Six: The objections of those who permit them and the answers to those objections. p. 106.
7. Chapter Seven: Vocal singing without instruments. p. 126.
8. Chapter Eight: The wisdom behind the prohibition of singing. p. 137.

Having clarified this, let us now—by Allah’s aid and facilitation—begin expounding the chapters mentioned above. I say: