and so forth.” End quote. From al-Ajwibah al-Nāfiah, pp. 90–91.

Among its merits are that it confines itself to frequently encountered legal issues that people need to know, and that it gives due attention to the evidence without undue elaboration. Indeed, the legal issue is sometimes stated in the very words of the hadith concerning it, so that the hadith is both the matter being substantiated and the evidence substantiating it. In short, the book’s substance is more impressive than its outward appearance. The book has appeared in several editions, yet none has been free of errors, omissions, or material placed out of order.

For this reason, Professor Muhammad ibn Abd al-Azīz al-Khudayrī, a lecturer in the Department of Quranic Studies at the Teachers College in Riyadh, set his sights on preparing, printing, and publishing the book after collating it against two manuscript copies, one of which was a photographic reproduction of a copy in the author’s own hand—may Allah have mercy on him. This edition consequently became one of the most accurate editions of the book. It is also distinguished by the excellent quality of its typography, paper, and binding, and is carefully furnished with punctuation, pause and resumption marks, divisions into sections, references for the Quranic verses, sourcing of the Prophetic hadiths, and explanations and vowel markings for certain obscure words.

He also numbered its legal issues and began each one on a new line so that it would stand out and be easy to locate. He assigned them consecutive numbers, totaling 679. He further cited our Shaykh’s preferred views from his other works, whether they added to, clarified, or corrected what appears in this book. Through this endeavor, he rendered a service to the book, its author, and its readers, thereby meriting reward and recompense in this world and the Hereafter, if Allah wills. A hadith states: “Indeed, by means of the arrow