• (4/ 390): The author and his shaykh frequently refer to al-Hākim’s Mustadrak in their works as “Sahīh al-Hākim,” in view of its stipulated criterion, not as an endorsement of the authenticity of its hadiths. When the author used this title in the present book, the two editors changed it (4/ 248) without mentioning what they had done!

• (4/ 494): “…the fasting person’s guarding against what he ought to guard against, and his fulfilling the purpose of fasting.” In al-Fiqī’s edition and earlier editions, this appeared as: “…and protects the fasting person from what…”, disrupting the sentence. The two editors of the al-Risāla edition (4/ 307) repaired it by adding “and helps him in” before “his fulfilling.” Did they place this addition in square brackets or draw attention to it? No! And why go to the trouble of bracketing it or drawing attention to it, when all these alterations, omissions, and additions are made out of concern for the author and his book!

Here are some examples of errors, omissions, and interventions in the text elsewhere in the volumes of the al-Risāla edition, whether inherited from earlier editions or introduced at the two editors’ own discretion:

• (1/ 32): “And between the house of Satan.” In the al-Risāla edition (1/ 54) and earlier editions, this was corrupted to “the house of the sultan”!

• (1/ 52): “For the scholar’s tongue has cutting edges riddled with nicks.” The wording was corrupted to “has been filled with treachery, in combat” (qad muli’a bi-l-ghulūl mudārabatan) (1/ 70), ruining its meaning!

• (1/ 193): “Ashhab reported from him concerning shaving the moustache: ‘It is an innovation.’” In the al-Risāla edition (1/ 173) and other earlier editions, the wording was corrupted to “Ashhad said concerning shaving the moustache…”