and the hadith concerning dogs (148); the hadith concerning begging without need (151), and the similar hadith that follows it (152); the hadith concerning an īnah sale (160); the hadith concerning the parts of a woman’s body that must be covered (185); the hadith concerning her entering a public bathhouse (190); the hadith concerning her removing her clothes (194); the hadith concerning the disbelief of one who consults a soothsayer (285); the hadith concerning soothsaying (289); the hadith concerning the habitual drinker of wine (291); the hadith concerning the children of Adam (309), and another similar report (312); the hadith concerning sincere counsel (332); the hadith concerning seeking refuge from anxiety (374); the hadith concerning joking with an elderly woman (375); the hadith concerning Rukānah’s wrestling match (378); the hadith concerning racing (390); the hadith concerning backgammon (395); the hadith concerning picking one’s teeth because of backbiting (428); the hadith concerning its foul odor (429); the hadith concerning the defense of a Muslim’s honor (431 and 432); the hadith concerning the bribe-giver and bribe-taker (457); and the hadith concerning branding an animal (479).

You should know that our strengthening of these hadiths for the reason already mentioned, and our grading of others as weak, are simply self-evident consequences of our adherence to the scholarly method of hadith criticism, in accordance with the recognized principles of hadith terminology and the biographical evaluation of hadith transmitters. By Allah’s permission, we remain entirely free of personal inclination and ulterior motives in our criticism. By Allah’s grace, we do not rule out grading as authentic reports narrated in our favor or agreeing with our position, nor do we rule out grading reports contrary to that as weak, as you will see clearly in this documentation. This is unlike the conduct of the people of whims and religious innovations, past and present. The least that one of them will do is remain silent about a hadith’s weakness and cite it as evidence, even though he knows that it is weak and constitutes no proof for those knowledgeable in hadith. It is feared that such a person and others like him may be among those about whom the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said: “Whoever relates from me a hadith that is regarded as a lie is himself one of the liars.” Muslim and Ibn Hibbān narrated it in his Sahīh. We therefore ask Allah Most High to protect us from all of this.

From the foregoing, you will realize that the following words, which appear on the recto of the first leaf of the twelfth edition of the book al-Halāl (The Lawful), beneath the name of its distinguished author:

“Hadith documentation by the hadith scholar Shaykh Muhammad Nāsir al-Dīn al-Albānī”!

are a sheer error for which there is no justification. For, as far as the hadith documentation is concerned, this edition