As for the wrong he has done to the book and its author, he inserted headings of his own into the body of the book without indicating that they were his. Some of them run counter to the author’s approach, for he was one of the leading hadith scholars who believe in the texts concerning the signs of the Hour, rather than reinterpreting them as innovators among the Muʿtazilah and others do. This (astute) man has made clear in his aforementioned annotations that he has followed their path step for step. For example, he inserted the following heading of his own into the body of the book (p. 116):

“A hadith that must be interpreted contrary to its apparent meaning”!

He placed it above the hadith narrated by Muslim about the Dajjāl killing a believer and bringing him back to life; (see paragraphs 17 and 18 – Abū Umāmah).

He placed another heading over the hadiths concerning Ibn al-Sayyād—some of which appear in al-Bukhārī’s collection! He wrote (p. 104):

“Rejected reports, because they are not rationally credible, and it is inconceivable that they came from the Messenger, peace be upon him”

It is as though, in this (astute) man’s view, the Messenger ought not to speak of matters of the unseen that reason can do no more than accept. Accordingly, faith in the unseen—which means accepting it as true—is altogether absent in him!!

He also placed the following heading above the hadith on the punishment of image-makers (2/ 50):

“The punishment of makers of three-dimensional images on the Day of Resurrection”