In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Especially Merciful
Introduction to the New Edition
Indeed, all praise is for Allah. We praise Him, seek His help and forgiveness, and seek refuge in Allah from the evil within ourselves and from our wicked deeds. Whomever Allah guides, none can lead astray; and whomever He leads astray, none can guide. I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship but Allah alone, without partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. (1)
To proceed: this is a new, revised and expanded edition of the second volume of the Silsilah al-Ahadith al-Sahihah (Series of Authentic Hadiths). New benefits have been added to it, which I accumulated over the many years that passed without my being able to reprint it in this fine and satisfactory form. This was due to the end of my publishing relationship with its first publisher, the owner of al-Maktab al-Islami (the Islamic Office): first because of my migration from Damascus to Amman, Jordan; and then because I severed all the brotherly ties that had existed between us, after it became clear to me in numerous ways that he had been taking advantage of my trust in and reliance upon him, as well as my absorption in scholarly work. He thus acted in ways contrary to the trust and integrity required of him—qualities which I had thought he possessed.
Yet his lamentable conduct in scholarly matters, quite apart from financial ones, compelled me to announce publicly that I was severing dealings with him. I had already exposed some of his misdeeds in several of my introductions, such as the introduction to Adab al-Zifaf (The Etiquettes of Marriage), published by the Islamic Library in Amman, and Mukhtasar al-Bukhari (Abridgement of al-Bukhari), volume two, published by Dar Ibn al-Qayyim in Dammam; and *Mukhtasar