Muslims believe that after Sahih al Bukhari, Sahih Muslim is the most authentic book of Hadith. It has been agreed by the Muslim Scholars that all of the Ahadith in Sahih Muslim are authentic. Thus, the benefit of publishing Al-Hafiz Al-Mundhiri’s summarized version of Sahih Muslim in the English language with the excellent presentation was realized by the publisher. A lot of care has been taken in rendering these Ahadith into a clear and simple style of modern English.

This summarized version of Sahih Muslim contains 2179 Hadith with 70 categories (referred to as books). It totals 1208 pages with an index and appendix on combining both the volumes.

See sample pages here

A Note from the Compiler

All praises are due to Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Forgiving, the Most Generous, the Controller of the hearts and the gazes, the All-Knowing of that which is open and that which is hidden. I praise Him with a praise that is eternal, throughout the night and the day. And I testify that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah Alone, Who has no partners. This is a testimony that will save whoever says it from the torment of the Hell-fire. And I testify that Muhammad is His chosen Prophet and His selected Messenger from the noblest descent. May Allah’s blessing be upon him, his family, his wives and his worthy Companions, with magnitude and greatness. May this blessing be upon them always and forever, as long as the night and the day remain.

Thus, to proceed, I have summarized this book from the Sahih of Al-Imam Abul Husain Muslim bin Al-Hajjaj Al-Qushairi An-Naisaburi. It is a summarization that makes memorization easy for those who wish to memorize it. It also makes things easier for the one who wants to investigate or look into the Sahih. I organized it in a way that will help the one who is looking for something specific to find it faster. With its small size, it contains a great portion of the intended information from the original Sahih.

I hope that Allah benefits from this book its reader, its writer, whoever inspects it and myself. Verily, He is the Most Nearer and the Answerer (of supplications).

Publishers Note

Ahadith (traditions) of the Prophet Muhammad are his sayings, deeds and approvals which were memorized, recorded, and transmitted by the Companions and their followers. There are many collections and compilations of Ahadith. Among these the most famous are the six collections which are known as Kutub Sittah, these are Sahih Al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abu Dawood, Sunan An-Nasa’i, Al-Jami` litTirmidhi and Sunan Ibn Majah. The first two are regarded more authentic and known as Sahihain. Out of these two, Sahih AI-Bukhari has a higher position and is termed as the most reliable book after the Noble Qur’an.

We have presented the translations of Sahih AI-Bukhari in the English language in nine volumes, and also its summarized edition in one volume. Now, we are presenting the English translation of Summarized Sahih Muslim in two volumes. Although Sahih Al-Bukhari is the most reliable collection of Ahadith, however, Sahih Muslim has certain aspects of superiority. Imam Muslim adhered strictly to most of the principles of the Science of Hadith which were somehow at some places ignored by his teacher Imam Bukhari. Imam Muslim accepted for his collection only such Ahadith which had been transmitted with an unbroken chain of reliable narrators, free from all defects and were in perfect harmony with the narrations of other narrators. He has recorded only those Ahadith which were transmitted at least by two different narrators from two different Companions. Imam Bukhari has sometimes used the Kunyah (surname) of the narrators and sometimes their names. Imam Muslim avoided this confusion. Imam Muslim is also particular in pointing out the slightest difference in the text of the narrations. Imam Bukhari has fragmented most of the Ahadith and presented the portions under different chapters, while Imam Muslim presented them as a whole narration. So, the works of both Imams provide different approaches for the scholars and readers of Ahadith.

As about 58% of Ahadith of Sahih Muslim are also found in Sahih Al-Bukhari, we have based the translation of such Ahadith on the translation of Sahih Al-Bukhari by Dr. Muhsin Khan. We are also benefited from the translation of Sahih Muslim by Abdul Hamid Siddiqi which was published in Pakistan. It took about five years to complete the project, and various translators and prominent editors worked on it. Finally, Mr. Sidheeque M. A. Veliankode and Mr. Mohammad Ayub worked on it and gave the present shape to it.

We hope that this presentation will be appreciated by the readers and we ask Allah to give us the strength and means to work on other projects in the cause of Islam -Amin!

Abdul Malik Mujahid
The Publisher