Important books for the seeker of Islamic knowledge

Praise be to
Allaah.  

1 – ‘Aqeedah (basic tenets of faith): 

1-   
Thalaathat al-Usool

2-   
Al-Qawaa’id al-Arba’ah

3-   
Kashf al-Shubahaat

4-   
Al-Tawheed 

These four books were written by Shaykh al-Islam Imaam
Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhaab (may Allaah have mercy on him). 

5-    
Al-‘Aqeedah al-Waasitiyyah
which deals with Tawheed al-Asmaa’ wa’l-Sifaat (The Oneness of the Divine
names and attributes). This is one of the best books written on this
topic, and it is worth reading and studying.

6-   
Al-Hamawiyyah

7-   
Al-Tadmuriyyah 

These two books are more comprehensive than al-Waasitiyyah.
These three books were written by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah. 

8-    
Al-‘Aqeedah al-Tahhaawiyyah,
by Shaykh Abu Ja’far Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Tahhaawi

9-    
Sharh al-‘Aqeedah al-Tahhaawiyyah
by Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali ibn Abi’l-‘Izz

10-Al-Durar
al-Saniyyah fi’l-Ajoobah al-Najdiyyah,
compiled by Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn Qaasim (may Allaah have mercy
on him)

11-Al-Durrah
al-Madiyyah fi ‘Aqeedah al-Firqah al-Mardiyyah
by Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Safaareeni al-Hanbali. 

This book contains some general statements which go against
the madhhab of the salaf, such as his saying, “Our Lord is not an essence
or an attribute or a physical entity, exalted be He.” 

Therefore the seeker of knowledge has to study it with
a shaykh who is well versed in the ‘aqeedah of the salaf, so that he
can explain the general statements in it that go against the ‘aqeedah
of the righteous salaf. 

2 – Hadeeth 

1-    
Fath al-Baari Sharh
Saheeh al-Bukhaari, by Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqallaani
(may Allaah have mercy on him).

2-    
Subul al-Salaam Sharh
Buloogh al-Maraam, by al-San’aani,
and his book Jaami’ bayna al-Hadeeth wa’l-Fiqh

3-    
Nayl al-Awtaar Sharh
Muntaqaa al-Akhbaar by al-Shawkaani

4-    
‘Umdat al-Ahkaam
by al-Maqdisi. This is an abridged book; most of its ahaadeeth are narrated
in al-Saheehayn so their authenticity does not need to be researched.

5-    
Al-Arba’een al-Nawawiyyah,
by Abu Zakariyya al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him). This is a
good book because it includes etiquette and a good methodology, and
important basic principles, such as the hadeeth, “Part of a person’s
being a good Muslim is his leaving alone that which does not concern
him.”

(Narrated by Imaam Ahmad, 1 – 201; al-Tirmidhi, 2318;
classed as hasan by al-Nawawi in Riyaadh al-Saaliheen, 73; classed
as saheeh by Ahmad Shaakir in al-Musnad, 1737)

This principle – if one made it the path upon which one
walks – would be sufficient. Another principle is given concerning when
one should speak, “Whoever believes in Allaah and the Last Day, let
him say something good or else remain silent.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari,
Kitaab al-Adab; Muslim, Kitaab al-Luqtah, Baab al-Diyaafah).

6-    
Buloogh al-Maraam,
by al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqallaani. This is a very useful book, especially
because it mentions the narrators, and quoted the opinions of others
scholars, who said whose hadeeth is saheeh and whose is da’eef, and
he comments on the hadeeth to say whether they are saheeh or da’eef.

7-    
Nukhbat al-Fikr 
by al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqallaani. This is considered to be a comprehensive
work. If the seeker of knowledge understands it completely then he will
have no need of many other books of mustalah (the science of hadeeth).
Ibn Hajar (may Allaah have mercy on him) has a useful way of writing,
which involves examining every issue in depth and categorizing the topics
he discusses. If the seeker of knowledge reads it he will find it stimulating,
because it is based on making one think. I say: it is good for the seeker
of knowledge to memorize it because it is a useful summary of the science
of mustalah (science of hadeeth).

8-    
The Six Books (Saheeh al-Bukhaari,
Muslim, al-Nasaa’i, Abu Dawood, Ibn Maajah and al-Tirmidhi). I advise
the seeker of knowledge to read them often, because that will serve
two purposes: reviewing the main sources of Islam and reviewing the
names of hadeeth narrators. If you often review the names of hadeeth
narrators, then whenever you come across the name of one of the narrators
of al-Bukhaari in any isnaad, you will know that this is one of the
narrators of al-Bukhaari, so you will benefit from this knowledge of
hadeeth. 

3 – Books of fiqh: 

1-    
Aadaab al-mashiy ila’l-Salaah
by Shaykh al-Islam Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhaab (may Allaah have mercy
on him)

2-    
Zaad al-Mustaqni’ fi
Ikhtisaar al-Muqni’ by al-Hajjaawi.
This is one of the best texts of fiqh. It is a blessed book, brief and
comprehensive. Our shaykh, ‘Abd al-Rahmaan al-Sa’di (may Allaah have
mercy on him) told us to memorize it, even though he had memorized the
text of Daleel al-Taalib.

3-    
Al-Rawd al-Murbi’ Sharh
Zaad al-Mustaqni’ by Shaykh Mansoor
al-Bahooti

4-    
‘Umdat al-Fiqh
by Ibn Qudaamah (may Allaah have mercy on him)

5-    
al-Usool min ‘Ilm al-Usool.
This is an abridged book which serves as an introduction for the seeker
of knowledge. 

4 – Faraa’id (laws of inheritance) 

1-    
Matn al-Rahbiyyah
by al-Rahbi

2-    
Matn al-Burhaaniyyah
by Muhammad al-Burhaani. This is a useful and comprehensive abridged
book dealing with all the laws of inheritance. I think that al-Burhaaniyyah
is more comprehensive than al-Rahbiyyah in some ways, and it
gives more information. 

5 – Tafseer 

1-    
Tafseer al-Qur’aan al-‘Azeem
by Ibn Katheer (may Allaah have mercy on him). This book is good for
tafseer based on reports and it is useful and trustworthy. But it does
pay much attention to matters of grammar and style.

2-    
Tayseer al-Kareem al-Rahmaan
fi Tafseer Kalaam al-Mannaan by Shaykh
‘Abd al-Rahmaan al-Sa’di (may Allaah have mercy on him). This is a good,
easy and trustworthy book, and I recommend it.

3-    
Muqaddimah Shaykh al-Islam
fi’l-Tafseer. This is an important
introduction.

4-    
Adwaa’ al-Bayaan
by al-‘Allaamah Muhammad al-Shanqeeti (may Allaah have mercy on him).
This is a comprehensive book covering hadeeth, fiqh, tafseer and usool
al-fiqh. 

6 – General books on some subjects: 

1-    
On (Arabic) grammar: Matn
al-Ajroomiyyah. This is an abridged book.

2-    
Also on Arabic grammar:
Alfiyyah Ibn Maalik; this is a summary of the science of grammar.

3-    
On Seerah (Prophet’s biography):
The best book that I have seen is Zaad al-Ma’aad by Ibn al-Qayyim
(may Allaah have mercy on him). This is a very useful book in which
he mentions the biography of the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) from all Angles, then he
discusses many rulings.

4-    
Rawdat al-‘Uqalaa’
by Ibn Hibbaan al-Busti (may Allaah have mercy on him). This is a useful
book despite its brevity. He compiled a large amount of useful material
and stories of the scholars, muhadditheen and others.

5-    
Siyar A’laam al-Nubalaa’
by al-Dhahabi. This book is very useful and the seeker of knowledge
should read and refer to it.