Some Useful and Useless Books

Question

Of the books listed below — which of those you have personally seen are reliable? (1) “Qisas al-Anbiya” (2) “Majalis al-Abrar” (3) “Hikayat-e Sahaba” (“Stories of the Companions”) (4) “Ma la budda minhu” (5) “Rukn-e Din” (“The Pillar of Religion”) (6) “Kanz al-Daqa’iq” (7) “Shahnama-e Islam” (“The Epic of Islam”) by Hafeez Jalandhari (8) “Fath al-Bari” (9) “Gulzar-e Ibrahim” (“The Flower Garden of Ibrahim”) (10) “Tafsir Yusuf” (11) “Nurnama Kalan” (“The Great Book of Light”) (12)

Answer

The reliable books among those I have seen are nos. 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1. However, no. 8 is a commentary on “Sahih al-Bukhari”, whose author belongs to the Shafi‘i madhhab; therefore its fiqh rulings are applicable only insofar as they accord with the Hanafi madhhab. Nos. 7 and 9 Mawlana Thanawi has declared useful; nos. 13 and 10 he has declared not useful, indeed harmful.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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