Reliability of the Commentaries by Nawawi, al-‘Ayni and Others

Question

And that same aforementioned scholar writes a commentary (sharh) on Sahih Muslim — the question to be answered is: is Imam Nawawi’s commentary reliable (mu’tabar) or not, and what is the ruling regarding such a scholar? Commentaries such as Fath al-Bari, [the commentary of] al-‘Ayni, Mirqat [al-Mafatih], Ashi‘at al-Lama‘at — are all of these reliable or not?

Answer

Imam Nawawi is a very great imam; he composed a commentary on Sahih Muslim and also wrote numerous other books; one may say he is a verifier and refiner (muhaqqiq wa munaqqih) of the Shafi‘i school. In the exposition of hadith, and in jarh and ta‘dil (criticism and validation of narrators)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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