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al-Fath al-Kabir fi Damm al-Ziyada ila al-Jami' al-Saghir

By Yusuf al-Nabhani

الفتح الكبير في ضم الزيادة إلى الجامع الصغير

Yusuf al-Nabhani's merger of al-Suyuti's al-Jami' al-Saghir with its supplement Ziyadat al-Jami', arranged alphabetically by the letters of the first word and those after it, marking the Ziyada hadiths with the letter zay and dropping those repeated word for word in the original, with a preface of six points; it is the base text that al-Albani graded and divided into Sahih and Da'if al-Jami' al-Saghir 1 2 3.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Colonial Era
Region
Levant & Iraq

Contested: This record includes matters on which scholars differ. The speaker's views are labelled as his, and other views are marked where no cited source yet exists.

Scripture and its sciences

Summary

Al-Fath al-Kabir fi Damm al-Ziyada ila al-Jami' al-Saghir is Yusuf al-Nabhani's book merging the supplement Ziyadat al-Jami' into al-Suyuti's al-Jami' al-Saghir as though by a single author. 3 Al-Albani says he arranged the two acceptably, sparing researchers the labour of hunting for a hadith and giving them new material nearly half the size of the original. 1

Al-Nabhani's work

In his preface al-Nabhani says the Ziyada belonged with the original, since its standing and author are the same, so he joined them, marked the Ziyada hadiths with the letter zay, and took care to order the hadiths by the letters of the first word and of those after it, noting that al-Hifni had pointed out in his gloss where the Jami' fails to keep its order. 3 He removed from the Ziyada hadiths found word for word in the original and kept repeats that differ in wording or source. 4 He says he did not find many of the Ziyada hadiths in al-Jami' al-Kabir and saw no commentary on it, except a report that al-Munawi commented on part of it as Miftah al-Sa'ada bi-Sharh al-Ziyada. 5 He prefaced the book with six points and closed it with a note by Muhammad Habib Allah al-Shinqiti introducing the Ziyada. 2

The count

Al-Nabhani's preface gives 4,440 hadiths for the Ziyada and about 14,450 for the whole; al-Albani notes that numbering the Ziyada hadiths separately makes it possible to check this, and Zuhayr al-Shawish states after printing that the total is 14,700, of which 4,347 are from the Ziyada. 6

Al-Albani's grading

Al-Albani used al-Fath al-Kabir as the index of his verdicts, then divided it into Sahih al-Jami' al-Saghir wa-Ziyadatuh and Da'if al-Jami' al-Saghir wa-Ziyadatuh, appending al-Nabhani's preface to the first with his own notes. 7 8

One of those notes objects to the tawassul in al-Nabhani's closing prayer, a disputed question:

See also: tawassul.

The introduction of six points

In the Dar al-Kutub al-'Arabiyya al-Kubra printing (Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi and brothers), al-Nabhani's preface is followed by "an introduction containing six important points". 9 10

  • First: al-Suyuti's method, from the preface of Jam' al-Jawami', of signalling soundness and weakness by the source cited, and al-Nabhani's view that most hadiths of the two books are sound or good. 11
  • Second: a list of the books al-Suyuti read for Jam' al-Jawami', which al-Nabhani saw on the back of a copy. 12
  • Third: that al-Suyuti gathered a hundred thousand hadiths in al-Jami' al-Kabir and did not complete it. 13
  • Fourth: the counts — about ten thousand in the original by his own count, and 4,440 in the Ziyada by a companion's count, 14,450 in all. 13
  • Fifth: a life of al-Suyuti from al-Sha'rani and Najm al-Din al-Ghazzi: born 849, died 911, he said of himself that he knew two hundred thousand hadiths by heart, and his works exceeded five hundred; al-Nabhani also relates reports of al-Suyuti's dreams, of his seeing the Prophet ﷺ while awake, and of wonders, which he takes as proof of his sainthood — matters on which views differ. 14
  • Sixth: his chains: he attended Shaykh Mustafa al-Ishraqi's lessons on al-Jami' al-Saghir at al-Azhar in 1287 AH, and transmits al-Suyuti's books by licence through several routes, the highest through Ibrahim al-Saqqa. 15

Opinions on the question

First opinion · Sunni tradition (the museum's frame) · Sunni: Yusuf al-NabhaniMain reference

closes his preface by asking God to make the book beneficial, seeking it through the standing (jah) of the Prophet, and to gather him with its author among those accepted by God and by His Prophet. 4
More opinions (1)

Sunni tradition (the museum's frame) · Sunni: al-AlbaniMain reference

holds in his note that this tawassul is not legitimate, says Abu Hanifa and other imams rejected it, and refers to Ibn Taymiyya's Qa'ida Jalila fi al-Tawassul wa-l-Wasila. 4

Connections

Explore the connections

Relies on
al-Jami' al-Saghir min Hadith al-Bashir al-Nadhir
Mentions
Tawassul
Relied on by
Da'if al-Jami' al-Saghir wa-Ziyadatuh (al-Fath al-Kabir)· Sahih al-Jami' al-Saghir wa-Ziyadatuh (al-Fath al-Kabir)

People and things also explored

Sahih al-Jami' al-Saghir wa-Ziyadatuh (al-Fath al-Kabir)· Fayd al-Qadir Sharh al-Jami' al-Saghir· al-Jami' al-Saghir min Hadith al-Bashir al-Nadhir· Da'if al-Jami' al-Saghir wa-Ziyadatuh (al-Fath al-Kabir)· Bustan al-Amal (programme)· Saying 'by the blessing of so-and-so' or 'by the blessing of the Qur'an' in supplication· Jam' al-Jawami' (al-Jami' al-Kabir) of al-Suyuti· Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahiha wa-Shay' min Fiqhiha wa-Fawa'idiha

Sources

  1. Sahih al-Jami' al-Saghir wa-Ziyadatuh (al-Fath al-Kabir) — Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani, printing supervised by Zuhayr al-Shawish, al-Maktab al-Islami, 3rd ed. 1408 AH/1988 CE , p. 14
  2. Sahih al-Jami' al-Saghir wa-Ziyadatuh (al-Fath al-Kabir) — Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani, printing supervised by Zuhayr al-Shawish, al-Maktab al-Islami, 3rd ed. 1408 AH/1988 CE , p. 33
  3. Sahih al-Jami' al-Saghir wa-Ziyadatuh (al-Fath al-Kabir) — Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani, printing supervised by Zuhayr al-Shawish, al-Maktab al-Islami, 3rd ed. 1408 AH/1988 CE , p. 36-37
  4. Sahih al-Jami' al-Saghir wa-Ziyadatuh (al-Fath al-Kabir) — Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani, printing supervised by Zuhayr al-Shawish, al-Maktab al-Islami, 3rd ed. 1408 AH/1988 CE , p. 37
  5. Sahih al-Jami' al-Saghir wa-Ziyadatuh (al-Fath al-Kabir) — Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani, printing supervised by Zuhayr al-Shawish, al-Maktab al-Islami, 3rd ed. 1408 AH/1988 CE , p. 36
  6. Sahih al-Jami' al-Saghir wa-Ziyadatuh (al-Fath al-Kabir) — Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani, printing supervised by Zuhayr al-Shawish, al-Maktab al-Islami, 3rd ed. 1408 AH/1988 CE , p. 19-20
  7. Sahih al-Jami' al-Saghir wa-Ziyadatuh (al-Fath al-Kabir) — Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani, printing supervised by Zuhayr al-Shawish, al-Maktab al-Islami, 3rd ed. 1408 AH/1988 CE , p. 16
  8. Sahih al-Jami' al-Saghir wa-Ziyadatuh (al-Fath al-Kabir) — Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani, printing supervised by Zuhayr al-Shawish, al-Maktab al-Islami, 3rd ed. 1408 AH/1988 CE , p. 32-33
  9. al-Fath al-Kabir fi Damm al-Ziyada ila al-Jami' al-Saghir — Yusuf al-Nabhani, printed at Dar al-Kutub al-'Arabiyya al-Kubra at the expense of Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi and his brothers, Egypt, vol. 1 , p. 1
  10. al-Fath al-Kabir fi Damm al-Ziyada ila al-Jami' al-Saghir — Yusuf al-Nabhani, printed at Dar al-Kutub al-'Arabiyya al-Kubra at the expense of Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi and his brothers, Egypt, vol. 1 , p. 4
  11. al-Fath al-Kabir fi Damm al-Ziyada ila al-Jami' al-Saghir — Yusuf al-Nabhani, printed at Dar al-Kutub al-'Arabiyya al-Kubra at the expense of Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi and his brothers, Egypt, vol. 1 , p. 4-5
  12. al-Fath al-Kabir fi Damm al-Ziyada ila al-Jami' al-Saghir — Yusuf al-Nabhani, printed at Dar al-Kutub al-'Arabiyya al-Kubra at the expense of Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi and his brothers, Egypt, vol. 1 , p. 5-6
  13. al-Fath al-Kabir fi Damm al-Ziyada ila al-Jami' al-Saghir — Yusuf al-Nabhani, printed at Dar al-Kutub al-'Arabiyya al-Kubra at the expense of Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi and his brothers, Egypt, vol. 1 , p. 6
  14. al-Fath al-Kabir fi Damm al-Ziyada ila al-Jami' al-Saghir — Yusuf al-Nabhani, printed at Dar al-Kutub al-'Arabiyya al-Kubra at the expense of Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi and his brothers, Egypt, vol. 1 , p. 6-8
  15. al-Fath al-Kabir fi Damm al-Ziyada ila al-Jami' al-Saghir — Yusuf al-Nabhani, printed at Dar al-Kutub al-'Arabiyya al-Kubra at the expense of Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi and his brothers, Egypt, vol. 1 , p. 8-9
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “al-Fath al-Kabir fi Damm al-Ziyada ila al-Jami' al-Saghir”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/work/al-fath-al-kabir/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-04.

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Sahih al-Jami' al-Saghir wa-Ziyadatuh (al-Fath al-Kabir)

The first part of Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani's grading of al-Fath al-Kabir — al-Nabhani's merger of al-Suyuti's al-Jami' al-Saghir with its supplement al-Ziyada: it holds what al-Albani judges established and usable as proof (sound and good), in alphabetical order, each hadith followed by his grade and the book of his where he examined it; its companion is Da'if al-Jami' al-Saghir wa-Ziyadatuh; in the third edition it counts 8,231 hadiths, 3,273 of them from the Ziyada.