This book is published for the first time, collated against four reliable manuscripts for accuracy and verification. It encompasses most of the material of "Masabih al-Sunnah" by Imam al-Baghawi (may Allah have mercy on him). Its author took care to explain its vocabulary, resolve its complexities, parse its difficult terms, compile its variations, and disseminate the jurisprudence of the four Imams in many of its hadiths.

The result is a beneficial and well-edited commentary, neither tediously long nor deficiently short. Many later commentators relied on it for their transmissions, such as Imam al-Tibi in his "Sharh al-Mishkat," as did commentators of "Al-Masabih" like Imam Ibn al-Malak, Zayn al-Arab, and Mulla Ali al-Qari. Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar, al-Ayni, al-Qastallani, and other commentators of al-Bukhari also cited it. This commentary is distinguished by its simple language, easy sentences and phrases, and clarity of the intended meanings of the hadiths.

Imam al-Mazhari passed away before its completion, having reached the end of the book "Masabih al-Sunnah" at the chapter on "Epic Battles" (Bab al-Malahim) from the "Book of Tribulations" (Kitab al-Fitan). One of his students completed it, following the author's methodology in style and sources, making this completion appear as if it were from the commentary of Imam al-Mazhari himself (may Allah have mercy on them both).

Features and Importance of the Book:

• At the beginning of the book, the author included an introduction on the terminologies of the hadith scholars and the types of hadith sciences, dividing them into twenty types.
• He included every narrator who was not mentioned in the text of Al-Masabih and omitted those who were already mentioned.
• His attention to the manuscripts of "Masabih al-Sunnah" is evident, as he points out errors and differences found within them.
• He also took care to explain obscure words and terms, relying on major books of language and rare words, such as "Al-Sihah" by al-Jawhari and "Al-Fa'iq" by al-Zamakhshari, among others.
• He also interspersed a number of jurisprudential issues related to the hadith, often presenting the madhhabs of Imam Abu Hanifa and Imam al-Shafi'i first, and quoting most of their statements and those of other jurists from "Sharh al-Sunnah" and "Al-Tahdhib" by Imam al-Baghawi.

Its author is the Imam, jurist, and hadith scholar, Mazhar al-Din al-Husayn ibn Mahmud ibn al-Husayn al-Zaydani al-Darir al-Shirazi al-Hanafi, famously known as al-Mazhari. He was a scholar of hadith, and his lineage is traced to the "Zaydan" desert in Kufa. His works include: "Al-Mukammal fi Sharh al-Mufassal li al-Zamakhshari," "Sharh Maqamat al-Hariri," "Al-Mafatih fi Sharh al-Masabih li al-Baghawi" (which is this book), "Ma'rifat Anwa' al-Hadith" (a treatise extracted from the introduction of "Al-Mafatih"), and "Fawa'id fi Usul al-Hadith." He passed away—may Allah have mercy on him—in the year 727 AH.

Author: Mazhar al-Din al-Zaydani
Investigator: Nour al-Din Talib
Publisher: Dar al-Nawader - Damascus
Year of Publication: 2012
Number of Parts: 6
Binding Type: Hardcover