By al-Hafiz Abu Bakr Ahmad Ibn 'Ali al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (d. 463 H) Abu Hatim al-Razi stated. "No nation has existed since the creation of Adam, wherein its trustworthy ones memorise the narrations of the Messengers like this nation." Knowledge of Hadith is carried by the most worthy of people of every successive generation. They reprimand the radical elements for their attempted corruptions, the falsifiers for their distortions, and the ignorant for their esoteric interpretations. They purify the Sunnah and refocus people's priorities back to the Prophetic narrations. Countless books have been authored on Hadith sciences, the special status its scholars occupy, and the nobility of those who adhere to the Sunnah and the scholarly reports regarding it. This book is among the finest in this field by way of its arrangement and the ease with which one can grasp the content. Al-Khatib recounts Prophetic narrations, statements of the Muhaddithin and scholars of renown. He utilses his own chains of transmission (isnad) in it, and this is an especially unique feature of this book Ibn Hajr accurately noted, "Every objective person knows that scholars of Hadith who come after Al-Khatib are indebted to his works." It isn't difficult to see why that is the case as Al-Khatib was from the last generation of titans that shone above others. He authored a number of pioneering works in Hadith literature It is a privilege for Dar as-Sunnah to be publishing its first edition of Sharaf Ashabul Hadith of Imam Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi for the English speaker. A welcome introduction allowing a person to acquaint themselves with one of the most robust of Islamic sciences. Pages 320
