Sahih al-Qasas al-Nabawi lil-Huwayni
- Author died
- 1446 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat Al-Sahaba
Sahih al-Qasas al-Nabawi (The Authentic Prophetic Stories) is a compilation of fifty verified Prophetic narratives compiled by the Egyptian hadith scholar Abu Ishaq al-Huwayni (d. 1446 AH / 2024 CE) .
Background and Purpose
Al-Huwayni compiled the work based on his experience in preaching and admonition, noting that audiences were particularly drawn to narrative accounts and receptive to the legal rulings and moral lessons derived from them . He had initially set out to write an extensive commentary titled Isʿaf al-Jarih bi-l-Qasas al-Nabawi al-Sahih to analyze these narratives and extract their legal and moral benefits in detail .
While Isʿaf al-Jarih remained incomplete, colleagues suggested publishing the authentic narratives separately without expansive commentaries . The objective was to provide preachers and public speakers with verified texts for Friday sermons and educational lessons, specifically addressing the widespread use of unverified, weak, or baseless stories in popular preaching .
Contents and Structure
The book comprises fifty selected authentic stories recounted by the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ . For each story, al-Huwayni records:
- The text of the hadith from primary sources, citing the transmitting Companion .
- A concise evaluation of its authenticity and hadith source (such as marking narrations as agreed upon or recorded by Muslim) .
- An explanation of rare or difficult vocabulary (gharib al-hadith) appearing in the narrative .
The stories include accounts of past nations and figures mentioned in Prophetic tradition, such as the three men trapped in the cave, the man who killed ninety-nine people, and the story of the boy and the king (the People of the Ditch) .
Publication and Broader Project
The work was published in a single volume by Maktabat al-Sahaba in Jeddah in 1411 AH (1990/1991 CE) under the title Sahih al-Qasas al-Nabawi (min 1–50) . Al-Huwayni intended this volume as the opening part of a broader series covering authentic stories from the life of the Prophet ﷺ, followed by narratives of the Companions, and concluding with accounts of the Successors (Tabiʿun) . Portions of his extended commentary, Isʿaf al-Jarih, were subsequently published in the Egyptian periodical Majallat al-Hady al-Nabawi .
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