Sharh Hisn al-Muslim min Adhkar al-Kitab wa al-Sunna

Sharh Hisn al-Muslim min Adhkar al-Kitab wa al-Sunna (Explanation of the Fortress of the Muslim from the Invocations of the Quran and Sunna) is a commentary by the Jordanian scholar Majdi bin Abd al-Wahhab al-Ahmad on the widely circulated supplication manual Hisn al-Muslim by Sa'id bin Ali bin Wahf al-Qahtani Sharh Hisn al-Muslim min …+1.

Background and Methodology

Majdi bin Abd al-Wahhab al-Ahmad (known by his kunya Abu Muslim) completed the commentary in Zarqa, Jordan, on 27 Safar 1426 AH (6 April 2005 CE) Sharh Hisn al-Muslim min …. He composed the work in response to requests to elucidate the expressions and meanings of al-Qahtani's compendium following its broad reception and numerous translations Sharh Hisn al-Muslim min …. In compiling the explanations, al-Ahmad drew upon commentaries on the Six Books of Hadith and other collections of the Sunna, as well as his own earlier commentary on Ibn Taymiyya's al-Kalim al-Tayyib Sharh Hisn al-Muslim min ….

The commentary preserved the full text of Hisn al-Muslim alongside al-Qahtani's original documentation and footnotes Sharh Hisn al-Muslim min …. To organize the annotations, al-Ahmad introduced bracketed hadith numbers where they were missing in the original text and established a system of abbreviation symbols in the margins: the letter qaf (ق) designated al-Qahtani's original notes, while mim (م) marked al-Ahmad's additions and hadith references Sharh Hisn al-Muslim min …. Repeated or overlapping phrases across different supplications were explained at their first occurrence to keep the commentary succinct and avoid redundancy Sharh Hisn al-Muslim min ….

Review and Corrections by al-Qahtani

Following its initial publication by al-Maktaba al-Islamiyya in Amman and Mu'assasat al-Rayyan in Beirut, the original author, Sa'id bin Ali bin Wahf al-Qahtani, reviewed the text and issued a revised edition with extensive annotations completed on 15 Dhu al-Qi'da 1426 AH Sharh Hisn al-Muslim min …+1. Al-Qahtani noted that while al-Ahmad had made a commendable effort, the initial version contained several areas requiring correction:

• Theological matters: Al-Qahtani critiqued citations where al-Ahmad transmitted figurative interpretations (ta'wil) regarding certain divine attributes—such as the meeting with Allah, divine mercy explained strictly as benevolence, divine transcendence, and divine anger—and provided Sunni creedal corrections, alongside expanding definitions of tawhid and shirk Sharh Hisn al-Muslim min ….
• Juridical positions: Al-Qahtani corrected positions he regarded as weak or outweighed, including al-Ahmad's views on the follower reciting both tasmi' and tahmid in prayer, counting fourteen prostrations of recitation in the Quran, requiring the conditions of ritual prayer for prostrations of recitation and gratitude, rulings regarding the covering of a woman's face and hands, and the wording for returning greetings to non-Muslims Sharh Hisn al-Muslim min ….
• Textual and editorial adjustments: Al-Qahtani restored his original introduction and subheading numbering that had been omitted from al-Ahmad's edition, corrected typographical and manuscript errors, and incorporated additional explanatory points Sharh Hisn al-Muslim min …+1.

Al-Qahtani integrated his corrections within brackets labeled Qala al-Musahhih ("The Corrector said") in the body of the text and indicated his marginal glosses with the word al-Musahhih Sharh Hisn al-Muslim min ….