By Asim Ahmad

• His Works

The Shaikh ul-Hadith authored over 103 books on nearly every Islamic discourse and science. He wrote on syntax, morphology, various genres of Arabic literature, principles of hadith, principles of jurisprudence, and hadith. He wrote for every age group and for both general and scholarly audiences. His books on virtues have been translated in many languages and received wide acclaim throughout the Muslim world. In the academic field, his celebrated twenty-four volume Arabic commentary of the Muwatta of Imam Malik, Aujaz al-Masalik, which, completed in over thirty years, received acclaim from contemporary muhaddithun, especially in the Arab world. Shaikh ‘Abd al-’Aziz ibn Mubarak, a personal friend and admirer of shaikh ul-hadith and the chief of justice of Sharia Law in the U.A.E. supervised and financed the publishing and printing of the second edition in the Emirates.

The imam of al-Haram al-Nabawi, Shaikh Muhammad Abdullah al-Tunbakti al-Madani, prefaced Aujaz with an eighteen-verse encomium, the first letters of each verse combining to yield the words, shaikh ul-hadith Muhammad Zakariyya.

• Other Works

A juz’ is a compilation of Hadith on a single topic. Imam Bukhari’s two juz’ [Raising hands in salat] and [Recitation of Sura Fatiha behind imam] are two well-known examples.

The shaikh ul-hadith also has nineteen juz’ to his name. His juz’ on the hajj and ‘Umra of the blessed Prophet alone reveals his erudition of hadith. The book, comprising of approximately 300 pages and was authored in two days when the shaikh ul-hadith was twenty-seven years old, is a tribute to his scholarship. Some of his other juz’ are Juz’ Umara’ Ahl al-Madina, Juz’ al-Mubhamat fi al-Asanid wa al-Riwayat, Juz’ al-Manat, Juz’ al-Mi’raj, and Juz’ Ikhtilafat al-Salat.

Another selection of his works was his Books on Virtues. The shaikh ul-hadith wrote these books with the general public in mind. The exhortative tone of these books helped countless people revivify their faith. These books became bestsellers selling in the millions worldwide and translated into many languages.

It should be noted that the shaikh ul-hadith never copyrighted any of his books and many times face a crunching debt financing his own books. But with full reliance on Allah, he continued financing his books until they became profitable ventures for Islamic book publishers.