Salam. I found this following brief point of interest:
Ever been at a loss as to how to stack up your books? Well some of the Hanafi scholars mentioned something in regards to this matter. They said as in the ‘Dur al-Mukhtar’ and ‘Hashiyah Ibn Abidin’ on it (1/119):
First at the bottom should be placed the books of Arabic grammar and language, then the books relating to dream interpretation such as the works of Ibn Sirin and In Shahin. This is because of their virtue due to being an interpretation of dreams which are 1/46th of Prophethood.
Then the books of theology (kalam) followed by the books of fiqh, because the majority of works of fiqh’s evidences are from the Quran and Sunnah and therefore many verses of the Quran and Hadith will be mentioned in them. This is different to the case of the books of theology (Ilm al-Kalam) as evidences from the Quran and Sunnah are mainly to be found the ‘al-Samiyat’ chapter of theology works.
Then on top would be the books of narrations and sermons (Akhbar wal-Mawaiz), then the books of Explanation of the Quran (Tafsir). And finally at the top of all of them would be a copy of the Quran (Mushaf).
Source: Al-Mawsuah (34/184)
Wow, masha’allah! And, this whole time, I’ve been stacking my Arabic grammar and language books in the middle. May Allah forgive me…
Salam
I think the ulema might have mentioned it as advice as opposed to a legal ruling.
Allah knows best
Ws
Jazak Allahu khayra, I’ve been interested in this topic for a while. [mod:edit…]
I have a question. Where would works of sirah and ahadith fit into this? Currently I stack ahadith above sirah and sirah above fiqh.
Thanks for the great post!
I would assume sirah and ahadith come under the ‘akhbar wal-mawaiz’ category? Any knowledgeable people reading this thinking otherwise please let us know
That would make sense, I wanted to make sure though. I’m sure there could be discussion about what should be stacked higher within the categories… but maybe I’m just splitting hairs.
Salaam, are you aware where the books of Tasawwuf should be stacked? Above or below fiqh?
Salam, good question.