Sufi Scholars

Imam Abu Hanifa (85 H. - 150 H)

"If it were not for two years, I would have perished." He said, "for two years I accompanied Sayyidina Ja'far as-Sadiq and I acquired the spiritual knowledge that made me a gnostic in the Way." [Ad-Durr al-Mukhtar, vol 1. p. 43]
Imam Malik (95 H. - 179 H.)

"whoever studies Jurisprudence [tafaqaha] and didn't study Sufism [tasawwaf] will be corrupted; and whoever studied Sufism and didn't study Jurisprudence will become a heretic; and whoever combined both will reach the Truth." ['Ali al-Adawi , vol. 2, p 195.]
Imam Shafi'i (150 - 205 AH.)

"I accompanied the Sufi people and I received from them three knowledges: ...how to speak; how to treat people with leniency and a soft heart... and they... guided me in the ways of Sufism." [Kashf al-Khafa, 'Ajluni, vol. 1, p 341.]
Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal (164 - 241 AH.)

"O my son, you have to sit with the People of Sufism, because they are like a fountain of knowledge and they keep the Remembrance of Allah in their hearts. they are the ascetics and they have the most spiritual power." [Tanwir al-Qulub p. 405]
Imam Ghazzali (450 - 505 AH.)

"I knew verily that Sufis are the seekers in Allah's Way, and their conduct is the best conduct, and their way is the best way, and their manners are the most sanctified. They have cleaned their hearts from other than Allah and they have made them as pathways for rivers to run receiving knowledge of the Divine Presence." [al-Munqidh, p. 131].

IMAM BUKHARI

Al-Bukhari Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Ismail Ibn Ibrahim Ibn Mughirah Al-Bukhari was born in Bukhara in the territory of Khurasan (West Turkistan) on 13th of Syawwal 194AH/810CE. He died at Khartank a village in Samarqand on 1ts Syawwal 256Ah/870CE at the age of 60. He is one of the great scholar of Islam, the author of Al-Jami As-Sahih which is known as Sahil Al-Bukhari. He also wrote At-Tarikh, and Ad-Du’afa, about the narrators of hadith. He grew up an orphan and undertook a long journey in 210 Ah in pursuit of Ahadith. He visited Khurasan, Iraq, Egypt and Syria. And he heard Ahadith from thousands of Shaiks. He collected thousands of Ahadith of which he selected those whose chains of narrations he found to be sound to be included in his sahih, which contains 7275 Ahadith including those that are repeated. If the repeated Ahadith are omitted, the number is 4000 Ahadith. He was the first scholar in Islam to compile a book in this manner.He travelled to Makkah when he was still 16 years old and spent years in Makkah and then went to Al-Madinah. After spending a total of 6 years in Al-Hijaz (which comprises Madinah and Makkah), he left to basra, Kufa and Baghdad and visited many other places including Egypt and Syria. He met many religious scholars including Imam Ahmad bin Hambal.Owing to his kindness and honesty and the fact that he is trustworthy he used to keep away from the princes and rulers for fear that he may incline to say things to please them. He was born at a time when Hadith was being forged either to please rulers or kings or to corrupt the religion of Islam. It is said that Imam Bukhari (before compiling the Sahih Al-Bukhari) saw in a dream, standing in front of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) having a fan in his hand and driving away the flies from the Prophet (pbuh). Imam Bukhari asked some of those that interpret dreams, and they interpreted his dreams that he will drive away falsehood asserted against the Prophet.So it was a great task for him to sift the forged Ahadith from the authentic ones. He labored day and night and although he had memorized such large number of Hadith he only chose approximately 7,275 with repetition and about 2230 without repetition of which there is no doubt about their authenticity. Before he recorded each Ahadith, he would make ablution and offer two raka’at prayer and supplicate to Allah. Many religious scholars of Islam tried to find fault in the great remarkable collections – Sahih Bukhari – but without success. It is for this reason, they unanimously agreed that the most authentic book after the Book of Allah is Sahih Bukhari. Muslim the author of Sahih Muslim is also one of his students.

IMAM MUSLIM

NAME AND BIRTH: His name was Abul-Hussain Muslim-bin-Habaj al Nishapuri. He was born in a distinguished family of Arab Muslims in Khorasan which. was a famous town of Russia. Imaam Muslim was born in 817 A.D. corresponding to the Islamic year 204 A.H. His forefathers occupied prominent positions during the time of the four Caliphs. He travelled to many places with the object of learning Hadith, and after completing his studies in the various centres of learning, he settled at Nishapur. He spend the rest of his life teaching Hadith.

EDUCATION: Imaam Muslim started his studies at the very early age of fourteen years. In the year 218 A.H. the atmosphere in Nishapur, his birthplace, was of a religious and knowledge type. Nishapur had great personalities in this period such as lmaam Rahiwe and lmaam Zohri. After travelling widely in search of Hadith, he settled in Nishapur as mentioned above. Imaam Muslim was much impressed by the vast knowledge of Imaam Bukhari (R.A.), in the field of Hadith and the deep insight he possessed on this subject. He therefore attached himself to Imaam Bukhari (R.A.) up to the end of his life. Imaam Muslim was also an admirer of another great teacher of Hadith, Muhammed bin Yahya al Dhuli. He attended his lectures regularly. He visited Baghdad several times and had the opportunity of delivering lessons there. His last visit to Baghdad was two years before his death.
IMAAM MUSLIM'S TEACHERS: Imaam Muslim (R.A.) apart from attending the lessons of Imaam Bukhari regularly, also attended the lectures of lmaam Ahmad bin Hambal, Abdullah al Qarri, Qutaiba bin Said, Abdullah bin Maslama and other great Muhadith.
IMAAM MUSLIM'S STUDENTS: Imaam Muslim (R.A.'s) most noted students are Hatim Razi, Ahrnad bin Salmah, Abu Isa Tinnizi, Abubaker bin Khuzaima and other great scholars. CHARACTER AND KNOWLEDGE: Imaam Muslim R.A. adhered strictly to the path of righteousness. He was in fact a great saint of a very high calibre. His excellent character can be well judged from the simple fact that he never ever indulged in backbiting, a very common human failing. He had a remarkable memory. Ishaq bin Rahwi said of Imaam Muslim; " I wonder what this person is going to be?" This was said in his youth. Ishaq Kausar once addressed lmaam Muslim (R.A.) and said; "Your presence in the Muslim community will always keep it in the good. " Abu Saimah who was a colleague of lmaam Muslim was so attached to him that while lmaam Sahib was busy compiling the Sahih Muslim, he remained in lmaam Sahib's company for fifteen years. He never told a lie nor did he ever use vulgar words. MASLAK: Sheikh Abdul Latief says Imaam Tirmidhi and Imaam Muslim were followers of the Shafee school of thought, although they were both Mujtahids. Moulana Abdur-Rashid says that Imaam Muslim was a Maliki. The fact is what was said by Sheikh Tahir Jazari that Imaam Muslim is not a Maliki nor a Hanifi nor a Shafi, but his compilation of the sahih Muslim shows that he was more inclined towards the Shafee 000school of thought.
SAHIH MUSLIM: Allamah Nabawi (R.A.) says that the Ummat have accepted the Bukhari Shareef and Muslim Shareef as the Kitabs, which follow the Quraan, in authenicity although the Bukhari is regarded as holding a higher position than the Sahih Muslim for specific reasons, the sequence applied in the Muslim is much better than that of Bukhari. It is known as Al-Jamah as Sahih because it contains the eight different subjects on Hadis.
AL-JAMAH AS SAHIH MUSLIM: Imaam Bukhari (R.A.) concentrated his efforts on compilation of authentic hadith as well as deduction of Laws from Hadith. This is the most difficult part to understand in the Bukhari. How he deduced Laws from the Hadis, Imam Muslim concentrated his efforts only on compilation of authentic Hadith.

IMAM ABU-DAWOOD

Abu Da'ud or Abu Dawod, full name Abu Da'ud Sulayman ibn Ash`ath al-Azadi al-Sijistani, was a noted collector of Hadith (sayings/traditions of Muhammad), and wrote the third of the six canonical hadith collections recognized Sunni Muslims, Sunan Abu Da'ud. He was born in Sijistan(Sistan or Sagestan, Afganistan) in 817, and died in 888. Widely travelled among scholars of ahadith, he went to Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Khurasan, Nishapu, and Marv among other places in order to collect ahadith. He was primarily interested in law, and as a result the collection by him focuses largely on legal ahadith. From about 50,000 ahadith, he chose 4,800 for inclusion in his work based on their superior authenticity. Sunan Abi , containing some 4800 Hadith, is his principal work, but he wrote some 21 books in total. Some of his hadith are not sahih(authentic), but he claimed that all hadith listed were sahih unless specifically indicated otherwise; this has been controversial among Islamic scholars, since some (e.g. Ibn Hajar al - Asqalani) believe some of the unmarked ones to be weak as well. In another work, Kitab al-Marasil, he lists 600 mursal Hadith (that is, hadith lacking a complete chain of narrators, or isnad) which, after extensive background investigation, he concludes are nonetheless sahih

One of the blessings of Allah upon this Ummah is that He appointed for it people who would undertake to preserve the Sunnah of their Prophet (S). They were the scholars who devoted their entire lives to this monumental task, foregoing physical pleasures and taking delight, instead, in spending the nights recording hadeeths and in undergoing hardships in order to convey even one hadeeth from the Prophet (S). One of those eminent scholars is the subject of this biography:


Abu Dawood Sijistaanee.
Many Muslims are completely unaware of the lives of these scholars, so it's no surprise thatnon-Muslims would also be ignorant of them. As a result, the torch that might light the wayforward for the bewildered and confused has gone out, leaving them waiting for someone to relight it to illuminate the path. People have grown tired of hearing about lovely ideals. They want to see concrete examples of Islam in practice as it was manifested in the lives ofthose great scholars and the Muslims who followed them. For them it was a reality which penetrated their hearts and minds and became part of their flesh and sinews. Their every breath, movement and moment of stillness was for Allah. If they spoke, their speech was for Allah, and if they kept silent, their silence was for Allah.
They illuminated the world with their practice of deen, their knowledge, their worship and their deeds in general. If you had looked at their conduct and character you would have seen the etiquette and character of the prophets. If you had looked at their buying, their selling and their transactions with people, you would have seen the practical embodiment of the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (S).
Remembrance of such people softens the hearts. That, in turn, revitalizes limbs which had fallen into disuse to start moving again to draw closer to Allah. They become inspired to catch up again with the caravan from which they had fallen behind. Look and consider, that you might benefit from the words of Mukhallad ibn Husayn. When he thought about the qualities of the pious he would say: "Don't mention us in the same breath with them. An able-bodied person doesn't walk like a cripple."
However much is written or spoken about them is not enough to adequately describe them, and one never grows tired of hearing about them.

IMAM TIRMIDHI

Imam Tirmidhi was born in the year 209 A.H. during the reign of the Abbasid Khalifa Ma'mun al-Rashid. The Abbasid Caliphate, despite its brilliant contributions to Islam, brought along with it many thorny problems. Greek Philosophy had a free flow into the Islamic world. This was fully sanctioned by the government until eventually it declared the Mu'tazila school of thought as the state religion. Anyone who opposed the Mu'tazila school of thought would be opposing the state. With the influence of Greek philosophy infiltrating within the people, many Muslims began attempting to reconcile between reason and revelation. As a result they deviated themselves and misled many innocent weak Muslims away from Allah and His Prophet (s). Many scholars of Islam had come to the fore in order to defend the Shari`ah. Forgeries and interpolations in Hadith by rulers who wished to fulfil their personal motives was common. In the first century `Umar bin Abdul `Aziz (r) initiated a movement for the compilation of the holy hadith of the the Prophet (s) as there was a fear of it being lost. Eventually this gigantic task was undertaken by six towering scholars of Islam. One of them was Imam Abu `Isa Muhammed ibn `Isa Tirmidhi.

Having grown up in an environment of learning, together with possessing many great qualities naturally drove Imam Tirmidhi to dedicate his life totally towards the field of Hadith. He obtained his basic knowledge at home and later travelled to far off lands in search of this great science. He studied Hadith under great personalities such as Imam Bukhari, Imam Muslim and Imam Abu Dawud. In some narrations Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim are his students as well.

Once Imam Bukhari mentioned to him "I have benefited more from you than you have benefitted from me." Musa ibn `Alaq once said: "When Imam Bukhari passed away, he left no one in Khurasan who compared with Abu `Isa Tirmidhi in knowledge, memory, piety and abstinence." According to `Abdullah ibn Muhammed Al-Ansari, Imam Tirmidhi's Al-Jami` is more beneficial than the works of Bukhari and Muslim since their compilations can only be understood by a very deep sighted scholar whereas Al-Jami` can be understood by both the scholar and the layman.

Imam Tirmidhi had an exceptionally remarkable memory. If he heard something once he never forgot it. Once on his way to Makkah, Imam Tirmidhi met a scholar of hadith (muhaddith) from whom he had previously copied two chapters of hadith. Thinking that he had the notes with him he asked the scholar if he would allow him to read out these two chapters so that he could correct any errors. After realizing that he did not have those notes with him he took a blank piece of paper and read out the entire two parts from memory. When the muhaddith realized what he was doing he rebuked Imam Tirmidhi saying: "Have you no shame, why are you wasting my time." Imam Tirmidhi assured him that he had committed all the ahadith to memory. The scholar was not convinced, even though Imam Tirmidhi had recited all the hadith from memory. Imam Tirmidhi requested him to recite to him some other hadith. The scholar recited forty ahadith which Imam Tirmidhi then repeated without making a single error, thus showing his remarkable power of committing hadith to memory.

IMAM NASAI

Abu Abdurrahman Ahmed ibn Shuaib ibn Ali ibn Sinan ibn Bahr ibn Dinar Al-Khurusani was born in the year 215 A.H as the great Imam clearly states himself (although some say 255 A.H or 214 A.H) in the famous city of Nasa, situated in Western Asia known at that time as Khurusan which was a famous centre for Islamic Knowledge where millions of Ulama'a were situated and Hadeeth and Fiqh was at its peak. Thus he primarily attended the gatherings and circles of knowledge (known as halqas') in his town and attained knowledge, especially Hadeeth from the Ulama'a. Thereafter his inspiration increased of traveling around the world to seek knowledge from other various scholars of different countries and cities. When he was 20 years old, he started traveling and made his first journey to Qutaibah. He covered the whole Arabian Peninsula seeking knowledge from the Ulama and Muhadditheen of Iraq, Kufa, Hijaz , Syria and Egypt . Finally he decided to stay in Egypt .

Teachers and Students
Hafiz Ibn Hajr Rahimahullahi Alaih says that it is impossible to name and gather all his teachers but notably the most famous ones are: - (1) Ishaq ibn Rahweh (2) Imam Abu Daud Al-Sijistani (author of Sunan Abu Dawood) and (3) Qutaibah ibn Saeed. Although some scholars like Hafiz ibn Hajr Rahimahullah also named Imam Bukhari as his teacher but this is incorrect because Imam Bukhari never met him. However he studied under the famous Huffaz-e-Hadeeth from different countries and cities.
After the great Imam had decided to stay in Egypt he started to lecture, mostly narrating Ahadeeth to the extent that he became famous by the title Hafizul Hadeeth.
Many people would attend his gatherings and many famous Great Scholars became his students and notably the most famous ones are: -
• Imam Abul Qasim Tabrani
• Imam Abubakr Ahmed ibn Muhammad also known as Allamah ibn Sunni
• Sheikh Ali, the son of the famous Muhaddith, Imam Tahawi.
It is also narrated that Imam Tahawi personally narrated from this Imam.

Memory, Piety and other Qualities
He was a man full of taqwa, piety and he possessed a photographic memory too. The famous Sheikh Allamah Zahabi was once asked who has a better memory, Imam Muslim (author of Sahih Muslim) or this great Imam he replied this great Imam. Allamah Zahabi would also say that this great Imam possessed more knowledge in Hadeeth than Imam Muslim, Imam Tirmidhi and Imam Abu Dawood (who was his teacher).
The famous Scholar and Commentator of the Holy Qura'an would say narrating from his teachers that this Great Imam was the most knowledgeable in Egypt .
The Great Imam would put on good clothing according to the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet Muhammad and would eat poultry everyday with nabeeth acting on the Sunnah so that he could worship Allah with ease. In fact it is narrated that the man would fast every other day which is classified in the Hadeeth as Saum-u-Daoodi (the fast of Daood A.S).he would worship Allah continuously throughout the nights and teach Hadeeth throughout the day without forgetting that to fulfill the rights of his four wives and treat his slaves like children. The Imam would also perform Hajj nearly every year and would also take part in Jihad. He was a straight forward truthful man and nothing or none could stop him from saying the truth. Allah the Bestower had granted him all the good qualities a person
could possess. At the same time he was an extremely beautiful man and the beauty of his face stayed up to his death. This in reality was the Noor Allah bestows upon certain pious accepted servants.

Test and Death
It is the procedure of this world that when Allah the Almighty grants someone a high status and makes him a great saint then envity makes its way forward, grudges start, hardships appear from nowhere, all as a test from Allah Subhanahu Wata'ala to elevate even further the status of the person. The Great Imam was not exempt from this procedure and just as envity approached Habil it also approached the Great Imam. False accusations were made against him as they were in the past on other Ulama'a. Finally, after facing many hardships, in the month of Dhul-Qa'adah 302 Hijri the great Imam left Egypt and headed towards Darussalaam, Baghdad . But the hardships didn't stop.
The people in Baghdad were more inclined to the Khawarij sect because Banu Umayyah ruled over them. Thus they had grudges against Hadhrat Ali (Karamulahu Wajhahu). They would swear at him in sermons and normal gatherings, whereas on the other hand they exaggerated in the virtues of Sayyidina Muawiyyah (RadhiAllahu Anhu). So, the Imam wrote an article KHASAIS ALI so that the people not only stop swearing at Hadhrat Ali (Karamulahu Wajhahu) but also recognize the true virtues of Hadhrat Ali (Karamulahu Wajhahu) which were also many. When the article was complete he once read it out in a sermon for the benefit of the people but the people became angry and asked him what he had wrote regarding Hadhrat Muawiyyah? He replied I need not write his virtues and excellence for you have exaggerated over the limits and you know his virtues very well, so there is no need! Their anger increased and finally he was whipped a few times but he stayed steadfast and passed the test from Allah which in return has a great reward. Thereafter he intended to go to Makkah Al-Mukarramah but as he arrived in Makkah his time was over and Allah gave him death at the age of 88 in the holy city near the Kaaba and he was buried between Safwa and Marwa. Hafiz ibn Hajr and Allamah Zahabi state that he passed away in Ramalah, Palestine during the journey to Makkah and the body was sent to Makkah and buried between Safwa and Marwa. Wherever the death may have occurred but Muslims will not forget the date Monday 13th of Safr 303(A.H), when the fishes of the sea, the worms inside the earth and the humans altogether felt the loss of the great Imam and WHO WAS THIS GREAT IMAM? IMAM AL-NASAII the famous Muhaddith.

Muqallid or Mujtahid
Imam al-Nasai was a follower of the Shafi Fiqh according to Allamah Subqi, Shah Waliullah, Shah Abdulaziz and many other scholars. The leader of the Ulama'a Allamah Anwar Shah Kashmiri is to the opinion that he was a Hanbali and this has also been stated by Sheikhul Islam Hafiz ibn Taymiyyah but the truth is that he was a Mujtahid more inclined towards the Hanbali Fiqh but many a time would differ from the Hanbali scholars.

Children
As mentioned before that the Imam had four wives but the historians only mention one son whose name is Abdul Kareem, one of the narrators of the Sunan of his father.

The Great Author
The great Imam also left behind many beautiful and beneficial works. Many of which unfortunately are not published but we can without any doubt conclude from what we have understood that his knowledge and excellence is no less than that of Imam Bukhari and Allamah ibn Hazm.
These are a few of his famous works:
• Sunan Al-Kubra.
• Sunan Al-Sugra/Al-Mujtana/Al-Mujtaba.
• Amul Yawmi Wallaylah.
• Kitaby Dufai wal Matrookeen
• Khasais Ali.
• Al-Jurhu wa Ta'adeel.
• Sunan Al-Nisai.
His famous book known as Sunan Al-Nisai which is taught around the globe in every Islamic institute and which possesses a virtue of being one of the Sihah Sitah (the six books generally taught in hadith).
In reality when the Imam had finished compiling Sunan Al-Kubra he presented to the governor of Ramalah so the governor asked him “is it all sahih (are all the narrators 100% authentic)?” he replied in the negative, thus the governor suggested and requested that he compiles another book and gathers in there Sahih Hadeeth. So then he did this and named his book Sunan Al-Sugra (the small Sunan) and Al-Mujtaba and Al-Mujtana (both mean carefully chosen) and this is the Sunan which we know as Sunan Al-Nasai.
In this book he follows the footsteps of Imam Muslim and Imam Bukhari (R.A). Overall most of the Ahadeeth are Sahih and where he narrates a weak narration he clearly clarifies the weakness. Thus it is 3rd in number in the Sihah Sittah after Bukhari and Muslim according to some Ulama'a because of its Sahih narrations. He clearly clarifies the hard words and brings different narrations for one particular Hadeeth as Imam Muslim does. Many Ulama'a have written commentaries on this famous work including Allamah Sindhi, Allamah Suyuti and Hadhrat Sheikhul Hadeeth Moulana Muhammad Zakaria Rahmatullahe alay..

IBN MAJAH

Ibn Maja, full name Abu `Abdallah Muhammad ibn Yazid Ibn Majah al-Rab`i al-Qazwini, was a medeval scholar of hadith (the sayings of Muhammad). He compiled the last of Sunni Islam's six canonical hadith collections, Sunan Ibu Majah.
Ibn Maja was born in Qawazin in modern-day Iranian province of Qazvin in 824 to a Perasoan family, clients (malwa) of the Arab tribe of Rabi`a ibn Nizar. His patronymic "Mâjah" means "month" in ancient person (corresponding to modern mâh), and may have been his father's title, or his mother's or grandmother's name. At the age of 22, he left his hometown to travel the Islamic World; among the areas he visited were Kufa, Basra, Egypt, Sham(Syria), Bagdad, Rayy, Mecca, Median, and Khorasan. He died in 887
After his travels, he wrote the Sunan Ibn Majah, recording 4,341 hadiths, of which 3,002 are recorded by the other five canonical hadith collectors; of the 1,339 hadith unique to him, 428 are graded sahih (authentic), while the remainder are considered less certain. According to Ibn Khathir, he also wrote a tafsir (commentary on Qur'an) and a book on history, but neither survive. Other authors began to add him to the canonical five hadith collectors beginning in the 13th century, but his position remained controversial as late as the 18th century

Features of His Collection

1. It is regarded as the sixth-ranked book of hadith by the majority of scholars For over 200 years after his collection was prepared, the Sunan was not given much recognition. In 507 H, Ibn Tahir al-Maqdisi referred to Sunan in his work: Syurut al-A'immah as-Sittah (Conditions of the Six Leaders) Although Ibn Hajar suggested that the sixth book should be Sunan ad-Daarimi, due to the smaller number of weak reporters and strange and very dubious narrations, the majority of scholars value it for the additional hadith not related by the other 5 hadith compilers. These types of hadith are classified as zawaid (additional hadith)

2. The inclusion of the weak hadith has made Ibn Majah the subject of criticism by people such as Ibn Jauzi in his Mauduuaat and ad-Dhahabi in Mizan al-I'tidal (cited by Dr Lutfi Sabbagh in al-Hadith an-Nabawi pg 325)

Benefits of its Study

1. It is a comprehensive book covering the whole gamut of subjects
2. It is well arranged with chapters entitled with such brevity as to show the understanding and erudition of Ibn Majah and facilitates searching with relative ease.
3. The chapters are arranged according to a legal classification
3. Its zawaid (additional hadith not found in the other five collections)

Editions

The edition of Muhammad Fuad Abdul Baqi, first published in 1373H is the most common in circulation and is in 2 volumes. All the hadith here have been indexed alphabetically. He wrote a valuable section at the end of the collection explaining the value of the Sunan, the status of Ibn Majah among scholars and the editions he (Fuad Abdul Baqi) depended on for his edition.
In 1403H, Shaikh Dr Muhammad Mustapha al-A'zumi produced an edition in 2 volumes which contained 10 indices produced by the computer! Perhaps the most meticulous edition is that of Dr Basshar Awwad Maaruf first published in 1998

Number and Status of Hadith

4341 (according to Fuad)
4397 (according to A'zumi)

Status

According to Fuad Abdul Baqi:
3002 hadith are also recorded by the other 5 compilers and of the remaining 1339 ahadith:
428 hadith are sahih
199 hadith are hasan
613 hadith are weak
99 hadith are munkar or makdhub

Commentaries

Most of these commentaries are difficult to find.
1. Kamaluddin Muhammad Musa ad-Dumairi as-Shaafi
2. Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Halabi (d 841 H)
3. Imam al-Hafiz Jalaluddin as-Suyuthi (d 911H) called“Misbah az-Zujajah”
4. Muhammad ibn Haadi as-Sindi (1138H) 5. Sirajudin Umar ibn Mulaqqan. This was the commentary of Ibn Majah's zawaid, called "Ma Tammusu ilahi Hajah ala Sunan Ibn Majah" (What is Needed direly of Sunan Ibn Majah) and is in 8 volumes
6. Marginal Notes written by Shaikh Abdul Ghani
ad-Dahlawi and printed with the Sunan together with the commentary of
as-Suyuti and Fahrul Hasan al-Kankuhi. This edition is considered a poor
edition in need of critical review
7. Ihdaa ad-Dibaajah by Safaa ad-Dawi Ahmad al-Adawi This work is valuable as it a modern work which contains the opinions of other scholars and is concise but precise. Adawi has called upon hundreds of sources and reproduced faithfully the statements of relevance. An interesting comment he makes is that he has not overlooked the state of the ummah while preparing this commentary rather he as brought attention to those hadith which refer to the current situation. Adawi has depended on the evaluation of the hadiths by Shaikh Albani

Other Works on the Sunan of Ibn Majah

1. Zawaid Ibn Majah alal Kutub al-Khamsah by Al-Busairi
2. Sahih and Daif Ubn majah of Shaikh Albani
3. Criticism of hadith among Muslims with reference to Sunan Ibn Majah by Shaikh Suhaib Abdul Ghafar Hassan