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In the name of Allah, Most gracious, Most Merciful
We praise Allah and send peace and blessings upon His noble messenger Muhammad rahimahu Llah.
The book before you is entitled Hadiyyat al Shia. In reality there is no necessity to write anything further about it, which might even perhaps be disrespectful, as it is the written work of Hujjat al Islam, the mentor of ‘Ulama, Molana Muhammad Qasim Nanawtawi rahimahu Llah, the founder and rector of Darul Uloom Deoband, whose name alone is sufficient certification for the veracity of this book.
In essence, this book is a detailed reply to a letter of a Shia scholar by the name of ‘Ammar ‘Ali, who posed a few questions regarding the issue of caliphate and Fadak, which prompted Molana Nanawtawi rahimahu Llah to pen a detailed treatise on the topic, substantiating the standpoint of the Ahlus Sunnah wa l-Jama’ah.
This book reveals the deep knowledge with which Molana Nanawtawi rahimahu Llah was inspired with. This book was written in the year 1284 A.H and various editions have since been published, gaining worldwide acceptance, but these editions did not contain paragraphs or any sub-chapters, which made benefitting from this book extremely strenuous. May Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala reward Molana Muhammad Aslam rahimahu Llah, who took the liberty of separating the content into paragraphs under various sub-chapters, which then made it possible to list the contents of the book in an index. This increased the benefit of the book tenfold. Molana, to the best of his abilities, has also endeavoured not to change the actual wording of Molana Nanawtawi rahimahu Llah in any way.
Molana has also translated the Arabic text, making it easier for those only acquainted with the Urdu language to benefit from this book.[1]
Only sub-chapters were added and the actual content is absolutely unchanged. This new edition was printed by the publishing house of Molana Muhammad Aslam rahimahu Llah, Maktabah Haqqaniyyah, roughly in the year 1962 and has now been reprinted by No’mani Kutub Khanah in Lahore.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala to accept this effort.
Amin.
Bashir Ahmed
Principal of No’mani Kutub Khanah
Lahore
15 Dhu al Hijjah 1397 A.H
27 November 1977
[1] The original book was written in the Urdu language and the translation of verses of the Qurʼan and other Arabic passages were accompanied without any translation. This service was rendered by Molana Aslam, may Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala reward him abundantly for his services.