Meet the Publisher: Dar as-Sunnah Publishers

Most of the scholars on this publisher's list died more than six hundred years ago, and some more than a thousand. What they left behind was not property but books. Abu ad-Darda reported that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

The learned are the heirs of the Prophets, and the Prophets leave neither dinar nor dirham, leaving only knowledge, and he who takes it takes an abundant portion. (Sunan Abi Dawud 3641, graded sahih by al-Albani)

Dar as-Sunnah Publishers has spent more than twenty-five years putting that inheritance into English. This spotlight walks through the Dar as-Sunnah titles on our shelves, grouped by the scholar who wrote them and the subject they serve.

Who Is Dar as-Sunnah Publishers?

Dar as-Sunnah set itself up as a private publishing business in 1998 and released its first book in 1999. By its own account it began in a bedroom and grew into an international publisher. Its focus is translating classical works from the early centuries of Islam, alongside a smaller number of contemporary authors. Many of the titles are printed as part of its Classic Collection series.

What you will notice across the list is the choice of authors. The backbone of the catalogue is the Hanbali imams of Baghdad and Damascus: Ibn Rajab, Ibn al-Jawzi, Ibn Qudamah, and the two imams Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim. Most of the books are on the heart, on knowledge, and on worship, and most are short enough to read in a few sittings.

Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali on Knowledge, the Heart and the Hereafter

Ibn Rajab's treatises make up a large part of the list, and most of them are commentaries on a single hadith. Two of them are about knowledge itself. Inheritors of the Prophets explains the hadith quoted above in full, and The Excellence of Knowledge separates the knowledge that produces fear of Allah from the knowledge that stays on the tongue. Read them as a pair.

In this article

Inheritors of The Prophets by Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali

Why the knowledge of the Salaf surpassed the knowledge of those after them.

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On worship and the inner life, Humility in Prayer is a short treatise on khushu, Journey to Allah explains the hadith that a person's deeds alone will not save him, and The Heavenly Dispute takes up the narration of the angels disputing over the acts that expiate sins and raise a servant in rank. The Key to Paradise sets out the conditions of la ilaha illallah, with an appendix by Ibn al-Qayyim on the types of hearts.

Three more look ahead. The Three That Follow to the Grave explains the hadith of ongoing charity, beneficial knowledge and a righteous child. Fleeing From the Fire gathers the verses and narrations describing Hellfire and the means of protection from it. The Journey of the Strangers pairs Ibn Rajab's explanation of the hadith of the strangers with a related treatise by Imam Abu Bakr al-Ajurri. Finally, The Difference Between Advising and Shaming is the one to give anyone who corrects others, on the line between sincere advice and public exposure. Our guide to books by Ibn Rajab gives a reading order.

Ibn al-Jawzi: Admonition, Biography and the Devil's Plots

Ibn al-Jawzi was a preacher of Baghdad, and these books read like it. Awaking from the Sleep of Heedlessness walks through the stages of a life and what each one demands. Disciplining the Soul is his method for the struggle against the self, and Disturber of the Hearts diagnoses what unsettles the heart and how it is settled again. Sincere Counsel to the Students of Sacred Knowledge was written as a letter to his son, and At Their Feet: Piety Towards Parents gathers the texts and the stories of the early Muslims on honouring parents.

The Devil's Deceptions, his Talbis Iblis, is the longest of the group: a map of how Shaytan approaches scholars, worshippers, ascetics and ordinary Muslims, each through their own weakness, and how whole sects were led astray.

In this article

The Devil's Deceptions By Imam Ibn Al-Jawzi

Shaytan flows through you as blood does. Know how he works.

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The biographies are a second strand. The Illustrious Life of Muhammad is a concise portrait of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, drawn from Ibn al-Jawzi's Sifat al-Safwah. The rest of that work is published as Ranks of the Elite Volume 1, Volume 2 and Volume 3, which record the sayings, worship and lives of the Companions and the generations after them, city by city. See books by Ibn al-Jawzi for where to begin.

Ibn Qudamah al-Maqdisi's Series on Purifying the Soul

Dar as-Sunnah has published a run of Ibn Qudamah's writings on the heart as a series, and they work best read together. Purification of the Soul treats the diseases of the heart, among them pride, envy, greed, love of the world and showing off, with their cures. The Inner Secrets of Worship turns to the inward side of purification, prayer, zakah, fasting and Hajj. The Refinement of Character covers the outward etiquettes of eating, companionship, marriage, earning and travel, and Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth deals with the struggle against the desires that pull against worship.

In this article

Purification of The Soul By Imam Ibn Qudamah al-Maqdisi (d. 620H)

Pride, envy, greed, love of the world — named, and treated.

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Two shorter titles round out the series. Ranks of the Fearful explains what fear of Allah is, its levels, and how it goes wrong when it falls short or turns into despair. The Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife gathers the verses, hadith and statements of the Salaf on death, the grave and what comes after. Our guide to books by Ibn Qudamah sets them in order.

Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim on the Heart and Worship

From Ibn Taymiyyah, Diseases of the Hearts and Their Cures is a short treatise taken from his fatawa, and Gardens of Purification sets out the conditions of a sound heart and the means of drawing near to Allah. The Friends of Allah and the Friends of Shaytan is a work of aqeedah: a complete translation of al-Furqan, establishing from Surah Yunus 10:62-63 that the allies of Allah are known by iman and taqwa, not by claimed miracles or mystical states.

In this article

Diseases of The Hearts And Their Cures By Shaykul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah

When the heart is diseased, the whole person is diseased.

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His student Ibn al-Qayyim has five titles here. Inner Dimensions of the Prayer walks through the prayer as a journey, posture by posture. Remembrance of the Most Merciful sets out the benefits of dhikr, and Trials and Tribulations explains the wisdom behind what Allah decrees for His servants. Heartfelt Advice to a Friend is a short personal letter of counsel, and Paragons of the Qur'an studies the parables Allah strikes in His Book. For reading orders, see books by Ibn Taymiyyah and books by Ibn al-Qayyim.

Ibn Abi Dunya and al-Ajurri: The Early Collections

These two are among the earliest authors on the list. Ibn Abi Dunya was a hadith scholar of Baghdad in the third century, and his books gather narrations on a single quality of the heart. Having Good Thoughts of Allah pairs good expectation of Allah with true reliance on Him, Unshakeable Faith in Allah and The Promise of Ease After Hardship joins certainty in Allah's decree to the reminders that relief follows hardship, and Allah Loves the Humble collects what the texts and the early Muslims said about humility. Our guide to books by Ibn Abi Dunya covers all three.

From the following century, al-Ajurri's The Pursuit of Self-Purification examines the three states of the self named in the Qur'an, from the soul that commands evil to the soul at rest.

The Sunnah, the Prayer and the People of Hadith

The more practical side of the catalogue starts with Shaykh al-Albani. A Textbook on the Prayer describes the prayer from the opening takbir to the taslim, each part with the narrations he authenticated. Follow the Sunnah of the Prophet brings together three of his works on the status of the Sunnah and the answer to those who would set it aside. The Marriage Guide According to the Sunnah of the Prophet and The Dress Code for the Muslim Woman take up marriage and hijab from the evidence. See books by Shaykh al-Albani for the rest of his titles.

Alongside him, Shaykh al-Munajjid's Developing Khushu in the Prayer gives practical means of presence of heart in salah. Imam at-Tirmidhi's The Sublime Beauty of the Prophet, his al-Shama'il, gathers the narrations describing the Prophet's appearance, habits and character. And al-Khatib al-Baghdadi's Disciples of Hadith: The Noble Guardians is on the rank of those who gave their lives to preserving the Sunnah.

The Qur'an, the Names of Allah and Shaykh as-Sa'di

The Spiritual Cure is a verse-by-verse explanation of Surah al-Fatihah, drawing on the classical tafsir works. From Shaykh as-Sa'di, Explanation to the Beautiful and Perfect Names of Allah takes his explanation of the names from the opening of his tafsir and presents it on its own. The Delight of the Righteous Hearts is his selection of ninety-nine hadith with short commentary, and 8 Steps to Happiness is a small book on the means of a good life and the repelling of grief and anxiety. See books by as-Sa'di for more.

Why Dar as-Sunnah Belongs on Your Shelf

Many English-speaking readers first meet Ibn Rajab, Ibn al-Jawzi and Ibn Qudamah through quotations. This publisher's contribution is to put the whole treatise in front of you, usually in a volume short enough to finish in a week. If you want to read imams who followed the way of the Salaf as-Salih on the heart in their own words rather than in summary, this is a good place to begin. Our guide to the best books on purifying the soul (tazkiyah) shows where many of these titles fit, and you can browse everything in our Dar as-Sunnah collection.

For our other publisher spotlights, see Flowers of Jannah, Umm Assad Publications, Fitrah Beginnings and DreamForward Books. For everything else, start at our complete Islamic reading guide by topic.

Baarakallahu feekum — The Islamic Book Cafe | Portland, Oregon.