General comment on the book Sunan an-Nasaa’i as-Sughra and what it contains of da‘eef reports

1.

Imam an-Nasaa’i is Ahmad ibn Shu‘ayb ibn ‘Ali ibn Sinaan ibn
Bahr al-Khurasaani an-Nasaa’i, who was known by the kunyah Abu ‘Abd
ar-Rahmaan or as an-Nasaa’i, after a city in Korasan that is called Nasa. 

2.

He was born in 215 AH and died in 303 AH. 

3.

His book as-Sunan as-Sughra is known as al-Mujtaba
or al-Mujtana, but the former is more correct and more well-known.
The scholars differed concerning it: is it an abridged version that he
himself compiled, as Ibn al-Atheer, Ibn Katheer, al-‘Iraqi and al-Sakhkhaawi
said, or is it an abridged version prepared by his student Abu Bakr ibn
as-Sunni, as is the view of adh-Dhahabi and Ibn Naasir ad-Deen ad-Dimashqi? 

4.

The number of hadeeths in as-Sunan as-Sughra is 5774. 

5.

Some scholars gave the title as-Saheeh to Sunan
an-Nasaa’i, including Abu ‘Ali an-Nisapoori, Ibn ‘Adiy, ad-Daaraqutni,
Ibn Mandah and al-Khateeb al-Baghdadi, because of the stringent conditions
of Imam an-Nasaa’i and his careful examination of hadeeths. But this opinion
cannot be accepted from the one who suggested it, because the number of
da‘eef hadeeths in his Sunan is approximately five hundred, according
to the verdict of Shaykh al-Albaani (may Allah have mercy on him). The
number differs according to the ruling of the scholar who is examining the
book. We see that Imam Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) criticised
those who said that the hadeeths in Sunan an-Nasaa’i were saheeh, and
he criticised those who said that the conditions of an-Nasaa’i were more
stringent than the conditions of Imam Muslim (may Allah have mercy on him),
as he said: 

“The opinion of al-Haafiz Abu ‘Ali ibn as-Sakan and also of
al-Khateeb al-Baghdadi concerning the book as-Sunan by an-Nasaa’i,
that it is saheeh, is debatable. And (their opinion that) his conditions
concerning the narrators were more stringent than the conditions of Muslim
is not a given, because his narrators include men who are unknown (majhool),
in that they themselves or their level of trustworthiness and accuracy is
unknown; they also include majrooh narrators (i.e., those whose reports are
rejected because of flaws in their character etc). And it contains hadeeths
that are da‘eef, mu‘allal and munkar (types of weak hadeeths), as we have
pointed out in al-Ahkaam al-Kabeer.” 

Al-Baa‘ith al-Hatheeth fi Ikhtisaar ‘Uloom al-Hadeeth,
p. 44 

6.

as-Sunan as-Sughra contains the
fewest da‘eef hadeeths among the six books after the Saheehayn
(al-Bukhaari and Muslim); there is not a single mawdoo‘ (fabricated) hadeeth
in it. 

al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said: To
sum up, the book of an-Nasaa’i contains the fewest da‘eef hadeeths and
majrooh narrators among the books after the Saheehayn .

End quote from an-Nukat ‘ala Kitaab Ibn as-Salaah,
1/484 

7.

There are many commentaries on an-Nasaa’i’s as-Sunan
as-Sughra, among the most famous of which is the commentary of
as-Suyooti which is entitled Zahr ar-Raba ‘ala’l-Mujtaba. There is
also a commentary on it by Imam Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Haadi as-Sindi. And
there is an audio commentary on as-Sunan by Shaykh ‘Abd al-Muhsin
al-‘Abbaad (may Allah preserve him). One of the most comprehensive
commentaries is Dhakheerat al-‘Uqbah fi Sharh al-Mujtaba by Shaykh
Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn Aadam ibn Moosa al-Ithiyobi (may Allah preserve him),
which is contemporary and has been published in forty volumes! The first
five volumes of it have been published by Dar al-Mi‘raaj in Riyadh and the
rest of its volumes were published by Dar Aal Baroom in Makkah
al-Mukarramah; it is also available on the Internet on the al-Maktabah
al-Wafqiyyah website and elsewhere. 

And Allah knows best.