Mishkat al-Masabih (Arabic: مشكاة المصابيح) (English translation: A Niche for Lamps) is a famous book of hadith (sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad) compiled by Imam Muḥammad ibn ʻAbd Allāh Khatib Al-Tabrizi. It is an expanded version of Al-Baghawi's Masabih al-Sunnah, which was based on the six canonical books of hadith: Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Sunan al-Nasa'i, Sunan Abu Dawud, Sunan al-Tirmidhi, and Sunan Ibn Majah. Mishkat al-Masabih contains between 4434 and 5945 hadith, divided into 29 books and covering various topics such as faith, prayer, fasting, charity, pilgrimage, marriage, divorce, inheritance, jihad, ethics, miracles, signs of the Day of Judgment, and more . It is considered by Sunni scholars an important and reliable source of hadith.
Imam Al-Tabrizi was born in Tabriz, Iran in the 7th century AH (13th century CE) and died in Cairo, Egypt in 741 AH (1340 or 1341 CE). He was a scholar of hadith, fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), and tafsir (Quranic exegesis). He studied under many eminent teachers such as Ibn al-Athir, Ibn Kathir, Al-Dhahabi, and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani. He wrote several books on hadith and fiqh, but his most famous work is Mishkat al-Masabih.
Imam Al-Tabrizi improved upon the original work of Al-Baghawi by adding 1511 hadith from other sources such as Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Sunan al-Darimi, Sunan al-Bayhaqi, Muwatta Malik, and others. He also mentioned the source from where the hadith is originally found, making the text more reliable and traceable. He expounded on the labels he placed on the hadith and re-classified many of them according to their authenticity and strength. He added a third section to Masabih al-Sunnah, which was already divided in two parts by Al-Baghawi. The first part contains the hadith that are agreed upon by Bukhari and Muslim or narrated by one of them with a sound chain. The second part contains the hadith that are narrated by one of the four Sunan authors or Ahmad ibn Hanbal with a sound chain. The third part contains the hadith that are narrated by other sources with a weak or defective chain.
Mishkat al-Masabih has been translated into several languages such as Urdu, English, Turkish, Persian, and Bengali. It has also been commented upon by many scholars such as Al-Suyuti, Al-Munawi, Al-Qari, Al-Sakhawi, Al-Sindi, and others. It is widely used as a reference for hadith studies and Islamic education.
One can download the Arabic PDF version of Mishkat al-Masabih from [this link]. It contains all three volumes of the book in one file. The file size is 98 MB and the page count is 1916. The PDF has been scanned from a printed edition published by Maktaba Islamia in Pakistan. The translation and verification of the hadith have been done by Mulana Abid Ur Rehman Kandhalvi.
Here is an example of a hadith from Mishkat al-Masabih:
Abu Huraira reported Gods messenger as saying,
Mishkat al-Masabih is a valuable treasure of hadith that enlightens the hearts and minds of the seekers of knowledge and guidance. It is a book that every Muslim should read and benefit from. May Allah reward Imam Al-Tabrizi and all those who contributed to the preservation and dissemination of this book. Ameen.
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