What is "ash-shifa"

Kitab Ash-shifa bi Ta'rif Huquq al-Mustafa, (, The Book of Healing by the Recognition of the Rights of or News of the Chosen One), of Qadi 'Iyad (d. 544H / 1149CE) is perhaps the most frequently used and commented upon handbook in which Muhammad's life, his qualities and his miracles are described in every detail. Generally known by its short title, Ash-Shifa (meaning "The Healing"), this work was so highly admired throughout the Muslim world that it soon acquired a sanctity of its own for it is said: "If Ash-Shifa is found in a house, this house will not suffer any harm...when a sick person reads it or it is recited to him, Allah will restore his health."

Ash-Shifa remains one of the most commentated books of Islam after the Sahih's of al-Bukhari and Muslim. Commentaries and partial explanations written on al-Shifa' include:

• Majlis fi khatmi Kitab al-Shifa' bi ta`rif huquq al-Mustafa' by Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn `Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Qaysi al-Dimashqi,
• al-Intihad fi khatmi al-Shifa' li-`Iyad by Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Rahman al-Sakhawi,
• Nasim al-Riyad fi sharh Shifa' li-Qadi `Iyad in 4 volumes by Shihab al-Din Muhammad ibn `Umar al-Khafaji,
• Sharh al-Shifa' li-al-Qadi `Iyad in 2 volumes by al-Mulla `Ali al-Qari al-Harawi al-Hanafi,
• Manahil as-safa fi takhrij Ahadith al-Shifa' by al-Imam Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti,
• Ma`arif al-Shifa' bi-Ta`rif Huquq al-Mustafa' and al-`Ata fi Ma`rifa al-Mustafa (4 volumes) by al-Shaykh Dr Muhammad Tahir ibn Farid al-Din al-Qadri (Shaykh-ul-Islam),
• al-Madad al-`Iyad by al-Shaykh Hasan al-`Adawi al-Hamzawi,
• Mazil al-Khafa' `an alfaz al-Shifa' by al-`Allama Taqi al-Din Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Shamsi al-Tamimi al-Dari al-Hanafi,
• al-Muqtafa fi hal alfaz al-Shifa' by al-`Allama Burhan al-Din Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Khalil al-Halabi Sibt ibn al-`Ajami,

Ash-Shifa has been translated into numerous languages such as English and Urdu.

A fully annotated translation in English has recently been released by the renowned translator, Shaykh Abu Hasan and is available at http://www.ridawipress.org/wp-content/uploads/loving-RasulAllah.pdf