aliziad_sali Commodore
Number of posts : 98 Localisation : Abu-bakr Assidiq Islamic Centre, Dubai U.A.E. Emploi : "one GOD on creed, under the flag of laailahailallah.." Loisirs : - at the end of time, the sun will rise from the west - Registration date : 2007-07-20
| Subject: KEEPING THE DEEN INTACT: TREASURING THE HADITH Thu May 14, 2009 12:29 am | |
| KEEPING THE DEEN INTACT: TREASURING THE HADITH
We have undoubtedly sent down the Reminder, and We will truly preserve it. [Surah Al-Hijr 15:9]
The above is a promise made by Allah Himself and it is therefore necessarily fulfilled. This is attested to by all with regard to the Noble Qur’aan itself but questions have been raised with regards to the hadith of the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam). It is ironic that those who question the hadith often forget that the same transmitters of the Qur’aan which all Muslims accept as authentic, also transmitted the hadith of the Prophet (‘alaihi salaat wa salaam) and of course both came from his lips. The promise of Allah however includes by necessity the hadith of the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) for it is the practical example of the implementation of Qur’aanic guidance and neither the Qur’aan nor the Sunnah can be correctly understood without recourse to the other. We hope to briefly outline the steps taken by the Muslims throughout the ages to preserve the ahadith of the Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) and insure their authenticity.
We have shown how Allah preserved the Qur’aan from being initially lost by the martyrdom of its memorizers by guiding the Rightly Guided Caliphs (Khulafaa’u Raashidoon) to compile the ayaat with the consensus of the companions (radiallahu ‘anhum). Allah has similarly preserved the sunnah by enabling the companions (radiallahu ‘anhum) and those after them to memorise, write down and pass on the statements of the Messenger (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) and his way. Later as the purity of the knowledge of the sunnah became threatened, Allah caused the Muslim nation to produce outstanding individuals possessing incredible powers of retention and analytical expertise, who journeyed tirelessly to collect hundreds of thousands of narrations. They distinguished the true words of precious wisdom from the Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) from those corrupted by weak memories, or from forgeries by unscrupulous liars, or from the statements of thousands of scholars, companions, and others. They achieved this through precise attention to the words narrated and detailed familiarity with the biographies of the thousands of reporters of hadith.
The Importance of Authentication
It is unfortunate but true that many statements will continue to be attributed to the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) although the person quoting them may have no idea what the specialists in the science of hadith (al-muhaddithoon) have ruled regarding them. They therefore contravene the authenticated and widely narrated stern warnings from the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) against attributing unsound and incorrect statements to him. The muhddithoon have employed a methodology to assess the types of narrations to sort out the authentic and genuine from the mistaken and fabricated.
A hadith is composed of the text (matn) and the chain of reporters (isnaad). Of course in the time of the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) the companions would refer to him directly. The next generation (taabi’oon) followed suit by quoting the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) through the companions (sahaabah) and some would omit the intermediate authority. This latter type of report came later to be known as mursal. Missing links made necessary the need to verify each isnaad as time passed. Another very important reason was the deliberate fabrication of ahadith by various sects which appeared among the Muslims in order to support their views.
As time passed, more reports were involved in each isnaad and so the situation demanded strict discipline for the acceptance of ahadith. The rules of this discipline are known as mustalah al-hadith. The early scholars of hadith were very meticulous though their terminology would sometimes differ and their principles began to be written down. Later scholars deduced many of their criteria from careful study of early scholars works such as Al-Bukhaari. Major writings were produced by the scholars in mustalah al-hadith, some of which are used to this day.
Classifications of hadith
The following are some broad classifications of the hadith in accordance with their status. We hope to explain each in more detail in future articles, in shaa Allah:
l According to the reference to a particular authority such as the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) a companion or a taabi’ee (successor). These hadith are called marfoo’, mauqoof, and maqtoo’ (elevated, stopped and severed respectively).
l According to the links in the chain such as whether the chain of reporters is interrupted or uninterrupted. These ahadith are called musnad, muttasil, munqati’, mu’allaq, mu’dal and mursal.
l According to the number of reporters involved in each stage of the isnaad (chain) such as mutawaatir and aahaad, the latter which is further subdivided into ghareeb, ‘azeez and mash-hoor.
l According to the manner in which the hadith has been reported such as using the words ‘an (on the authority of), haddathanaa (he narrated to us), akhbaranaa (he informed us), sami’tu (I heard). In this category falls the discussion about mudallas and musalsal ahadith.
l According to the nature of the matn (text) and the isnaad (chain). For example if there was an addition made by a reliable reporter or opposition by a lesser authority to a more reliable one. Texts containing vulgar expressions, unreasonable remarks or obviously erroneous statements were rejected by the muhaddithoon. If an expression was proved to be an addition by a reporter it was also appropriately classified.
l According to a hidden defect found in the isnaad or text which may be slightly different than those mentioned previously.
l According to the reliability and memory of the reporters. This is actually crucial to making a correct final judgment on a hadith.
Rijaal Al hadith
Mustalah al-hadith is strongly associated with rijaal al-hadith, which is the study of the reporters of hadith. In scrutinizing the reporters of a hadith, authenticating or disparaging remarks made by recognized experts from among the tabi’oon and those after them were found to be a great help. Reporters who were unanimously agreed upon as being “Imaam (leader)”, “Haafith (preserver)”, reliable or trustworthy may contribute to a saheeh or sound isnaad. Those chains containing narrators described as “Abandoned (by the muhaddithoon)”, or “Liar, used to fabricate hadith” are likely to be considered very weak (da’eef jiddan) or fabricated (maudoo’). Finally those chains containing reporters described as “weak” or “makes mistakes” will be considered weak (da’eef). Several weak reporters relating the same hadith will however often increase the rank of the hadith to the level of ‘good’ (hasan). If there are contradictory statements about any reporter then a verdict has to be arrived at only after an in-depth analysis ascertaining the reasons for the comments.
Such remarks go back to a host of successors up through the time of the six most trusted muhaddithoon, a period covering the first three centuries of Islam. Many huge and detailed works were done in this field and a number of muhaddithoon specialized in gathering information specifically about the reporters of the collections of Al-Bukhaari (d. 256), Muslim (d. 261), Abu Dawood (d. 275), AtTirmidhee (d. 279) and An-Nisaa’i (d. 303).
Further Branches of Mustalah Al-hadith
There are actually several more categories of hadith which go beyond the scope of this article. However, we pray that what we have related is sufficient to at least illustrate to the reader the efforts to authenticate the ahadith are indeed extremely detailed and thorough leaving ‘no stone unturned’. This level of authentication is nearly unmatched in any other discipline and indeed the scientific methodology employed by these scholars came to be used extensively by non-Muslim scholars in other fields of discipline. This method has unfortunately not been employed by the religious scholars of other faiths which leaves gaping holes in any effort to authenticate purported ‘divine’ or ‘holy’ statements in their respective source works.
It is worth mentioning that studies have also been undertaking as to the underlying causes of fabricated hadith, such as those mentioned by Dr. Suhaib Hassan. Eight of these causes are listed as follows:
l Political differences
l Factions based on issue of creed
l Fabrications by zanaadiqah (disbelievers spreading heretical beliefs under the guise of Islam)
l Fabrications by story tellers
l Fabrications by ignorant ascetics
l Prejudice in favor of town, race or a particular imaam
l Inventions for personal motives
l Proverbs turned into ahadith
Rest Assured And Thank Allah
We thank Allah Ta’aala for the gift He has afforded the Muslim nation through the scholars who had foresight and worked hard to preserve the words of the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi was sallam). We ask for His blessing upon those who continue this work to this day. It is precisely through the work of such men that deviations are exposed. This of course leads to such scholars undergoing much trial at the hands of those who - having built an entire doctrine or viewpoint around weak and fabricated traditions - resort to personal attacks, libel and slander. They do so to turn their ignorant followers away from guidance and possibly exposing their deviations.
Finally we would like to list the six collections of hadith that are considered the most authentic or authoritative.
l Saheeh Al-Buhkaari by Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Ismaeel Ibn Ibraheem Ibn Al-Mugheerah al-Ja’faee from Al-Bukhaara, more popularly known as Imam Al-Bukhaari (b. 194 - d. 256 AH). Considered the most authentic book after the Qur’aan itself.
l Saheeh Muslim by Abul Husain Muslim Ibn Al-Hajjaaj An-Nisaapuri (b. 204 - d. 261 AH). Generally recognized as equally authoritative as Al-Bukhaari with only slight differences in his criterion of acceptance of certain hadith thus giving it second in rank of authority. It is considered by many as superior to Saheeh AlBukhaari in its arrangement or the hadith.
l Sunan of Abu Dawood by Abu Dawood Sulaiman Ibn Al-Aash’ath Al-Azdi As-Sijistani (b. 202 - d. 275 AH)
l Sunan of At-Tirmidhee by Muhammad Ibn ‘Isaa Ibn Saura Ibn Musa Ibn Ad-Dahhak At-Tirmidhee (b. 209 - d. 279 AH)
l Sunan of An-Nisaa’i by Abu Abdur-Rahmaan Ahmed Ibn Shu’aib Ibn Ali Ibn Sinaan Ibn Bahr Al-Khurasaani An-Nisaa’i (b. 215 - d. 303 AH).
l Sunan of Ibn Maajah by Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Yazeed Ar-Rabee’ (Ibn Maajah) (b. 209 - 273 AH)
May Allah be pleased with them all, Ameen. | |
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aliziad_sali Commodore
Number of posts : 98 Localisation : Abu-bakr Assidiq Islamic Centre, Dubai U.A.E. Emploi : "one GOD on creed, under the flag of laailahailallah.." Loisirs : - at the end of time, the sun will rise from the west - Registration date : 2007-07-20
| Subject: a video lecture from bro. nouman ali khan... Thu May 14, 2009 12:33 am | |
| For more information about this topic, feel free to click this web link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaS5NsvZ4yM
Reported on the authority of Jabir Ibn.Abdillah, that the Nabi Sallallahi alaihi wassallam said:
“LAA TA’ALLAMUL ‘ILMA LITUB-HUU BIHIL ‘ULAMA’, WA LAA LITUMAARU BIHIS-SUFAHA’ WA LAA THAKAY-YARUU BIHIL MAJAALISA, FAMAN FA’ALA DHALIKA FANNAA RANNAAR...”WHICH MEANS: “DO NOT ACQUIRE KNOWLEDGE IN ORDER TO SHOW OFF TO THE SCHOLARS, NOR IN ORDER TO DISPUTE WITH THE FOOLISH PEOPLE, NOR CHOOSE SELECTED SEATS IN GATHERINGS, FOR WHOEVER DOES SO, THE FIRE.. THE FIRE…” Allahu akbar..Allahu akbar..Allahu akbar...
in the service of islam, ALI-ZIAD N.A. SALI ( aznas0429@yahoo.com )
Last edited by aliziad_sali on Thu May 14, 2009 1:47 am; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : editing my reasons..) | |
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