The deniers of hadith or Munkar e Hadith

 Munkar e hadith is a popular term among Muslims. It is used to label an individual or a group accused of denying the validity of the hadith or the saying or action of the Prophet. Hadith means words or sayings or an action of Prophet Muhammad. The purpose of applying this term for an individual is primarily to invalidate any argument that is being raised about the legitimacy of a statement attributed to the Prophet. It is a weapon that is often used to stifle the argument of anyone who questions the prevailing opinion among Muslims as promoted by their schools of thought. You may have heard the expression commonly applied to certain individuals or to groups to ostracize them and to invalidate their opinions on any issue.

Take for example, the following statement attributed to the Prophet Abd Allah ibn al-Samit said: Abu Dharr said: Allah's Messenger -- Allah bless and salute him! -- said: "When one of you stands in prayer, what definitely constitutes a barrier for him is an object placed in front of him of the same height as the back of a camel-saddle. If it is not in front of him and of the same height as the back of a camel-saddle, then some [stray] donkey, or some woman passing, or some black dog will cut off his prayer." I said: "O Abu Dharr! What is it that makes a black dog different from a red or yellow dog?" He replied: "O dear cousin! I asked Allah's Messenger -- Allah bless and salute him! -- the exact same question. He said that the black dog is a devil."

(Sahih Muslim, Book, 4, No, 1032) 

According to many people, anyone who questions the validity of this hadith can be termed as a denier of the hadith or munkar e hadith.

Interestingly in the same book of Sahih Muslim, four hadith later, a statement is attributed to one of the wives of the Prophet.  "Urwa b. Zubair reported: 'A'isha asked: What disrupts the prayer? We said: THE WOMAN AND THE ASS. Upon this, she remarked: IS THE WOMAN AN UGLY ANIMAL? I lay in front of the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) like the bier of a corpse and he said a prayer.  (Sahih Muslim, Book, 4, No, 1037) 

Sahih Bukhari also includes a similar hadith in his collection: Narrated 'Aisha: The things which annul the prayers were mentioned before me. They said, "Prayer is annulled by a dog, a donkey and a woman (if they pass in front of the praying people)." I said, "You have made us (i.e. women) dogs. I saw the Prophet praying while I used to lie in my bed between him and the Qibla. Whenever I was in need of something, I would slip away., for I disliked to face him." Bukhari, Book 1, Volume 9 Hadith 490

Apparently, the mother of the believer is questioning the validity of this statement and saying that the Prophet could not have said it because his practice was different from this statement.

Can she be described a denier of the hadith? Can anyone say that the mother of the believer did not know her faith properly? Can anyone say that she was acting on the commands of feminists of her time? Can she be accused of pursuing a Jewish or Christian agenda? No, not many would have the courage to even raise such issues. 

This hadith and the response of the mother of the believers summarizes the debate on Munkar e hadith.

Like the mother of believers, there are millions of Muslims now who know their religion, as they have gone through the vast literature produced by Muslims throughout the centuries and who have questions about not just one but several statements attributed to the Prophet. They are sincere in their commitment to divine guidance. They care about their faith and they genuinely believe that silencing people or ignoring their questions will only create more confusion.
There have always been people who looked at such statements and responded to them according to their ability. For instance the six canonized compilers of hadith, namely, Imam Bukhari, Imam Muslim, Imam Abu Dawood, Imam Nasai, Imam Ibn Maja and Imam Tirmidhi (Before the inclusion of Ibn Maja, it was Imam Malik's Muwatta that was part of the six most accurate book on the statements of the Prophet) had access to some 2.3 million statements of the Prophet. But all of them included only 23 thousand in their collections. Even in the 23,000, they collected, only a few thousand seems to have commonalities either in the text or in the meaning. Can anyone call them munkar e hadith? Obviously, they were the deniers of the overwhelming majority of the ahadith they had access to. The selection of the collected statement was not divinely revealed. It was the outcome of the human efforts that they put in constructing a methodology to verify the statements as much as one can.

So, essentially, one can look at their methodologies and choose the one that he or she feels makes better sense Almost of the six compilers and many hundred more who worked on hadith literature, had differing methodologies in their work.
They were first formally grouped and defined canonically by Ibn al Qaisarani in the 11th century, who added Sunan Ibn Maja. Since then, they have enjoyed near-universal acceptance as part of the official canon of Sunni Islam. 

• In the Sunni Islam, the six canonical works are, Sahiah al Bukhari, Sahih Musli, Jamia Tirmidhi, Sunan Nasai, Sunan ibn Maja and Sunan Abu Dawood. However, Malikis do not accept Ibn Maja part of the six canonical work. They include al Muwatta in those collections.
• The Twelver Shia sect has four hadith collections: Kitabul al Kafi, ManLa Yahduruhu al Fatih, Tahdib ul Ahkam and Al Istibsar.
• The Ibadi sect has Tartib al Musna as their book of hadith.  .
• The Ismailis use the Daim al Islam as hadith collections.

Obviously, the compilers of the statements of the Prophet happen to be the first ones who rejected many because they did not fulfill their self determined criterion  Even before the emergence of these compilers there were companions, including, the scholarly ones and the Caliphs who even chastised people who were reporting the unverified statements of the prophet.

No Muslim can ever deny the fact that in his 40 years of life as a prophet, the Prophet did not utter a single word or instruction or explanation other than the verse of the Quran. No one argues that the Prophet did not address people on different occasions. Similarly, no one can ever say that everything that the Prophet did and say was recorded during his lifetime by the companions who had also obtained his verification for their written or memorized words.

For instance, the number of ahadith narrated through the family of the Prophet such as his wife Khadija whom he lived for almost 28 years or his four daughters are far less than the number of ahadith attributed to some companions who have been mentioned as the main source of ahadith.

From the second year of Hijra until he left this world, the Prophet must have given at least 400 plus Friday sermons. Yet we do not have more than 50  and their accuracy has often been disputed by scholars themselves. About the first Friday sermon given by the Prophet, there are two opinions Imam Qurtubi reports one version and Imam ibn Qayyim al Jauzi offers a different version.

Thus, many Muslims believe that not everything that was said by the Prophet was either written down or memorized. The closest of the Prophet did not report much about his instructions and style of life. None of the companions approached the Prophet for his seal of approval of what they had written or memorized. The companions wrote down the Quran and memorized it with full concentration as they were asked to do.
However, the Quran makes it clear that nothing should be attributed to Allah and his messenger unless it is true. Muslims believe that the Prophet ensured in his lifetime that every word that God revealed upon him was preserved in writing in his lifetime. But his statements were not. Thus, many Muslims believe that despite the presence of the canonical work and other books of ahadith, people have to be extra cautious when dealing with such statements. They suggest the best way to determine their accuracy is not only the chain of narrators and their integrity but also the relationship of the statement with the Quranic dictates. If the statement is in the context of the Quranic verse and is elaborated or explained within the Quranic context, then its validity and accuracy is proven, but if it questions the Quranic statement, then it must not be used for making any decision or argument that that impacts individual or social life,
They do not deny the fact that the Prophet did not leave instructions for his followers. But they say that not every word of what he said was preserved and approved by him in his lifetime. They do not deny the hadith, rather they argue to have stricter and logically sound methodology to determine the accuracy of the statements attributed to the Prophet.
On the other hand, there are people who say, that all the research and all the work has already been completed by the scholars living from 7th to 11 centuries. Their logic defies the Quran that asks human beings, including the believers to be in constant search of signs of Allah. This verse of the Quran places emphasis on continuous research and by saying that all answers have been given and all issues have been resolved, they are only challenging God and his wisdom. So please be careful when you use the term munkar e hadith.

 Human Efforts to Understand the Ahadith

This is the last in the series of the compilation of hadith. The four previous articles appeared on aslamabdullah.blogspot.com. The series was in response to those who asked about my methodology in understanding the ahadith. I am grateful to Allah for giving me the opportunity to state my understanding of this vast subject to the best of my capabilities. Still, I believe that doors to understanding are wide open. It is a quest that would continue until I leave the world. I requested all who have been receiving my posts on the subject to refrain from making any judgment until they read the last article. Now you have all the articles in front of you and you can form your opinions about how I understand the hadith literature.

When we use the statements, attributed to the Prophet and reproduced in books classified as Sahifas, Aziz, Rasail or Kutub, Musannafs, Musnads, Mujams, Jamis, Sunans, Mstadraks, Mustakhrajs and Arainiyat, to define Islam and develop principles and laws influencing the attitude, behavior, and character of Muslims in all aspects of life, we have to ensure in absolute terms their authenticity, integrity, validity, trustworthiness, and correctness.

With the exceptions of a few letters, treaties and advises that the Prophet asked his companions to write down, the vast majority of statements attributed to him were not seen, verified and approved by him. He did not leave any collection of his words and actions verified by him.

The books on the ahadith of the prophet, thus, are the outcome of human efforts. They cannot be equated with the prophetic efforts, evident in the compilation of the Quran or the divine plan in the revelation of the Quran. The Quran was given by the one whom we deem as the Creator of the universe and preserved by the one who was chosen by the creator as the final and last recipient of the message.

The books of ahadith were compiled by Muslim scholars spread over three centuries through their limited human efforts in preserving what they thought was attributed to the messenger of Allah.

The compilers of the book of ahadith did not choose their collection from a common pool of ahadith. Each one of them developed a distinct methodology and criterion to make their selection.

For instance, Imam Malik bin Anas collected some 500 ahadith in his book al-Muwattaa out of 70,000 ahadith he had access to. Imam Ib Hanbal chose some 40,000 ahadith from 700,000 ahadith. He rejected some 94 percent statements attributed to the prophet based on his methodology. Imam Bukhari had access to some 600,000 ahadith and accepted 7275 confirming his methodology, thus, rejecting some 98 percent of the total. Imam Muslim had access to 300,000 ahadith and he included only 4000 of them in his work rejecting 296,000.

 Ibn al-Jauzi compiled a list of about 1060 companions who related ahadith of the prophet to their followers, while Abu Abd al-Rahman has given a list of 1,300 companions. Not included in the list are the names of over 100,000 companions, whom Abu Zara al Razi , never saw or hear him including the 40,000 who were present in the Farewell Pilgrimage.

The largest number of ahadith is attributed to Abu Hurayra (5374) followed by Abdullah bin Umar (2630) and Ummul Momineen Aisha, (2210). From Caliph Abu Bakr are reported 142 ahadith, from Caliph Umar, 537, from Caliph Uthman 142, from Caliph Ali 536, from muwadhdhin Bilal 44 and from the Ummul Momineen Khadija less than 20.

In other words, the bulk of ahadith was reported by some 300 companions of the Prophet. The muwatta of Imam Malik contains reports from 98 companions, the Musnad of Abu Daud contains reports from 281 companions, the Masnad of Ahmad b Hanbal contains the ahadith from 700 companions; while Sahih Muslim has ahadith from 208 and Sahih Muslim from 213 companions. Only 149 companions are common in the selection of Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim.

Of all the companions, only 11 reported more than 500 ahadith each and they are: Abu Hurayra, Abu Abdal Rahman, Abu Hamza Anas bin Malik, AishaAbu al Abbas, Jabir bin Abdallah, Abu Said Sa’ d bin Malik al Khudri, Abdulla bin Masud, Abdullah bin Amr bin al As, Umar bin al Khattab and Ali bin Abi Tallib.

Some of the statements of the Prophet are reported differently by different compilers. For instance, the Farewell Khutbah of the Prophet that was heard by at least 40,000 people present during the Pilgrimage has been reported differently by three different compilers. In  Sahih Muslim and Masnad Ibn Hanbal and the collection of Darimi it is reported that the Prophet said: “I left for you, what if you hold up to, you will never be misguided, the Book of Allah and my family.”

In Muwatta the Prophet is reported to have said: “I left for you, what if you hold up to, you will never be misguided, the Book of Allah and my Sunnah.”

In Sahih Muslim, and in the collection of Ibn Majah and Abu Dawud, the prophet is reported to have said: “I left for you what, if you hold up to, you will never be misguided, the Book of Allah.”

These three ahadith have led to three approaches in our understanding of deen. The Shias accepting the first version argues that the Quran, as well as ahadith reported by members of the family of the Prophet, is the core of deen. The Sunnis say that the Quran and the corpus tradition make the essence of deen while the Ahle Quran say that only the Quran is the essence of deen.

Among the Sunnis, the compilers of the ahadith have different methodologies to make their selections. Each one of them applies different rules pertaining to narration and the study of text. Some of the rules related to the study of the text were developed after the compilers had completed their collections.

In order to develop a comprehensive approach, to understand and explain the deen, the scholars have to renew their efforts to evolve an approach that is all-inclusive. They have to keep the following in mind.

1.      Not everything that the prophet said in his lifetime was recorded. For instance, the Friday congregational prayer was made obligatory in Medina and the Prophet must have given close to 500 Friday sermons. We do not have in our hadith literature every Friday sermon delivered by the Prophet.

2.      Whatever was recorded by the compilers was not seen, approved and verified by the Prophet.

3.      The compilers adopted different methodologies to ascertain the accuracy, integrity, trustworthiness and validity of the statements and actions attributed to the Prophet.

4.      The compilers of the collections put great sincere efforts in developing the rules of the narration and the study of the text with the help of the science of Ama ur Rijal. Yet their evaluation of narrators differs in grading each narrator. The sectarian differences between Shias and Sunnis appear in their methodologies used to collect the ahadith

5.      The purpose was to ensure that the divine guidance, the Quran, is understood clearly and profoundly.

This purpose has remained unchanged in the changed circumstances. It is this purpose that should be the basis of unity among the work of scholars of our times. They are the ones who have the responsibility to review the entire hadith literature and develop consensus beyond sects and schools of thought differences to ensure that the divine message is properly understood in our times The purpose of these efforts is to ensure that the differences between the Quranic text and the ahadith, if there are any, and the differences between various ahadith, if there are any, should be understood in the proper context.

Deen and the understanding of the Quran cannot be left to the whims and wishes of individuals, especially when the differences are vast. It cannot be left to the sectarian differences, ideological schisms and political interests of the interpreters.

But the process to develop a consensual approach will take longer. In the meantime, the students of ahadith and the Quran and the followers of Islam can approach the vast literature with care and responsibility ensuring that the main purpose, i.e. understanding the divine the message, the Quran remains supreme and uncompromised.

Thus, in my personal methodology to understand the deen, I adopt the following approach.

1.  Focus on the Quran and its universal message to humanity.

2.  Study the ahadith in the light of the Quran. And follow those that concur with the well-defined meanings of the Quran.

3.  Approach the scholars of the hadith and the Quran to understand those ahadith that apparently differ with the message of the Quran.

4.  Approach the scholars of hadith to understand the ahadith that differ with each other.

5.  Believe that my understanding is only human and leaves aside the rigidity with the conviction that there is room for change in my understanding.

6.  Accept the sincerity and seriousness on the part of scholars in their efforts to understand believing that they were humans.

7.  Not reject anything that is authentically presented and have differences of opinions within the ethical framework of divine guidance.

8.  Live my life according to my understanding of the deen.

9.  Avoid arguments based on methodologies and differences in approaches and never believe that I have perfected my understanding of the deen

Understanding deen is the most difficult and serious task that each one of us has to undertake personally. It is we who would be accountable for what we believe. Our identity comes from our understanding of the deen in our attitude and practices. We have to return to the Quran to understand that identity and approach the whole literature from that perspective.

Those who use the terms such as munkar hadith (rejectors of hadith) often trivialize the deen. No one claiming to be a Muslim can dare to reject the sayings and actions of the Prophet. But the responsibility of what is attributed to the prophet and what is accurate and not accurate is wholly ours.

For a long time, we have put our efforts in defining people based on our images and subjective understanding of the deen. We must understand that each one of us is sincere in our deen and wants to understand the truth as revealed to the Prophet. We will offer a better example of living the Quran if we acknowledge the efforts of each towards that goal without name-calling and insulting others.  After all we must realize that each one of us is responsible for our actions and understanding. In the words of the Quran; “Say: "Shall I seek for (my) Cherisher other than Allah, when He is the Cherisher of all things (that exist)? Every soul draws the meed of its acts on none but itself: no bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another. Your goal, in the end, is towards Allah. He will tell you the truth of the things wherein you disputed. (6:164)

 

Hadith: Ilm Darayah, the Science to Understand the Hadith Text

When we hear someone narrating or quoting a hadith, we often hear terms such as sahih, ahsan, aziz, gharib, dhaeef or mawdhu. Those who are familiar with hadith terminology understand the dimensions of the narration and those who do not usually accept all narrations at the same level without seeking any clarification. In Friday sermons and in everyday discussion, you would hear people quoting hadith to prove a point. Often, they would identify their status in the eyes of traditionists. For instance, during a Friday Khutbah in one of the Masajid in Southern California, a known speaker quoted a hadith saying that Prophet said” anyone who combines two prayers is standing on the gate of hellfire.” He did not quote any source for this hadith, nor mentioned whether it was sahih, ahsan or gharib. Even if he had mentioned that people would not have known the differences. After the prayer, when he was asked to identify his source, he first said it was in Bukhari, well, there was iPhone where q quick search was made for this hadith. It was not there. He then said that he had heard from someone.
This is how even those who claim to be knowledgeable quote ahadith.
Referring to the terminology, interestingly, most of the terms in hadith literature refer to what is known as ilm Riwayah. As explained earlier, it is a science that enables one to study hadith in the context of narration. It enables one to determine the authenticity of the source and accuracy in the transmission and reporting of the hadith
What is known as Ilm al-Darayah is rarely referred to in public discourse on hadith. `Ilm al-Darayah is the science that enables one to critically examine the meaning of the hadith. It deals with the accuracy of the text and pays attention to all of its nuances and any ruling it might contain. It is often used by a jurist. Its branches include `Ilm Gharib al-Hadith, `Ilm Mukhtalif al-Hadith: `Ilm Ziyadat al-Thiqar, `Ilm al-Nasikh wa'l-Mansukh and `Ilm al-Hadith wa al-Tadlis:

Ilm Darayah is an established branch of Ilm hadith and in fact, it opens up possibilities of inquiry and critical examination of the text as well as it influences the rules of ilm riwayah also. For instance, this science enables one to make a distinction among the companions of the prophet as regards their level of narration. The narrations of Abu Bakr, Omar, Uthman , and Ali are not placed at the level of the narration of a simpleton especially if they deal with complicated or juristic issues. It also helps resolve the conflict between the two narrations. Two prominent Muslim scholars Ibn Yahya As-Saji and Imam Shafai are credited with books about this branch of Ilm Darayah.

Scholars have developed extensive rules to determine the validity of a statement or narration attributed to the Prophet and they have concluded that if following conditions are found in any narration, they would be rejected on the basis of Ilm Darayah. These rules are not divinely revealed as the products of human intellect. They are influenced by the level of scholarship of the scholars, therefore, they cannot be perceived as the final word on the subject. Some of the rules are:

1. If the narration is against facts, it should be rejected. For instance, if there is a narration that says that Abdullah bin Masood participated in the battle of Siffin, it would be rejected because he died during the time of the third Caliph, Uthman bin Affan or the narration that asserts that Muawiya ran away from the battle of Jamal as Muawiya is not reported to be present during the battle.
2. Any narration that uses cussing and cursing against the family of the Prophet or against the companions whose character was well established and well known.
3. If the narration is against the known criterion of wisdom and understanding.
4. If the narration is against any established rule. For instance, if the narration says that earth is flat, then it would be questioned in its authenticity because of the fact that it is against the known principles of Allah’s law of creation.
5. The narration conflicts the Quran and its guidance.
6. The narration is in conflict with the character of the Prophet.
7. The narration is in conflict with a hadith that is considered mutawatir (continuous) hadith.
8. The narration is about an event that may have been witnessed by many but reported by only one. For instance, Asma bint Amees reports that once the sun returned from the course of setting in the West for Caliph Ali or that the dawn delayed its appearance because Bilal did not give azan (call to prayer).
9. The narration that uses offensive or grammatically wrong language with meaningless statements.
10. Narrations that promise bigger rewards or punishment for smaller acts. For instance the narration that says that anyone who offers two units of prayer will get 70,000 homes with 70,000 rooms in every home, 70,000 platforms in each room and 70,000 maidens on each of the platforms
11. Narrations that equate even a minor virtuous act with the reward of Hajj and Umra.
12. Narrations that promise the status of prophets or the reward given to the prophets for minor acts of virtue. For instance one Noah  bin Abi Aasma was exposed for concocting statements attributed to the prophet. When asked why he did that, he admitted that the purpose of concocting these narrations was noble because “when I realized that people had forsaken the Quran and I concocted ahadith to motivate people to focus on the divine guidance and to earn the supposed reward by starting to read the Quran.” Similarly, there are narrations that refer to prohibiting smoking tobacco or hookah or coffee.
13. Narrations that relied on dreams to attribute statements to the Prophet without mentioning their dreams
14. Narrations reported by the courtiers of kings and rulers supporting their behavior and actions.
15. Narrations that include meaningful proverbs popular in other cultures that were attributed to the prophet to enhance his effectiveness.

Scholars such as Imam Abul Faraj ibn al-Jawzi, Hafiz ibn al-Qayyam, Hafiz Sakhawi and others have compiled a list of rules used in the science of Darayat

1. Narrations that describe the Prophet in a manner that demeans his nobility such as 70,000 maidens or 70,000 servants in heaven.
2. Narrations that defy logic and experience. For instance, eggplant is the cure of all illness or the one who eats squash is blessed. It is neither proven through experience nor logic.
3. Narrations repeated to attract the people to one, for instance, if rice were a human, it would have acted in a very graceful manner.
4. Narrations promising the greatest reward for the smallest acts of virtue.
5. Narrations promising worst punishment for smallest sins.
6. Narrations describing the superiority of flowers such as saying that the rose was created from the perspiration of Prophet Muhammad.
7. Narrations that describe the superiority of pigeons or chickens.
8. Narrations about the superiority of Berry trees.
9. Narrations describing the superiority of Hina.
10. Narrations describing that the prophet used the public bathroom to take a bath.
11. Narrations that go against the clear sunnah, for instance, the narration that says that anyone with the name of Ahmad and Muhammad would not go to hellfire.
12. Narrations that go against the Quran. For instance, the night journey began at the home of Umm Hani.
13. Narrations that are clearly against the intellect.
14. Narrations that have no resemblance to the saying of Prophets.
15. Narrations that establish a rule in religion but reported only by one person.
16. Narrations that specify a date or year for a specific event.
17. Narrations that describe the superiority of any city other than Makkah, Medina, and Jerusalem.
18. Narrations that describe the superiority of a mausoleum.
19. Narrations that describe the medical principles.
20. Narrations that describe the superiority of Rajab fasting.
21. Narrations that prescribe certain specific prayers during the night of power.
22.  Narrations that use words below the dignity of the Prophet.
23. Narrations that condemn blacks, Turks, Sudanese or Ethiopians.
24. Narrations that describe the dates for the doomsday.
25. Narrations that describe particular days of the week bringing bad omen.
26. Narrations that condemn castrated people.
27. Narrations that describe the superiority of a precious stone.
28. Narrations that condemn the nurturing of children.
29. Narrations that describe the virtue of visiting the grave of the Prophet.
30. Narrations that describe war with Jinns.
31. Narrations that describe the events surrounding the birth of the Prophet.
32. Narrations that describe the virtue of each and every sura of the Quran.
33. Narrations about the superiority or inferiority of the four Imams.
34. Narrations that condemn the companions of the Prophet.
35. Narrations that describe the virtue of virginity.
36. Narrations that condemn a child born without the identification of his or her father.
37. Narrations that describe the forgiveness for people belonging to a specific race, or family.
38. Narrations that say that on the Day of Judgment people would be identified with their mother's name.
39. Narrations about the virtue of wheat or any bean or lentils
40. Narrations about the virtue of any oil
41. Narrations about the rulership of Banu Abbas.
42. Narrations against the known fact of history.
43. Narrations giving the superiority of certain mountains.
44. Narrations giving news about the birth of the parents of the Prophet.
45. Narrations praising physical beauty or ugliness of certain individuals.
46. Narrations describing the virtue of salat ul awwabeen (the supplementary prayers at the sunset prayers)
47. Narrations that support oppression, injustice, and violence
48. Narrations that describe the virtue of praying with caps or turban on the head.
49. Narrations describing Isaac as the one who was sacrificed by Prophet Ibrahim
50. Narrations condemning the wives of the Prophet.
51. Narrations prescribing shade for somebody on the Day of Judgment.
52. Narrations that attribute actions to the companions they might have not done.
53. Narrations that prescribe the worldly reward for reciting Ism Azam (the greatest sacred name)
54. Narrations that describe the virtue of poverty and starvation.
55. Narration describing that intellect was created first.
56. Narration describing that Prophet Muhammad was the first creation of Allah.
57. Narration describing human beings were first created from the light.
58. Narrations that contradict the consensus.
59. Narrations that give stories about Khidhr.

Some scholars have included rules that reflect the nature of conflicts in their societies. For instance, Mulla Ali Qari in his work on the fabrication of ahadith includes the following rules. The ahadith according to him would be rejected if it comes from the following sources or if it deals with the following subject. Obviously, they are the product of a political culture with no authenticity from either the Prophet of his early companions.

1. Narrations reported by Rafdhi (Shia).
2. Narrations critical to Banu Ummayya.
3. Narrations supportive of Caliph Ali’s claim to Imamat or wilayat.
4. Narrations about Khawrij or Nusibi.
5. Narrations about Bidati or innovators.
6. Narrations attributed to story-tellers.
7. Narrations praising Banu Abbas.
8. Narrations about glorifying Caliph Ali and elevating him to a status higher than Prophets.

Obviously, these rules emerged after the departure of the rightly guided Caliphs as they reflect the political division that the Muslim community was faced with. They revolve around Banu Ummaya, Banu Hashim, and Banu Abbas.

According to the scholars whose name mentioned above, narrations that have any of the above-mentioned weakness would be rejected. Interestingly, in books of ahadith one comes across several narrations that show weaknesses mentioned above. It is almost impossible for an average person to memorize all these principles and then develop his own personal critique of each hadith. Those who hear these ahadith assume that the criteria used to determine the accuracy of the narration have been applied and what they are getting is solid. However, one of the main issues to determine the validity of narration depends on how the Quran is understood and how the other ahadith are related to the one under examination. It is a subjective criterion given the fact that scholars have differences of opinions on several Quranic verses. For instance, some scholars believe that certain verses of the Quran stand canceled while others do not accept this position. Obviously, their outlook to the validity of a particular hadith from a Quranic perspective would depend on how they interrupt a particular verse of the Quran. For instance, those who say the Quranic aya of writing a will is canceled would not approve of any hadith that give details of the virtue of writing a will, while those who believe that the ayah is not canceled would accept ahadith that deal with the subject.

One would never know what was rejected by traditionists on the basis of these criteria.

These were the issues hadith scholars and jurists dealt in applying the rules of Daryat in their work. Those who argue that the task of filtering the narration is complete and over perhaps need to review their position based on the changing dynamics of the scope of knowledge that we are fast gaining. Similarly, those who believe that the scholars of the past did not do their job properly should also realize that what the scholars did was superb within the means they had access to. Imagine, they were living in a world, where paper, pen, computers, printing machines, etc. were not available. The human mind was the only machine available to them. They did their job as best as they could. Interestingly, none of them asserted that their work is the final word on the subject. They admitted that the work they compiled would be reviewed, critically examined and based on new research that would emerge later, more strict guidelines would be developed.

Yet, their expectations have not yet been met fully. Instead, the issue of ahadith has become a battle cry between two groups of people, one who refuses to critically view the hadith literature and the other that rejects the presumptions that the books of ahadith cannot be touched.

The purpose of the scholars was to ensure that the divine message should be understood within the context of what was being attributed to the Prophet. None of them diminished the importance of the Quran. Yet discussion on the issue has reduced both the Quran and the Sunna to a level of factional fight, something that both the Quran and authentic ahadith of the Prophet prohibit. It is this polemics that is preventing Muslims from reaching some conclusive decisions on issues at hand.

Early Hadith Literature: II

1. There were efforts on the part of some companions to write down whatever they had heard personally from the prophet. But they did not write everything that the Prophet said as they were not in his company 24 hours.

1. The prophet initially discouraged his companions to write down words coming from him other than the Quran. Later on, the permission and not the command was given to write down his words in addition to the divine revelation. The early caliphs discouraged the writing of ahadith and did not leave any collection of hadith that could have been described as an officially approved collection of ahadith.

When we read the Quran, we never say before an aya, from Abu Bakr, or Umar, or Usman, or Ali, or Ayesha or Khadeeja (May Allah be pleased with them all) who heard it from the Prophet. Even though all of them heard the Quran directly from Prophet Muhammad, yet no one mentions their names for a very simple reason. The Prophet verified each and every letter of the Quran and ensured that every single aya is written down in the format as we see today. The evidence is so strong that there is no need for the chain of narrators to prove the authenticity of an aya. Even though some of the anecdotes mentioned in some books of ahadith would argue the contrary, but the verdict of the Quran that Allah revealed it and he would ensure its protection is final and supreme. The duties of the prophethood included the preservation of the Quran during his lifetime as was revealed to him and Prophet Muhammad fulfilled his duties. Those who argue that that the Quran was compiled during the lifetime of Abu Bakr or Uthman by a commission of six companions or more are simply contradicting the Quran and accusing the Prophet of not fulfilling his responsibilities of preserving the Quran in his lifetime. No Muslim can ever claim to be a Muslim if he denies the fact that the Quran, as we see it, was compiled during the lifetime of the Prophet.

However, when we read the hadith, we see a long chain of narrators before the expression that “thus said the prophet, or as we believe was said by the Prophet.” This is due to the fact that the prophet did not leave any collection of his sayings like the one we see in the compilation of Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, Bukhari, Muslim, Nasai, etc.

Some of the companions often wrote what they heard the Prophet saying in several situations.  Yet, so far there is no concrete and conclusive empirical evidence that the companions asked the prophet to verify what they had attributed to him. In the initial stages of prophethood, the formative years of Islam, the Prophet is said to prohibit his companions from writing anything other than the Quran. Obviously, a substantial part of what the Prophet had said in those early days was not written down. Many of the early companions had passed away when this restriction was removed by the prophet in later days. Thus we would never know their narrations of the prophetic teachings.

Masnad Imam Ahmed, a book of ahadith is considered authentic by many and it includes the following passage in its contents, “The companions said that we used to write down whatever we would hear from the Prophet. Then, one day the Prophet came and asked us what is it that you are writing; we told him that whatever we hear from you, we write that down. He exclaimed, any other book beside the book of Allah! Keep the book of Allah clean, keep it purified; keep it away from all skepticism. We then brought out in an open space everything that we had written and burned it.” (Masnad Ahmed as quoted by Manazar Ahsan Gilani in his work Tadween Hadith, page #249, also reported in Tazkiratul Huffaz by Zahabi) So whatever was compiled by the companions until then was burned. How many ahadith were there and on what subject, no one can even guess.

In Zahabi’s Tazkiratul Huffaz it is mentioned that during his Caliphate, first Caliph Abu Bakr assembled people after the death of the Prophet and addressed them by saying that you attribute statements to the Prophet and you have differences among yourself about them, the people who would come after you would have differences much wider than yours; so you should not attribute any statement to the prophet and if anyone questions you about that tell him that we have the book of Allah amongst us. Thus, you should consider halal what this book has declared halal and consider haram what the book has declared haram.”

Zahabi also notes that Umm ul Momineen (the mother of the believers) Aisha said that “once my father, Caliph Abu Bakr, collected some 500 ahadith of the Prophet and I noticed that he was restless during his sleep, I asked him the reasons for this condition and he did not respond.  In the morning, he asked me to bring all those ahadith that he had collected and instructed me to burn them all.” So a substantial number of ahadith as remembered by the Prophet were burned by none other than the one who assumed the leadership of Muslims after the Prophet. No one can even guess what those ahadith were all about.

Ibn Abdul Birr in his book Bayanul Ilm says that the second Caliph Umar bin Khattab consulted the companions of the prophet about compiling the ahadith but he was not certain about their advice that the ahadith should be written down. So after a month of reflection, he told people to abandon the idea of compiling ahadith as it would confuse people between the importance of the Quran and hadith.

In Tabaqat ibn Sa’d it is mentioned that Imar bin Khattab instructed the people to bring to him all that they had written down as far as ahadith were concerned and he burned them all. (Tabaqat ibn Sa’d, volume V P# 141)

Ibn Abdul Bir further narrates that the second Caliph then sent the instructions in districts and other towns asking people to destroy whatever they had collected in the name of ahadith. (Jami Bayanul Ilm, Vol. I, P# 65)

If the intent of the Prophet was the preservation of his words, he would have ensured that whatever he was instructing the people besides the Quran should be written down, his closest companions should have ensured that each and every word coming out of his mouth is preserved and they would have left a collection of his instructions to save the succeeding generation from compiling books of ahadith.

Writing had become popular at the time of the Prophet. As mentioned by Ibn Hazm in his book Kitabul Fisl, there were about 100,000 copies of the Quran at the time of Caliph Umar, yet Caliph Abu Bakr and Umar bin Khattab prevented the people from compiling book of ahadith. The second Caliph went a step forward as he put in prison companions such as Abdullah ibn Masood, Abu Darda and Abu Masood Ansar for narrating ahadith in abundance (Tazkiratul Huffaz)

As is reported in the above-mentioned books, the compilation of the ahadith in written form was not the hallmark of the earliest period of Islam during the lifetime of the prophet or his immediate successors. If the earlier companions had preserved the sayings of the prophet, we would certainly be in a better position to understand the full extent of what the Prophet said and did. This lack of early written material gives an indication to the monumental efforts that many later day scholars had to do to compile the ahadith through a very vigorous and rigorous method of scrutiny. Whatever criterion they applied, it was to determine the accuracy of the statement that could alone be determined in definite terms by none other than the Prophet who was not there to verify them. It is this reality that differentiates the authenticity of the Quran with the ahadith. From the methodological perspective, the two cannot be the same and equal. One is verified by the Prophet and the other is built around the narrations attributed to him through a chain of narrators who repeated whatever they could remember was reportedly said by the prophet.

This does not mean that nothing of what the Prophet said or did was preserved initially. The companions preserved his Sunna of prayers, almsgiving, fasting, charity, Hajj, relations with non-Muslims, etc., etc.

There are many narrations in books such as Tirmidhi, Tabarani and Hakeem that quote many companions of the Prophet saying that they had the permission of the prophet to write down whatever they heard him saying. Rafey bin Khadeej is reported to have said the prophet told him to write down his words or Abdullah bin Umar bin Aas is reported to have said that “Whatever I heard from the Prophet, I would write down and then the Quraysh prohibited me from writing it saying that the Prophet is a human and often says words when he is in a state of anger or happiness so I stopped writing, then I mentioned this to the Prophet, and he pointed his finger towards his mouth and said, you should write down, I swear by the one who has my life in his control, nothing but the truth comes out from it.” (Abu Dawood and Masnad Darmee)

How much of what was written by the companions survived at the time of Caliph Abu Bakr and Umar bin Khattab who often prevented people from writing the ahadith is not known. Were the ahadith written down by Abdullah bin Umar bin Aas or Rafey bin Khadeej were used by the two Caliphs in their governing decisions is not known.

Today, there are several written decrees and letters attributed to the prophet that exist in their original form in books of ahadith. The book Letters and Treaties by the Prophet, (published by the Islamic Society of Nevada, Las Vegas in cooperation with Iqra International Trust) gives a list of those letters and treaties.

In Sahih Bukhari and Sunan Tirmidhi it is reported from Abu Hurayrah that during the opening of Makkah, the people of the tribe of Khaza killed a person from Bani Laith. When the prophet learned about it he addressed the people on the sanctity of the Kaaba and the reparation for murder. After the khutbah one Yemeni companion Abu shah asked the Prophet to make the sermon available to him in writing so the prophet asked his companions to write it down for Abu Shah.

HafizIb Abul Bir in his Jame Bayan writes that the Prophet dictated instructions to be written down about charity, obligations, the prophetic traditions and other matters for Umr bin Hazm in the 10^th hijra when he was sent to Najran as a governor. This writing is included in Sunan Nasai and other books of ahadith.

Sunan Dar Qatni mentions that according to Abdullah Ibn Umar the Prophet sent a decree to the people of Yemen that explained the rules of zakat on agricultural production.

Imam Shaabi also mentions of a written decree on zakat by the Prophet in his book Az Zakat

Sunan Abu Dawood and Tirmidhi mention that the Abdullah bin Umar narrated that the Prophet dictated a book called Kitab us Sadaqat that was to be sent to his governors when the death overtook him. Both Abu Dawood and Tirmidhi have included many ahadith from this book in their compilations.

6. Abdullah bin Hakeem is reported to have said that the prophet sent a set of instructions about the hide of dead animals to the tribe of Juhaina. (Sunan Abi Dawood, Jame Tirmidhi, Sunan Nasai, Sunan Ibn Maja)

Abu Jafar Muhammad bin Ali reported that in the sword case of the Prophet we found a saheefa that had many ahadith of the prophet written down. (Jame Bayanul Ilm)

The Prophet is said to have written some 379 letters to different tribes besides treaties and invitation to Islam to several rulers. There is also written account of a census conducted by the Prophet in Medina.

The Prophet is said to have given a promissory note to the Suraqa bin Malik Mudalji who had followed him during his migration to Medina. Similar promissory notes were also issued to a few tribes

Among the companions, Abdullah bin Umar bin AlAas is said to have compiled a book of the ahadith of the Prophet known as Sadiqah and he is reported to have said: “There are two things that give me inspiration in life, As Sadiqa and al-Wahat. Sadiqa is the book that is based on what I heard from the Prophet and Wahat is the land that my father donated in the cause of Allah.”

His compilation was passed on to his grandson Shuayb bin Muhammad bin Abdullah and from him, it passed on to his son Umar. Thus all the ahdaith from Umar bin Shuayb quoted in the books of ahadith are from Sahifa Sadiqa. However, it is not certain how many ahadith were included in Sahifa Sadiqa and how many of them made into the current books of ahadith.

In Sahih Bukhari there is a  reference to a statement of the fourth Caliph Ali ibn Talib who himself had compiled a sahifa: “We did not write anything else from the Prophet except the Quran and that is in this sahifa.” It is said that this sahifa had ahadith of the prophet about Zakat, sanctity of life, boundaries of the Medina, release of prisoners, breaking of pledges and erasings the marks on land, etc. In several books of ahadith including the Bukhari, there are ahadith quoted from this sahifa.

Rafey bin Khadeej is said to have written several ahadith from the prophet. Additionally, in the books of ahadith, there are several letters written by the Caliphs to their governor that contain the sayings of the Prophet.

Thus we see two patterns distinct in the early hadith literature.

This situation led to methodological innovation and expansion on the part of latter-day scholars including the Imam Abu Hanifa and Imam Malik whose books kitab ul Athar and Muwatta are earliest attempts to compiled ahadith. They asked questions such as who heard it directly or indirectly from the prophet. How did they transmit it to others? How did the others preserve it and pass that on to their succeeding generation? What was the character of people who preserved the sayings or actions of the Prophet in their memory? Did all of them have the same level of memory? These any many others were the questions the scholars dealt with. They did not outright reject everything they heard and they did not approvingly accept everything they were passed on. Each one of them developed his or her own methodology to reduce the probability of mistakes. Yet, they all knew that they were still dealing with a body of knowledge that was not verified by the Prophet himself with the exception of those written records that history had preserved. But the literature was vast compared to what was preserved in writing.  Imam Bukhari found 600,000 ahadith, Imam Muslim 300,000, Imam Tirmidhi, e00,000, Imam Abdu Dawood, 500,000, Imam ibn Maja, 300,000 and Imam Nasai 200,000.

Each one of them made their individual efforts to develop their own criterion to choose what they considered authentic. Their efforts must be lauded for their monumental task, yet they were aware that they had to undertake the task because like the Quran, there were no huffaz of ahadith who had transmitted the hadith through memory from one generation to another.

Syed Mawdudi in his book Tafheemat sums up the situation candidly: “Suppose I give a speech today heard by thousands. Now ask those present at the meeting a few hours, not a few days or weeks or years later to repeat what I said in my speech, you would notice each narrating it in different style, tones, and words. They would not be the same in their narration. Someone would quote a full sentence, some a few words, some the gist of what I said etc., some would paraphrase it, some would conceptualize it, some who might not be clear in his understanding might misrepresent facts, and those whose memory is sound might repeat what I said and those who lack a good memory might repeat portion of it in their own words.” (Tafheemat, Vol 1)

The compilers of the hadith were aware of their limitations and each of them acknowledged it. They knew that their work can never be equal in authenticity or veracity to the Quran, the book that was received by the Prophet alone and verified by him alone. It is this limitation that makes the development of hadith sciences part of human sciences, not the divine sciences. Thus the science of hadith is a human effort to determine the probability of the accuracy of the statement or action attributed to the prophet. It is not the science of what the prophet said or did, rather a science of what the scholars based on their methodologies believe the Prophet said or did. Thus anyone who is raising any question about the authenticity of the hadith is not questioning the Prophet, rather he or she is questioning the methodologies and accuracy used by the compilers.

Imams, such as Malik, Abu Hanifa, Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi. Ibn Maja, Abu Dawood, and Nasaid selected the statements or actions attributed to the prophet based on their methodology. Each one of them rejected the bulk of what they heard. For instance, Imam Malik gave preference to those narrations that came from the people living in Medina, Imam Abu Hanifa included narrations from people from different region and Imam Bukhari rejected some 95 percent of what he had collected.