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posted by
abu mohammed on 20th October 2010
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In a forum discussion brother Muadh_Khan had provided a link to the sayings of Shaykh Uthaymeen. Alhumdulillah I have used this many times in my posts with great benefit. Important advice for the student of knowledge from Imām Ibn al-Uthaymeen Praise be to Allah. It is good if a person focuses on one Shaikh and makes him his main source, especially if he is a young beginner, for if the young beginner seeks knowledge from a number of people he will be confused. For people are not all of one opinion, especially nowadays. In the past, here in the Kingdom (Saudi Arabia) people never deviated from al-Iqnā [Book of Hanbalī Fiqh by Al-Buhuti] and al-Muntahā [Book of Hanbalī fiqh by Mar`i bin Yusuf], so their fatāwā were all the same and the bases of their fatāwā were all the same; no one differed from another, except in his delivery and style. [b]But now, everyone who has memorized a hadīth or two says, I am the Imām to be followed. Imām Ahmad was a man and we are men. So now there is chaos. Everyone is issuing fatāwā and sometimes you hear fatāwā from these people which make you weep and laugh at the same time. I was thinking of recording these fatāwā, but I was afraid that this might make me one of those who seek out their faults of their brothers, so I did not do it lest we transmit things that are as far from the truth as the earth is from the Pleiades.
posted by
abu mohammed on 18th October 2010
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A few principles of the Hanafi school will enable us to recognize the necessity of understanding the Hadiths that seem to be in conflict. These principles will also expose how unaware the so-called Followers of Hadiths are. The scholars of the principles of Fiqh have clearly stated that just as a certain amount of knowledge is required for the understanding of the Quran, there is also a need to understand the rules and principles of hadith study AKA "Usul al-Fiqh". For instance, a certain word in the Quran may be common or general; It could have more than one meaning, or it could be confined to a certain meaning only. Is a certain word taken literally, or does it have a figurative meaning as well? Is a certain order given as a command, or is it optional or is the statement giving permission to perform this action? One has to be well-versed in all these principles which deal with the significance of the Quran and Hadith. In exactly the same way, one has to be well-versed in the principles that deal exclusively with the Hadiths. These principles are divided into a few categories.
posted by
abu mohammed on 18th October 2010
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The Imams of hadith have divided the hadiths into three different categories: Mutawatir , Mashhur [well-known], and Khabar-al-Wahid [a single persons report] AKA Hadith Ahad [solitary hadith]. [b]A Mutawatir hadith is one for which the narrators are so numerous in any given era that it is virtually impossible for such a large number of people to agree on a fabrication or an error. Examples of this include the existence of London and New York, or the number of Rak'ats in Salah, or the number of Fasts to be observed in Ramadan. The second type of hadith is called Mashhur. This category is similar to Mutawatir in some respects. The only difference of opinion lies in the number of narrators required for a Mutawatir narration and whether a Mashhur narration should be classified in the category of Mutawatir or Khabar-al-Wahid, or whether it should be a separate category. Therefore, we only wish to discuss the third type of hadith, i.e. Khabar-al-Wahid. This category refers to those hadiths which do not reach the standards of Mutawatir. Most narrations fall under this category. First of all, this type of narration is divided into two types: Accepted and Rejected [Mardud]. The great hadith master Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani says, [i]Besides Mutawatir Hadithswhich are undoubtedly acceptableall other types of hadiths can be divided into two categories: [b]Maqbul and Mardud. Maqbul is that type of hadith upon which practicing is obligatory. Mardud is that hadith the reliability of which supersedes its unreliability. Therefore, a hadith which is comprised of contradictory angles, in other words some angles pointing to its authenticity and reliability and others indicating its unreliability, will fall under the category of Rejected . However, if the angles warranting its acceptability are predominant then the hadith will fall under the category of [b]Reliable." Thereafter, Ibn Hajar says that a Rejected Hadith is not necessary to practice upon.
posted by
abu mohammed on 18th October 2010
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FABRICATION OF HADITHS The era of the best of generations [i]khayr-al-qurun[/b] (i.e. the first three generations of Muslims), gave way to the era of falsehood and fabrications, as foretold by Allahs Messenger (PBUH). (At that time,) people began fabricating hadiths willfully. This is why many hadith scholars compiled books focusing only on fabricated hadiths (in order to expose them as unauthentic). Inspired by their vested interests, many of the fabricators used to concoct false hadiths. Consequently, whatever differences do occur in the accepted narrations will still be considered minimal (compared to what the situation could have been). Ibn Lahi'a says, There was a person who was once a leader of the Khawarij (a deviated sect). He later received divine guidance to repent for all his wrongdoings. He advised, "Before you accept a hadith, make sure you study the conditions of its narrators. When we (the Khawarij) wanted to propagate something, we used to fabricate a narration accordingly. Hammad ibn Salama (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates the statement of a Raafidi (a member of the Shiite Twelver sect): Whenever any proposals used to be passed in our gatherings, we would fabricate a hadith accordingly. Masih ibn Jahm narrates the incident of an innovator who, when he repented, taking an oath, said: We had fabricated many baseless narrations which you narrated from us, and we used to consider leading you astray to be a meritorious act.
posted by
abu mohammed on 18th October 2010
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The Hadiths of the Preachers. Many a time preachers tended to fabricate hadiths merely to add a bit more spice to their lectures. In fact, some people believed that it was permissible to fabricate hadiths with intent to create a yearning in the hearts of the people toward the delights of the hereafter, or to instill fear in them of the catastrophes of doomsday. The narrations of the Preachers can also be found in the books dealing with fabricated hadiths. Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Yahya ibn Ma'in (may Allah be pleased with them) once went into a certain masjid to offer their Salah. After the Salah, a preacher began narrating hadiths attributed to these two Imams during his lecture. At the termination of his lecture, Yahya ibn Ma'in signalled the preacher with his hand to come over to them. Under the false impression that he was being summoned to be rewarded, he came over to them. Yahya asked, Who narrated these hadiths to you? Once again, he mentioned their names. This ignorant fool did not even know who he was talking to. Since these two personalities were very famous in the world of hadith, he had simply made use of their good names. Yahya said, I am Yahya ibn Ma'in and this is Ahmad ibn Hanbal. We did not narrate these hadiths to you nor have we ourselves heard them (from someone else). The preacher then asked, So you are Yahya ibn Main? Surely that is me, replied Yahya. Upon this, he commented, I always heard that Yahya ibn Ma'in is a stupid fool but today this hearsay has been confirmed. How is this confirmation possible? asked Yahya. The preacher replied, How can you be under the impression that the names Yahya ibn Ma'in and Ahmad ibn Hanbal refer only to you two? I have heard hadiths from seventeen people by the names Yahya ibn Ma'in and Ahmad ibn Hanbal. While this was taking place, Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal covered his face out of grief while the lecturer brushed the whole incident off as a joke and vanished. This was one of the main reasons 'Umar (ra) placed constraints on lecturing during his time.
posted by
abu mohammed on 18th October 2010
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The Imams of hadith have concluded that if a person wishes to practice upon a particular hadith, he should be well aware of the conditions of its narrator. This is also one of the major reasons why the learned elders [mashaikh] prohibit the ordinary laymen from practicing upon a hadith directly without the consent of the scholars. Imam Nawawi writes in his commentary on al-Arbain: [b][i]"The person who wishes to prove anything on the basis, of any of the hadiths appearing in the Sunan collections of Imam Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi,. Nasai Ibn Maja and in the Musannafs of Ibn Abi Shayba or Abd al-Razzaq ibn al-Humans, and other hadith books which have many weak narrations and that person has little capability to differentiate between the authentic and unauthentic, he is still not permitted to employ a particular hadith to prove something until he verifies the continuation of the link of narrators and studies the conditions of its narrators. If he does not possess these capabilities, he is compelled to follow an Imam and he is not permitted to draw his own deductions from the hadiths, lest he should fall into falsehood."[/i] [/center] Most of the jurists and hadith scholars have explicitly concluded that a person cannot be permitted to practice upon hadith directly if he does not have the capacity to differentiate between the reliable and unreliable, between the hadith that abrogates and the one that is abrogated, and between the general statements and the specifying statements of Allahs Messenger (PBUH) . This is so obvious that it does not require any explicit mention. How can a person who is unable to distinguish between the reliable and unreliable practice upon a narration?
posted by
abu mohammed on 16th October 2010
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EXCESSIVE LINKS BETWEEN NARRATORS The reason why the likes if Imam Abu Hanifa are not mentioned in the Hadith books can be seen below. This is a cause of some differences too. The differences is basically due to the excessive number of links in conveying the hadiths (between the time of the Messenger (PBUH) and the current era). The more the links in conveying the hadiths increased, the more the disparities between them increased. The reason for this is quite clear as well. If you relay a message to someone and there are many links involved in conveying the message, an inconsistency in the message is bound to occur. This is why the hadith scholars have considered a hadith with a smaller number of links as having a preferential factor over other hadiths. Excessive number of links is a major cause for differences, a fact which one can determine logically, traditionally, practically and through sound discernment. According to the Hanafi school, the jurisprudence of Imam Abu Hanifa (may Allah be pleased with him) is awarded preference over the jurisprudence and statements of the other jurists and hadith scholars because, among other reasons, there are relatively fewer links between him and Allahs Messenger (PBUH). In order to clarify this, the dates of birth and death of the famous Imams are listed below: [b]Imam......................Birth...........Death...............Age Abu Hanifa..............80 AH.........150 AH..............70 Malik......................95 AH.........179 AH..............84 Shafi'i...................150 AH.........204 AH..............54
posted by
abu mohammed on 16th October 2010
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To Continue with the differences and strongest opinion, [url=http://www.muftisays.com/blog/abu+mohammed/446_15-10-2010/the-strongest-opinion-1.html]for a recap click here[/url] What, When, Why, Who, How, If, But. How can we deduce which is the Strongest opinion when we weren't present or if there was no explanation of the narration. Differences and contradictory narrations are quite obviously destined to follow from this. A few examples are listed below which demonstrate this fact even more explicitly. Imam Muslim narrates on the authority of Abdullah ibn Umar that a blind Companion once approached Allahs Messenger (PBUH) and submitted: I did not have anyone to guide me to the masjid, please excuse my absence from the masjid for the congregational salat and permit me to perform my salat at home. The Messenger of Allah granted him permission. However, when he learnt that this Companion lived in close proximity to the masjid and he was able to hear the adhan, the Messenger (PBUH) withdrew his permission and ordered the man to join the congregational salat in the masjid.
posted by
abu mohammed on 15th October 2010
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Imam Bukhari used a four angled rule which helped him to study Hadith. We use the Aid of our freinds at mosque who go to a few lectures here and there and then we take the adivce from Hadhrat Mowlana Peer Google (WWW) to study Hadith and to deduce the best ruling to suit our own fancies. Our present times of extreme negligence and laziness, where the maximum extent of education in this science is (normally limited to studying) the six authentic books of hadith for one to call himself a hadith scholar, can be likened to A monkey who has a bit of turmeric powder and wishes to be called a grocer. The extent to which this group of half-baked scholars graduating from madrasas has made a mock of our religion cannot be found in the time of our predecessors, even if we were to search for it. The main cause for this current degeneration among the scholars stems from our confidence in our virtues and our reliance upon our defective and unsound knowledge. In fact, the jurists of the later centuries [mutaakhkhirin] have prohibited us from issuing any religious verdicts based on our own opinions. Instead, they have advised us to transcribe the verdicts from similar religious verdicts of the past. But NO! In these times, even the most intricate of scholarlistic issues, let alone ordinary concerns, have become subjected to the peoples whims and fancies. To Allah alone do we complain and He alone is the Helper. Once again I stress ""There is safety in following just one Madhab"
posted by
abu mohammed on 15th October 2010
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1 comment
The strongest evidence A classic argument by those who think they know it all Are they realy following the strongest evidence or are they assuming it is? Ibn Qutayba narrates in his book Tawil mukhtalaf al-hadith that Imran ibn Husayn says, By Allah, I know so many Hadiths that I can narrate rather extensively if I want to, but the practice of certain Companions impede me from doing So. They (i.e. those Companions) heard many hadiths from Allahs Messenger (PBUH) like I did, and they remained in his service like I did, but some of them have committed many inaccuracies while narrating. I fear that if I had to narrate, then the narration of the hadiths would bewilder me just as they were left bewildered. However, let me draw your attention to the fact that this was only an oversight on their part and they had no intention of committing these blunders." It was for the same reason that Umar prohibited the people from excessive narration during his caliphate. In fact, he even prevented some of the very senior Companions from excessive narrations of the Hadiths.
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