Out of the fear of Allah Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه would sometimes say, “If only I were grass (so that I would not be held accountable).†He was the greatest companion and the best friend of Nabi ﷺ, yet such was his fear of the almighty! Compared to this we are so complacent in our deen. Such is our complacency if someone were to point out our wrong we would turn around and lecture them on their wrongs, rather than taking heed. Or sometimes people say that only Allah can judge me. They say it as though it is something comforting. Whereas in reality the judgement of Allah alone, is far scarier than the judgement of every single human being on earth.
So if someone advises you, be grateful they are helping you change. Accept it and thank them for pointing it out. Ask them to make dua that Allah grants you the ability to act upon it. This is the response of a person imbued with humility and good character. Even if the adviser has a million faults that is not the time to point it out. That is the time to rectify our own flaws. May Allah make us humble and may His fear enter our hearts as a result of it, Aameen.
— Hazrat Ml. Dawood Seedat ØÙظه الله
Above is an article taken from www.islaahiadvices.com. It is an extract from Hazrat’s talk on 10/08/17 in Masjid-ut-Taqwa, Pietermaritzburg. To listen to the full talk, please click here.
Shaykh BashshÄr Ê¿AwwÄd MaÊ¿rÅ«f points out in his taḥqÄ«q of ḤayÄt al-á¹¢aḥÄbah (vol. 2, pp. 351–352) that the narration of footnote #2 above is ضعي٠جدا. He also criticizes the narration of footnote #3 above.
Shaykh Muḥammad Awwamah also classifies one of the narrators in the narration of footnote #2 above as ضعي٠جدا in his taḥqīq of Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah (vol. 19, p. 133).
As far as I am aware, no, this taḥqÄ«q is not available in English or Urdu. Such taḥqÄ«qÄt are not normally translated due to their academic nature anyway.
Shaykh BashshÄr Ê¿AwwÄd MaÊ¿rÅ«f is one of the senior muḥaqqiqÄ«n still living (ØÙظه الله). MuftÄ« Husain Kadodia á¹¢Äḥib included him in his list of muḥaqqiqÄ«n who are generally good.
I believe it's best if you do your own research, and then decide.
There is no doubt Hayatus Sahaba is read by many around the world.
If someone tells me a Hadith can be found in Hayatus Sahaba, I'll go one step further and dig up the orignal soruce, and then ask a reliable Hadith scholar regarding the authenticity of it before I decide to share it with others. Many secondary sources pertaining to the lives of the Sahaba don't interest me personally.
The presence of weak narrations isn't a valid reason to completely abandon a book. RiyÄḠal-á¹¢Äliḥīn of ImÄm al-NawawÄ« (رØمه الله) contains many narrations which are á¸aÊ¿Ä«f, some of which are even á¸aÊ¿Ä«f jiddan. al-Adab al-Mufrad of ImÄm al-BukhÄrÄ« (رØمه الله) also contains many á¸aÊ¿Ä«f narrations, even one which has been classified as á¸aÊ¿Ä«f jiddan by Shaykh al-AlbÄnÄ« (والله أعلم بالصواب). If one were to announce one's abandonment of either of these two books, they would surely be considered unreasonable. Your practice of confirming the authenticity of narrations from Ê¿ulamÄʾ before sharing them is good, but consistency and justice would demand that you also accept their opinion if they say that a certain book isn't worthy of complete abandonment.
Many secondary sources pertaining to the lives of the Sahaba don't interest me personally.
I don't understand what you mean here. Primary sources aren't guaranteed to be more reliable or authentic. I would be more comfortable reading a secondary source if it has been compiled by a reliable scholar who knows which reports are suitable and thus selects them (to the best of his knowledge and ability).
Another interesting point to add: Shaykh AbÅ« QatÄdah, a Palestinian-Jordanian SalafÄ« scholar, says in the below clip that although there are some objectionable narrations in ḤayÄt al-á¹¢aḥÄbah, they are fewer than the weak aḥÄdÄ«th which Shaykh al-AlbÄnÄ« classified as á¹£aḥīḥ in his Silsilat al-AḥÄdÄ«th al-á¹¢aḥīḥah!
Jazak'Allah for that insight brother samah, although I knew much of that already.
The book in reference has a pretty negative reputation in my local community, and based on my research there are too many unreliable narrations in Hayatus Sahaba. I ignore these academic thresholds. I for one am not comfortable, nor interested in reading a narration, and then narrating to others when it's been academically scrutinised by the heavyweights from the past. If it's corroborated by other reports, fine. My only exception to this is the Prophet's (SAW) seerrah.
The same applies, and extends to Prophetic narrations concernings virtues.
You are right brother samah regarding secondary sources. My preference is to study history by attending, and listening to khutbahs by reputable 'Ulema. Any narrations that pertain to history and/or Fadhail of Sahaba, I refer back to the original sources. I have a good squad of Hadith buffs over Twelvershia.net who help me out.
Ultimately it's a personal choice. My reluctance from using Hayatua Sahaba should not influence others of it's reliability, but should instead consult with their local 'Ulema.
I apologise if I upset or offended anyone.
EDIT: Removed the word dismissed, and abandonment.
This cannot be undone and I am sure it will be greatly appreciated.
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