----------------------------------------------------------------------

REVIEW:  I have read the book MYTHS AND REALITIES OF HADITH  written by Brother Akbarally Meherally. I discovered it to be thought-provoking as a critical material in the field of sciences of Hadith and as such I found it to be worthy of reading.      Sd/-  D. Fawad 
     Imam Fawad, Masjid-ul-Haqq, Vancouver, BC, Canada
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Click http://www.mostmerciful.com/hadith-book1.pdf to read or download this entire Hadith Book in .pdf format.

Contents

I begin in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious and the Most Merciful
I seek refuge in Allah from Satan the accursed

Verily in the messenger of Allah ye have a good 
example for him who looketh unto Allah and the 
last Day, and remembereth Allah much.     Qur’an  33: 21

For a Muslim, the prophetic Hadith is the secondary document after the Qur’an. In this era of technological advancement and communications by cyber space, the texts from various collections of Hadith 1, comprising varying classifications from Maudu (fabricated – forged) to Sahih (authentic – sound) are appearing on the Internet. Now, a non-Muslim can enter into dialogue with a Muslim, quoting the translated text from any hadith that has been published or posted on an Islamic website. After the "published identification number" and/or the "name of the compiler" are quoted, either party can easily assert a point of view or press an agenda, irrespective of the authenticity of the isnad (chain of narrators) of the identified hadith whose chain of transmission could be broken and not reach the Prophet. The majority of internet surfers have little or no background knowledge of the historical facts behind the compilation of the corpus of Hadith and will be more inclined to focus on the matn (content of narrative). It is not an easy task even for learned scholars to establish how reliable were these chains of narrators and/or compilers.
 1. The capitalized word denotes the corpus of literature, and “hadith(s)” indicates specific narratives attributed to the Prophet.

The discussion of Hadith on the internet raises larger questions about their classifications and authenticity. Are the sometimes outrageous and bizarre narratives of the Hadith going to be considered normative of Islam by non-Muslims who read them at Islamic websites? 

The intention of this in-depth critical study is to defend the True Islam from being maligned and distorted on the internet under the guise of "Prophet's Pronouncements and Acts", when these hadiths are not his but are falsely attributed to him. Readers should keep the intention of this study in mind while reading this work, prepared after years of research on this sensitive subject.

Qur’an and Hadith: Confusion in Cyberspace

Often the revealed verses of the Qur'an and the reported versions of hadiths are quoted on the internet concurrently or simultaneously. Internet surfers are not necessarily educated to know that these two separate "texts" are independent of one another. It is now essential and imperative that the correct terminologies rather than generalized terms are used by Muslim writers to identify hadith texts and the Qur’an. To define "hadith" as "the literal or precise verbatim of the factual sayings, deeds or approvals of the Prophet of Islam (peace and blessings of Allah be upon all Prophets and their true companions)", could be technically inaccurate and in some instances fundamentally wrong. The numerous and complex classifications of hadiths organize them into categories ranging from authentic to deliberate falsehood. These classifications are not only not apparent but also not available to internet users. 

1  The Development of Hadith

The Place of Hadith – Past and Present
Today the corpus of Hadith is to be found far from its original home and context. Hadiths were originally part of the oral tradition of Islam, but after two hundred years of transmission and circulation, they were crystallized into written form. During the earliest periods when the prophet, and his companions and their families were alive, hadiths were contextualized by the orthodoxy of experience and recent memory. But after these generations and several more after them passed, the Hadith became a rigid corpus without the mitigating presence of the earliest believers. Now, several more hundreds of years have passed and the Hadith is still more distant from its origins and from the regional and social concerns that helped to shape many of them. 

In the well-circulated book A Study of the Qur’an, Brother Mohammed Abdul Malik raises the following concerns:2

To understand the background to the development of Hadith literature one must sift through the history of Islam from about 250 years after the time of our Prophet… during the first century of the Prophet's era no hadiths were written down… Stories circulated by word of mouth but they were never written down because the view was well known that the Prophet and the companions did not want anything of the kind to be done, and so there was a very strong feeling against the writing of any sort of 'Hadith' literature. The so-called 'Science of isnad' -- touchstone of a hadith's authenticity -- has tremendous flaws in it. How, then, can we go on giving credence to something that was not written down and yet which, some 250 years after the fact, Bukhari supposedly managed to trace back to its source (i.e. the Prophet) by establishing all the links in a chain which cannot possibly have been genuinely reconstructed! How he (Bukhari) managed to do this without written records, bridging a gap of about eight generations, and simultaneously establishing not only biographical data but also a compelling analysis of the mental faculties of his subjects defies belief! One can quote several hundred hadiths that not only contradict the Qur’an but also clearly do damage to the Prophet's good name.
2.  Brother Mohammed Abdul Malik. of 69 Prince of Wales Road, Sutton, Surrey, U.K. ISBN: 0 9530907 2 8  Email: MAmalek1@aol.com

The word "hadith" literally means; "a saying", "a report", "an account". Within Islamic circles and literature, the term is used to identify a text that is related to a "re-narrated" saying or account of deeds or approval by the Prophet. However, if one was to review the physical process involved in the collection and compilation of these texts, one realizes that these "reported" texts have gone through a process of several "re-narrated" verbal transmissions involving a chain of narrators covering six or more generations. Some of these narrators were reliable and unfailing in their verbal reports and others were not. Often, if the narrator was known as "a man of faith", then it was believed that he could not utter a lie, and this was an essential criterion used by a compiler. 

Did Prophet commend the writing of his “sayings”?

There was a lapse of nearly two centuries from the year of the death of the Prophet to the time when most of the hadiths were compiled. This time factor alone is enough to make one question the accuracy of the written hadiths. To say in retrospect that the memories of human beings did not or do not slip away in the course of time would be a hollow and speculative claim. Often it is theorized that Arabs living in the era of the Prophet had far greater capacity than ours today, for memorizing and then later repeating without error what the Prophet had narrated. Not only is this theory unsubstantiated, but also, how can one verify an unwritten text years later? Further, this lapse may in fact have been due to the reluctance of the companions and early followers to write down hadiths These compilations were not made from the "recorded" documents, because reports in fact confirm that whatever was written by the companions of the prophet, other than the revealed verses of the Qur'an, was effaced during the lifetime of the prophet. The Prophet commanded this effacement, although there are diverse opinions as to why he did so. In the opinions of some scholars, the instructions to efface were of a transitory nature. Others argue that the instructions were never rescinded or withdrawn and that the expressed reasons held good for all times. For example, one hadith speaks of the concern that his ummah (community) may follow the path of the earlier prophets. This could be a reference to the association of the rabbinical teachings called Mishna or Talmud (a secondary document) with the Torah (the primary document) after the death of Prophet Moses, or the inclusion of the Letters (Epistles) with the Gospels in the New Testament after the death of Prophet Jesus. The added official texts might have a distorting or misleading effect on the original message. Indeed, the major schism of the ummah (Islamic brotherhood) that took place in the name of Hadhrat Ali, many years after Ali's departure from this world, had the needed support to uphold the Shia beliefs in the narrated reports, yet there was no such support in the Qur’an. Even the exact number of Imams (twelve) who would come on this earth was recorded. If the apprehensions expressed by the Prophet had been taken conscientiously and seriously by the Ummah, the followers would not have been divided into sects but would have remained united as commanded by Allah. 

And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah, and be not divided among yourselves. And remember with gratitude Allah's favour on you; for you were enemies and He joined your hearts in love, so that you become as brothers by His grace... Q. 3:103 

Say: "Allah's guidance is the (only) guidance and we have been directed to submit ourselves to the Lord of the worlds." Q. 6:71 

Here is the text that has been recorded in the Sunan of Abu-Dawood under Hadith No. 1635 (3640): 

Al-Muttalib ibn Abdullah ibn Hantab said: 
   "Zayd ibn Thabit entered upon Mu'awiyah and asked him about a tradition. He ordered a man to write it. Zayd said: The Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) ordered us not to write any of his traditions. So he erased it." 

In the magazine Al-Basheer of Sept.-Oct. 1994 a feature article appeared; “Recording, Traveling and Isnad of Hadith: From the early years”. On page 12 of this magazine there appears a very important and thought provoking text: 

Abu Saeed al-Khudri said, 
   We exerted our best to get the Messenger of Allah to allow us to write his hadith but he refused. (This was recorded by al-Baghdadi in Taqyid.)

Apparently the prohibition was in the beginning to make their attention to the Qur’an only and to distinguish the recording of the Qur’an from the sunnah (traditions) of the Prophet and to keep things safe from any kind of mixture or confusion.

“Conjecture can be of no avail against Truth.” (Q. 10:36). 

The Recording of the Qur’an – a Striking Contrast

   In contrast to the uncertainty surrounding the recording of hadiths, the Prophet not only permitted the recording of the revealed verses of the Qur'an but also personally dictated the revealed texts to scribes who were good in the art of calligraphy. The "pre-recorded" verses of the Revealed Texts (the Qur'an) were collected by the first Caliph of Islam - Abu Bakr, who died within two years of the death of the Prophet. The final compilation of these pre-recorded verses and the making of a definitive canon was undertaken by a commission appointed by the third Caliph Uthman ibn 'Affan. A well-known scribe named Zayd ibn Thabit headed this formal commission. Within twenty-three years of the death of the Prophet, copies made from the definitive canon established by the Commission and approved by the Caliph were distributed to various Islamic centers. One such is preserved in the former Soviet Union. Allah Himself has undertaken to safeguard the revealed verses of the Glorious Qur'an.

“Verily, We, it is We who have sent down the Qur’an and assuredly, We will guard it (from corruption).” Q. 15:9

2  The Chaos of Category and Classification

Intentional Fabrications

It is an undisputed fact that the compilers of the Hadith did reject a large majority of narrations (the figure runs in hundreds of thousands) as being invented, fabricated, faulty or too weak to be recorded. Here are a few of the major reasons or circumstances for these superfluities. 

a) The fabrications were done in order to glorify the beloved Prophet, the elected successors to the Prophet, the chosen family members of the Prophet, and/or their progeny. The fabricators have been reported as saying "We did not speak lies against him (Prophet) but for him instead."3. 

b) Various factions attempted to justify and/or propagate their own schools of philosophical thought in the name of the Prophet, e.g. Sufic Orders, Qadariyah, Jabariyah, Rawafid, Ikhwan-as-safa, Mu'tazila, etc. The latter had the support of the 'Abbasid rulers.

c) The ongoing rivalries between the supporters of; Hadhrat Ali, Hadhrat Mu’awiyah and Kharijites who opposed both. The latter also remained in constant conflict with the Umayyads. 

d) To instill and indoctrinate strict piety (taqwa) among the believers. The preachers and local leaders who attributed extraordinary deeds and sayings to the Prophet probably believed that the end justified the means. In 'Criticism of Hadith among Muslims with reference to Sunan ibn Maja', (p.41) there are names of narrators who invented hadiths on "the merits of each Sura of the Qur’an" when they found people deserting the Qur’an and occupying themselves with Fiqh (jurisprudence) of Abu Hanifa and Maghazi (battles) of Ibn Ishaq. 

e) In order to earn greater fame within the community. The higher the number of hadiths a scholar could memorize, the greater the honour and status he could obtain. 

f) Scholars have also noted that the proverbs were attributed to the Prophet. 

g) During the advent of Islam there were other tribes living side by side with Muslims whose enmity has been recorded in the Qur'an. Some of them knew from their own scriptures the coming of a Prophet in Arabia ("The Land of Kedar". See Isaiah 42:8-17)). Since the Prophet who had come in Arabia was not a descendant of Isaac, they rejected him. A few bitterly envied him and discredited the Prophet by implanting narrations. Non-Muslim dignitaries, Israelites, produced false documents in the name of Prophet before Caliph 'Umar bin al-Khattab, in order to obtain exemptions from the Jizyah tax that was levied on non-Muslims.4
4.   ‘Introduction to the Science of Hadith' by Dr. Suhaib Hasan Abdul Ghaffar (page 50), published by Darussalam, Box 22743, Riyadh 11416, Saudi Arabia.

h) In many cases the storytellers were the worst fabricators. They were often caught manufacturing enchanting, highly vivid and totally strange anecdotes (riwayats) of miraculous nature. The narrating storyteller (al-Qussas) would produce these to collect larger rewards from the audiences and earn greater fame in the country. They made an art form of the fabrications, manufacturing texts (matn) and chains of narrators. (isnad). When caught in the act, more extravagant lies would often follow. 5
5.   Please read ‘Criticism of Hadith among Muslims with reference to Sunan ibn Maja' by Dr. Suhaib Hasan, pg. 106 for details, author's source document is Ikhtisar Ulum al-Hadith by Ibn Kathir, pg. 82.

i) The traditionalists knew that reporting lies in the name of the Prophet was a grave sin, and tried to conceal the real identity of those narrators who were known as the "big liars". They did this by omitting their fathers' names, their grandfathers' names or by mentioning them by their nicknames only. (see the complete details and examples on Ibid., pp. 197 to 202, with a long list of source documents). Scholars agree that calling someone a liar is not "backbiting" as long as it is done in the greater and genuine interest of the Prophet of Allah or to protect Islam. 

j) Traditionalists would faithfully record the chain of narrators (isnad), but would deliberately hold back or abridge the actual text (matn) of the saying when the subject was controversial and the related texts were not consistent throughout. The text would then read: "This hadith has been transmitted on the authority of so and so with a slight variation of wording." The details of the variation and the actual spoken words are not mentioned. One would not find such suppression in any one of over 6200 verses of the Holy Qur'an. 

The Classifications

One may argue that this wholesale rejection of countless hadiths demonstrates that the early compilers like Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari (d. 256/870), Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj al-Qushayri (d. 261/875), Muhammad ibn Isa at-Tirmidhi (d. 279/892), Abu Da’ud as-Sijistani (d. 261/875),  Ahmad ibn Shu’ayb an-Nasai (d. 303/915)  and  Muhammed ibn Majah (d. 273/886) had very strict standards and the majority of dubious or unreliable reports were weeded out. One may further argue that the likelihood of remaining hadiths escaping scrutiny increases as more and more narrations are rejected. The latter rationale is supported by the fact that compiled and published hadiths are "classified" into various categories, by the scholars who have spent years studying the science of Hadith. Within these classifications, dubious hadiths, which should have been rejected, are not removed but organized. Yet there is no consistent method of classification. Thus on the internet a particular narration classified by one Muslim student or writer under a certain category or class is strongly disputed by another. Even the recorded classifications completed by one learned scholar are revised by a subsequent scholar.

There are eighteen classifications within three basic categories of Hadith. 

Oral Traditions - The oral statements of the Prophet. 

Physical Traditions - The acts or deeds of the Prophet. 

Approved Traditions - The acts or deeds that were performed in presence of the Prophet. There is also a sub-category of oral statements made by the companions of the Prophet 

Below is the list of common classifications used by scholars to identify the various categories of the compiled narrations: 

1. Dhai'f  (weak)   A narration which is not accurate enough to be classified as "sound" or "fair" and hence cannot be used as a basis for the Islamic tradition. There are eight sub-categories of Dhai'f  hadith. 

2. Majhul (unknown)   One of the narrators in the chain is unknown, meaning there is no (jarh or taadil) about him. In other words, he is so unknown that no compiler of the hadiths has passed a judgement about this narrator.

3. Gharib (unfamiliar - strange)   The narration sounds unfamiliar and is not reported by others or differs from the versions narrated by others. Even a Sahih (sound) hadith could be Gharib (unfamiliar). 

4. Mu'adal (faulty - perplexing)   A narration that omits or misses two or more consecutive narrators in the chain, or the text is perplexing. 

5. Maqtu (disconnected - severed)   A chain that remains incomplete or ends with someone who claims to have met a Companion of the Prophet, or the text begins with the phrase such as "we used to do..."

6. Munqati (disconnected - broken)   Similar to either number 2 or 5 above. 

7. Mudtarib (confounding)   There is a disagreement concerning the source or the narration itself.

8. Mauquf (untraceable - stopped)   A narration which is related without transmitting the name of a Companion of the Prophet. 

9. Mu'allaq (hanging - faulty)   A narrator who omits the entire chain of narrators and quotes the Prophet directly.

10. Mursal (broken chain - hurried)   The chain between the first narrator and the Prophet is missing e.g. the first narrator says; "The Prophet said..." 

11. Munkar (denounced)   A weak narrator whose report goes against another that seems more authentic.

12. Mudraj (interpolated)   A narration that has additions to the text of the report by a narrator. 

13. Maudu (fabricated - forged)   A report that goes against the norms of the sayings of the Prophet, one of the reporters is a liar, or discrepancies are found in the dates of the incident. 

14. Musnad (subjective - supported)   The chain reaches the Prophet or the narrated report concurs with others. 

15. Hasan (fair)   A reliable chain but not considered as a totally sound narration. 

16. Muttasil (connected)   A connected chain that could go up to a Companion or to the Prophet.

17. Maruf (traceable)   A traceable chain that could go up to a Companion of the Prophet.

18. Sahih (sound)   A narration with an unbroken chain of narrators and the narrators are regarded as the reliable reporters.

After the death of the Prophet "even the decisions of the Shahaba (companions of the Prophet) were recorded as hadith", acknowledges Dr. Khalid Mahmood Shaikh in his book, A Study Of Hadith 6.
6.   Published by IQRA' International Education Foundation, Skokie, IL, 60077, USA (p. 29). One such hadith is quoted later on page 76.

The term As-Sihah As-Sittah (The Six authentic collections of Hadith), is used for the compilations done by Imams/Scholars named; al-Bukhari, Muslim, at-Tirmidhi, Nasai, 'Abu Da’ud and 'Ibn Majah. Today, Muslim scholars have found the collections by the latter scholar (‘Ibn Majah) to have defective narrations. The majority of the Shiah reports are of even later date than the early compilations. For the most part they are from the Buyid period of around 454 Hijri. 

Companions and Acquaintances

It is an accepted traditional norm to classify the narrators upon the basis of their direct and personal contact with the Prophet or upon the basis of their direct and personal contact with someone who had direct contact with the Prophet. Within the revealed verses of the Qur’an, 9:43-50, Allah has given us an eye-opening example from which we must learn two most important lessons: 

A.  The Prophet himself could not discern amongst his own people, amongst the people who were living in the same period in the history, or amongst those who had personally met and spoken with him, those who were sincere and those who were "the liars". A group of people who were given consent to stay back and not to join the expedition of Tabuk obtained their exemptions by lying before the Prophet. The Prophet could only detect their lies when the Truth was made manifest by Allah in the above verse. It is fundamentally wrong to place our faith in or to take for granted the prevalent theory that each and everyone who lived contemporaneously with the Prophet was an honest and trustworthy companion. 

B.  There were limitations to the knowledge of the Prophet. Events that took place around him and in his own time were unknown to him. So, the Prophet cannot necessarily speak of the past, let alone of the future, unless Allah revealed it to him. Should each and every narration thrown at us be defended because it is allegedly identified as an authentic hadith? I do not think so. Many of these texts are based upon weak narrations or spurious reports, and others can be presented out of context or intentionally distorted as we shall see in the following chapters. 

A Note on Qudsi (sacred) Hadith

The scholars of Hadith say that Qudsi hadiths are from Allah only as far as the meaning of the text is concerned and they are from the Prophet of Allah as to the actual wordings of these messages. It would be erroneous to attribute any of the Qudsi Hadith to Allah and claim e.g.; "Allah said..." Similarly, appropriately classified Hadith should or could be considered to be from the Prophet as to the meaning of the text, but the re-narrated wordings of the text are from the narrators or from Muslim scholars. It may be erroneous to attribute these hadiths to the Prophet and claim; "The Messenger of Allah said:..".

Since the process of compilation has been similar to the rest of the Hadith, the authenticity of this Qudsi group is also largely dependent upon the continuity of the chain of narrators and most importantly by the credibility and reliability of the narrators. It is a common misconception that the term Qudsi denotes that all the "re-narrated reports" classified under this Qudsi or sacred group, are one hundred percent authenticated. Scholars have recorded that they could be anything from Da'if (weak) to Sahih (sound). In this group the chain of narrations does not stop at the Prophet but goes to Allah. However, the primary narration is a paraphrased narrative. 

Any hadith that disagrees or is opposed to what has been revealed in the Holy Qur'an should be discarded, even if it is a Sahih hadith or a Qudsi hadith. No text can supersede the verses of the Qur’an – period. Please read the following recorded Qudsi hadith7.  I have faithfully reproduced below the text of this dubious hadith number 8 with its commentary. 
7  From ‘110 Hadith Qudsi’. Hadith No. 8 on page 19/20. Translated by Syed Masood-ul-Hasan, Revision and Commentaries by Ibrahim M. Kunna, published by Darussalam, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 1996/1417H.

Allah's Messenger said:
   On the Day of Resurrection, my Ummah (nation) will be gathered into three groups, one sort will enter Paradise without rendering an account (of their deeds). Another sort will be reckoned on easy account and admitted into Paradise. Yet another sort will come bearing on their backs heaps of sins like great mountains. Allah will ask the angels though He knows best about them: Who are these people? They will reply: They are humble slaves of yours. He will say: Unload the sins from them and put the same over the Jews and Christians; then let the humble slaves get into Paradise by virtue of My Mercy. 

This Hadith is sound and mentioned in Mustadrak of Hakim.

We shall set up scales of justice for the Day of Judgment so that not a soul will be dealt with unjustly in the least.  And if there be (no more than) the weight of a mustard seed We will bring it (to account): and enough are We to take account. Q. 21:47

Allah's knowledge is perfect, and therefore His justice will be perfect also; for He will not fail to take into account all the most intangible things that determine conduct and character.

Then on that Day not a soul will be wronged in the least and ye shall but be repaid the meeds of your past Deeds. Q. 36:54 

Verily Allah will not deal unjustly with man in aught. Q. 10:44. 

But the judgment between them will be with justice, and no wrong will be done unto them. Q. 10: 54 

And fear the day when ye shall be brought back to Allah. Then shall every soul be paid what it earned and none shall be dealt with unjustly. Q. 2:281 

Those who believe (in the Qur'an) and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures) and the Christians and the Sabians, - any who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. Q. 2:62

Those who ascribe false things to Allah, will never prosper. In such falsehood is but a paltry profit but they will have a most grievous Chastisement. Q. 16:116/117

 HADITH BOOK - SECTION TWO
 

To visit the Home Page or to read other articles by the author, click: INDEX

---

      Please send your comments to 
 webmaster9@mostmerciful.com