Download A CRITICAL LOOK AT HADITH: THE SECOND SOURCE OF SHARIAH

A CRITICAL LOOK AT HADITH: THE SECOND SOURCE OF SHARIAH
(Text of a lecture delivered by Dr. Saheed Timehin of the Department of Foreign
Languages, Lagos State University at the monthly lecture of the Islamic Forum held on
Thursday, July 29th 2004, at Ethiope, Federal palace Hotel, Lagos.)
INTRODUCTION
That Islam is the youngest of the world religions is a well known fact. It is only religion
that relates itself specifically to the Middle Eastern creeds and generally to all other
religions of man. It has the distinction of being the only religion that is still fighting most
of the world religions on their own home ground on the battle field of Ideas. Its theology
is simple; its theosophy is noble; its jurisprudence is human; and its ideology is rational.
Its conception or reality is of two generic kinds – transcendent and spatiotemporal,
creator and creature, value and fact - are ideologically connected, yet metaphysically and
ontologically different from each other. Because` of this delicate feature of its structure,
Islam is world-affirmative. It maintains that there is an interaction between the divine will
and creation of man. Man, and indeed, the world, has not been created in vain. The
fulfillment of the divine will is thus the final objective of man. Islam sees itself as being
in the world and of the world as far as the spatiotemporal responsibilities are concerned.
It teaches no cheap salvation, no escape from the world, no existential monism like the
far-eastern creeds, and no anthropomorphic emanationism like Judaism. And no
incarnational theology like Christianity. Man is wholesome and innocent and must be
judged by his deliberate, conscious, free willed and mature deeds. In this light, the divine
will is presented to him in the form of Al-Qur'an, the fountain head of wisdom, the
evidence of prophesy and practical and theoretical manual of the divine intention. The
exposition an concentration and the concretization of the Qur'anic provisions as
exemplified by the appointed medium, Muhammad ( ‫ (ص ل هللا ع ي للل ل‬is known as
"Sunnah" or "Hadith" the second source of Islamic law, a critical look at which is the
topic of our discussion this evening.
HADITH AND SUNNAH – Two sides of the same coin.
The words "Hadith" and "Sunnah" denote different things in their linguistic usage but
technically, they are better used as synonyms. While "Hadith" means something new, an
oral or written speech, a statement or a piece of information, "Sunah" means a path, habit
or custom. Whenever the Hadith and Sunnah are apposited to the messenger of Allah,
they mean all that has been reported about the prophet besides the text of Qu'ran, his
utterances, actions, silent approvals and his entire way of life.
The hadith is secondary to the Qur'an. Its relationship with the Qur'an is at three levels.
The first is where it agrees with the Qur'an in all respects. The second is where it explains
and the Qur'an while the third is where it legislates in a matter on which the Qur'an is
silent.
A sound knowledge of the Sunnah as documented in books of hadith is therefore the only
key to the understanding of the Qur'anic revelation. Even when it appears that the Qur'an
is silent over an issue, any legislation found in the hadith will infer from the rich store of
Qur'anic injunctions. It is thus pertinent for every scholar who seeks an understanding of
Islamic law to have recourse to the Sunnah. This is because it illuminates the holy book,
concretizes what is abstract or ambiguous, and unravels what is hidden and it does this by
the mind and hand of Muhammad,)
‫ (ص هللا ع ي ل‬the first recipient of the revelation.
There exist in the Qur'an several verses enjoining the faithful to drink from the prophetic
wisdom. These include: Q59 v 7
‫مــا ءاتـا ك الر ول فخذ ه مـــا نهـاك ينل فانتهوا‬
"..Take to what the apostle offers you and abstain from what he forbids you….
See also Q33 v 36
"It is not fitting for a believer, man or woman when a
matter has been decided by God and His apostle, to
have any option about their decision: if anyone
disobeys God and His Apostle, he indeed on a clearly
wrong path".
Q4 v 115
And whoever contends with the Apostle even after guidance
has been plainly conveyed to him, and follows a path other
than that of the believers, we shall consign him to the path he
has chosen, and land him in hell, an evil fate"
Apart form the aforementioned there are several other verses that establish the need of the
Qur'an for the prophetic traditions. Similarly, there abound many prophetic declarations in
which emphasis are laid on the traditions of the noble Prophet Muhammad ‫(صل هللا ع ي لل‬
) ‫ ل‬as the key to proper understanding of Islam. Ahmad bn Hambal, Tirimidhi and Abu
Dawud reported a Hadith on the authority of Najih al-irbadh bnSariyah as-Sulami ‫رضلهللا ع‬
‫ )ينل‬thus:
The messenger of Allah admonished us with a sermon that our
hearts tremble, and caused our eyes to shed tears, and we said:
O messenger of Allah, this sounds like a farewell sermon,
therefore give us an advice, and he replied: I admonish you to
fear Allah, and to hear and obey even if a slave is made a ruler
over you. Surely, whoever lives long among you will see a lot
of divisions and disputes. Uphold my Sunnah and the Sunnah
of my rightly guided successors. Grip it with your teeth, and
beware of novelty, for every novelty is an innovation and every
innovation is misguidance and every misguidance leads to
hell"
Similarly, Muadh bn Jabal is reported to have told the prophet that on
getting to Yemen where he was appointed a governor, he would judge with
the Qur'an and if he could not find a clear declaration in the Qur'an or
detailed provision, he would resort to the prophetic traditions. It is obviously
in recognition of this importance of the traditions that Umar bn al_Kahtab
declared:
"A group will appear and it would dispute with you
concerning the allegorical verses of the Qur'an. Tackle them
with the traditions of the prophet because the upholders of
the traditions are those who understand the book of Allah
best"
In a similar vain, Ali bin Abi Talib )‫ (رضلهللا ع ينلل‬is reported to have advised Abdullah
bin Abbas )‫ (رضهللا ع ينل‬when he sent him to have a dialogue with the Khawarij thus:
Do not argue with them concerning the Qur'an, for it is complex and susceptible to
interpretations, but argue with them with the prophetic traditions for they would not
be able to escape (i.e limit them to the prophets explanation of (Qur'anic teachings).
Umar and Ali obviously knew what they were talking about. However complex a
Qur'anic provision is, no right thinking person would start an argument over it as soon
as it is established that the prophet took a definite position on it, whether through a
declaration or practice. In this light, the service of the traditions to the Qur'an can be
examined under three headings.
(a) Tafsil al –Mujmal (Detailing the general injunction)
An example of this is the injunction concerning the observance of Salat in the Qur'an
while the details of method of performance, timing and principles are found only in
the hadith. Details of the principles of fasting, Zakat and Hajj are similarly not found
in the Qur'an. It is the hadith that lays bare all these
(b) Takhsis al-'am (specifying the universal to clarify obscurities)
allotments are clearly spelt out but the allotted are not given detailed
qualifications. It is the hadith that explains that prophets cannot be inherited
and that whoever has a hand in the death of the deceased cannot share in his
estate. Akin to this is the injunction in the Qur"an that a man cannot marry
two sisters at the same time (i.e. as co-wives). The prophetic traditions
explain it further that a Muslim woman cannot be a co-wife with her aunt,
niece or cousin.
(c) Taqyid al-mutlaq (particularizing the absolute)
An example of this is found in the commandment on the amputation of a
thief's hand. The injunction does not include the point of cutting, but the
prophetic practice maintains that it has to be done at the wrist. Similarly, a
hungry man who steals food is also exempted in the traditions while such
exemptions are not spelt out in the Qur'an.
Apart from these areas, the hadith does not relate in any other way to the
Qur'an. Any hadith that contradicts a clear Qur'anic provision is to be
rejected, for the prophet will never go against the book of Allah.
PRESERVATION OF HADITH
At the beginning of the revelation of the Qur'an, the prophet dissuaded
his companions from writing down his utterances because he did not want
them to be mixed with the Qur'an. However, towards the end of his
mission when the revelation of the Qur'an had reached its peak, and the
Qur'anic style had become distinct, he allowed them to write down his
speeches. Although the bulk of these speeches were stored in the hearts of
men, several of them wrote down whatever they heard from the Prophet.
In fact, the Prophet is reported to have told Abdullah bn Umar that he
should write whatever he said. Some close Companions like Abu-Bakr,
Umar, Uthman, Ali and Abdullah bin Mas'ud were reported to have
written down traditions.
Contrary to what some orientalists assert that the traditions were not
recorded during the life time of the Prophet and that it was after a hundred
years that saying were attributed to the prophet under the name of
"hadith", evidence abound that most of the traditions were recorded during
the life of the Prophet. It was the compilation that took place later. Two
foremost Orientalists, Sprenger and Goldzier do not agree with the others.
They both maintain that the traditions were recorded during the life-time
of the Prophet and in parchments called Sahifas. Abdullah bn Amr bn alAs is reported to have collected a thousand hadith in the Sahifa he called
al-Sadiqa while Ali had another Sahifa which contained hadith on legal
matter which he called Qadaya. Jabir bn Abdullah, Abdullah bn Abbas
and Abu Hurairah all had their Sahifas.
With the expansion of the Muslim empire and the emergence of political
strifes, warring factions started forging traditions to justify their positions.
Feeling that this must not be allowed to spread; the pious Caliph Umar bn
Abdul Aziz rose up to the challenge. He commissioned scholars of repute
to formulate methods of sifting spurious traditions from genuine ones.
Hundreds of works came out. Scholars undertook several journeys to their
roots. Ibn Shihab Al-Zuhri was the first regular compiler of traditions who
traveled wide to gather the biography of narrators to ascertain their past
lives, integrity and trustworthiness. Abu Bakr bn Hazm was another
outstanding scholar of this vocation. Ayyub Ansari and Jabir Abdullah
were particularly meticulous in this enterprise. The latter is reported to
have undertaken a month journey to find out the authenticity of a hadith
from Abdullah bn Annas. These efforts went into the second century when
people like Abu Juraij sprang up in Makkah, Imam Malik in Madina,
Sufyan Thauri in Kufa, Hammad bn Salma in Basra, Abdullah bn
Mubarak in Khurasan and Auza'I in Syria. Of all these, only the work of
Imam Malik survived and it contains only traditions about acts of worship
while the Prophet's character and morals are not dealt with. The third
century thus saw the emergence of critical and systematic collections of
hadith embracing all aspects of the Prophet's life. Outstanding among the
collectors of such works are Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim. These two
made painstaking efforts at criticizing and analyzing the hadith they
collected. Out of the 600.000 Al-Bhukhari collected, he selected only
7,275 for his Sahih al-Bukhari while Muslim selected 9,200 out of his
300,000 collection for his Sahih al-Muslim. After these two, the writers of
the four "Sunan" also enjoyed a good reputation for their efforts at
safeguarding the purity of the traditions. These Sunan are: Abu Dawud
Tirimidh, Nasai and Ibn Majah. These Sunan together with the Sahih
Bukhari and Muslim are called the Sihah Sittah or the six authentic
collections. A note of warning must be sounded that these are regarded as
the sound collections does not mean that we should not subject the
traditions contained in them to scrutiny before upholding them.
Apart from the Sihah Sitta, other celebrated works of hadith exist that also
contain valuable materials for Muslims. Some of these are Musnad of
Ahamd bn Hambal, Kanzu-ul-Ummal, Sunan Baihaqi, Sunan Dar-al-qutni,
Sunan darimi and a host of others.
CLASSIFICATION OF HADITH
There are two broad classifications of hadith and they are hadith nabawi
and hadith qudsi. Hadith nabawi is an hadith in which the speech and the
thought belong to the Prophet and it opens with "the messenger of Allah
said" or "I heard the messenger of Allah saying" Hadith Qudsi is the
hadith in which the thought is inspired from Allah but the speech is the
Prophet's. It opens with "Allah the Almighty says" or "from what his Lord
has inspired him with".
With the establishment of the cannons of criticism which examines the
chain transmitters of hadith (Isnad) and the text of the hadith itself (matn),
other classifications came up.
Generally speaking, a tradition that had gained prominence early was
better respected than those that became popular later. The proximity to
that Prophet's time was often considered alongside credibility of the chain
of transmitters which must not be broken at any stage. Similarly, the
unblemished character of the narrators, their memory and religious beliefs
and ideological leanings are considered. It must also be established that
the narrators in the Isnad actually met those people from whom they were
narrating. The most important condition for a tradition to be accepted for
consideration at all is that it does not contradict the Qur'an.
As a result of these exercises, further classification of hadith was given
birth to. These are three main categories under which are sub categories.
These are:
(1).Sahih (Sound)- this is the most authentic tradition related by narrators
of unimpeachable integrity having no defective memory. Under this we
have:
(a) Mutawatir i.e traditions continuously supported by a large number of
people at different times precluding the fear of a false report.
(b) Mash'hur (Widespread tradition) it is narrated through more than two
channels at every stage.
(c) Marfu' (i.e elevated tradition) it is traced to the Prophet without any
defective transmission.
(d) Muttafaq alayhi (i.e agreed upon). This is a traditional accepted by
Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim.
(e) Muttasil (contiguous) A traditional which has the backing of
successive narrators without any interruption.
2. Hassan (Good) this tradition is good but a little less authentic than the
first category. Under this are:
(a) Ahad (i.e isolated). A tradition that comes through only one channel
even though the narrators are defective. It is also called gharib (rare).
(b) Mauquf (i.e. delayed) A tradition which goes up through a reliable
chain of narrators to a companion.
3. Da'if (weak). This is a tradition which either as a result of a defect in the
text or in the chain of transmitters. The degree of weakness however
varies. The weak traditions include:
(a) Maqtu (severed) This is a tradition which goes up to the "Tabi'un" or
successor of the companions.
(b) Mu'a llaq (Suspended) where one of the narrators at the beginning of a
tradition is missing.
(c) Mursal (unchained) where one of the narrators at the end of the
tradition is missing.
(d) Mudallas (hidden) Where one or more narrators are suppressed.
(e) Munqati (Broken) where one or more narrators are missing in the
middle.
(f) Muaddal (Perplexing) where two successive narrators are missing in
between.
(g) Maudu (invented) where there is a suspicion of fabrication. It is the
opposite of Sahih.
(h) Matruk (discarded) where narrators are accused of falsehood in
matters other than the narration of the traditions.
(i) Munkar (denounced) where narrators have made numerous mistakes in
the course of narration and are negligent and defective of memory and
hearing.
(j) Shadh (contradictory) where the tradition is contradictory to a
trustworthy tradition.
There are other classifications but these can be accommodated within the
above mentioned ones. What must be understood is that whatever one
feels about the hadith and the complexity of its codification, the early
Muslims did all that was humanly possible to protect it from corruption.
No wonder Professor Margoliouth declared that Muslims should feel
proud of their achievement in the science of hadith.
CONCLUSION
In the light of the above, the hadith or sunnah, is thus the link between
man and the true understanding of the Shariah. If a man must uphold the
five pillars of Islam which constitute the Institutional minimum of a
Muslim, he needs the hadith. If he must play his role as a cosmic bridge
through whom the moral law of Allah shall be fulfilled in accordance with
His will, he needs the hadith; and if the Qur'an, Allah's final testament
must give succor to man, who will derive deductions from it to enable him
attain the felicitous life which lies at the end of his fate and to which his
soil aspires, not as a passive object of history but rather, as history's active
subject, as the second master of creation, he needs the hadith which
documents for him speeches and practices of the last medium of divine
law, the perfect theophany of the divine attributes, Muhammad (SAW).