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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).