For 'TRAVELLERS IN THE QUEST FOR TRUTH':
Quoting Hadith is a solemn business.
Islam has two established sources of information - the Prophet's way of doing
things in religion, called the 'Sunnah', and God's Divine Book, the Holy Quran.
Prophet Muhammad (saw) mentioned these two sources on his deathbed for us to
adhere to, to remain on God's path.
After around 100 years of Prophet Muhammad's (saw) death, some people thought
of collecting his sayings. Being a Prophet of God and a respected person within
his tribe and the Arabian peninsula, it was natural to remain inquisitive about
his sayings and different facets of his life.
These sayings are termed Hadith. What is a Hadith? It is a claim that the
Prophet (saw), did, or said something, reported by the Sahaba (his companion)
who was present on the occasion, and supported by the mention of the entire
chain of narrators, who were involved in the process of communicating it to the
scholar (Muhaddith: Collector of Hadith) who ultimately arranged for it to be
mentioned in his book.” Therefore, a hadith is comprised of two components: The
chain of narrators (isnad or sanad) and the text (matan).
A very interesting
background. Notice the year of birth or death of the Muhaddith, who collected
these sayings and compiled them in book form. The corpus of Hadith that we
refer to is from their books of hadith. There are many books of hadith most of
which appeared in the third century Hijrah. The Prophet (saw) died in the tenth
year of Hijri written as 10 H. The Muslim calendar starts from the time when
the Prophet (saw) migrated from Makkah to Madina. The word Hijri means migration.
The two popular and
oft-quoted books of hadith are the ones compiled by Imam Bukhari (187-247 H)
and Imam Muslim (194-252 H). These two books are considered the two most reliable
sources of Hadith. These are called the Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. The
expression ‘Sahih’ is a term used in the science of hadith that refers to a
report that reached the compiler of hadith through individuals who in the opinion
of the compilers were extremely reliable. There are other books, all of
which were compiled in the third-century hijrah. These were compiled by Imam
Tirmidhi (d. 279 H), Imam Nasai (214-303 H), Imam Ibn Majah (d. 273 H), Imam
Daud (d. 275 H), Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal (164-241 H), and by Imam Malik (90-172
H).
Hadiths are
of two categories. One is where the sayings of the Prophet (saw) comment on an
aspect of religion which is either the Qur’an or the Sunnah and the other comments
on non-religious aspects such as to his companions or other matters. People noticed
those comments and later shared them with other people.
It is most pertinent to know Prophet Muhammad's (saw) sayings remain within the
precincts of religion and always conform to the word of God in the Qur’an. The Prophet
would never utter anything contrary to the word of God. This is very clear.
This point is the crux of understanding Hadith. A critical principle germinates
from this fact: All Hadiths shall be understood in the light of the Qur’an
and not vice versa. Qur’an shall not be understood in the light of Hadith.
Other sayings based on his stature as a respected person of his tribe and clan
are to be understood in their correct perspective. These are not to be linked
with religion, but rather as Prophet Muhammad's (saw) biography in matters
other than religion.
The image shared is a saying by the Prophet, "Whoever incorrectly links a
saying to me, may well consider his abode in hellfire (in the Hereafter)". This
saying makes complete sense. The Prophet of God left his 'Sunnah' and God's
Quran for us to follow. Quoting Hadith contrary to these sources and without
verifying can cause more damage than healing as clear by this saying (Hadith)
of the Prophet.
Last but not least, I'll end by narrating this Hadith in the form of prayer by
Prophet Muhammad: "God show me the truth in the appearance of truth and
enable me to follow it and show me the untruth in the appearance of untruth and
enable me to avoid it". Ameen
Aamir Yazdani
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