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Usool Al-Hadeeth: Principles of
Hadeeth by Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi Part 3
July 6, 2007 by mvaid
Type 6: The verses that show the status of the
Prophet (pbuh) and the etiquette that he must be shown. Allah says: “Oh you who believe, do not go forward beyond
Allah and His Messenger.” (Surah Hujraat: 1) Ibn Abbas said
this ayah means that we should not put our statement above their statements and
we don’t put our understanding above their understanding. Whatever Allah and
the Prophet (pbuh) have said, we must accept it without putting our own words
and speech above it. Allah says: “Oh you believe! Do not raise your voice above
the Prophet’s voice” (Surah Hujraat: 2) If we are not
allowed to raise our voice above the Prophet’s then we are not allowed to raise
our opinions above his. We are prohibited from speaking loudly to the Prophet
(pbuh). When this verse was revealed some of the Sahaba would only speak in
whispers, so much so that other people had trouble hearing them. If we are not
allowed to raise our voices above the Prophet then what is the status of the
person who raises their own intellect and desires above the Quran and Sunnah. Type 7: These verses are miscellaneous verses
which don’t fall into a specific category. For example, Allah says: “Verily Oh
Muhammad you guide them (mankind) to the straight path” (Surah Muminoon: 73) The Prophet (pbuh)
has been described as the shining light, the guider, the one who takes out of
darkness into the light, all of these descriptions show us that status of the
Prophet (pbuh) and show us that obedience to him is obligatory. Fifth Proof: The hadeeth of the Prophet (pbuh) that
mentions the importance of following his hadeeth. What did the Prophet say
about his own Sunnah? Three points are: 1. The fact that the Prophet himself
mentioned that he has been given something along with the Quran; this is the
Hikmah that Allah refers to. The Prophet says: “Verily I have
been given the Quran and something like it.”(Sunan Abi Dawud) This hadeeth means that the Sunnah is
equivalent to the Quran in legal weight. The fact that he is telling us that he
has been inspired more than the Quran, the Sunnah is also in inspiration from
Allah in general. 2. The fact that it is obligatory to obey the
Prophet (pbuh). The Prophet said in an authentic hadeeth: “It will soon
happen that a person will be sitting and reclining on his couch (lazy and
content) and he will say follow the Quran and whatever comes to you from the
Quran is sufficient for you. Know that everything I make halaal it is if Allah
has made Halaal and everything that I make haraam it is if Allah has made it
haraam.”(Ahmed, Abi Dawud, Ibn Majah) In other words the
Prophet (pbuh) is describing the exact situation we’re living in today. This is
a clear explicit proof that the Sunnah is equivalent to the Quran in its
weight. 3. The fact that the Prophet (pbuh) commanded
the Sahaba to preserve his Sunnah and he forbade them from lying about him. The
Prophet (pbuh) said: “May Allah
brighten the face of someone who hears my hadeeth, memorizes it and then passes
it on to someone else.” The most narrated
hadeeth and has the most chains. Out of all the hundreds and thousands of
ahadeeth the most hadeeth that has the most chains is when the Prophet (pbuh)
said: “Whoever lies
about me will find his place in the fire of hell.” This hadeeth has over 70 or 80 chains and
it is found in all the collections of ahadeeth ever written. It is of the
miracles of Allah that He made this hadeeth the most widely narrated hadeeth to
show us the dangers of fabricating ahadeeth about the Prophet (pbuh). Sixth Proof: Common sense and a practical view point. A
common sense tells us that we must follow the Sunnah. Allah says in the Quran: وَأَقَامُواْ
الصَّلاَةَ “Establish the prayer” Does Allah mention how many times we have
to pray? Does Allah mention we have to pray the number of rakaat for each
salah? Does Allah mention the different postures of salah and that we must
recite Al-Fatiha? Nothing of this is mentioned in the Quran. It is not possible
to follow the Quran except by turning to the Sunnah. Likewise Allah says in the
Quran to give zakah, but no where in the Quran does it tell us how much to give
or how often to give. We will not find in the Quran any chapter of fiqh except
that we must go to the Sunnah in order for that chapter to be complete. There is a group among our times which
started in the Indian Subcontinent around 100 years ago. This group still
exists to this day; they call themselves Parvesees after their founder. This
group denies the Sunnah and they believe it is shirk to follow the Prophet
(pbuh). These people describe the prayer as three times a day from a verse in
Surah Israa. Secondly they stand up in prayer, recite Al-Fatiha, do ruku,
sujood and say salaam. The only things that are mentioned in the Quran are the
ruku and sujood. This group has been declared non-Muslim because when one
denies the Sunnah then one goes out of the fold of Islam. This group exists in
America; they don’t call themselves Muslims but the Submitters. They’re based
in Tucson, AZ and their leader was Rashaad Khaalifah. Khaalifah in the 1980s
propounded the 19 theory. He said that there is miraculous nature in the Quran
having to do with the number of 19. Later he declared himself to be a prophet
in America. Alhumdulillah, he was assasinated in his own home. Seventh Proof: There is unanimous consensus; there is no
known difference amongst the Muslims that we must follow the Prophet (pbuh).
Even the extreme groups such as the Raafidah and Shia have their ideas of
Sunnah (i.e. Usool al Kaafi), they believe to follow the Prophets and their
Imaams. Also the Khawaarij did not deny the validity of the Sunnah even though
they didn’t study it. None of the Muslims groups in the past ever denied the
fact that we must obey the Prophet (pbuh). Two of the main doubts the people have
about the Sunnah: 1. The Quran is complete. 2. The Sunnah has not been preserved.
To refute the first point, the above seven
points should be sufficient. But specifically the Quran is sufficient in and of
itself to deny these points. The Quran has told us that we must go to the
Sunnah. The Quran describes itself as being sufficient but it tells us we must
go to the Sunnah. We say that the Quran is complete and it has told us to go to
the Sunnah, therefore we go to the Sunnah. To refute the second the point, one can
take the long detailed drawn out study of science of hadeeth. We start off by
telling how the Sunnah was preserved and the books that were written. But this
is not something that can be told quickly. The second method to refute, which
is a shortcut is we say that the fact the Sunnah is a part of our religion
necessitates that it will be preserved. The fact that the Sunnah is a part of
our religion is sufficient proof that Allah will preserve it. Allah says: “We
have revealed the Message and We are going to protect it.”(Surah Al-Hijr: 9) Some ulema say that the meaning of zhikr
here is Quran and Sunnah. But even if it only refers to the Quran, because of
the fact that we need the Sunnah to understand the Quran this verse also
implies that Allah will preserve the Sunnah. The fact that Allah (swt) tells us
that we must follow the Sunnah proves that it will be preserved because how can
Allah tell us to do something when we don’t have it. How can we follow the
Sunnah and obey the Prophet if the Sunnah were not preserved, the fact that
Allah tells us to follow the Sunnah proves that the Sunnah has been preserved. http://invaider.wordpress.com/2007/07/06/usul-al-hadeeth-principles-of-hadeeth-by-abu-ammaar-yasir-qadhi-part-3/ |
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