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Usool Al-Hadeeth by Sh Yasir
Qadhi Part 6
Posted by: ilmseeker | July 23, 2008 Terms related to #3 (precision and memory) Sahih – The person has superb memory (Ex:
Bukhari and his teacher Yahya ibn Maeen, Ali Al-Madeenee) Hasan – The person has above average memory
(Ex: regular student of ilm who had integrity and good memory but not as famous
or well known as Bukhari) *Note – this is the only
difference between Sahih and Hasan ahadeeth, both of them are acceptable in
Islamic law, aqeedah, fiqh, everything. Daeef Jiddan – The person’s memory is very very bad. Terms related to #4
(shadh – does not contradict something stronger than it) Example: It is narrated in the
Muwatta of Imam Malik that the Prophet (saw) said that when you pray 2 rakats
of Fajr then they should lie down on the right hand side of the body. When you
look at the isnaad of the hadeeth the isnaad would be hasan (the narrarators
are acceptable). But when you look at the other ahadeeth in Bukhari and Muslim
and other works that this was not a statement of the Prophet but it was an
action reported by Aaisha. So one of the narrators accidentally (his memory
failed him) made the action into a statement. All of the other chains
concerning this hadeeth you find that the other narrators said it was an action
but this particular narrator who made this into a statement. This hadeeth
becomes shadh, a special category of daeef. Because the people in the hadeeth
are good people the hadeeth is shadh. Terms related to #5
(There can be no illahs or hidden defects) A student of ilm would look at a
hadeeth with the isnaad and would think everything is clear and fine. But when
the Alim would compile all of the other ahadeeth from this person and on that
topic he would be able to see a defect that the student would not see. This is
where you separate the Alim from the student of knowledge (studied for 4-10
years but still not his speciality). Examples of such Ulema are Imam Bukhari,
Ali Al-Madeenee, Imam Muslim, they were able to master these illal and able to
point out the hidden defects. Example of a hidden
defect: One of the
students of hadeeth wrote his notes with his Shaykh and walked out of the
classroom. The wind blew and his notes were scattered and mixed up, so two
pages ended up being reversed over. The isnaad of one hadeeth got mixed with
the matan of another hadeeth. Everything looked good but Imam Bukhari was able
to point out the mistake because he knew that this hadeeth has never been
narrated by this isnaad. Other Definintions
concerning hadeeth: All of the Prophet’s ahadeeth can
be categorized as muttawatir or ahad. Muttawatir – This means that the hadeeth has
narrated by a large number of people in every generation. It is beyond a shadow
of a doubt that the Prophet said. Ahad – This type of hadeeth had not narrated in
a large number. The scholars of the past didn’t
care about muttawatir vs ahad because any hadeeth that comes from the Prophet
is a hadeeth. But when the scholars of innovation came and tried to destroy the
Sunnah by differentiating the ahadeeth by muttawatir and ahad. The scholars of
innovation only wanted to accept the ahad ahadeeth but by doing this they
basically rejected the Sunnah because most of the Sunnah is from ahad ahadeeth. For example the Mutazila will not
accept ahad ahadeeth but the problem arises when you reject ahad ahadeeth you
end up rejecting most of the fiqh. So then the Mutazila said they’ll accept
ahad ahadeeth in fiqh but not in aqeedah, but this is a contradiction. And to
this day this ideology is rampant amongst many Muslim groups, a very large and
famous Sunni group denies ahad ahadeeth in aqeedah – they claim themselves
Sunni but they are not Sunni by saying this. *Note - For practical purposes
every Sahih hadeeth needs to be acted upon and believed in regardless if it is
muttawatir of ahad. The scholars have divided it for the sake of knowledge and
the scholars of innovation have done it for destroying the Sunnah. Rejecting
ahad ahadeeth is not the position of Ahlus Sunnah waal Jamaah. Imam Shafiee has
a few chapters in his risala about defending ahad ahadeeth and Imam Bukhari has
written in his Sahih a whole chapter dedicated to show that ahad ahadeeth can
be used. Marfoo – The hadeeth that goes directly up to
the Prophet (saw), meaning that a Sahabi narrated directly from the Prophet
(saw). (The phrase Qawla Rasool Allah (saw) occurs) Qudsi – If the Prophet (saw) said that Allah
(swt) said something. Mawqoof - If the Sahaba said some statement, this
statement stopped right before the Prophet (saw). These statements we benefit
from and we respect them but they do not have the same legal weight as the
Sunnah. Maqtoo - A statement made by a
Tabiee (one generation after the Sahaba), this means cut off. The statements of
the Tabieen are also important in Islam but under that of the Sahaba and both
of these under the marfoo and qudsi ahadeeth of the Prophet (saw). Ilm ul-Rijaal -
Science of Rijaal (The science of Men – their biographies of hadeeth narrators) This is the one of the earliest
scienes in the Muslim ummah. The books of rijaal basically discuss the
biographies of the narrators of ahadeeth. So we have books written about the
people in the isnaad of the hadeeth. This is something that is unique to the
Muslim ummah where we have detailed information about the first three generations
of the Muslims and maybe even 1 or 2 after that. Any scholar from that time
period we have books written about them, what other scholars said about him,
how reliable he was, the other ulema that tested him, etc. Had it not been for
this science the ahadeeth would not have been preserved. Every single
narrator found in every book of hadeeth, their name is atleast mentioned in the
books of rijaal. About 90% of the narrators of ahadeeth you can find a
biographical sketch of that person (birth, location, teachers, his students,
who tested him, what did ulema say about him, where he narrated, any problems
he had, etc). Some major works of
ilm ul-Rijaal Tadheeb al-Kamal (37 vols)
written by Al-Misdi – Al-Misdi was a student and very close friend of Shaykh
ul-Islam ibn Taymiyyah. Tadheeb means condensation so this book was a condensed
version of Al-Kamal. The original Al-Kamal talks about the narrators of the six
books of ahadeeth. Tadheeb at-Tadheeb written by
Al-Hafiz ibn Hajar – Ibn Hajar, the Imam of the muhaditheen, he perfected the
science of hadeeth of his time. This comes in 4 thick volumes in small print;
this work is very comprehensive and is good for a beginning student of
knowledge. This work deals only with the six famous books of ahadeeth. Takreeb ut-Tadheeb writteb by
Al-Hafiz ibn Hajar – Ibn Hajar’s students complained the 4 volumes were too big
so he wrote this and condensed it to one volume. It basically gives each
narrator 1 or 2 lines to them. It contains about the narrator: full name, full
kunya, and date of death and their level of acceptance in ahadeeth. This is the
standard and beginning step to go back to for ilm ul-rijaal. *Note* http://ibnyousuf.wordpress.com/2008/07/23/usool-al-hadeeth-by-sh-yasir-qadhi-part-6/ |
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