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The Divine Science Part Two: An introduction into the Sciences of the Sunnah 1433AH / 2012CE starofknowledge.wordpress.com Muslim Research & Development Foundation Sabeel Retreat Study Notes Delivered by Dr. Sheikh Haitham al-Haddad

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Page 1: {Sabeel} Divine Science - Part Two Retreat Notes

The Divine Science Part Two: An introduction into the Sciences of the

Sunnah

1433AH / 2012CE starofknowledge.wordpress.com

Muslim Research & Development Foundation

Sabeel Retreat Study Notes

Delivered by Dr. Sheikh Haitham al-Haddad

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Contents

Chapters                                Pages    Transliteration  table                                      03    Preface                                          04      01.      Chapter  One  –  Introduction                                                                                                                                                              09    02.      Chapter  Two  –  Compilation  &  Transmission  of  the  Hadith                            14    03.      Chapter  Three  –  Hadith  Literature                                                                        21    04.      Chapter  Four  –  Authority  of  Sunnah                                  30          05.      Chapter  Five  –  Principles  &  Tools  for  Understanding  Hadith                            38    06.      Chapter  Six  –  Classification  of  Hadith                                                                40    07.      Chapter  Seven  –  Criticism  of  the  text  of  Hadith                                46        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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In the name of Allâh, All-Merciful, Most Merciful

TRANSLITERATION TABLE

       Consonants      

ء   a/i/u/’   دد   d   ضض   d   كك   k   ب   b   ذ   dh   طط   t   لل   l   ت   t   رر   r   ظظ   z   مم   m   ث   th   زز   z   عع   ‘   نن   n   جج   j   سس   s   غغ   gh   هه   h   حح   h   شش   sh   فف   f   وو   w   خخ   kh   صص   s   قق   q   يي   y  

   Vowels,  diphthongs,  etc.      

Short:     a     i     o/u  

Long:   ا   á/aa   ي   í/ie/ee   وو   oo/ú  

Diphthongs:       ي   ai/ay   وو   aw  

 

Divine Science Part Two Study Notes 1433AH / 2012CE

Muslim Research & Development Foundation

◌ ◌ ◌

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PREFACE   In the Name of Alláh (Subhanahu wa –ta’ala), Ar-Rahmán, Ar-Raheem. All Praise is for Alláh (Subhanahu wa –ta’ala). We Praise Him and Seek His Help and Forgiveness. We turn to Him in repentance and seek refuge in Alláh (Subhanahu wa –ta’ala) from the evil of our selves and the evil of our own deeds. Whomsoever Alláh (Subhanahu wa –ta’ala) guides, cannot be led astray and whomsoever Alláh (Subhanahu wa –ta’ala) misguides, none can guide him. I bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped except Alláh (Subhanahu wa –ta’ala) alone without any partner. I bear witness that Muhammed (ṣall Allāhu ʿalay-hi wa-sallam) is His Slave and Messenger. Alláh (Subhanahu wa –ta’ala) sent him with the Guidance and Religion of Truth. He conveyed the Message, fulfilled the Trust placed upon him, Sincerely Advised the Ummah, made Jihád in the Cause of Alláh (Subhanahu wa –ta’ala) in its truest sense and worshipped his Lord until he met the inevitable certainty. May the Salaah and Salaam of Alláh (Subhanahu wa –ta’ala) be upon him, his Household, his Companions and those who followed them exactly in Faith and Worship. To proceed: This document consists of personal notes taken from the Sabeel retreat; The Divine Science Part two, delivered during weekend of 6th and 7th Dhul-Qa’idah 1433 by Sheikh Haitham al-Haddad. I ask Alláh (Subhanahu wa –ta’ala) to make this an accurate and successful presentation. And I take Alláh (Subhanahu wa –ta’ala) as a Witness that whatever Truth and Good is in it is from Him and by His Leave Alone and whatever opposes that is from my own mistakes and ignorance and from the accursed (la), and Alláh (Subhanahu wa –ta’ala), His Messenger (ṣall Allāhu ʿalay-hi wa-sallam), the Authors (rh) and Sheikh Haitham al-Haddad (ha) are free from that and I free myself from that and regret it and take it back. I ask Alláh (Subhanahu wa –ta’ala) to reward those who have assisted in this work and to make it a means of benefit for myself, those who have assisted in this work, the Authors, and the Readers. We ask Alláh (Subhanahu wa –ta’ala) to make us from those who preserve the Sunnah of His final Prophet and Messenger (ṣall Allāhu ʿalay-hi wa-sallam) and from those who adopt it. Abú Hudhayfah 7th Dhul-Qa’idah 1433

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Saturday 22nd September 2012/ Sabt 6th Dhul-Qa’idah 1433

09:45am – Session One

As we said yesterday that the main aim of this organization are two: 1) to

develop European brothers and sisters to be the leaders of the Muslim

community in Europe. 2) Produce literature based on orthodox Islam that can

appeal to western audiences. These two aims can be achieved throughout our

projects. One of the projects in line with the first aim; to develop brothers and

sisters to be leaders is this programme – Sabeel programme. It doesn’t provide

education, but tries to provide a holistic programme that develops brothers and

sisters to be future leaders in Europe. Sabeel is a package that helps brothers

and sisters to be leaders in the near future in Europe.

We have to work in a number of directions; one is providing knowledge and

tarbeeyah (includes ibadah and cultivation). In terms of ilm, we found one of

the main shortcomings of many students of knowledge and practicing people is

that they don’t understand Islam in a structured way. Due to this, they can be

misled, and sometimes think they know, when they do not and are not able to

articulate Islam to a western audience. These three issues are major problems.

Many brothers and sisters study Islam, but their outcome is minimal. They do

not have an organised, systematic methodology and this is a big problem.

Those who study Islam in an unstructured, un-academic way think that they

know, when they do not. This is a big problem.

We have seen a tendency of people who do not know and not acknowledging

that they don’t know.

The third problem is that an individual cannot articulate orthodox islam to a

western audience. The problem is that those who follow orthodox Islam,

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isolated themselves because they felt they could not compete with those who

are intellectual and this is a problem, because the Prophet Salallaahu alayhee

wa salaam was sent to propagate Islam and if we do not continue to do so, this

is a big problem – a disaster. Also, due to the fact some couldn’t articulate

Islam in a western manner, began to change their stances towards a liberal

notion, which is not dissimilar to non-Muslims, which has caused non-

Muslims, to perceive what they promote as not different to what they already

practice – and such promotion is considered to be sinful.

We must not live in a bubble and must be part of positive integration and those

Muslims who follow orthodox Islam but unable to articulate their views to a

western audience, began to liberalise themselves and views to a very extreme

level.

There are two types of people: those who live in a bubble and don’t integrate

positively and those who are unable to communicate with a western audience

and begin to liberalise themselves.

Concerning the result insults against our noble Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa

salaam, many duaats have began to shape their discourse as blaming Muslims,

and have not quoted any scholars of the past to affirm this discourse. They also

replicate Christian principles, by quoting the patience of the Prophet sallaahu

alayhee wa salaam and that he did not protest or march, but was forgiving.

If a person reads a simple seerah and researches the conquest of Makkah, you

will see that many people who insulted the Prophet salallahu alayee wa salaam

were killed.

There was an individual who changed wahy and some people said he insulted

the prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salaam. He came to the Prophet salallaahy

alayhee wa salaam and said “I am repenting, I am repenting” and the Prophet

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salallaahu alayhee wa salaam turned to the companions and said “why did you

not kill him?”

Women who recited poems to mock the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salaam,

were ordered to be killed during the conquest of Makkah.

Ka’b ibn al ashra – Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salaam said who will kill

him? And he was assassinated under the supervision of Allaah. Are we shy to

hold this position?

Some people are embarrassed to mention such positions and some people

propagate certain ideas and practices in a counter-productive way.

We should distinguish how and when to say Islamic things. This is the deen of

Allaah and Allaah is the one who revealed the Qur’an to the Prophet salallaahu

alayhee wa salaam and Allaah is the one who sent the Prophet salallaahu

alayhee wa salaam.

The Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salaam was taught by Allaah what is best

for humanity – Islam, with all its details and rulings and thus we must know

how to pass this message to others in a way that if they don’t at least except

Islam, that they appreciate it and are not put off by it.

We are on this earth first and foremost to protect the honour of Allaah and the

honour of his messenger salallaahu alayhee wa salaam.

Allaah says in the Qur’an: They are annoying/harming Allaah and his

messenger; Allaah prepared for them a punishment.

We need scholars who know about aqeedah and fiqh, and can give a balanced

view, not embarrassed by their history. We need these du’aat and tulaabul ilm,

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who are articulate to propagate orthodox Islam for the whole community. To

achieve this, we need a systematic way of studying.

We found this systematic way is based on providing students, brothers, sisters,

tulaabul ilm with a framework of how we can understand Islam and this

framework once understood, can help an individual to articulate Islam to non-

Muslims, to face the challenges we are facing and to put what he has learnt into

practice. This framework is the methodology of understanding Islam.

Although many of us are tulaabul ilm, we miss the structure of how to study

Islam. §

The way of studying Islam deeply is to develop this structure and develop

ourselves, according to this framework – the methodology of understanding

Islam.

To understand and implement Islam, we need to understand where Islam comes

from, what are the sources of Islam and how to understand those sources and

finally how are we going to put these sources that we have understood into

practice. These are the three main steps within this framework.

The sources of Islam are Qur’an, Sunnah, Ijma’ and Qiyaas. We have studied

Qur’an as a source of Islam and in this particular course (retreat) we will be

studying the Sunnah of the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salaam and studying

it mainly as a source of Islam and not sunnah acts and details which are in fiqh.

We will study the sunnah of the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salaam as

source in Islam.

BREAK – 10:30am

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10:50am - Session Two

Chapter One - Introduction

We have mentioned in these courses we will study the sources of Islam and

how to understand these sources. Afterwards, we will study some courses that

help to put this understanding in place.

If we want to study anything in our life, we will be following a very similar

methodology e.g. If you want to study medicine. The aim of medicine is to

treat people. You will have to first study about medicine, and gain the correct

information from the sources, learning about the chemistry of the body and

different materials, you have to study the right information from the right

sources. You will not get a car mechanic to learn about medicine. When you

are studying, you will study in English. You have to make sure that you

understand what you have learnt. Afterwards, you will require some help in

order to practice the information you have gained. Similarly, in Islam you have

to put into practice the information you have gained from the sources.

Throughout the Sabeel courses, we will be studying linked subjects and moving

from one topic to another and to a certain degree all the topics are built on top

of each other.

We have mentioned the sources of Islam are Qur’an, Sunnah, Ijma’ and

Qiyaas. The first source of Islam is the Qur’an, which we have studied. The

second source of Islam is the Sunnah of the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa

salam.

At the end of this course we will be able to:

1. Understand Sunnah as one of the main sources of Islam. We may

understand the Sunnah as a source, but not know the relationship

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between the Qur’an and Sunnah – we will learn this. This is one of two

main objectives in this course.

2. The second main objective of this course is to understand how the

Sunnah came about, how it was compiled. The history of the

compilation of Sunnah will give an insightful idea of Islam as a religion.

Muslims and non-Muslims always attack the Sunnah, claiming it

includes many weak and fabricated narrations, there were hypocrites and

people at that time were illiterate. Once we understand the compilation

of the Sunnah we will know if this is true or not and will be able to

defend the Sunnah. We will also learn whether those criticize the sunnah

are being subjective. This will also give us confidence that Allaah has

protected the Sunnah. We will also gain an overall understanding of all

the books that have compiled the Sunnah.

These are the main aims and objectives of studying this course.

Usool ul Fiqh is a science, which helps a person understand where the rulings

came from. It gives you the principles that were used to derive particular

rulings. Some people claim that this course is Usool ul Fiqh. Although, the

courses foundation is Usool ul Fiqh, it is a bit more than just Usool ul Fiqh.

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Uloom ul Sunnah

Uloom means science. Sunnah linguistically means path. The word sunnah can

have three or four technical definitions. You may use the word sunnah meaning

one thing and someone else may use it, meaning something else. If a person

doesn’t believe in the Sunnah, they are a non-Muslim – Someone may say that

they don’t pray their Sunnah prayers. In this situation they have two different

meanings.

Is it obligatory to act according to Sunnah? – Depends what you mean when

you mention Sunnah.

The scholars of Fiqh when they use the word Sunnah mean recommended

actions, which are desirable to be performed.

If we say the one who is not following the Sunnah is following bid’ah. Does

this mean the person who doesn’t pray the four rakats before Dhuhr is

committing bid’ah? No – so what do we mean by the initial question? We mean

the denial of the Sunnah as the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam’s way, the

methodology of the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam. Sunnah here is

different from Sunnah as a recommended action as it includes some obligatory

actions in addition to recommended actions.

When we say that a person who doesn’t believe in the Sunnah is a non-Muslim.

Sunnah in this statement is referring to the Sunnah as a source of legislation.

When we say that Sunnah is a source of legislation in the Shari’ah, it refers to

everything that came from the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam.

The Quraniyoon do not believe in the Sunnah as a legislative source and are

thus non-Muslim.

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Denying the Sunnah as a source means you reject everything from the Prophet

salallaahu alayhee wa salam in totality. However, denying the Sunnah as a

methodology of the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam e.g. the Prophet

salallaahu alayhee wa salam never allowed people to wipe people’s arms and

ask them for barakah – therefore, such an action is bid’ah. Denying the

methodology of the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam can be very extreme

and lead to disbelief (kufr).

The compilation of hadiths is a branch of studying Sunnah as a source of

legislation – we ask questions concerning where it came from, how we know it

is authentic etc.

One extreme is to say a person is committing bid’ah by not placing their hands

on their chest. Another extreme is to say a person is rejecting the Sunnah by not

placing their hands on their chest, as rejecting the Sunnah leads to a person

being a non-Muslim (kufr).

The meaning of Sunnah according to the scholars of hadith is everything that

been narrated or reported about the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam.

In this chapter we will be studying Sunnah as a synonym to hadith, developing

the perspective of the scholars of Hadith.

How do we differentiate between the Qur’an and Sunnah? The Prophet

salallaahu alayhee wa salam told us what is Qur’an and what is Sunnah. If we

do not believe in what he says, we are not confident that Surah Ikhlas is

Qur’an; because he is the one that told us it is the Qur’an. If we believe in the

Qur’an, we have believed in the Sunnah.

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Once we say Hadith, we are referring to what has been transmitted from the

Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam, in terms of his sayings, actions and tacit

approvals. The terms Sunnah and Hadith can be used interchangeably.

Definition of Ulum al Sunnah

Riwayat-ul-hadith is how a hadith is compiled until reaches us. Dirayat-ul-

hadith is concerning the understanding of the hadith and it’s meaning when it

has reached us.

Ilm Riwayat-ul-Hadith: Science studying the sayings, actions and tacit

approvals and description of the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam. Some

scholars also add to the, the narrations of companions and tabi’un.

The subject matter is whatever is attributed to the Prophet salallaahu alayhee

wa salam; the science investigates the narration, its chains, its wordings and

authenticity.

In sum Ilm Riwayatul Hadith is concerning the transmission of narrations and

Ilm Dirayat-ul hadith is concerning the meaning of hadiths.

Break – 12:00pm

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Chapter Two – Compilation and Transmission of the Hadith

The Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam is the most beloved created being to

Allaah. He is more beloved than jibreel alayhi-salaam, which is why Allaah

honoured him and raised his status and no-one from the creation has reached

the status of the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam and we ask Allaah to be

among the ummah of the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam, who the

Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam will interced for and we ask Allaah to

increase our love for the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam and to make us

his real followers and to make us amongst those who are next to him in jannah.

We ask Allaah to make us amongst those that defend him and his honour.

The Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam during the Mi’raj, reached a place.

Jibreel, is the greatest of angels and has been given great power and strength.

The prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam says he saw Jibreel alayhis-salam

twice, once when he came with revelation. He says that he saw Jibreel alayhi-

salaam covering the horizon and he had six hundred wings. Allaah honoured

Jibreel alayhus salaam by making him the angel who delivered wahy. When

Jibreel alayhi-salam took the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam to the

seventh heaven, he told the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam “proceed, I

cannot proceed”. This is a point that nobody has ever proceeded and only you

are able to proceed. The Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam then went to

Allaah and went to a place called Maqam Mahmoud according to some

scholars and spoke to Allaah directly and according to some scholars he saw

Allaah.

Ibn Abbas mentions that Allaah looked at the hearts of the humans and found

the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam’s heart as the purest heart and Allaah

took the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam as his closest companion, al-

Khalil and Prophet. Allaah made him the highest of all the Prophets and he will

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lead them on the day of resurrection as he led them in prayer on the night

journey. We should love and respect everything about our Prophet salallaahu

alayhee wa salam.

Imam Malik would order the people to lower their voices when reading

hadiths.

If the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam is not present, his hadith is present,

his words are present.

Muhummad Ahmad Awdah was imprisoned by the regime of Sedat in Egypt.

He was placed in a cell with ten dogs, which urinated and defecated on his

body. One of his inmates was able to come out of his cell due to the scale of

defecation from the dogs. It has been mentioned that when he would narrate a

hadith of the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam he would sit down. Some

Azhari schoalrs would take their shoes off when narrating hadiths out of

respect. Imam malik would only narrate hadiths when he had wudhu.

It is part of eeman to love every aspect of the prophet salallaahu alayhee wa

salam. It is part of hypocrisy, to dislike anything related to the Prophet

salallaahu alayhee wa salam.

A companion came to the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam and asked when

is the hour? The prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam asked “what have you

prepared for it?” He said “Nothing, except that I love Allaah and his Messenger

salallaahu alayhee wa salam”. The Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam replied

“You will be with those whom you love”.

Ubayy ibn Ka’b’s son came to the prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam and

asked I want to make half of my dua for you, and the Prophet salallaahu

alayhee wa salam “Yes”. He then said, I want to make all of my dua for you

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and the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam said “You will be sufficed”. This

dua is not concerning obligatory matters or concerning his need. This is how

we should love and honour our Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam

Allaah sent the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam and this began his sunnah.

When he salallaahu alayhee wa salam spoke, the companions listened and

conveyed this to their friends, families and student. Those companions would

further narrate it to their friends and so on, until there was a stage when some

scholars came and decided to record the narrations from the Prophet salallaahu

alayhee wa salam to them and this is called the chain of narrators.

The process of recording the statements of the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa

salam from the first generation to the next is called the compilation of the

sunnah. This compilation can be divided into three main stages.

1. During the first two centuries of the Hijrah era.

2. During the third and fourth centuries.

3. During the fifth century and subsequently.

During the Era of the Prophet (salallaahu alayhee wa salam)

During the life of the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam there are many

characteristics of compilation of this era. The companions would record

everything concerning the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam carefully and

would ask other companions if they themselves missed anything. The

companions would divide their time in order to spend time with the prophet

salallaahu alayhee wa salam and to record everything. As we know, the lengthy

journey Jabir took to hear one hadith.

One of the wisdoms behind the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam having

nine wives at one point is that he will be monitored by a numbr of people at

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any single point in his life. Everything the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam

did, has been recorded, including his appearance and how he had sexual

relations. This shows that he is a perfect role model and indicates that the

companions were very keen to follow the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam

in everything.

The companions would listen, see and memorise and would rarely write what

they heard from the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam. However, some

companions did write the hadiths of the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam.

Abdullah ‘Amr ibn ‘As would write everything he heard from the Prophet

salallaahu alayhee wa salam with the intention of memorizing it, until the

Quraish forbade me as they said “do you write everything, including when he

gets angry?”. The Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam in response to this said

“By Allaah, write everything, whatever comes out of my mouth is the truth.

The Era of the Companions (Sahaba)

The sahaba are many and some were close to the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa

salam such as Abu Hurayrah and some accepted Islam late and travelled all

over the place to do Jihad Fi-sabeelillah like Khalid Ibn Waleed. Thus, Abu

Hurayrah narrated many narrations, thousands, whilst Khalid ibn Waleed only

narrated a handful and between them there are number of companions who

narrate a lot and some who narrated a few.

The companions would learn from each other in this era. Ibn Abbas who was

close to the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam would go to the elderly

companions to listen to the hadiths they took from the Prophet salallaahu

alayhee wa salam and he would wait outside their doors to listen to their

hadiths.

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Some companions missed a number of hadiths and when they were corrected

and told what the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam said, they would take it

without questioning it. Some of these companions were the main companions

like Abu Bakr who was reminded of the hadith of the Prophet salallaahu

alayhee wa salam that “no prophet is buried, except where they died”, when he

was deciding where to bury the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam.

None of the companions have encompassed all the hadiths of the Prophet

salallaahu alayhee wa salam. It is true Abu Hurayrah narrated over seven

thousand hadiths, but he did not encompass all the hadiths. The companions

would accept what they missed and what the other companions told them.

Era of Tab’ieen – End of the First century to the Middle of the Second

Century

The Main characteristic of this era is that islam spread far to other regions in

the world. During the era of Hajjaj, Islam reached India, the beginning of

China, Morocco, Turkey and almost the whole peninsula. The Islamic state was

huge, expanding from the borders of Iran, parts of India, Pakistan, and the

Soviet Union all the way to Morocco. This is a very expansive range.

The companions and tabi’een were spread all over the world. This meant that it

was difficult to establish teachers in all the different areas due to the expansive

range of all these areas. It was also difficult due to the barriers in language and

cultures. This led to the preparation of the second stage, where scholars began

to record the hadiths they heard at the end of the first century, this is known as

the era of tabi’un (1st Century Hijrah).

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Stages of Writing

The First Stage: This covers the period of the first century A.H. which began in

622 C.E. or the early part if the century C.E. It was the age of the companions

and their successors often referred to as the age of the sahifah, that is a sheet

or some sort of writing material such as shoulder blades or parchments on

which a number of hadith were written. E.g. Sahifah Abu Bakr.

The Second Stage: This covers the middle of the second Century A.H. and is

referred to as the stage of Musannaf (i.e. classified organized work). The

second stage represents a planned compilation of hadith grouped under

headings denoting their subject matter. E.g. Muwatta Malik.

The second generation began to write because their memory was not like the

companions and they wanted to send books to other people. Sahifa wahb ibn

Munabbi is considered to be the oldest written book. The main book that was

written in the second stage is Muwatta Imam Malik and is the oldest, fully

compiled book that recorded the hadith of the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa

salam. Imam Malik died in 179 A.H. Between him and the Prophet salallaahu

alayhee wa salam there was two to three generations and he wrote Muwatta for

Harun Rashid. Muwatta means ‘easy’, for people to take guidance from it. This

is the main book written in that stage and is still considered to be one of the

main books of Sunnah.

By the end of the second hijrah century, is when Islamic knowledge flourished

and this is the main era of the four schools of thoughts – Imam Abu Hanifah

died in 150 A.H. Imam Malik died in 179 A.H. Imam Shafi’ died in 204 A.H

and Imam Ahmad died in 241 A.H.

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The Third Stage: This is known as the stage of Musnad (Compilation of hadith

according to companion’s names). This stage began at the close of second

Century A.H. e.g. Musnad Ahmad.

Break - 13:15pm

16:30pm – Session Three

Anas ibn Malik: “I haven’t touched a hand, softer than the Prophet salallaahu

alayhee wa salam, and I have not detected fragrance better than the breath of

the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam”.

Amr ibn ‘As says “When we are with the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam

we cannot raise our eyes to look at him”.

Therefore, we should ensure that we look our best at all times.

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Chapter Three – Hadith Literature

By the end of the second century A.H, the scholars felt that there was a need to

record hadiths which were narrated from their predecessors, back to the

Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam.

The main work that took place in the end of the second

Imam Malik died in 179 A.H which corresponds to the second half of the 8th

Gregorian century. They said in his tarjama’ that he spent forty years writing

this book. It is said that he presented it to fifty scholars from Madinah and

sscholars from other parts of the world he had visited.

They claim it is called “Muwatta” because many schoalrs accepted it. Others

claim it is called “Muwatta” because he made it easily accessible.

Imam Muhammad Ahmad as-Surati from our contemporary times had one of

the highest chain of narrators in Muwatta and Sahih al Bukhari. There was a

maqrah conducted in Sahih Bukhari with the sheikh and sheikh Akram nadwi.

Subsequently, there was a maqrah in Muwatta Imam Malik.

The movement to publish books increased and majority of books in hadith were

published between 200 – 250 A.H, such works include the Musnad of Imam

Ahmad, Imam Ahmad died in 241 A.H. Imam Ahmad wrote this book and

called it “Musnad”. Imam Ahmad was the last of the four Imams. Imam

Ahmad ibn Hanbal has many virtues and qualities.

If you read about Imam Malik, Imam Abu Hanifah, Imam Shafi’ and Imam

Ahmad, you will feel like they are each the best imams of their time. The

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followers of each school, tend to focus solely on the imam they follow. They

are all imams and the ummah has agreed they are imams to be followed.

Imam Ahmad was known as a muhaddith more than a faqih. His most well

known book is the “Musnad”, in which he said he collected all the books he

came across, which are sahih or just below sahih, but no fabricated hadiths are

included. In this compilation he included over thirty thousand hadiths. He

organised these hadiths, unlike Muwatta, which is organised into the chapters

of Fiqh e.g. Chapter of Tahara, with all the hadiths pertaining to tahara in this

chapter. Imam Ahmad went though the sahaba, beginning with the ten

guaranteed paradise and put their hadith first e.g. starting with the narrations of

Abu Bakr radiallaahu anhu. Thus, all the hadiths Imam Ahmad heard which

Abu Bakr radiallaahu anhu narrated are included in the first chapter, except

those, which Imam Ahmad knew to be fabricated, thereafter, he organsised the

hadiths of Umar ibn al Khattab radiallaahu anhu and so on. Thus, he didn’t

organize the hadiths according to subjects, but according to narrators. He didn’t

organize the narrators alphabetically, but rather according to the status of the

companion, beginning with the ten-guaranteed paradise, starting with Abu Bakr

radiallaahu anhu.

Imam Ahmad had another book called “virtues of the sahaba” (two volume

book, which has been verified by Sheikh Waseeullah Abbas). In this book he

had a criteria, determining the virtuosity of each companion and as such

organised the sahaba in this manner within his musnad.

Q. What is the wisdom behind Imam Ahmad’s organization of the “Musnad”?

A. Some sahaba like Hudhayfah narrated hadiths related to fitna. Abu darda

narrated hadiths mostly pertaining to raqaiq (Heart softening hadiths). Thus, the

wisdom behind Imam Ahmad’s compilation is to create an encyclopedia and to

give us a further understanding of the companions (sahaba).

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Imam Ibn hajar Asqalani wrote a text to prove that there were no fabricated

narrations in Musnad Imam Ahmad.

Abu Hurayrah narrated many narrations – how did Imam Ahmad compile a

particular sahaba’s narrations? Some people say, he did it according to the

subject matter, others say due to the authenticity of the narrations; whilst some

say that this is the order that he took the hadiths from his sheikh.

The matn is the body of the hadith; the body of the hadith is transmitted by

companions from one generation to another this leads to the creation of a list of

narrators (a chain). This chain is called isnaad.

Hadith: Actions are judged by their intentions. This is a hadith of the Prophet

salallaahu alayhee wa salam.

Umar ibn al Khattab radiallaahu anhu took this hadith from the Prophet

salallaahu alayhee wa salam.

Alqamah ibn Waqqas took it from Umar ibn al Khattab radiallaahu anhu.

Yahya ibn Sa’eed al-Ansari took it from Umar ibn al Khattab radiallaahu anhu.

They say that on each level above, the names mentioned are the only ones that

took the hadith. This hadith is considered ghareeb.

After, Yahya ibn Sa’eed al-Ansari, there are many narrators, as many people

took it from him. Sufyan ath-Thawri and Abdullah ibn Zubayr al-Humaidy are

amongst some of the scholars to take it from Yahya ibn Sa’eed al-Ansari. Imam

Bukhari, then took the hadith from Abdullah ibn Zubayr al-Humaidy.

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Imam Bukhari mentions this hadith seven times in his sahih. Each time he

narrates, he narrates it through a different narrator. All of the seven narrators

might have taken it from a narrator between Yahya ibn Sa’eed al Ansari and

him, however, his chain does not go beyond him, as Yahya ibn Sa’eed is the

only one in that place in the chain.

“Whoever lies upon me purposely, should take his place in the hellfire”. This

hadith concerning lying on the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam is claimed

to be narrated by five sahaba, among them is Abu Hurairah, Ali ibn Abi Talib,

Abu Bakr and other companions. Each of the five narrators, have given it to

many of the tabi’een. This led to many of tabi’een narrating this hadith. The

tab’ieen that received this narration then conveyed it to an uncountable number

of scholars.

Due to the volume of transmissions of this hadith, it is considered as a

Mutawatir hadith, whilst the narration concerning actions by their intentions is

a ghareeb hadith as Umar ibn al-Khattab radiallaahu anhu is the only sahabi to

narrate it.

According to the early scholars, each tareeq (process of each individual taking

a narration from another individual) is considered to be a hadith. However,

today the hadith is only considered to be the main narration transmitted from

the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam.

There are books that have nothing to do except discuss the individuals who are

in this process. A person cannot claim to have taken a hadith from a certain

individual as their biography, teachers and students are known.

How reliable is a biography? One person, however, did not write a biography

of an individual many scholars wrote biographies, thus we can crosscheck

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between the different biographies. If there is a discrepancy between records,

then a question mark is attached to this individual.

Break – 17:15

20:00 – Session Three

There were two great books classified as musannaf. The first one is the

musannaf of Abdur Razzak. Abdur razzak was one of the shuyookh of Imam

Ahmad ibn Hanbal and he speaks highly of him and one of the shuyookh of

Imam Abdur Razzak is Imam Mudabi (look up) and Imam Zuhri.

Imam Abdur Razzak recorded hadith, statements of sahaba and statements of

ta’bieen and this is the main quality of this piece of work. It is a great

encyclopedia of statements from the companions and the tab’ieen. These

include statements of these individuals and not narrations of hadiths that they

obtained.

A hadith can be classified into two types. It can be attributed to the Prophet

salallaahu alayhee wa salam directly. Another can be a statement of a

companion from the companion himself. A statement of a companion can have

the same vaule as a hadith though it is not attribute to the Prophet salallaahu

alayhee wa salam. This occurs when the sahabi would not have said such a

statement themselves, and have definitely taken it from the Prophet salallaahu

alayhee wa salam although they don’t say so. The statements of the sahaba are

called Hadith Mawqoof, when the companion doesn’t attribute it to the Prophet

salallaahu alayhee wa salam, but this statement has value. Anything attributed

to the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam is Hadith Marfu’.

Imam Malik in his Muwatta mentioned many statements attributed to the

Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam (Hadith Marfu’), in addition to statements

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of the companions (Hadith Mawqoof) and the tabi’een. The Mussanaf similarly

included hadiths of the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam, statements of the

companions and the tab’ieen. These books are rich with the statements of the

companions and the tabi’een. If we had access to these books, we would

acknowledge the vastness and diversity of the companion’s knowledge and

opinion.

Following the mussanaf of Abdur Razzak and Mussanaf Ibn Abee Shaybah, we

have the famous classical masterpiece; Sahih al-bukhari.

Imam Dhahabi said the most authentic book after the Qur’an is Sahih al

Bukhari and Imam Bukhari had many dreams where he was following the

footsteps of the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam. Millions and trillions of

people have benefited due to his work. Sahih Bukhari is a book, which has

recorded sahih hadith only. In his biography, Imam Bukhari mentioned that he

only included sahih narrations and made istikharah before he included any

narration in his sahih. The scholars said that if you love Sahih Bukhari, you are

on the sunnah. If anybody criticizes Bukhari, they they’re a misguided

individual.

Imam Bukhari had a very intelligent way of recording hadith; in a manner

which scholars until today do not understand why he recorded them in such a

way. Imam Bukhari included the hadith “every action is judge by its intention”

with a longer riwayah because this longer riwayah had an additional word.

Imam Bukhari did not just list the hadith but listed them in a way that gives

insights to the meanings and jurisprudence that could be extracted from them.

He was intelligent to put titles for his chapters, which have very deep meanings

and scholars are still engaging in discussions concerning this today.

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Abu Abdillah Muhammad ibn Ismaeel al-Bukhari was born in Bukhara in 810

C.E. Imam Muslim was one of his students and compiled Sahih Muslim.

However, the level of authenticity of the hadiths mention in Sahih Bukhari is

higher than those mentioned in Sahih Muslim. Imam Muslim, like Imam

Bukhari, also resolved to only include authentic narrations. Imam Bukhari did

not write an introduction to his book, the introduction of his book is the first

narration in the text. There are levels in authenticity though they’re both

authentic e.g. a mutawatir narration is on a higher level than a ghareeb

narration.

Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim overlap in about 2,000 hadiths and these

narrations are considered to be of the highest authenticity, these narrations are

called “Mutafaqun ‘alayhi”. Many scholars wrote books compiling these

narrations such as the classical work of ‘al-Lulu w’al Marjan’.

Imam Bukhari had stricter conditions on the reliability of an individual in

comparison to imam Muslim. Imam Bukhari also placed more stringent

conditions on a narration of an individual taken from his ustadh, whilst Imam

Muslim had softer conditions. These are slight differences in their methodology

and a few reasons why Sahih Bukhari is considered more authentic than Sahih

Muslim.

There is one aspect in which Imam Muslim’s compilation supersedes Sahih

Bukhari. Imam Muslim was very careful in narrating the matn of the hadith as

he got it from the narrators, without changing anything in the wording, so he

was more precise and accurate in narrating the hadith. Imam Bukhari, did not

mind narrating the meaning of the hadith, and did not put as much emphasis on

the wording of the narration.

Any hadith that has been narrated or recorded by Bukhari and Muslim is of the

highest authenticity and scholars tend to quote Sahih Muslim due to his

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accuracy in the wording of the narration. Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim

together are considered to be the sahihain.

The four sunan works and the two sahihs are considered as “the six”.

The four books included in “the six”, are the following; sunan at-tirmidhee. He

included in his work, the opinion of scholars and the fiqh behind a particular

hadith. One of Tirmidhee’s teachers was Imam Bukhari and he passed away in

279 A.H. After Imam Tirmidhee, we have An-Nasaa’ee, whose compilation is

considered by some as the third authentic book after Sahih Bukhari and Sahih

Muslim, though we cannot confirm the narrations in An-Nasaa’ee are

authentic. Following this book, we have Sunan Abu Dawud. In this text, Imam

Abu Dawud pays attention to fiqh. The final book is Sunan Ibn Majah and it is

said Imam Ibn Majah included hadith that is mostly recorded by Sahih Bukhari,

Sahih Muslim, At-Tirmidhee, An-Nasaa’ee and Abu Dawud.

These six books are considered as the books that constitute the sunnah and

they’re referred to as ‘Kutub as-Sittah’ – the six books. We add to these six

books, Muwatta Imam Malik and the Musnad Imam Ahmad and it is said that

these eight books constitute the Sunnah of Islam. Some scholars claimed that if

there is narration, which is not in any of these eight books, it is definitely not

authentic. Some scholars add Muhammad ibn Sa’id ad Daarimee’s hadith

compilation as a ninth text to these eight books mentioned. The scholars said

that there is definitely no hadith, which is talking about any of the main

principles of Islam, which is outside these books.

Among the sahaba there were munafiqeen who were around the Prophet

salallaahu alayhee wa salam and some narrated hadiths. Some could’ve

fabricated hadiths and not all the munafiqeen were known. It is a possibility

that the munafiqeen passed this narration onto others.

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Our deen is a profound deen. Allaah will not allow falsehood to enter into the

deen of Islam, thus, if there were a narration from a munafiq, it would be

purged by other authentic narrations if it contradicts or goes against them.

Therefore, the deen is preserved.

Break – 21:00

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21:40pm – Session Four

Chapter Four – The Authority of the Sunnah

The sources of Islam are Qur’and, Sunnah, Ijma’ and Qiyaas.

Is Sunnah a source of Islam? Without a shadow of a doubt the sunnah is a

source of Islam, because the Qur’an says so. There are a number of Qur’anic

verses that confirm sunnah is a source of Islam. The sunnah here is in reference

to anything that comes from the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam. Ibn

Taymiyyah mentions there are over thirty verses in the Qur;an that confirm the

Sunnah is a source of Islam. The Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam from an

aqeedah perspective and rational argument, the sunnah must be a source in

Islam, otherwise one could argue there is no point/benefit in sending the

Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam as a messenger. Once we understand this

point, we can understand the second point that the Prophet salallaahu alayhee

wa salam himself established the Sunnah as a source of Islam. However,

someone might dispute the proving of the Sunnah as a source via the Sunnah

itself.

We must first establish the sunnah as a source and then consider whether what

has reached us is from his sunnah. If you believe in the Prophet salallaahu

alayhee wa salam and he says the sunnah is a source, then you must believe in

it. If someone rejects this, you must establish whether the Prophet salallaahu

alayhee wa salam is a messenger or not.

The prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam distinguished what was Qur’an and

what was not Qur’an. He salallaahu alayhee wa salam defined what the Qur’an

was. There are some individual who if they saw every single sign will not

submit, therefore we should not waste our time with such individuals. The

premise is to accept the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam as a messenger,

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this acceptance of him and his message, leads to us accepting the Qur’an and

the Sunnah as a source.

When the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam established his sunnah as a

source, some may claim that it is authentic at his time only. However, this

argument is easily defeated as Allaah sent the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa

salam for the whole of mankind, as mentioned in the Qur’an many time. The

Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam was not only sent for the companions and

those around the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam. Also, if the Sunnah was

only valid during his time, how could we follow him now? We wouldn’t be

able to, which goes against these verses from Allaah. Thus, this is impossible,

the sunnah must still be valid for us today, for us to follow the Prophet

salallaahu alayhee wa salam. The Qur’an itself defeats the false belief of the

Quraniyoon who reject the Sunnah as a source, as the Qur’an clearly tells us to

follow the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam, which we wouldn’t be able to

do if we didn’t adopt the Sunnah.

Surah Al-Hijr 15:9

Surah al-Nahl 16:44

The Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam himself said “follow me” and there

are numerous hadith in which the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam harshly

condemns those who reject his sunnah.

The Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam said:

“Soon it will be that a man will recline on his could and will be a told a hadith

of mine and will say, ‘between us and you is the book of Allaah. What we find

allowed therein, we allow. What we find prohibited therein, we prohibit’. But

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truly, what the Messenger of Allaah salallaahu alayhee wa salam has forbidden

is similar to what Allaah has forbidden”. (At-Tirmidhi)

Hasan ibn ‘Atiyah: “Jibreel would reveal the sunnah to the Messenger of

Allaah salallaahu alayhee wa salam like he would reveal the Qur’an to him”.

Another famous example is when he took his shoes off during the prayer and

the companions enquired about it and he salallaahu alayhee wa salam said that

“Jibreel informed me I had some najasat on them”.

A man had saffron on his garment in ihram and enquired about it to the Prophet

salallaahu alayhee wa salam, the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam did not

know the answer and Jibreel came to him and told him the answer.

At times, Allaah would inspire the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam to do

things. Allaah inspires the bees to go to plants and extract the nectar via pollen.

The Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam would also act by himself and Allaah

would correct him if he wanted him to do something differently. Allaah

protected the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam and would not allow

anything to be introduced in his deen. Allaah wouldn’t allow munafiqeen to

introduce something in the deen and then command us to follow it.

Allaah created Imam Bukhari and created Imam Muslim. Allaah guided Imam

Bukhari to collect Sahih Bukhari and Allaah guided Imam Muslim to collect

Sahih Muslim and Allaah guided the other authors to collect other Sunnah.

When Allaah commanded us to follow the Sunnah, he knew it would be

preserved via Bukhari, Muslim and these other authors who collected the

Sunnah. Thus, if someone was to claim that they might be something missing

in the Sunnah, they are claiming that part of the deen is missing and Allaah

allowed it to be missed. Also, if part of it is missed, we will only be held

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accountable according to what has come to us and not that, which hasn’t

reached us.

Allaah will not hold us accountable for something that the whole ummah did

not know about. Allaah inspired Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim to collect

these hadiths and He is pleased with this. The miracle is that Allaah inspired

the scholars to have the knowledge to filter what is authentic and what is

unauthentic.

Whatever Imam Bukhari attributed to the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam

is authentic and the things attributed to the companions have softer principles

attached to them.

In Sahih Bukhari, Ibn Abbas narrates that the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa

salam married Maymuna bint al Harith when he was in ihram. Some scholars

said that this hadith is weak. However, this hadith met Imam bukhari’s

condition. This hadith is the interpretation and understanding of Ibn Abbas and

thus cannot be considered to be a weak hadith. The hadith is sound, the

wording is correct but we should not take the meaning as it is, as this needs

further explanation.

Scholars differed in grading of hadiths, based on the fact some scholars

accepted some individuals to accept a hadith, whilst others rejected certain

individuals and would not accept the hadith.

In Sahih Bukhari, Aisha radia-allaahu anha mentions that she was married to

the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam at the age of six and consummated at

the age of nine. A recent article claims that there were no birth certificates at

that time to register age. However, even though there were no birth certificates

at that time, the discrepancy in age wouldn’t be ten years, but more like a year

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or a few months. For some people this is not acceptable because the West finds

it odd, which has caused us to now find it odd.

Firstly, this was the norm at the time of the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa

salam. Also, Aisha radia-allaahu anha was engaged to someone before her

marriage to the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam. Abu Bakr radia-allaahu

anhu told the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam that she has reached puberty

and that they could now consummate the marriage. Also, Aisha radi-allaahu

anha was a strong woman and could’ve objected if she didn’t want to get

married. Another point is that none of the enemies of the Prophet salallaahu

alayhee wa salam once used this as an attack against the Prophet salallaahu

alayhee wa salam, showing that it was the norm.

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Sunday 23rd September 2012/ Ahad 7th Dhul-Qa’idah 1433

10:15am – Session One

In order to understand Sunnah, you need to know the different definitions.

Following knowledge of the definitions, we focused upon Sunnah as a source

of legislation as we are focusing on the sources of Islam. Sunnah as a source of

legislation means everything came from the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa

salam, however, this leads to the question as to how the Sunnah reached us

from the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam. Therefore, we have a record of

the compilation of the Sunnah via the written collection of hadiths.

We have proved the sunnah is a source of legislation both rationally and

textually.

It is now important to examine the authority of the Sunnah as a source. One of

the main concepts of the sunnah as a source is that sunnah is a revelation. If the

sunnah is a revelation, the Qur’an is also revelation. If the Qur’an tells us to

refer to the Sunnah then it is of the same legislative status as the Qur’an.

E.g. Domestic violence is not considered within family law, which means a

person must refer to criminal law to learn the rulings concerning its

consequences. Although, a person has to refer to a different law, namely

criminal law in this case, it doesn’t indicate that criminal law is superior to

family law.

Ahad doesn’t mean that one person narrated it; three companions could narrate

it, who each relayed it to one person could narrate it. Therefore, the chain

grows in number.

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There is nothing (in terms of rulings) in the shari’ah that came from one hadith

only. In the shari’ah you will find rulings supported by many hadiths indirectly.

Some people said that the classification of mutawatir and ahad is just a

technicality, but this doesn’t have a major effect on the evidence to be

accepted, as these hadiths are supported by many hadiths. E.g. The hadith that

mentions applying perfume – this is in harmony with the shari’ah. Also, the

marriage of Aisha radi-allaahu anha, this is not only supported by the hadith in

Bukhari, but also many other narrations, incuding the seerah, which says the

Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam let Aisha raid-Allaahu anha play with

other children. There is no acceptable ahad hadith which is contradiction with

the rest of the Shari’ah.

Some people reject the punishment in the grave because the hadith is ahad.

However, there are other corroborating evidences, such as the narration

concerning the one who will be punished in the grave because he didn’t purify

himself after going to the toilet. Also, Aisha radi-allaahu anaha asked about the

grave and the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam told her about it. Thus, it is

no longer ahad. We can say that the whole shari’ah is mutawatir.

If other hadiths and the body of the shari’ah support a single hadith, we should

mention this and not consider it as a single hadith. The implementation of the

hadith requires a different discussion; at the moment we are only discussing the

authority of the Sunnah.

If someone brings a hadith, we should consider if it in harmony with the

shari’ah or whether it is odd. The shari’ah has an immune system, if there is

something odd introduced to it the shari’ah repels it immediately.

If someone rejects something in a ahad hadith, which is mentioned in the

Qur’an and other hadiths which are mutawatir, they are rejecting these ayats in

the Qur’an which have this meaning and the hadiths. This is a major problem

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and causes one to commit kufr (an act of disbelief). However, if a person

accepts the narration but has a different interpretation this is a separate issue. If

a person is following a correct methodology and comes with an outcome,

which is wrong, we say the outcome is wrong. However, if a person has a

wrong methodology and the wrong outcome, they are engulfed in darkness

completely.

Both the Qur’an and Sunnah are primary sources of Islam.

So many narrators convey a Mutawatir hadith that it is impossible to imagine

that they would have agreed on a lie or all made the same mistake. Also, it is

impossible to imagine that the number of narrators has to exist in all levels of

isnad – no specific number. Finally, the narration has to be something based on

five senses. A Mutawatir hadith is always authentic.

An ahad hadith is a hadith that has been transmitted by three narrators at any

point in the chain. This is merely a matter of classification and the implication

is minimal. An Ahad hadith can be authentic or unauthentic.

We have now established the Sunnah as a source and the authority of the

Sunnah.

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Chapter Five – Principles & Tools for Understanding Hadith

This chapter focuses on the principles and tools of hadith mainly it links the

understanding of the text to hadith specifically.

Allaah revealed the Qur’an and Sunnah in Arabic; therefore we have to refer to

the Arabic language to understand the Qur’an and Sunnah.

In order to understand the Qur’an and Sunnah we have to refer to the Arabic

language, this is similarly the case in order to understand the hadiths.

We cannot understand one hadith in isolation but need to examine all of them

together to gain a holistic overview of what the hadith mentions. We can also

examine the seerah to establish the context of the hadiths. We have to look at

how the companions understood the hadiths, because their understanding is far

better than ours as they were closer to the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam.

Ibn Taymiyyah: “Before one can interpret and understand the Qur’an and the

hadith, he must know the denotations and connotations intended by the words

of Allaah and His Messenger salallaahu alayhee wa salam. How can their

words be understood? Knowledge of the Arabic language in which we were

addressed will help us to understand what Allaah and His Messenger salallaahu

alayhee wa salam {…}”.

Establishing the context helps understand the meaning of a hadith. The hadith

that mentions, “When it is Jumu’ah perform ghusl”. If we under the context, we

learn that the companions would wear woolen clothes and perspire as they

worked hard and the masjid would be packed, causing a bad smell. Thus, by

understanding the context we can understand the meaning of the hadith.

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If we see a hadith contradicting another hadith, we should consider whether the

hadith is abrogated or whether it could be reconciled. In order to understand

the Qur’an and Sunnah we must look at them holistically, so we need to gather

all the hadith and all the ayat and once we gather them we will find

contradiction between one hadith and another. E.g. touching the private parts,

one-hadith mentions that touching the private parts breaks your wudhu and

another hadith, says it doesn’t. This is an apparent contradiction. We should

initially look to reconcile between them in any way and this is the highest

priority. Why must they be reconciled? This is because it is all from Allaah,

thus we must believe in all of it. If we take only one hadith and reject another

one, means we are not applying and believing in all of it, thus, reconciling is of

the highest priority. If we cannot reconcile, we should look at the dates of the

hadiths and see whether there has been an abrogation. If we know the date of

the hadiths, then the one that comes later abrogates the one that came before. If

we are unable to establish the date, we establish which is more authentic based

on a set of principles.

The scholars used all this information to check the meaning of the hadith itself.

The scholars did not only check the authenticity of narrators solely, but to

preserve the harmony of the shari’ah they checked the meanings of the hadiths

themselves and this is called ‘matn criticism’. E.g. the hadith concerning th

Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam’s marriage to Maymuna whilst in ihram.

The hadith is authentic, but the meaning is doubtful. The scholars say that Ibn

Abbas was young at the time, so he may not have understood what had

happened. This issue of matn criticism is a very long subject, which we have

provided a brief overview of.

The prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam said “check your heart,” so you

should do so when you have two opinions and don’t know which one to follow.

You don’t simply pick the easiest of the two opinions.

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11:30am - Session Two

Chapter Six – Classification of Hadith

The scholars want to reach a degree of certainty that a text was said by the

prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam.

If we have a matn (text), we try and establish if it was said by the Prophet

salallaahu alayhee wa salam or not. Our judgement of whether this text was

said by the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam will vary in certainty and if we

can establish it as being said by the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam it can

become a proof for an act of worship or even an article of faith.

We want to establish if the chain going back to the Prophet salallaahu alayhee

wa salam is connected and we are also interested in each narrator whithin that

chain. Concerned with their dalalah (trustworthiness) and dabt (memory

strength in recalling information) and this will vary in the way a person

communicates the narration. If they narrate it from memory we adopt a

different stance to the one who narrates it from a book, which has a more

lenient approach.

There are five conditions for a hadith to be authentic:

1. A connected chain; this means Imam Bukhari heard this hadith from his

teacher, who heard it from his teacher and so on, all they way back to

the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam. If this chain is broken, it is not

authentic.

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The following are concerned with the narrators themselves.

2. The narrators must be trustworthy. This means he’s a good muslim and

doesn’t commit major sins nor minor sins constantly. Also, he is not an

innovator. This is not an exact science as Imam Bukhari narrates from

some mubtadi’ and qualify this by saying that if a person commits a

bid’ah which qualifies him to lie, we reject them. However, the khawarij

had an innovated belief that anybody who committed a major sin has left

the fold of Islam. Thus, for them, lying was a major sin. Their belief

does not allow for them to lie, thus, we can accept this. Also, if a person

who is a mubtadi’ relates a narration but doesn’t narrate about their

innovated beliefs, we can take from them.

3. The narrator needs to have a good memory; to ensure what they are

saying is accurate. This is established by comparing what he narrates in

comparison to his teachers. Again, we have to stress that this is not an

exact science. The degree of an individual’s precision is recorded in

books. Individuals recorded who were present in a majlis. The students

and teachers of each individual are recorded.

This science is amazing. The fact our scholars could preserve these

hadiths of the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam in an age with no

technology.

We are more sure that the Prophet salallaahu alayhee wa salam said the

words that are classified as authentic, than you know who your father is.

Why? This is because one person told you this information – your

mother. However, many impeccable individuals of great character and

memory related this hadith to us.

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Huge scholars who devoted their lives to this science made assessments

about narrators. Imam shu’bah ibn Hajjaj had a mountain of knowledge

and said he memorsied 100,000 hadith like Surah Fatihah and he said if

they told me to go and buy some onions, I wouldn’t know how to do it.

This is because, hadith was his life, and he devoted himself to it.

Imam Shafi’ mentioned that when I read a book, I have to cover the

other side in order that I don’t memorise it. Imam Malik became upset

that he memorized his books in a few days as it took him about twenty

years to write it.

Imam Bukhari, when he was a teenage would go with the elders and

attend the gatherings of the scholars of hadith and he wouldn’t write

anything. They criticized him because he wouldn’t write anything. He

told them to open their notes and corrected them. Thereafter, they would

sit with him to correct their notes after their class.

Muhammad Yahya Ibn Zuhri was a great alim and he was imam

Bukhari’s and imam Muslim’s teacher. Imam Bukhari travelled and later

became the greatest scholar, his name became great and he became

renowned for his sharpness. Before he (Imam Bukhari) came to

Baghdad, ten scholars of Hadith wanted to test how great he was. Each

scholar came with ten hadiths and each person mixed their chains with

another person.

He went to the masjid and prayed two rakat as is the custom when you

go to a new place, and everyone gathered around him. The ten scholars

of hadith asked him have you heard this Hadith? And they each quoted

ten Hadith and he replied that he hasn't heard any of them.

The masses became shocked as Imam Bukhari said he memorised

200,000 da’eef (weak) hadiths with isnad and 100,000 authentic hadiths

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with isnaad and from this Sahih Bukhari was extracted without

repetition.

With all the hadiths he said he doesn't know, but the scholars knew he

caught on to their trick. After he said I haven't heard any of your hadiths

he repeated all the hadiths with correct isnaad.

What is amazing is not that he memorized the hadiths and isnad but that

he remembere the Hadith and could link it to another isnaad mentioned

by the other scholar. After he did this, the people said “Bukhari is the

greatest scholar in the world”.

After Imam bukhari finished Sahih Bukhari, he showed it to his teaches

Yahya ibn Ma’een and Abu Sae’ed al Qahtan, so it has scholarly

backing.

4. The hadith should not be shadh (peculiar). It shouldn’t disagree with a

more authentic hadith. The chain might be fine, but the matn might

disagree with another hadith, with another matn, which has a stronger

chain. If this is the case, the hadith is considered as shadh and rejected.

5. There shouldn’t be any hidden defects. Only the expert is able to

examine this and decipher if there is a hidden defect. If something

incorrect is said, the shari’ah as mentioned already has an immune

system, which rejects odd opinions, which go against it.

These are the conditions for a hadith to be sahih (authentic). These conditions

apply to both the chain and the matn (as seen in points four and five). Much

criticism of hadiths now, is concerning the matn, as criticism of the chain has

already been explored in detail. Criticism of the matn has also been explored by

scholars of the past; however, this is what most hadith criticism focuses on

today rather than criticism of the chain.

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The ijazah system was established to preserve knowledge, however, this system

of ijazah is now redundant except in Qur’an as someone having an ijazah in

Sahih Bukhari who recites it, is no different to the individual who recites it

from a printed book.

The principles Imam Bukhari would use to disparage a particular narrator

might be different to the principles Imam Ahmad or other scholars use.

However, this is a different science in itself, which is extensive and not

explored within this course.

Only people who knew a particular person would write the biographies. It is a

redundant exercise for someone who doesn’t know an individual to write a

biography. If we look at the biography of an individual and find only one

scholar praised him as an individual, and found no negative characteristics, he

would still be classified as unknown, as the scholars requested, at least two

character attestations from two different scholars in order to consider an

individual.

Imam Muslim was so particular when he was narrating would record terms if

they were different but synonymous and point it out.

We shouldn’t make qiyas from ourselves to previous generations. Our

memories are weak and our characters are much worse. The sahaba and the

tab’ieen are completely different. The medium in which they passed on

information was via oral means and not written. Thus, they were very good at

retaining information via oral transmission.

There’s a narration on the authority of Umm Dhar, where five, six get together

to speak about their husbands. They use a tremendous amount of figurative

terminologies. Aisha radi-allaahu anha heard this once and memorized this

once. We could read this many times and not even understand it.

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In contemporary times, Mauritanian’s are considered as having a good

memory. They don’t have distractions, so their environment is suited to this.

There was a fight that occurred between two foreigners and one killed the

other. A sheikh witnessed the whole incident. The Police came and asked the

sheikh what happened. The sheikh relayed the whole incident including the

exact speech the foreigners used even though it was a different language.

People tend to be ashamed of this aspect of Islam. However, we should be

proud about the nature of Hadith compilation, as this is the most advanced and

superior system in recording information.

If a chain goes back to the Prophet salallahu alayhee wa salam it is Marfu’ and

if it goes back to the sahaba it is Mauquf. A narration that only goes back to the

tabi’een is called Maqtoo.

If the chain is linked back to the Prophet salallahu alayhee wa salam, we say it

is musnad.

However, if there is a break in the chain, we say it is Munqati’.

Mu’dal means that there are two or more links missing in succession in the

middle of the chain. This narration is weaker than the munqati’.

Mu’allaq means that there is a link, which has been omitted at the beginning of

the chain by the collector of the hadith.

These terminologies are here to show the classification of the chain and to

indicate breakages in the isnad.

Break – 1:15pm

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Chapter Seven – Criticism of the Text of the Hadith

17:00pm – Session Three

We have mentioned that if we come across two hadiths, which appear

contradictory, we should adopt two approaches. We should first try to reconcile

both hadiths and maintain both of them as they are both revelation and we

should try our utmost to preserve both of them. If we are unable to reconcile,

we should look at the date of both hadiths and see if the later hadith abrogates

the earlier narration which appears to be contradictory.

The process of recording and compiling hadith went through a very advanced

system, which ensures nothing is recorded, unless full details concerning its

authenticity is present.

A maqra’ah is a sitting to read quickly a book of the books of hadith. The aim

of it is to see how the book is presented. Once you get used to this method you

will be able to remember the hadith and this has many benefits. It is good to

attend one if you have the opportunity to do so.

- End of the Retreat -