Light On the Muhammadan Sunnah Or Defence of the Hadith
To Lie Against Messenger of Allah:
It is commonly agreed among all that lying is the worst of abominations, and no trait can ever be possessed by man worse than calumny, beside no group malady is there more problematic and incurable than slander. Despite the fact that lying among individuals and groups can be contained and eradicated, but its bad effects would be common and its harm would be tremendous when being against the Messenger of Allah. That is, falsily ascribing something to the Messenger (S) is quite different from lying against other than him, due to his being an apostle delegated with an all-inclusive religion, and owner of a Shari‘ah (Islamic Law) for mankind as a whole, and in general.
Al-Tabarani reported on the authority of Rafi‘ ibn Khudayj as saying: The Messenger of Allah said: “Do not lie against me, since it is verily not the same as lying against any other man.”
The Muhammadan message brought to mankind doctrinal principles that no man, whatever his extent of knowledge be, can ever change one of them, and brought rules of rituals (‘ibadat) that no one is permitted to make any addition or omission, or changing any of their forms or (determined) time. This is due to the fact that the religious acts are based on two foundations: The first being that not to worship other than Allah, and the second is that He should be worshipped according to the legal rules He revealed. Other than this, like population organizing and sociology rules and other similar fields, we find certain general foundations being laid down for them in religion, such as justice, mercy, goodness, convenience, equality, freedom, truthfulness, trusteeship, benevolence and non-transgression, beside other laudable virtues.
Due to the fact that the holy Qur’an was preserved through inscription and memorization while the Messenger’s traditions were not written down, so he (S) feared that some might falsify traditions ascribing them to him, especially after leaving his hadith without committing it to writing. He was so strict in this respect that he decreed death as a worldly punishment for the falsifier, while in the Hereafter it be torment in the Fire
(Hell).
Al-Bukhari73 reports on the authority of Rib’i ibn Kharrash as saying: I heard Ali say: The Prophet said: Don’t lie against me, as who does so will verily enter Fire. In his exposition for this hadith, al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar says: This hadith is supported by narration of Muslim on the authority of Ghandar from Shu‘bah by the words: “… he enters into Fire.”
Also al-Bukhari reported the same hadith from Anas and Abu Hurayrah, with the word “deliberately” being added to it, beside some other traditions with this addition reported by other than al-Bukhari. But anyone deliberately meditating, and being in quest of truth into researches, will verily come to know that the correct narrations reported from the leading Companions among whom being three of the Rightly-guided caliphs, indicate the hadith’s being devoid of this word “deliberately.” Besides, to claim that the Prophet uttered such a word should be regarded as improbable to its incongruity with reason and morality that were fully possessed by the Messenger, as to lie is “to announce of something in a way contrary to its true being, whether deliberately or mistakenly.” This word may have crept into this hadith through the means of idraj (gradual inclusion), that is common among the scholars, as a pretext used by those fabricating hadith against the Messenger of Allah to justify their practice as to be favouritism without intention. This was followed too by righteous believers who used to justify it by saying: “We lie for him not against him”! Or it was adopted by the narrators in regard of that which they would report from others either out of error, or delusion or misunderstanding, so as to avoid falling in trouble, since that who is mistaken can never be considered sinful. For all this, the narrators laid down their widely-known principle: “That who deliberately lies has to be answerable for his lie.”
Decisive Correct Evidences On Reality of the Hadith Who Lied Against Me
Hereunder we produce some proofs confirming our claim:
Ahmad (ibn Hanbal) reported on the authority of Umar (ibn al-Khattab) as saying: (The Messenger of Allah said:) Whoever lies against me, his fate will verily be in Fire.
Ibn Sa’d in his Tabaqat, and Ibn Asakir from Mahmud ibn Labid, reported on the authority of Ibn Sa’d as saying: I heard Uthman ibn Affan addressing people from the minbar saying: It is imperssible for anyone to report a hadith he never heard of during the reign of Abu Bakr or that of Umar. 74 The only reason that forbade me from narrating the hadith of the Messenger of Allah was fearing from being called the most conscious of his Companions, but I heard him saying: “Whoever ascribes to me that which I never said, verily his last abode shall be Fire.”
Ahmad, al-Darimi and Ibn Majah with others reported on the authority of Abu Qatadah that the Prophet said: “I warn you against narrating from me extensively. Whoever reports from me should never say but the truth, and that who ascribes to me any saying I never uttered, his last abode shall verily be Fire.”
The most decisive evidence in this regard being the hadith reported by al-Bukhari on the authority of ‘Amir ibn Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, in which he said: I said to al-Zubayr: You are not relating the Messenger’s traditions as done by so and so and so and so! He said: (You know that) I have never parted his (Prophet’s) company, but I verily heard him saying: “Whoever lies against me, shall verily occupy his abode in Fire.” 75
In his comment on this hadith, Ibn Hajar said: This hadith was reported by al-Zubayr ibn Bakkar in his Kitab al-Nasab, in another way, from Hisham ibn Urwah, from his father that Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr said: “I am meant by this,” i.e. paucity of narrations by al-Zubayr. I asked him about that, when he said: O son, you know the consanguinity and blood relation I have with the Prophet, upon whom be God’s peace and benediction.
His paternal aunt is my mother, and his wife Khadijah is my paternal aunt, while his mother Aminah bint Wahab and my grandmother Halah bint Wahab are both daughters of Abd Munaf ibn Zuhrah, and your mother is the sister of his wife ‘A’ishah. However, I heard him saying: “Whoever lies against me (falsifies a hadith ascribing it to me), his last abode shall be Fire.” The same hadith was reported by al-Darimi from Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, with the words “Whoever related from me falsely”, without mentioning the word “deliberately.”
It was further reported by Abu Dawud, 77 al-Nasa’i, Ibn Majah, al-Darimi and al-Daraqutni,
In al-Madkhal al-Hakim is reported to have said: “The last abode of the liar against him (the Prophet) is in Fire, and he insisted upon this declaring that the Fire shall be the last abode of that who lies against him (falsifies his
hadith) whether deliberately or not, 82 by
this hadith which is reported by Ibn Umar: “Verily that who ascribes
false hadith to me, is building a house for himself in the Fire.” He
even intensified the severity through these words that were reported by
Uthman ibn Affan: “Whoever ascribes to me anything I never said…” So if
he even only conveys his (S) utterance without intending falsity on
purpose, shall be liable to this threat from the Prophet (S).
This tradition was reported in a different way, thus: “Whoever quotes from me that which I never said, should occupy his abode in Fire.”
It is said: This being the hardest and most difficult word used by him, due to its including every distorter, solecist and misinterpreter. We can refer to al-Imam al-Shafi’i, who was ‘alim (religious scholar) of Quraysh, and who was nearer to the pristine Sunnah fountain than al-Bukhari and Muslim with all owners of sunan, and teacher of al-Imam Ahmad, to review what he narrated in this regard, when we can observe that many traditions with this meaning were narrated by him, all being devoid of the word “deliberately.”
Following are some of his narrations in his famous treatise:
It is reported from Wathilah ibn al-Asqa‘, that the Prophet said: “The worst calumny is that when one ascribing to me that which I never uttered, and that who portrayed for himself that which his eyes never saw, and who was adopted by other than his father.”
Ibn Umar reported that the Prophet said: “Verily that who ascribes false hadith to me, is building a house for himself in Fire.”
Umm Asid is reported to have said: I said to Abu Qatadah: Why is that you never relate anything from the Messenger of Allah as others are doing? He said: I heard the Messenger of Allah declaring: Whoever falsifies my hadith, has to seek for himself an abode (bed) in Fire.”
These were excerptions from the traditions reported by al-Shafi’i in his treatise, in which the word “deliberately” is never seen at all, so let those having reason give ear to this! Further this word can never be found in all traditions we cite whatsoever.
Al-Nawawi, in expounding the hadith: “Whoever relates from me a
hadith believing it to be false, shall be regarded among the liars” which was reported by Muslim, said: In prohibiting falsity against him (upon whom be God’s peace and benediction) there is no difference between that which is related to rules (ahkam) and that which is devoid of rule like temptation, intimidation and counsels and other than these, which all being unlawful (haram’) and among major sins and the most abominable vices as unanimously agreed by the most authentic Muslim scholars ... till he said: Men of resolution and determination have unanimously concurred on prohibiting falsity against common people so how would be the case with that whose saying is legislation, speech is revelation (from God), and falsity against him is falsity against Allah the Most High. 85
Al-Suyuti is reported to have said: For evading this, the Rightly-guided Caliphs and chosen Companions (may God be pleased with them), used to be fearing (God) from extensively narrating hadith from the Messenger of Allah (S), among whom be Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Talhah, al-Zubayr, Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas, Abd Allah ibn Mas’ud, al-Miqdad ibn al-Aswad, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, Thoban, the slave of the Messenger of Allah, and Zayd ibn Arqam and others.
Abu Bakr and Umar used to demand from anyone relating to them a hadith from the Messenger of Allah they never heard from him (S), to establish it by evidence or otherwise he would deserve punishment, when failing to do so. Further Ali ibn Abi Talib used to exact an oath from the narrator, while Abd Allah ibn Mas’ud’s complexion would change when any hadith of the Messenger of Allah would be mentioned before him, with his jugular veins be swelling and his sweat flowing, and his eyes shedding tears, declaring: Or something near to this, or like this, or similar to this. All this was out of fearing from addition or omission, or inadvertence, or forgetfulness, to take precautions for religion and for preserving the Shari’ah. And to cut apart the greed of any avaricious or deviation of any forger against venturing to relate from the Messenger of Allah anything that he never uttered, or foisting into religion that which is strange to it, the practice
entailing that they be examples followed by those addressed by them and taking from them, in a way that their listeners follow their tracks and do the same practice. 86
Malik ibn Ubadah is reported to have said: The Prophet has, during the Hijjat al-Wada‘ (Farewell Pilgrimage), committed to us declaring: Hold on to the Qur’an’, as you will return to a people longing for relating my hadith. So whoever comprehends anything, can narrate it, and whoever fabricates a lie against me has to occupy his abode in Hell.
There were the evidences I intended to cite for proving that the word “deliberately” never existed in Messenger’s hadith “Whoever fabricates a lie against me…”. It is quite obvious from the traditions cited that the narrations of the leading Companions among whom being three of al-Khulafa al-Rashidun and al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, have all affirmed that the word “deliberately” could never be there in the correct narration of the hadith. 88 Moreover, sound reason and noble disposition are averse to accept the narration with the word “deliberately”, since falsity is the mother of all abominable vices, whether be deliberate or not.
Fabricating a Lie against the Prophet during His Lifetime
It might be that the Prophet (S) has warned against falsity against him after hearing that some people were fabricating lies against him though he being alive. In his book al-Ihkam fi usul al-ahkam,
to her (fornicated with her). Thereat, the people (her family and neighbours) informed the Messenger of Allah about the matter, when he said (angrily): He lied, the enemy of Allah! Then he (S) sent someone after him giving him this order: If you find him alive – which I never believe him to be so – you should behead him, and when finding him dead burn him by fire.
Ibn Sa’d in his Tabaqat and al-Tabarani reported on the authority of al-Muqanna‘ al-Tamimi that he said: I brought the Prophet the sadaqah (alms) out of our camels, when he ordered to receive it and take it to the treasury. I said to him: Two she-camels among them are a present offered to you. So he ordered to set apart the present from the sadaqah. After elapse of some days, there prevailed a talk among people that the Messenger of Allah made up his mind to delegate Khalid ibn al-Walid to Muzar slaves for collecting alms from them. I said: By God our people have no money! Then I came to the Prophet (S) saying to him: People are plunging into so and so subject (what do you say)? In reply, the Prophet raised his hands till whiteness of his armpit could be seen, declaring: O Allah, I never sanction for them to fabricate a lie against me. Al-Muqanna‘ says: Thereafter I never related from the Prophet any hadith except that which agrees to the Book or be adopted and applied by a (practical) sunnah. 90 Thus was the case regarding that who would lie against him during his lifetime! So how would it be after his death? Many reports are there to demonstrate this.
This hadith was reported also by Muslim, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i, Ibn Majah, al-Daraqutni, and al-Hakim in al-Madkhal.
Tabaqat Ibn Sa'id, vol. II, p. 100.
The divergence of the forms of this hadith is resulted from the fact that they used to narrate the traditions of the Messenger of Allah on the basis of meaning, as will be stated later on in this book, God-willing.
. Fath al-Bari, vol. I, p. 162.
In Mukhtasar Sunan Abi Dawud of al-Mundhiri, and Ma'alim al-Sunan of Abu Sulayman al-Khitabi, and Tahdhib of al-Imam Ibn al-Qayyim (vol. V, p. 148), who, after citing this hadith, said: "It is reported by al-Bukhari, al-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah, but the word 'deliberately' could not be found in the narrations of al-Bukhari and al-Nasa'i, nor in the hadith reported by al-Zubayr, who said: By God the Prophet had never said "deliberately" while you claim he said it. This book was verified and edited by al-Shaykh Ahmad Shakir.
Al-Daraqutni is the great leader of hadith, about whom Ibn Hajar said: "He was the hafiz of his time, and the most famous among the critics of the two Sahihs, and deepest in investigation and scrutiny." He died in 385 H.
Ta'wil mukhtalif al-hadith, p. 49.
Though the narration with the word "muta'ammidan" (deliberately) was weak and not confirmed by the eminent Sahabah, with being refused by reason, and disapproved by the Prophet's morals, we see some of Sunnah claimants and adorers of asanid in this age are still obstinately insisting on confirming its presence, as if they are more knowledgeable than al-Bukhari, or al-Nasa'i, or al-Daraqutni or others. They exaggerate in obstinacy, when some of them claim that al-Zubayr ibn al-'Awwam had never said: By God he (Prophet) has not said 'deliberately' while you say 'deliberately', ascribing this statement to one of those who reported from him, whereas the narration being correct and established by notable leaders of hadith, who no one among them claimed it to be said by anyone other than Ibn al-Zubayr!!
Sharh al-Bukhari of Ibn Hajar, vol. I, p. 162.
This may be a sign of disgrace on the part of claimants of knowledgeability who propagate among people that undeliberate falsity can never be equal to the deliberate one.
Al-Suyuti, Tahdhir al-khawass, p. 26.
Ibid., p. 395 and upward.
Ibid., p. 23.
Ibid., pp. 28, 29.
Al-Tahawi, Mushkil al-athar, vol. I, p. 171.
Ibn Hajar said: The sublime characteristics of the narrators can take he place of the number or exceed it, (Fath al-Bari, vol. I, p. 164).
In vol. II, p. 582.
That is a practical sunnah, as the Sunnah was not known then but only by this, and many advantages are ther ein this saying that can only be realized by men of reason.