Light On the Muhammadan Sunnah Or Defence of the Hadith
The Righteous Fabricators
Fabrication of hadith against the Messenger of Allah was not confined only to enemies of Din and capricious people – as we stated before – but some of the righteous among Muslims used to do so thinking it to be a merit bringing them nearer to Allah, and yet they reckon that by this they do good work. When questioning them: Why do you lie against the Messenger of Allah? They would say: We lie for him not against him! And the one to blame for falsity is that who did it on purpose!
Muslim reported in his book from Yahya ibn Sa’id al-Qattan as saying: We have never found the righteous falsifying in anything more than that in hadith. In another narration: We have never seen the munificent people
telling lies in anything more than in hadith. That is as Muslim put it:
falsity comes out from their mouths incidentally or inadvertently not
deliberately. 228 Muslim reported on the
authority of Abu al-Zinad that he said: I met a hundred men in Medina,
all of whom were trustworthy, and hadith was not taken from them.
Ibn Hajar writes: Some of the ignorants, after being self-conceited, embarked on fabricating traditions of temptation and intimidation saying: We haven’t told lies against him, but we did so for backing his Shari’ah!! 230
They were unaware that ascribing to him (S) that which he never said, entails falsity against Allah, since it asserts a legal judgement or decree, whether an obligatory or recommendable one. And so also regarding their opposites: the haram (unlawful) and makruh (reprehensible). No consideration is to be given to opposers to this from among the Karamiyyah, who permitted composing of falsity in cases of temptation and intimidation, for confirming the rules cited in the Qur’an and the Sunnah, arguing that it be falsity for him not against him, which is verily an ignorance of the Arabic language.
Abd Allah al-Nahawandi says: I said to the lad of Ahmad: Wherefrom you brought these traditions which you relate through the parchments? He replied: We fabricated them for making the hearts of people mild and sympathetic. About this lad (servant), Ibn al-Jawzi said: He was an ascetic who used to forsake the worldly pleasures and lusts, living on eating the broad-beans merely... on the day of his death all the markets of Baghdad were closed (as a sign of mourning).
And Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Faqih al-Maruzi was the most opinionated and strongest defender of the Sunnah in his time, degrading whoever contradicting it. Despite all that, he was among those known of composing and perverting the hadith.
In al-Ta’rikh al-awsat, al-Bukhari reported from Umar ibn Sabih ibn Imran al-Tamimi, that he said: I was the one who composed the Prophet’s sermon.
In al-Madkhal, al-Hakim on the authority of Abu Ammar al-Maruzi, that it was said to Abu ‘Ismah: Wherefrom you got these traditions from ‘Ikrimah, from Ibn Abbas on the merits of the Qur’an, surah by surah, while they can never be found with the companions of ‘Ikrimah? He said: When I found people turning away from the Qur’an, engaging themselves in the fiqh of Abu Hanifah and incursions of Ibn Ishaq, I fabricated this hadith for seeking favour.
A Witty Saying:
Not satisfied with all this, they would even fabricate hadith for trivial reasons. One of the traditions that al-Hakim reported on the authority of Sayf ibn Umar al-Tamimi, 232 that he said: I was in the company of Sa’d ibn Tarif, when his son returned from the elementary school crying! His father inquired him: What is the matter with you? The teacher has beaten me. He said: I will verily disgrace them today!
‘Ikrimah reported from Ibn Abbas a hadith ascribed to the Prophet as saying: “The teachers of your boys are the wicked among you ... the least of them in pitiness toward the orphan, and the rudest toward the indigent”.
There are innumerable reports in this regard.
Fabrication Through Inclusion:
Sometimes the narrator may compose some addition to the hadith indeliberately, which was to the hadith indeliberately, which was considered by traditionists as inclusion (idraj). The mudraj tradition was a term used for a hadith having an addition that was not originally found in it. Scholars of hadith say that inclusion is of two kinds: Inclusion (idraj) in the isnad (chain of transmission) and inclusion in the text.
The text inclusion comes at the beginning of the hadith, like hadith of Abu Hurayrah that was reported by al-Khatib saying: The Messenger of Allah said: “Complete the ablution, woe be to those lagging behind from the
Fire (hell)”. The words” complete (asbighu) the ablution” are included by Abu Hurayrah.
Idraj may occur also in the midst of the hadith like hadith of Faddalah reported by al-Nasa’i that the Prophet said: “I am a za’im (guarantor of paradise) – and za’im is hamil (undertaker) – for that who believes in me and struggles on the way of Allah, with a house in the gardens of heavens”. His saying: ‘and the za’im (guarantor) is the undertaker’ is included by him into the hadith.
In regard of the inclusion at the end of the hadith, it occurred in the eclipse hadith which was recorded in the Sahih that (the Prophet said): The sun and moon are verily two signs (marvels) among God’s signs (ayat). They never eclipse because of the death or life of anyone. When you see this, betake yourselves to remembrance of Allah and prayers (salat). Al-Ghazzali says that the reporting of this addition was not confirmed, so its utterer should be belied.
Can the Fabricated Hadith be Recognized:
The investigators have stated generalities through which recognizing which hadith being fabricated becomes feasible:
Its contradiction to the Qur’an and authentic successive Sunnah or decisive unanimity or determined rules of the Shari’ah, or to the rational proof, or to the senses and conspicuousness and all certainties. Or the hadith’s including temerities in regard of promise and threats, reward and punishment. Or its being contradictory to the rules brought by the clear Sunnah, or the hadith’s being invalid by itself, or its invalidity being established by correct evidences. Or the hadith’s being unlike the speech of prophets, or its being nearer to the speech of physicians, or its containing the chronicles of coming days, or its being awkward or a laughing-stock or other than this. Among them also are those traditions on whose baselessness several veracious evidences, or established knowledge experiments, or those ones that
be poor in meaning.
Ibn Hajar al-Asqallani writes: From the word ‘poor’ the meaning is intended, and whenever it is found it indicates presence of fabrication, as this religion (Islam) comprises only good points, while poorness in wording never indicates this, due to the possibility that the hadith being reported according to meaning by the narrator who might exchange its words with non-eloquent ones.
Ibn al-Jawzi said: The disapproved hadith makes knowledge-seeker shudder, with causing his heart to have aversion to it, particularly that one using the terms of the law-maker, having experience in them, their splendour and resplendence.
He also said: When finding the hadith contrary to the reasonable or incongruous to the manqul (transmitted), or opposite to the usul (principles), only then you should know that it is fabricated.
Al-Rabi’ ibn Khaytham says: Hadith has a light identical to the daylight that is manifest for all, and a darkness like that of night that is ignored, (reported by al-Khatib).
Ibn Abi Hatam reported from Ibn Mas’ud as saying: Whenever I relate to you any hadith I verily give you an evidence confirming it from the Book of Allah.
Ibn Jubayr says: I never received any hadith with its shape, without finding its confirmation in the Book of Allah.
Al-Bayhaqi reported on the authority of Ibn Abbas that he said: Whenever I relate to you any hadith from the Messenger of Allah, the confirmation of which you can never find in the Book,
It is out of scope here to enumerate all the composed traditions, of which Ibn al-Jawzi and al-Suyuti and others compiled numerous volumes, to which any knowledge-seeker can refer.
In his book Qawa’id al-tahdith, al-Qasimi has dedicated a section on the fabricated hadith, concluding it with two chapters, the titles and summary
of which are the following:
Can We Recognize the Fabricated without Looking into its Sanad?
Al-Imam Shams al-Din ibn al-Qayyim was asked once: Is it possible to recognize the fabricated hadith through a regulation without looking into its sanad (chain of transmission)? He replied.
This is truly a very important question. This (fabricated) hadith can only be recognized by that who is thoroughly acquainted with knowing the correct sunan, in a way they be intermingled with his flesh and blood, and he having an instinctive knowledge and good talent in recognizing the sunan and old methods. Besides knowing the sirah (biography) of the Messenger of Allah (upon whom be God’s peace and benediction), with his guiding directions including to which he bids and from which he forbids, of what he apprises and to what he invites, what he loves and what he detests, and what he legislates for the Ummah, as if he enjoyed his (S) company for a long time. Such a man can verily be acquainted with his conditions, guidance, speech, acts and sayings, and what is permissible to tell and what is impermissible, that which can never be realized by others. This is verily the state of every followed (matbu’) with his follower, as his favorite, who is serious in following up his words and deeds, out of knowledge of them, and distinguishing between what is proper to ascribe to him and what is improper to ascribe, ... such one differs from that who is deprived of such traits...etc.
Ibn Daqiq al-‘Id is reported to have said: “Most often charging with composition (of hadith) happens to be due to things related to what is narrated and words of the hadith. The conclusion of this is due to the fact that, because of the extensive use and transmission of the Prophet’s words and expressions, these people came to possess a psychological fashion and strong intuition through which they could recognize which of the Prophet’s words are more proper to be used and which are not”.
Whole Heart Has Full Knowledge of the Fabricated Hadith:
In another chapter, Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Urwah al-Hanbali is reported to have said:
“If the heart be pure, clean and sanctified, it will be able to discern between right and falsehood, truth and lie, and guidance and misguidance, especially when being bestowed with illumination and adroitness from the Prophetic light. Only then it shall have the power to penetrate and find out the concealed facts and hidden aspects, with discerning between the veracious and the falsified. And even if correct isnad was combined to a text of composed words ascribed to the Messenger, or feeble isnad to a sahih text, it would be able to distinguish, recognize and taste this, discerning between the lean and strong, correct and false among them, as the Messenger’s words can never be hidden from a sane man who experienced them. For this reason the Prophet (S) said: “Be cautious of the physiognomy of the believer as he sees with the light of Allah.” 236 This hadith was reported by al-Tirmidhi from Abu Sa’id. Some of the ancestors commented on the holy Qur’anic verse: “Verily in this are signs for those who scan heedfully, taking the word ‘mutawassimin” to mean those who practise physiognomy (firasah).
Mu’adh ibn Jabal said: “Verily for truth there is a beacon like the road light-stand.”
Further, the sincere pure heart can sense and recognize any deviation and perversion in deeds and conduct. Whenever hearing any hadith, it can immediately recognize its real source, though no one of the memorizers and critics had any say about it. Anyone whose acts be sincerely devoted for Allah, in conformity with the Sunnah, would be able to discern between things: their falsity and truth.
Every truthful smart person is inspired by Allah, the Glorified and Exalted, the ability to discern between truth and falsity as the hadith affirms: “Truth (sidq) is peacefulness and calmness and falsity is suspicion”. He (S) said to Wasibah: “Consult your heart”. The Prophet left his Ummah with clear signs, its night be like its day. And the Messenger’s utterance has a
veneration and fluency that no other person can ever possess.
Ibn Taymiyyah says: When the pious heart recommences and seeks its own opinion, this will verily be a legal preponderance. Whenever it appears and that heart comes to think that this matter or that speech being better pleasing to Allah and His Messenger, this would be a preponderance with a legal proof. Mistaken are those who denied the inspiration not being absolutely a means for attaining to realities. As when man does his best and strives on the way of God’s obedience and piety, his preference for what he preponderated would be stronger than numerous feeble evidences. So inspiration of this would be an evidence on its behalf, which is more forceful than many of the weak and fancied analogies, phenomena and istishabat that are used as means of argumentation by those concerned with schools of thought, controversy and usul al-fiqh (principles of jurisprudence).
Umar said: “Truth (haqq) is apparent, and can’t be concealed from any intelligent one”. Hudhayfah ibn al-Yeman is reported to have said: “Inside the believer’s heart there is a lamp that is blooming”. And as stronger as faith becoming inside the heart, all things would be disclosed before it and it would be able to recognize and discern the real from the false ones. The opposite is true, that is whenever faith becoming faint, ability to discover realities would become weaker, in the same way as the effect of the strong and weak lamp inside a dark house.
In Sahih al-Bukhari it is reported that the Prophet said: “Among the nations that preceded you there were inspired (muhaddath) people, and if one of them is to be found among my Ummah, Umar shall be verily that one.” The muhaddath is that who is inspired and addressed in secrecy. Abu Sulayman al-Darani used to call Ahmad ibn ‘Asim al-Antaki with the epithet “Heart Spy” (Jasus al-Qulb) due to the sharpness of his physiognomy.
Thus we concluded the briefed quotation from these two chapters.
Among the criteria through which we can recognize sahih (veracious) hadith, first its being not discarded by good taste and adroitness like hadith of flies, and also its non-being contradictory to the sublime objectives of Islam
that are aimed at bringing felicity to man in this world and hereafter.
Liars and Their Slanders against the Prophet:
Hammad ibn Zayd is reported to have said:
The Zanadiqah (atheists) have fabricated twelve thousand traditions, ascribing them to the Messenger of Allah (S).
Al-Mahdi said: One of the Zanadiqah has confessed before me that he composed four hundred traditions, and they were being circulated and conveyed among people.
Ibn Asakir reported that a zindiq was brought once to al-Rashid who gave his orders to behead him, when he (zindiq) said: O Amir al-Mu’minin, aren’t you aware of four thousand traditions I fabricated, in which I forbid what is lawful (halal) and deem lawful what is forbidden (in the Qur’an). It is reported too that when Abd al-Karim ibn Abi al-Awja’ intended to behead him, he said: I have composed for you four thousand traditions forbidding through them what is lawful, and sanctioning what is unlawful (haram).
Ishaq ibn Rahawayh, who was the teacher of al-Bukhari, said: I commit to memory four thousand falsified traditions.
Sahl ibn al-Sirri al-Hafiz says: Ahmad ibn Abd Allah al-Jubyari, Muhammad ibn Ukashah al-Kirmani and Muhammad ibn Tamim al-Farabi falsified and fabricated more than ten thousand traditions against the Messenger of Allah.
Al-Bukhari writes: I commit to memory one hundred correct traditions and two hundred falsified traditions. Reports (akhbar) in this respect are countless, and whoever wants to get acquainted with more of them can refer to their sources, especially al-Suyuti’s book Tahdhir al-Khawass.
This is the last point I quote here, which I deem sufficient.
Traditions Fabricated by the Jews
When the Muhammadan Da’wah (invitation) got so much valour and
prowess, becoming much strong, with smash of all the powers and forces combating it, those opposing and restraining it found no choice but to hatch plans and conspire against it through trickery and deceit, after failing in weakening it through means of force and contest.
Since the most vehement of mankind in hostility to those who believe are the Jews, as they allege to be God’s chosen people, recognizing no favour for any other nation, admitting no scripture for any prophet after Moses, their rabbis and monks found no other means – especially after being overcome and driven forth from their homes
When observing that their tricks have found way and prevailed among people, due to their false pretense of godliness and piety, and the Muslims having confidence in and being beguiled by them, they resolved first to direct a fatal blow to the Muslims, to the core of their religion. This was achieved by foisting into the foundations on which religion was established, the legends, superstitions, fancies and trifles in order to enfeeble and undermine these foundations and principles.
On failing to degrade the holy Qur’an due to its being preserved through tadwin (writing), memorized by thousands of Muslims, and immune against addition of one word or insertion of one letter, they resorted to fabricating and foisting so many traditions that were never uttered by the Prophet. 239 What helped them to do so was the fact that the Prophet’s traditions were not of determined signs, nor of preserved roots and sources, since they were never inscribed during his life-time as was the case with the Qur’an, nor committed to writing by his Companions after his demise. This fact made it possible for every capricious or evil-intentioned one to foist into them as much as he liked, and assault them with falsity.
That which even facilitated and paved the way for their deception was the fact that the Companions used to refer to them to get the solutions for the questions regarding the affairs of the past world that were unknown to them. And the Jews, due to the Scripture they possessed, and the ulama’ they had, were considered teachers for the Arabs in respect of all the issues related to ancient religions, if they be sincere and honest. The sage Ibn Khaldun, 240 when discussing the traditional (naqli) interpretation and stating that it included the meagre and the stout, the acceptable and disapproved, is reported to have said:
“The reason behind this is that the Arabs were not people of a scripture or knowledge, but most of them were bedouins and illiterate, who when desiring to have information about origin of the universe, beginning of creation and mysteries of existence, they would inquire people of the Book (Ahl al-Kitab) and get all the solutions from them.
In another place of his Maqaddimah 242 he said:
“Most often the historians and exegetes have committed so many errors in the episodes and events they used to report with the leaders of transmission, due to their dependence on mere transmission whether be poor or authentic, without subjecting them to their sources, nor comparing with their likes, nor fathoming them with the criterion of wisdom, to comprehend the temperaments of the creatures, nor investigating the veracity of the reports, going astray from path of truth and wandering in the desert of deception and error.”
Dr. Ahmad Amin also said:
“Some of the Companions used to frequent to Wahb ibn Munabbih,
Ka’b al-Ahbar and Abd Allah ibn Sallam, while the Tabi’un (Followers) used to refer to Ibn Jarih. All these men got information they used to report from the Torah and Gospel, with their expositions and margins, so the Muslims found no harm to relate them beside the Qur’anic verses, the fact leading to their becoming another source of overproduction.”
For all this, the rabbis embarked on propagating within the Islamic religion, so many falsities and trifles claiming them once to be taken from their scripture or latent knowledge, and another time to be among what they heard from the Prophet (S), while they being in fact foisted and forged by them. How could the Companions discern between truth and falsity in the rabbis’ utterances, while they were on one hand unaware of the Hebrew 244 language which was used in their books, and on the other they were less than them (rabbis) in sagacity and weaker in cunning. Therefore these falsities became so current and circulated among the Companions and their followers who used to take whatever those cunning men were relating without any investigation or verification, considering it to be certainly correct (sahih).
Before embarking on demonstrating some of the Jewish falsified traditions with which books of tafsir (exegesis) and hadith and history were replete, I would like to refer briefly to the biographies of the chiefs of these rabbis: Ka’b al-Ahbar, Wahb and Abd Allah ibn Sallam.
This being in fact one of the misfortunes of that word "muta'ammidan" (deliberately), to which cling those who claim to be among the muhaddithun (Fath al-mulham, Vol. I, p. 132).
One of the rules in which they believe being: Piety never necessitates veracity of narration.
Fath al-Bari, Vol. I, p. 161.
I wish the Hashwiyyah apprehend what is said by Ibn Hajar. But wherefrom they can have understanding or apprehension!
This Sayf ibn Umar was a big liar and was the most famous among those from whom al-Tabari reported in his Ta'rikh and other books.
Al-Mirqat, p. 39.
That is the Book of Allah.
Al-Suyuti, Miftah al-Jannah fi al-ihtijaj bi al-Sunnah, p. 17.
Aws ibn Hajar said: The brilliant who suspects you, is like that who has seen and heard.
See pp. 147 - 155.
Umar evacuated the Jews of Khaybar toward Adhra'at and other places in the year 20H., and evacuated the Jews of Najran toward the Kufah, dividing then al-Qura Valley and Najran among the Muslims (Ibn Kathir's al-Bidayah wa al-nihayah, vol. VIII, p. 108). He did so with those who had no covenant from the Messenger of Allah (S).
Ibn al-Jawzi says: When no one managed to foist into the Qur'an anything strange to it, some people started to add to the hadith and fabricate things that were never uttered in origin (Ta'rikh Ibn Asakir, vol. II, p. XIV).
Muqaddimat Ibn Khaldun, pp. 439,440.
Ibn Ishaq used to defend the Jews and Christians calling them in his books 'people of first knowledge (Mu'jam al-udaba', Vol. XVIII, p.8).
Al-Muqaddimah, p.9.
Duha al-Islam, Vol.II, p. 139.
Al-Bukhari reported from Abu Hurayrah as saying: People of the Book (Ahl al-Kitab) used to read the Torah with the Hebrew language, interpreting it with the Arabic for the Muslims (Vol. II, p.285).