Light On the Muhammadan Sunnah Or Defence of the Hadith
Are Sahihayn Containing Most Correct Traditions?
Al-Imam Kamal al-Din ibn al-Hammam, in Sharh al-Hidayah, said: The utterance of that who said: ‘The most correct traditions are found in the two Sahihs and what al-Bukhari unilaterally reported, and then Muslim, and then what attained their stipulation, and then what attained the stipulation of one of them’, is verily a ruling that it is impermissible to follow, since the veracity can never be attained but only when the traditions containing the conditions they stipulated. When supposing these provisions to be possessed by narrators of a hadith not found in the two books (Sahihayn), wouldn’t judging whatever recorded in the two books to be the most correct be despotism?
Amendment on al-Bukhari and Muslim:
In Sharh Muslim, al-Nawawi says: A group of people made up for al-Bukhari and Muslim in respect of some traditions they both breached the provisions they stipulated for them and so they (traditions) becoming lower than what they abided by. In manifesting this matter, al-Imam al-Daraqutni compiled a book under the title al-Istidrakat wa al-tatabbu’, covering two hundred traditions included in the two Sahihs.
Abu Mas’ud al-Dimashqi, the author of al-Atraf, also made up for both of them, and so did Abu Ali al-Ghassani in his book Taqyid al-muhmal. In Sharh Muslim, he (al-Nawawi) says: What people hold that that for whom the two Shaykhs have narrated, has in fact attained a lofty rank, is just for seeking dignity and he is unable to claim so.
An Odd Maxim Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim:
Al-Bukhari reported from Ibn Umar that the Prophet (S) on the Day of Ahzab said: None of you should perform the asr (afternoon) prayer but only with Banu Qurayzah. Ibn Hajar said: It was found in this way throughout all the copies of al-Bukhari (Sahih), while it was zuhr (noon) prayer in all copies of Sahih Muslim, though they both concurred on reporting it from one Shaykh with one isnad from beginning up to the end! He then said: Out of differing of the two words it appears that when Abd Allah ibn Muhammad, the Shaykh of the two Shaykhs, related it he related it with two words, or that al-Bukhari has written it out of his memory without observing the wording, as his school was known of permitting this, contrary to Muslim who used to observe the wording.
In the two Sahihs more than two hundred old traditions, and about this al-Diya’ al-Muqaddasi has compiled a book calling it Ghara’ib al-Sahihayn, citing in it more than two hundred strange and odd traditions, from among those recorded in the Sahihayn.
Who Considered al-Bukhari and Muslim More Authentic?
Ibn Amir al-Hajj, in Sharh al-Tahrir, stated what could mean:
The point to which good attention should be given is that their authenticity more than others is only in respect of those succeeding them not those who preceded them, as this fact, though being apparent may be unknown by some, or some may swindle and cheat, and Allah the Glorified knows better.
Someone explained this statement thus: That who stated these words intends to say that the two Shaykhs and authors of Sunan constitute a contemporary group of huffaz who emerged after the writing down of the Islamic fiqh, taking care of certain segment of hadith. While the mujtahid imams who preceded them were more plentiful in material and prolific in traditions, having under their hands all kinds of hadith: the marfu’, mawquf and mursal, and fatawa of the Sahabah and Tabi’un. And as is known, the mujtahid’s view can never be restricted to a part of hadith. This can be obviously seen in the comprehensive (jami’) books and compilations (musannafat) which refer to these kinds in every bab (chapter) that were indispensable by every mujtahid and authors of comprehensive (jami’) books and musannafat, before the era of the authors of al-Sihah al-Sittah (six sahih books), to whom they used to refer, and who could easily look into asanid of these traditions because of their high rank, especially the inference of any mujtahid with a corrected hadith, and reference to al-Sihah al-Sittah and using them in dispute can be achieved only through considering those who succeeded them. That point drawing our attention here is that some of the latter huffaz show leniency in ascribing the traditions they report to the six origin books and other than them, with a great difference in wording and meaning.
In his Sharh al-Alfiyyah, al-Iraqi writes: Al-Bayhaqi in his al-Sunan and al-Ma’rifah, and al-Baghawi in Sharh al-Sunnah and others, used to narrate the traditions with their own words and asanid, ascribing them then to
al-Bukhari and Muslim with differences in wording and meaning, as what they were after was relating the hadith in itself not ascribing its words.
As an example for this I can refer to al-Nawawi’s words in the hadith “the Imams are (all) from Quraysh,” as reported by the two Shaykhs, while its wording in the Sahih was” This affair (caliphate) would be kept in Quraysh till the day when only two of them are alive,” and the great difference between the two wordings and the meaning is quite obvious.
Al-Sayyid Rashid al-Attar has compiled a book on maqtu’ traditions reported in Sahih Muslim, under the name: (al-Fawa’id al-majmu’ah fi sha’n ma waqa’a fi Muslim min al-ahadith al-maqtu’ah), saying: Concerning what the people claim that ‘Anyone for whom the two Shaykhs have narrated, has in fact attained a lofty rank’ is untrue since Muslim has reported in his book from Layth ibn Abi Sulaym and other unreliable narrators. Also know that the words (inna and ‘an) necessitate inqita’ (i.e. disconnection from mudallas traditions) in view of men of hadith, and these words were repeated many times in the books of Muslim al-Bukhari, so they say for seeking dignity: Any hadith of this kind reported in other books than the two Sahihs is munqati’, and that which is cited in the Sahihs should be held to be muttasil (successive)!!
In his Sahih Muslim reported from Abu al-Zubayr, from Jabir so many traditions known with ‘an’anah, and the huffaz said: Abu al-Zubayr Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn Tadrus al-Makki used to defraud in Jabir’s hadith and whatever was in the mode of ‘an’anah was rejected by him. Also Muslim reported in his book from Jabir and Ibn Umar in the event of Hijjat al-Wada’ that: the Prophet (may God’s peace and benediction be upon him and his Progeny) betook himself toward Makkah on the sacrifice day (yawm al-nahr), where he performed circumambulation of ifadah (spreading) performing then the noon prayer at Makkah, returning then to Mina. In another narration, he performed the ifadah circumambulation, returning then to Mina where he performed the noon prayer. By these words, they seek honour (tajawwuh) 600 and say: He performed it again to show permissibility!
and other such interpretations!! About these two narrations, Ibn Hazm said: One of them is undoubtedly false.
Muslim has also reported the hadith on isra’, in which he said (that was before sending down of revelation [wahy] to him). The huffaz have spoken against and weakened this statement. Muslim has also reported the hadith: “Allah created the earth on Saturday.”
The traditionists say that when Muslim compiled his book he showed it to Abu Zar’ah al-Razi, who disapproved it and was enraged saying: And you called it al-Sahih, making it a ladder for the heretics and others … and when any opponent narrates any hadith for them, they would say: This can never be in Sahih Muslim. 602 I have previously cited other statements uttered by Abu Zar’ah and others in regard of Muslim and his book.
Al-Hazimi, in Shurut al-A’immah al-khamsah, writes the following: (chapter on abolition of the saying of that who claimed that the condition of al-Bukhari (for veracity of the hadith) was reporting the hadith from two reliable men and so on and so forth, till the chain of the khabar reaching to the Prophet, may God’s peace and benediction be upon him and his Progeny):
“This being a decision of that who has never examined narrowly and got to the bottom of the correct traditions, as if the book was attentively studied, many of the traditions recorded in it would be found disproving his (al-Bukhari’s) claim.”
Concerning the saying of al-Hakim that the option made by al-Bukhari and Muslim in reporting the hadith from two reliable men from the Prophet (S), 603 is incorrect forward and backward, rather had he reversed the issue and gave decision it would have been much safer for him. The same notion was held by someone who excelled him in the field of hadith, that is Abu Hatam Muhammad ibn Hibban al-Basti, who said: “The reports are verily all akhbar al-ahad since no report from the Prophet (S) is found to be narrated by two reliable men who reported it in turn from two other reliable narrators till the chain reaching the Messenger of Allah (may God’s peace and benediction be upon him and his Progeny). Impossibility and voidance of this proved the akhbar to be akhbar al-ahad, and whoever stipulated that condition has in fact abandoned all the sunan, as they were not to exist but only through the akhbar al-ahad”. (End of Ibn Hibban’s statement).
Whoever fathoming and trying the depth of reports would realize that whatever stated by Ibn Hibban is nearer to truth. (End of al-Hazimi’s speech). 604
These were the first class hadith books, and the following is a brief discussion of the second class ones which are: Sunan Abi Dawud, Sunan al-Tirmidhi and Sunan al-Nasa’i. 605
Tawjih al-nazar, p. 120, Sharh al-Shurut, p. 25.
Al-Hazimi, op. cit., p. 31.
Hamish Shurut, pp. 58, 59.
Tajawwaha means ta'azzama (get proud), i.e. feigned magnanimity, while being devoid of this.
See discussion of this hadith in my book Shaykh al-mudirah.
Al-Hazimi, op. cit., pp. 61, 62.
The first hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari is: The acts are verily according to the intentions, and the last one i.e. the hadith: Two light words, are two strange replies, when taking into consideration the way of reporting, as stated by al-Burhan al-Biqa'i and others (Ibid., p. 31).
Ibid., p. 31.
Men of hadith stated that the books that come in order after those of al-Bukhari and Muslim being: Sunan Abi Dawud (d. 275 H), Sunan al-Nasa'i (d. 303 H), and Sunan al-Tirmidhi (d. 279 H). They considered these books to be the usul (reference books), with some of them adding Sunan Ibn Majah (d. 375 H). Some of them said that it was proper to regard Sunan al-Darimi (d. 255 H.) as the sixth source, as Ibn Majah has reported traditions from men charged with falsification and plagiarizing the traditions. While Sunan al-Darimi contains very few weak rijal, and rarely contains disapproved or odd traditions, though having some mursal and mawquf ones. Nevertheless, he is more rightful than him (Ibn Majah), and what they said is the truth.