Light On the Muhammadan Sunnah Or Defence of the Hadith
Rules and Principles
On starting to lay down the foundations of this book, I haven’t thought it to be so protracted, so I tried my best then to delete from it as much as I could of the researches I came across, and stop my pen from going farther. But I found it inevitable to margin it with important rules, some of which I picked up from the fruit borne by its bushes, initiating that with verses from the holy Qur’an, followed by traditions reported from the noble Messenger (S), the veracity of which can be sensed through the accuracy of their meanings.
– Allah the Most High said: “And (know ye) verily this My path, is the straight (right) one, so ye follow it, and follow ye not (other) ways for they will scatter you away from His path...” (6:153)
– The Almighty said too: “(O people!) Follow ye what hath been sent down unto you from your Lord, and follow ye not (any) other than Him, as guardians (or friends).” (7:3)
– In another verse He said: “And this (Qur’an) is a Book, We have sent it down, blessed, so follow it, and guard (yourselves against evil) so that ye may be done mercy.” (6:155)
– He also said: “Mankind was but one people; and God sent apostles as bearers of good tidings and warners and sent down with them the Book with the Truth that it might judge between men in that wherein they differed...” (2:213)
– Further He said: “...and We have sent down upon thee the Book (Qur’an) explaining everything, and a guidance, and mercy, and glad tidings unto those who submit themselves (to God).” (16:89)
– The Most High said also: “...We have not neglected in the Book (Qur’an) anything...” 774 (6:38)
– He said too: “This day have I perfected for you, your religion, and have completed My favour on you, and chosen for you Islam (to be) the Religion.” (5:3)
The two Shaykhs (al-Bukhari and Muslim) reported that it was said to Abd Allah ibn Awfa: 775 Did the Messenger of Allah left a will? He said: No. It was said to him: How is that! while he has prescribed on people to leave a will? He said: He recommended with (heeding to) the Book of Allah. Exposing this hadith, Ibn Hajar said: He means by this abiding by the Qur’an and acting according to its precepts and teachings... and he may be referring to the Messenger’s hadith: “I am leaving behind among you that which if you hold fast to, you will never go astray: the Book of Allah.” He confined his will and recommendation to the Book of Allah since it is greater and more important than anything else, and containing manifestation of everything, either through the text or by means of inference (istinbat). So if people follow what the Qur’an contains, they will verily act according to whatever it commanded them to do.
The hadith to which Ibn Hajar referred, was reported by Muslim in the course of citing the Hijjat al-Wada’ (Farewell Pilgrimage) made by the Prophet (S), who said: “O people, I am leaving among you that which if you hold on to, you shall never go astray.” In another narration reported by Jabir as saying: The Messenger of Allah addressed us on the Day of Arafat saying: “I am leaving among you that which you will never go astray, if you hold fast to it: the Book of Allah.” And in al-Muwatta’: “and my sunnah”, while the Sunnah known at that time was only the practical Sunnah (the Prophet’s acts).
In another version of the narration, he said: “Verily, I am leaving behind two precious things (thaqalayn) among you: the Book of Allah and my kindred (‘itrah), my household (Ahl al-Bayt).”
This hadith was reported in several different versions with the same meaning in many Sunni books, and whoever desiring to be acquainted with these narrations, can refer to the book al-Muraja’at, in which al-Sayyid Sharaf al-Din al-Musawi stated the debates that took place between him and the eminent scholar al-Shaykh Salim al-Bishri, the former chief of al-Azhar, in the page 20 and onwards, in the 4th edition.
– Another hadith is reported from Abu al-Darda’ with a chain of transmission going back to the Prophet, reading thus: “Whatever Allah deemed lawful (halal) in His Book is lawful, and whatever He forbade is haram (unlawful), and whatever He left (with no decision) is good health, so accept from Allah His good health, as Allah verily never forgets anything, and your Lord was never forgetful.” This hadith is reported by al-Bazzaz and Ibn Abi Hatam and al-Tabarrani.
– Marasil ibn Abi Mulaykah is reported to have said: Abu Bakr al-Siddiq has gathered people after the demise of the Prophet (S), addressing them: “I was informed that you relate from the Messenger of Allah traditions regarding which you differ, 776 and people who follow you will be more differing. So never relate anything from the Messenger of Allah! And when asked by anyone you can say: The Book of Allah is (the arbitrator) between us and you. You should deem lawful what is considered lawful in it, and deem unlawful what it prohibits.”
– In another hadith: After the Messenger of Allah (S) had performed prayers during his last illness, he addressed the people and warned them against the seditions, raising his voice till coming out of the mosque saying: O people, fire is kindled, and seditions are coming forward like dark night clouds. By God you cannot find in me any fault to blame for, as I have never deemed lawful but only what is permitted (as lawful) by the Qur’an, nor forbidden except what the Qur’an forbade (as unlawful). 777
– When the Prophet’s she-camel was lost during the Battle of Tabuk, the hypocrites (mockingly) said: He cannot foretell of the whereabouts of his she-camel, so how can he be aware of the khabar of the heaven (prophesy of future)?! On hearing this saying, he (S) said: I have no knowledge of anything but only of that which Allah taught (revealed to) me. 778
– When A’ishah was inquired about the morals of the Prophet, she said: The Prophet’s morality was the Qur’an itself. This hadith was reported by Ahmad, Muslim and Abu Dawud.
– Al-Imam Muhammad Abduh said: The Muslims have no leader in this time except the Qur’an, and the correct true Islam being that which was followed and practised by the Muslims of the first stage before the emergence of the seditions.
– He also said: This Ummah can never rise (progress) as long as these books are found in it, 779 and will not rise or flourish but only by the morale that used to be possessed by the first people, which was the Qur’an. Anything other than it, is no more than a veil standing between it and endeavour and knowledge.
– In interpretation of Surat al-Fatihah he (Abduh) said: If we weight what our brains contain of the beliefs, with the Book of Allah the Exalted, without imposing them on it, it will be manifested for us whether we be guided or misled! But if we insert and foist what our brains have of beliefs into the Qur’an, we will verily fail to discern between guidance and deviation, due to intermingling of the weighed thing with the balance, whereat one will be unable to recognize the weighed thing of that with which it is weighed (mawzun bih). What I want to say is that the Qur’an should be the main origin upon which all the madhahib and opinions in religion must be based, not the opposite, i.e. the madhahib be the origin and the Qur’an be dependent on them, or referred to them through ta’wil or tahrif (perversion), as was done by the disappointed and thought wrongly by the astray.
– Learning a lesson from the beliefs (aqa’id), through the definite indication. And all the doctrines on which the veracity of Islam depends mainly, are established and proved by the Qur’anic texts and unanimity of the Muslims, with no one of them depending on ahadith al-ahad which are doubted most often. So also the principles of the ibadat (rituals), being all definite and proved by the Qur’an and the mutawatir practical Sunnah (Prophet’s acts), that can never depend on akhbar al-ahad. Besides, whatever established of the rules of ibadat by ahadith al-ahad, without gaining unanimity of the leaders of knowledge, can never be the dependable origin for (proving) veracity of Islam, though they be correct in themselves.
– The main dependable source for the Din is verily the Qur’an, and whatever indicating it definitely should be believed and adopted, in respect of knowledge and acts and abstention. While whatever being of indefinite indication (dalalah) of them, will be liable to ijtihad on the part of those knowledgeable of the styles of its language. And whoever acts according to the unanimously concurred rule (or hadith) will be verily a delivered Muslim.
– It should be known that the Prophet’s successively narrated (mutawatir) sunan – the practical sunan – are altogether definite and established in a way that no one can deny or negate through ta’wil (interpretation) or ijtihad (exertion of opinion). The examples for this: the daily (wajib) prayers being five: the dawn (morning) prayer being two rak’ahs, the maghrib being three, and the other ones being four rak’ahs each. And also, every rak’ah comprises of a qiyam (standing), a qira’ah (recitation of two surahs), a ruku’ (kneeling down) and two sajdahs (prostration), beside other moves and acts that were commonly known since the time of the Messenger till the present time.
– This being the (true) Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah before our eyes, but calling whatever including the traditions by this name is verily a recently-invented term.
– The ahadith al-ahad that were not followed in practice by the jumhur of ancestors (salaf), are verily subject to ijtihad, in regard of their asanid, texts and denotations, as whatever be of a correct sanad among them would be individually related to its narrator.
– When any of these traditions proved to be correct in the eyes of anyone, he can act according to it, but it can’t be made a general tashri’ (law) incumbent upon the Ummah as an obligation, out of imitating that who adopted it.
– The correct hadith cannot be recognized through its narrators alone, but rather it can be known through comprehension and committing to memory. As so many traditions are there, in the isnad of which there being only thiqah (trustworthy) transmitters, but they be defective and weak.
– The sahih traditions are useful, for applying the principle of most likelihood (ghalabat al-zann) which is commonly followed by the fuqaha’ for proving the veracity of traditions. In Sharh Muslim, al-Nawawi says: Because that being the case with the ahad traditions, which cannot be of benefit for the burhani (proof) knowledge and logical certainty, and no difference is there between the two Shaykhs, al-Bukhari and Muslim and the others. This is verily the sahih tradition, contrarily to that who held that: “The khabar al-wahid necessitates knowledge (‘ilm).”
– The text of any hadith whose sanad be correct, is not necessarily be sahih, and vice versa, i.e., not every hadith the sanad of which be correct, its text be necessarily correct.
– Unanimity of the Ummah 781 on acting according to the traditions recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, and can never be counted as unanimity on determining their being uttered by the Prophet (S), nor that whatever stated in them being correctly ascribed to the Prophet, and evaluating whatever reported in them (the two Sahihs) was to be done by those who followed them.
– The Four Imams followed by majority of the Muslims in regard of the practical rules were with the books of hadith, and the traditions were not written in books so as to be taken from them, particularly by al-Imam Abu Hanifah. Despite this fact, his leadership and ijtihad were acknowledged by his followers and others from among Ahl al-Sunnah, and neither Sahih al-Bukhari nor other hadith books have come out but only after the going away of the good of passed folks.
– No one from among the Ummah ancestors and leaders of fiqh, claimed that having knowledge of the Din depends upon being thoroughly acquainted with all the traditions reported by the muhaddithun, or most of them.
– Ulama’ of usul concurred on this rule: “The occurrence of probability in the marfu’ of the facts of conditions, will cover them with guise of generality, with which the inference (istidlal) with it will be invalid.”
– There is no blame against that who did not believe in some of the traditions due to a suspicion he might have found in the text and the sanad, the reason for which he belied its content or contradicted, even if he be right, and he should be answered with that which is better.
– The precedent ulama’ held that: “The axis (madar) of apostasy from Islam lies in the unanimous rejection of what is necessarily known about the religion.”
– The Ummah have never adhered in their worship but to a khabar that is most likely true as they were commanded to depend only on that which they thought to be veracious. And the judgement can be taken from the predominant supposition, and its veracity in their view cannot necessitate its veracity in reality. Also the unanimity on any rule cannot necessitate its compliance with God’s rule in the same matter.
The sunnah of the good ancestors in the non-successive (not mutawatir) traditions decided that whoever receiving any hadith of them through a chain (tariq) which he trusts to be authentic, he can act according to it. But they never obligated upon anyone – even if he be devoted to seeking knowledge – to search for all these reported traditions and act according to them. How is that, while the Sahabah have neither committed the ahadith to writing, nor undertaken the task of collecting them or dictating them to people, and rather some of them have even forbidden from narrating the hadith.
Al-Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal says: Three things have no isnad: tafsir (exegesis), malahim (epics) and maghazi (moral lessons). Ibn Taymiyyah, who succeeded Ahmad in leading the Hanbalis, says: For the mu’adda there are no usul, i.e. isnad (chain of transmission), as the majority of them being marasil 782v (traditions with no chain of narrators).
– The Sahabah have not collected (or compiled) the oral (qawli) Sunnah, as they did in the case of the Qur’an which they collected (compiled) and concurred in its regard.
– The leaders of Muslims have never agreed upon the sahih traditions, and everyone of them has contradicted, in his madhhab, many of them, even if they were viewed as correct by other leaders... etc.
That is the Qur'an is thoroughly acquainted with all the principles and rules of religion and other than the religion, of what God created.
Abd Allah ibn Awfa was one among those who swore allegiance to the Prophet under the tree at the Hudaybiyyah, and fought beside the Prophet in six battles. He was wounded in the Battle of Hunayn, and was the last who died among the Sahabah in the Kufah.
It can be observed here how disagreement started during the caliphate of Abu Bakr, and became intense after him till the present time.
Sirat Ibn Hisham, vol. IV, p. 332, and in a narration by al-Baladhuri in Ansab al-ashraf: By God I never deem lawful for you but that which is prescribed lawful by Allah, and never prohibit but only that which is decreed unlawful by Allah (vol. I, pp. 558, 559).
Ibn Abd al-Barr, al-Isti'ab, vol. I, p. 111.
He means the books that were taught in al-Azhar and the alike.
See p. 54.
This unanimity, which is claimed by those who call themselves Ahl al-Sunnah, is not agreed by all, as there are the Shi'ah, Zaydiyyah and Ibadiyyah and other many groups of repute, who never abide by acting according to it, as every group has its own sunnah and leader.
Ibn Taymiyyah, Muqaddimah fi usul al-tafsir, edition of Damascus, p. 14.