How Do We Check the Authenticity of Ahadith? All Ahadith have been written through chains of narrators. These chains comprise of several links of reporters, in many instances, more than 5 or 6. When our scholars sit down to check on a reported hadith, their research begins and ends at one point, that is, whether the narrators are reliable or not. People named in a particular hadith: Were they real or fictitious, when were they born, where did a particular storyteller live, when did he die, what was his temperament, how good was his memory, was his beard long enough, did he miss a prayer, what did a particular “Imam” think of him, was he the son of a bondwoman, was his mother divorced? One was caught listening to music. Another one was seen drinking date-wine. One was seen drinking water with his left hand and another was conducting ablution with the right hand, etc. Some evangelists noted this massive chaos among Muslim scholarship. They comment that Muslim scholars proudly claim that they have preserved the names of 500,000 narrators. The dilemma is that the same narrator who is perfectly reliable in the eyes of two scholars is totally unreliable and curse-worthy according to two others. Muslim scholars, for centuries, have been going through this mental punishment. They might well have invented 500,000 gods. Sectarianism in Islam: A simple observation of books written by our historians and Muhadditheen makes it plain that these are the people behind sectarian feuds in Islam. The narrators of one sect are considered fabricators by another. To view the picture at a large scale, just one example will be enough: While Sunnis consider Bukhari and Muslim Ahadith as the most authentic books, Shi’as reject that notion and consider Nehjul Balagha and Al-Kafi as the most trustworthy sources. Criteria of Authenticity: Let us briefly examine what criteria scholars have used to examine the massive body of Ahadith: 1) The most common practice has been a review and critique of the narrators. I prefer to call it post-mortem scholastic exam. The obvious impossibility of the success of this approach has already been discussed. 2) Many Sufis try to authenticate or dismiss history and tradition based upon clairvoyance or “Kashf and Ilham”. The best example of this phenomenon is provided by Shah Waliullah who, in the 18th century, compiled Forty Ahadith stating that the Prophet came to him and said this and did that. He took one step further when he tried to portray his meeting with the exalted Prophet as a physical experience. He claims to have retained some hair from the Prophet during these fantastic visits. What is more amazing is that hundreds of Islamic scholars have promoted these experiences of Waliullah with reverence. Even a title has been given to these supposed forty encounters, “The Forty Pearls”. 3) Evaluation of a hadith could not escape the mysterious “Ilmul Manam” (The Knowledge of Dreams). Many Mullahs and Sufis claimed to have seen the Prophet and his companions in their dreams and received guidance. They also ventured to interpret their own dreams and ‘Kashf’ (mystical experience) to help sort out the caliber of various Ahadith. The Andalusi (Moorish Spain) School under the leadership of Sheikh Kabeer Muhiuddin Ibn-e Arabi, played in this field according to their own rules. 4) Another criterion was projected by claimants to prophethood. This is well illustrated by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian. He claimed visits from angels of revelation during the last 19 years of his life. He presented his “revelations” as equally authentic and authoritative as the Qur’an and called the whole body of Ahadith a “magician’s bag”. He said, “Anything can be taken out or thrown away from this magician’s bag.” 5) The knowledge of Asma ar-Rajal. In the first few centuries, numerous Muslim and non-Muslim scholars tried to devise scientific means of analyzing the 1.4 million Ahadith. Many modern scholars believe that they miserably failed in their pursuit. Without going into much detail it is enough to realize that Imam Bukhari, considered the greatest Muhaddith of all-times, reportedly came across 600,000 Prophetic sayings and using his own judgment, kept 2,800, and discarded the rest. Imam Kalini collection, Al-Kafi, out of a similar number chose 16,000 but the book itself claims that only 5,000 of these can be considered trustworthy. No one has had the courage to venture into naming those 5,000. In short, the “science” of Asma ar-Rajal is not a science at all. It is mere conjecture. 6) The most popular Mullah of the 20th century, Maududi, came out with his own branded principle. He claimed that the only rightful scholar who can research a hadith would be the one who would inherently be ‘Mizaj Shenas-e Rasul, someone who understands the mindset of the Prophet. In other words, any Hadith that Maududi would feel authentic should be considered as such. 7) The end result of the above criteria used so far is that they have failed to bring up unanimity and agreement between scholars and sects of Islam. Therefore, different scholars and sects and the masses tend to accept only those Ahadith that fit into their dogmas and reject those that are otherwise. The True Criterion: Muslims are blessed to possess Al-Furqan, the True Criterion. It is easy to understand that any quotation ascribed to the exalted Prophet should be judged in that Light since the Qur’an is the final, unchangeable Word of God for all times. There is convincing internal evidence in the Qur’an to that effect. The Glorious Book sheds extremely valuable light on the character traits of the Prophet (S) and his noble companions, men and women. Hazrat Aisha stressed, “The character of Mohammad (S) was nothing but the Qur’an.” Finally, the exalted Prophet himself is reported to have said, “Quotations will be presented to you in my name. You must check them with the Qur’an. Take those that are in agreement and discard those that go against it.” Can this simple rule not save Muslims from the mental punishment, post-mortem examination of the narrators and waste of time and energy they have been going through for centuries? There is a popular saying of Hazrat Umar: HASBUNA KITABULLAH (Sufficient for us is the Book of Allah). Some Basic Principles in the Qur’an Now a very important question arises. Most people do not have sufficient knowledge of the Qur’an, so how can they test a Hadith according to it? The Qur’an establishes some fundamental principles that empower us to assess the authenticity of any reports on History and Hadith. Briefly, the principles are: - The Law of Requital (Qur’an 99:7): As you sow, so shall you reap. Hence, reward and punishment are natural consequences of our own actions. Any contrary statement will be non-Qur’anic. God is not emotional. Therefore he does not reward and punish for being happy or angry. - No person can be held responsible for, or share the burden of another (53:38). - On the authority of the Qur’an (33:21), Prophet Mohammad (S) was a model human being with the best character and conduct. No action of his was contrary to the Qur’an. - About his noble companions, the Qur’an (8:74, 9:100) tells us that Allah was pleased with them and they were pleased with Him. They were staunch and practical believers. - The Qur’an repeatedly impresses upon us that the Laws of God never change (48:23). Hence, people do not fly in the air or walk on water. - The Qur’an is the last Message of God and Mohammad (S) is his final Messenger. Religion has been perfected (5:3, 6:34, 15:9, 75:17) and therefore anyone claiming Revelation after him, in any form, will be either insane or an impostor. - Exercising common sense can easily tell us that a certain narrative should not be ascribed to the most knowledgeable man who ever walked this earth. In fact, according to the Qur’an, people who do not use their faculties of hearing, sight and thinking cannot be Muslims and they are living the life of cattle (7:179). The exalted Prophet said, “All goodness is linked to reason. One who has lost reason will not retain religion.” Therefore, any narrative that falls into one of the following categories cannot be considered authentic: 1. Any hadith that insults the Prophet. 2. Any hadith that disrespects the noble companions because they were chosen by the best judge of people (Al-Muzzammil). 3. The exalted Messenger was the most revolutionary person in the history of mankind. Therefore, any Ahadith portraying him as a storyteller, soothsayer, a man preoccupied with women, spending half his life on the prayer rug and the other half in bed, must be considered false. 4. Any narrative based upon outright ignorance and against common observation cannot be a saying of the Prophet (S). For example, “No animal is born with deformities” or “Looking at a beautiful face sharpens the eye” must be false even if reported in ‘Sahah Sittah’ (The Six Right Collections of Hadith). Wrtten by Dr. Shabbir Ahmed. not reviewed or edited
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 17:05:21 +0000
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