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2011 Taha Jabir Al Alwani. Reviving The Balance The Authority of The Qur'an and The Status of The Sunnah

The document presents a collection of key publications from the International Institute of Islamic Thought, focusing on the relationship between the Qur'an and the Sunnah in Islam. It emphasizes the need to restore the balance between the two, arguing that the Sunnah should not overshadow the Qur'an. The work aims to facilitate understanding and discourse on this delicate subject while providing a concise overview of the original texts.
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
4 views226 pages

2011 Taha Jabir Al Alwani. Reviving The Balance The Authority of The Qur'an and The Status of The Sunnah

The document presents a collection of key publications from the International Institute of Islamic Thought, focusing on the relationship between the Qur'an and the Sunnah in Islam. It emphasizes the need to restore the balance between the two, arguing that the Sunnah should not overshadow the Qur'an. The work aims to facilitate understanding and discourse on this delicate subject while providing a concise overview of the original texts.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Reviving Cover CASED_Layout 1 02/03/2017 15:32 Page 1

IIIT Books-In-Brief Series


SELECTION OF IIIT PU BLICATIONS
This is a collection of the Institute’s key
publications written in condensed form Arif Kemil Abdullah
to give readers a core understanding of The Qur’an and Normative Religious Pluralism:
the main contents of the original. A Thematic Study of the Qur’an

reviving the balance


This work studies the position of the Sunnah in Islam and its fundamental
relationship to the Qur’an. The author carefully examines the sensitive issue of AbdulHamid AbuSulayman
AbdulHamid AbuSulayman The Qur'anic Worldview: A Springboard For
The Qur’anic Worldview: A Springboard for the development of the oral and written traditions, the problems scholars faced Cultural Reform
Cultural Reform despite painstaking work verifying the authenticity of reports, the character of Taha Jabir Alalwani
Taha Jabir Alalwani narrators, etc. and the ever growing complexity of a body of narratives that Apostasy In Islam: A Historical & Scriptural Analysis
Apostasy In Islam: A Historical &
Scriptural Analysis were making the simplicity and clarity of the Prophet’s life, words, and actions, Taha Jabir Alalwani
Ethics of Disagreement in Islam
Haggag Ali
a burgeoning maze of information. Taking the praiseworthy intention and
Mapping the Secular Mind: Modernity’s Quest for effort to emulate the Prophet into account, the author nevertheless makes the Haggag Ali
a Godless Utopia Mapping the Secular Mind: Modernity’s Quest for a
case that once the Sunnah had been collected, the Muslim community began to
Ahmed Essa with Othman Ali
Studies In Islamic Civilization: The Muslim
Contribution to The Renaissance
neglect the Qur’an in favor of narrations of what the Prophet had done and said
on the pretext that such narratives “contained” the Qur’an. Eventually they
Reviving the balance Godless Utopia
Ahmed Essa with Othman Ali
Studies In Islamic Civilization: The Muslim
Muhammad al-Tahir Ibn Ashur
Ibn Ashur: Treatise on Maqasid al-Shariah
then abandoned the Sunnah narratives in favor of Islamic jurisprudence on the The Authority of the Qur’an and the Contribution to The Renaissance
Hisham Altalib, A. AbuSulayman, Omar Altalib
pretext that Islamic juristic texts tacitly included both the Qur’an and the
Badrane Benlahcene Sunnah. It is with the aim of restoring the relationship between the two that this
Status of the Sunnah Parent-Child Relations: A Guide to Raising Children
The Socio-Intellectual Foundations of Malik Badri
Malek Bennabi’s Approach to Civilisation work has been written, that is, the Prophetic Sunnah must be tied inextricably
taha jabir alalwani Abu Zayd al-Balkhi’s Sustenance of the Soul: The
Cognitive Behavior Therapy of a Ninth Century
Katherine Bullock to the Qur’an in a way that allows for no contradiction or conflict between the
Rethinking Muslim Women and the Veil: Physician
two, to avoid misapplication and abuse of hadith, and to meet the requirements
Challenging Historical and Modern Stereotypes Badrane Benlahcene
and challenges of a new age. The Socio-Intellectual Foundations of
Abdelwahab M. Elmessiri
Epistemological Bias in the Physical and Malek Bennabi’s Approach to Civilisation
Social Sciences Dr. Taha Jabir Alalwani (1935– 2016) was a graduate of Al-Azhar University and an internation-

Taha Jabir Alalwani


Mohammad Omar Farooq
Mohammad Omar Farooq ally renowned scholar and expert in the fields of Islamic legal theory, jurisprudence (fiqh), and Toward Our Reformation: From Legalism to Value-
Toward Our Reformation: From Legalism to Value- u|‰l al-fiqh. He authored numerous works and was a member of the OIC Islamic Fiqh Academy, Oriented Islamic Law and Jurisprudence
Oriented Islamic Law and Jurisprudence and President of Cordoba University in Ashburn, Virginia, United States. Ismail R. al Faruqi
Sharmin Islam Islam: Religion, Practice, Culture and World Order
Ethics of Assisted Reproductive Medicine: A
Comparative Study of Western Secular and Islamic Sharmin Islam
Bioethics Ethics of Assisted Reproductive Medicine:
A Comparative Study of Western Secular and
Israr Ahmad Khan Islamic Bioethics
Authentication of Hadith: Redefining
the Criteria Fathi Malkawi
Epistemological Integration: Essentials of an
Fathi Malkawi
Epistemological Integration: Essentials of an
Islamic Methodology
Islamic Methodology Musfir bin Ali al-Qahtani
Musfir bin Ali al-Qahtani
 Understanding Maqasid al-Shariah: A
Understanding Maqasid al-Shariah: A Contemporary Perspective
Contemporary Perspective i s b n 978-1-56564-691-9
Ahmad al-Raysuni
Ahmad al-Raysuni Al-Shura: The Qur’anic Principle of Consultation
Al-Shura: The Qur’anic Principle of
Consultation Bassam Saeh
The Miraculous Language of the Qur’an:
Ahmad al-Raysuni Evidence of Divine Origin
Imam al-Shatibi’s Theory of the Higher           © 
Objectives and Intents of Islamic Law Zulfiqar Ali Shah
Anthropomorphic Depictions of God: The Concept
Zulfiqar Ali Shah of God in Judaic, Christian and Islamic Traditions.
Anthropomorphic Depictions of God: The Representing the Unrepresentable
Concept of God in Judaic, Christian and
Islamic Traditions. Representing the
Unrepresentable
Master Text Reviving the Balance TEXT_Revised Papers 02/03/2017 15:34 Page i

reviving the balance


The Authority of The Qur’an and The Status of The Sunnah
Master Text Reviving the Balance TEXT_Revised Papers 02/03/2017 15:34 Page ii

© the international institute of islamic thought


ah /ce

the international institute of islamic thought


p.o. box , herndon, va , usa
www.iiit.org

london office
p.o. box , richmond, surrey, tw ud, uk
www.iiituk.com

This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the


provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction
of any part may take place without the written permission of the publishers.

isbn ---- limp


isbn ---- cased

The views and opinions expressed in this book are those of the author and not
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Reviving the balance


The Authority of the Qur’an and
the Status of the Sunnah


Taha Jabir Alalwani

Translated by
Nancy Roberts

     


 • 
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Master Text Reviving the Balance TEXT_Revised Papers 02/03/2017 15:34 Page v

Contents

Foreword VII
Introduction XI

chapter 1
Prophethood and the Prophet’s Duties 1

first The Prophet as Messenger and Human Being 1


second Prophets in the Qur’an 8
third The Tasks Assigned to the Prophets 10
fourth The Tasks Assigned to the Seal of the Prophets 11
fifth The ®yah (Miracle or Sign) in Previous Messages and
in the Final Message 20

chapter 2
Sunnah as Concept and as Technical Term 33

first The Concept of the Sunnah and its Historical Development 33


second Later Use of the Term Sunnah 40
third Semantic Evolution of Notions Relating
to the Concept of Sunnah 47

chapter 3
The Qur’an as Creative Source and the
Sunnah as Practical Clarification 56

first The Concept of Wa^y 57


second The Sunnah and the Theory of Elucidation 71
third Examining the Sunnah in Light of the Qur’an 76
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chapter 4
The Expanding Role of Narrative –
A Historical Overview 91

first The Generation That Witnessed the Qur’anic Revelation 92


second The Narrative Generation is Born 97
third Legists and the Generation of Jurisprudence 98
fourth The Imitator Generations 108

chapter 5
The Chronicling of the Sunnah and its
Historical Context 112

first The Chronicling of the Sunnah and the


Impact of Jewish and Greek Culture 114
second A Look at Hadiths That Address the Matter
of Recording Narrated Reports in Writing 119

chapter 6
The Authoritativeness of the Reporting of the Sunnah 144

first The Authoritativeness of the Sunnah and Reports Thereof


in the Generation Contemporary to the Prophet, and the
Narrative Generation 145
second The Hadith Sciences: ‘Narrative’ and ‘Knowledge’ 156
third The U|‰l Method’s Influence on Later Hadith Scholars 172
fourth Narrator Evaluation: Objectivity and Subjectivity 177
fifth The Terminology Employed in ¢Ilm al-Rij¥l 182
sixth Loopholes in Narrator Assessment Methodology 186
seventh Narrators’ Memory 191
eighth Isn¥d Criticism vs. Matn Criticism 194

Glossary of Terms 203


Notes 206
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Foreword

taha jabir alalwani’s Reviving the Balance: The Authority of


the Qur’an and the Status of the Sunnah studies the position of the
Sunnah in Islam and its fundamental relationship to the Qur’an.
The work carefully examines the sensitive issue of the development
of the oral and written traditions, the problems scholars faced despite
painstaking work verifying the authenticity of reports as well as the
character of narrators etc., and the ever growing complexity of a body
of narratives, with a labyrinthine shroud of scholastic views, that were
making the simplicity and clarity of the Prophet’s (ßAAS)* life, words,
and actions, a burgeoning maze of information. Taking the without
doubt praiseworthy intention and effort to emulate the Prophet into
account, the author nevertheless makes the case that once the Sunnah
had been collected, the Muslim community began to neglect the Qur’an
in favor of narrations of what the Prophet had done and said on the
pretext that such narratives “contained” the Qur’an, and it is with the
aim of restoring the relationship between the two that this work has
been written. The author stresses that the Qur’an should be given
precedence with the Prophetic Sunnah tied inextricably to the Qur’an
in a way that allows for no contradiction between the two.
The IIIT has undertaken in recent years to produce abridged
versions of its key publications, and this translation is taken from the
abridged Arabic edition, Ishk¥liyyah al-Ta¢¥mul Ma¢a al-Sunnah al-
Nabawiyyah.
We live in an age in which time is at a premium in virtually all
spheres of life, including those of writing and production. Copious
intellectual, cultural and informational output continues unabated as

*ßAAS – ßalla All¥hu ¢Alayhi wa Sallam: May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him; said whenever the name of Prophet Muhammad is mentioned or whenever he is
referred to as the Prophet of Allah.

vii
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Foreword

part of efforts to keep pace with changes in the public and private
spheres alike, while publishing houses and websites vie to provide
people with the latest, and most up-to-date information in the easiest,
most effective manner. The knowledge economy that now dominates
the world requires a process of ‘creative adaptation’ of information as
one of the building blocks of the world community at large, hence the
IIIT’s series of abridged works. The aim is to help readers benefit from
available information as easily, effectively, and efficiently as possible
and to further develop their critical faculties so they become better able
to contribute to the development of humanity. .
The abridged texts have been written in a clear, easy to read style,
and while the essential contents of the original works have been pre-
served, readers will note that, in the interests of space, the abridged
editions contain far fewer endnotes than do the original works. The
only notes retained are those needed for clarification or the proper
establishment of an idea, since the principle aim of this endeavor is to
facilitate rapid absorption of the content being conveyed. Readers who
wish to go more deeply into the topics of concern or to find full docu-
mentation of quotes may refer to the original works, which contain all
necessary citations.
The work is being published to widen discourse, and to clarify the
relationship between the Sunnah and the Qur’an. No doubt the subject
is a delicate one, but it is hoped that for the most part both general and
specialist readers alike will benefit from the perspective offered and the
overall issues examined.
Where dates are cited according to the Islamic calendar (hijrah)
they are labelled ah. Otherwise they follow the Gregorian calendar
and labelled ce where necessary. Arabic words are italicized except for
those which have entered common usage. Diacritical marks have been
added only to those Arabic names not considered modern. English
translations taken from Arabic references are those of the translator.
Since its establishment in 1981, the IIIT has served as a major center
to facilitate serious scholarly efforts. Towards this end it has, over the
decades, conducted numerous programs of research, seminars and
conferences as well as publishing scholarly works specialising in the
social sciences and areas of theology, which to date number more than

viii
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Foreword

four hundred titles in English and Arabic, many of which have been
translated into other major languages.
We would like to thank the author, translator, as well as editorial
and production team at the IIIT London Office, and all those who were
directly or indirectly involved in the completion of this book. May God
reward them for all their efforts.

j a n u a r y , 2017

ix
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Introduction

t h e p u r p o s e of this book is to clarify the relationship between the


Sunnah* – the sayings and actions of the Prophet – and the Qur’an.
This relationship, which has been described in disparate ways and
from a variety of perspectives based on changing historical circum-
stances, has given rise to varied forms of knowledge and expertise. This
knowledge and experience have, in turn, left their mark on the sciences
through which we examine the Sunnah. Earlier and later1 hadith
scholars adopted differing viewpoints and attitudes, while the stances
taken by Islamic schools of thought – both juristic and philosophical –
on specific types of Sunnah narratives reflected the concrete life condi-
tions of the scholars in question. Similarly, differences over whether to
categorize a given narrator as trustworthy or untrustworthy reflected
disparate juristic, theological or philosophical principles that might
lead some to reject this or that narrator while approving another, to
accept this or that hadith while rejecting or reinterpreting those that
contradict it, to accept or reject the criteria for criticizing the content of
hadith narratives, and so on.
The question of how to approach the Sunnah had not yet arisen
during the time of the Prophet, who instructed his followers to emulate
him as he adhered to the Qur’an. It was he who showed them how to
apply the Qur’an, translating its teachings into concrete behavior and
using it as their guide in life. In order to ensure that the Sunnah fulfilled
the practical role for which it was intended, the Prophet made a point
not to allow the Qur’anic text to be confused with any other. Similarly,
he discouraged the Muslim community from preoccupying itself with
any text other than the Qur’an, even if divine authority was claimed for
it. God has rendered the Qur’an so complete that it contains the entire

*For the various senses in which the word sunnah is being used in this translation, see
the entry for “Sunnah” in the Glossary of Terms.

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Introduction

Islamic religion. It is the Qur’an that provides the explication of every-


thing, while the Prophet’s example provides a comprehensive demon-
stration of how to apply everything taught in the Qur’an.
The Messenger of God was determined not to allow believers’
minds and hearts to be occupied by anything that might set itself up as a
rival to the Qur’an, or to let their attention be diverted by things far less
worthy. Consequently, he warned the Muslim community against
writing down, or concerning themselves with, anything but the Qur’an
alone.
However, once the Sunnah had been collected, the Muslim commu-
nity did, in fact, neglect the Qur’an in favor of narrations of what the
Prophet had done and said on the pretext that such narratives “con-
tained” the Qur’an. They then abandoned the Sunnah narratives in
favor of Islamic jurisprudence on the pretext that Islamic juristic texts
tacitly included both the Qur’an and the Sunnah.
In sum, I hope this book will provide answers to the troublesome
questions that so frequently arouse controversy or disagreement
among those who concern themselves with the study of the Prophetic
Sunnah and Islamic tradition.

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1
Prophethood and the
Prophet’s Duties

[first]
The Prophet as Messenger and Human Being

t h e f i n a l message of God to humankind encompasses the experi-


ences of all previous prophets combined. It provides an overview of the
history of the divine messengers with their peoples, some of whom
accepted their message, and others of whom rejected it. The Qur’an
presents us with many of these encounters and deals with the differ-
ences, both overarching and minute, between prophethood and
divinity lest the new community of faith repeat the errors of former
nations who had lost the ability to distinguish between prophethood
and apostleship on one hand, and lordship and divinity on the other, as
well as between human free will and divine ordainment. The Qur’an
emphasizes the humanity of the Apostle and the need to obey whatever
commands he brought from God. The Apostle thus warned people
against revering him excessively. He said such things as, “I am a mere
human being, who forgets just as you do,” “I was born of a woman
who eats jerked meat,” and, “Do not turn my grave into the site of
yearly religious rites or celebrations (l¥ tattakhidh‰ qabrÏ ¢Ïd). At the
same time, the Prophet’s followers were forbidden, for example, to
raise their voices over his (cf. S‰rah al-¤ujur¥t, 49:2).
At one point the Muslim community was in a state of such discord
that its members ran the gamut of extremes in their approach to the
Prophet. Among the Bedouin Arabs there were those who thought of
him as nothing but a tribal chief. Hence, they had no hesitations about

1
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taha jabir alalwani

calling him by name without preceding it with the title “Prophet” and
following it with the prayer, ßall¥ All¥hu ¢Alayhi wa Sallam, “may
God’s blessings and peace be upon him,” while others in the community
went so far as to ascribe to him attributes of lordship and divinity.

The Concept of “Prophet”


The Arabic words for prophet (nabÏ) and prophethood (nubuwah) are
derived from the triliteral root n-b-’, meaning to be elevated, high or
raised. Hence, the nabÏ, or prophet, might be likened to an elevated
rock escarpment which serves as a landmark or guide for travelers. The
nabÏ is also one who has informed (anba’a) others about God, the
Arabic noun naba’ referring to a piece of news or information about an
individual of high standing. Al-I|fah¥nÏ wrote that the word “nubuwah
refers to a site raised above the surrounding area.” Grammatically
speaking, the noun nabÏ might be found in the form of the active par-
ticiple munbi’, referring to someone who brings tidings about God, or
a passive participle munba’ minhu, referring to someone from whom
the tidings have gone out. However, the term nabÏ, with a doubled Ï
sound at the end, is the most commonly used.
Among Jews and Christians, the prophet is an inspired individual
who informs others about the realm of the unseen. In ancient Hebrew
the word for prophet was used to refer to someone who spoke of legal
matters. Among Muslims, the term nabÏ refers to someone to whom
God has given a revelation; if this individual is commanded to commu-
nicate the revelation to others, he is referred to as a ras‰l, that is, an
apostle or messenger. Hence, every apostle or messenger is also a
prophet; every ras‰l is also a nabÏ. S‰rah al-A¢r¥f speaks of those “who
believe in Our messages, those who shall follow the [last] Apostle, the
unlettered Prophet whom they shall find described in the Torah that is
with them, and [later on] in the Gospel” (7:156-157). We read in S‰rah
®l ¢Imr¥n: “And Muhammad is only an apostle (ras‰l); all the [other]
apostles (ru|‰l) have passed away before him” (3:144). In S‰rah al-
An¢¥m, by contrast, the word ru|‰l refers both to angels and human
beings: “And We send [Our] message-bearers only as heralds of glad
tidings and as warners…” (6:48).

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Reviving the Balance

The Concept of “Apostle”


The Arabic word for apostle – ras‰l – is derived from the verb arsala,
meaning to send. The verb arsala is used in a negative context in S‰rah
Maryam, where it is used to refer to God’s “letting loose” satanic
forces against those who willfully disbelieve: “Are you not aware that
We have let loose (arsaln¥) all [manner of] satanic forces upon those
who deny the truth… (19:83)?” The difference between God’s sending
(irs¥l) of His prophets and His letting loose (also irs¥l) of satanic forces
against His enemies is that in the first case, He is sending His prophets
to warn others of judgment to come. The singular of apostle, ras‰l, is
found in S‰rah al-Tawbah – “Indeed, there has come unto you [O
mankind] an Apostle (ras‰l) from among yourselves (9:128)” – and
S‰rah al-Shu¢ar¥’, where the singular form, ras‰l, is used to refer both
to Moses and Aaron together (26:16). The plural form, ru|‰l, is used to
refer sometimes to angels, and sometimes to prophets: “[Whereupon
the angels] said: ‘O Lot! Behold, we are messengers (ru|‰l) from your
Sustainer!’” (S‰rah H‰d, 11:81). In ®l ¢Imr¥n we read: “And
Muhammad is only an apostle (ras‰l); all the [other] apostles (ru|‰l)
have passed away before him” (3:144). In S‰rah al-An¢¥m, by con-
trast, the word ru|‰l refers to both angels and human beings: “And We
send [Our] message-bearers (ru|‰l) only as heralds of good tidings and
as warners” (6:48). The word arsala may, moreover, refer to the send-
ing of something desirable, such as life-giving rain (S‰rah N‰^, 71:11),
or to something undesirable, such as divine chastisement (S‰rah al-
Dh¥riy¥t, 51:33).

The Difference Between Prophethood and Apostlehood


The Qur’an draws a distinction between prophet and apostle, or mes-
senger. Both the prophet and the apostle have received a message
revealed by God. However, the message that has been revealed to an
apostle (ras‰l) is legislative in nature, whereas the revelation given to
the prophet (nabÏ) contains no new legislation. Rather, the prophet is
subordinate to and follows the legislation brought by the apostle who
preceded him. Both prophet and apostle are held accountable before
God for communicating the revelations they have been given and for
inviting their people to follow the messages they have brought. The

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taha jabir alalwani

function or duty of the apostle is to recite the message he has received


and to communicate to others whatever God has revealed to him by
way of legal commands. As we read in S‰rah al-N‰r:

Say: “Pay heed unto God, and pay heed unto the Apostle.” And if you turn
away [from the Apostle, know that] he will have to answer only for what-
ever he has been charged with, and you, for what you have been charged
with; but if you pay heed unto him, you will be on the right way. Withal, the
Apostle is not bound to do more than clearly deliver the message [entrusted
to him]. (24:54)

As for the function of the prophet, or nabÏ, it is to teach and lead


others by calling upon them to follow the message brought by the apos-
tle who came before him. Prophethood entails a pedagogical mission;
hence, a prophet is, as we have seen, subordinate to the apostle who
preceded him. This meaning is illustrated in the story of Moses and
Aaron. Speaking of Moses, God says, “We granted unto him his brother
Aaron, to be a prophet [by his side]…” (S‰rah Maryam, 19:53).
Hence, Aaron was a prophet; at the same time, however, God sent him
with Moses to Pharaoh as Moses’ source of support; as such, he sup-
ported an apostle as well. The difference between the two brothers was
that Moses had been given a divinely inspired message, whereas Aaron
had not. Rather, he was in the service of the message revealed to Moses.
Similarly, the other prophets sent to the children of Israel were subor-
dinate to the message that had been revealed to Moses rather than
being bearers of new legislation from God. They were given commands
and instructions in response to which they were to guide others on the
basis of Moses’s message. The only exception to this was Jesus, to
whom himself was revealed a message from God. As such, he was an
apostle, and was granted divine protection from being harmed by
others.
In this connection, the Qur’an draws another distinction between
the prophet and the apostle based on the notion of what is termed in
Arabic ¢i|mah, which might be rendered “divine protection.” Prophets
are not granted such protection. Rather, like all other human beings,
some of them have been killed. Nor are they granted divine protection
from human failings and foibles such as error, forgetfulness, and

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Reviving the Balance

falling into disobedience. The prophet, being a knower of God, forti-


fies himself against lying and other acts of disobedience by the power of
his human will. In other words, it is a self-protection that all people are
called upon to engage in. As God commands believers, “And hold fast
(wa¢ta|im‰), all together, unto the bond with God” (®l ¢Imr¥n, 3:103).
The Arabic word used in the command to “hold fast,” that is, i¢ta|im‰,
is derived from the verb ¢a|ama, which means to preserve, guard,
defend, or render immune. Hence, believers are being exhorted to
guard themselves against the forces of disunity by clinging to God’s
“rope.”
As for the ¢i|mah, or the protection afforded an apostle, it is marked
by two aspects. The first is protection from being killed, the purpose
being to enable the apostle to complete his mission. The second aspect
of the ¢i|mah enjoyed by an apostle is protection against error when
proclaiming the words of the revealed message. The revelation is thus
preserved both in the memory of the apostle and in the manner in
which it is uttered so that there will be no error in the process of trans-
mitting it to others. When an apostle finishes transmitting to others the
message with which he has been entrusted, his role as apostle comes to
an end and his role as prophet begins. Given the fact that the apostle is
the first person to have received the message newly revealed and, there-
fore, the first one to be held accountable for responding to it, his role as
prophet is to act on the revealed message, teach it to others, and call on
them to accept and apply it themselves.
Prophethood did nothing to negate the prophet’s humanity.
Rather, it accorded him the role of scholar and teacher. Nor, when a
prophet became an apostle, did this negate his humanity or his task as a
prophet. Rather, maintaining his full humanity and his Prophetic role,
he took on the role of apostle as well, saying at God’s command, “I am
but a mortal man like all of you” (S‰rah al-Kahf, 18:110). Moreover,
since prophethood confers the status of teacher, and since prophets are
the most illustrious of scholars, then prophets are the most qualified of
all to engage in interpretation (ijtihad) of the divine message. The
prophet engages in ijtihad when teaching, inferring rulings and glean-
ing information from the divinely given message, and inviting others to
embrace and practice it. If, on the other hand, he is [also] an apostle, he

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uses the message that has been revealed to him. Hence, given these
three distinctions between a prophet and an apostle with respect to the
message given, the kind of protection afforded, and the practice of ijti-
had, it is generally agreed that an apostle is a prophet to whom divine
legislation has been revealed, and that a prophet is subordinate to an
apostle, hence the principle that “every apostle is a prophet, but not
every prophet is an apostle.”
One does not become a prophet through some acquired experience
or accomplishments. Rather, one becomes a prophet by being chosen
by God for this role. It is a role that involves one in acquiring and
imparting knowledge, leadership, and calling others to embrace the
divine message. Whatever suffering an ordinary human being might
endure, may be endured by a prophet as well, and whatever immunity
to imperfection and sin a prophet enjoys, he enjoys by dint of his own
will and effort. As a scholar, moreover, the prophet is entitled to
engage in ijtihad.
As for the apostle, his status is that of someone who has been com-
missioned to deliver God’s message to people; he has been commanded
to do nothing but recite and deliver the message. He has no right to
offer his own interpretations of the message’s content as delivered. The
apostle enjoys divine protection from losing or forgetting any of the
message; he is given the ability to utter the message perfectly, and is
protected from being killed in order that he might complete his
mission.
Based on the foregoing, we may conclude that the status of prophet-
hood is linked to the person of the prophet himself. Hence, the station
of prophethood comes to an end upon the death of the prophet as
happened in the case of the prophet Aaron, whereas the station of
apostleship is linked not to the person of the apostle, but, rather, to the
message he has been given. Hence, if an apostle should die, this has no
effect on the message he has brought; this is illustrated in the fact that
after Moses’ death, the Torah that had been revealed to him lived on.
Prophethood is tied to time and place, while apostleship is universal
and ongoing after the death of the individual who fulfilled this role.
Given this distinction, it may be said that Muhammad’s prophetic mis-
sion was to the Arabs, while his apostolic mission is for all people

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everywhere. As God declares, “Say [O Muhammad]: ‘O mankind!


Verily, I am an apostle of God to all of you’” (S‰rah al-A¢r¥f, 7:158).
And in fact, the message brought by the Prophet Muhammad as
embodied in the Qur’an continues to spread among people all over the
world. Contrast this with the hadiths, or narratives of the Prophet’s
words and actions, many of which have been, and continue to be, the
subject of heated discussion and disagreement among Muslims. When
the process of revealing the religion of Islam, which had begun in the
days of Noah and continued through Abraham, Moses and Jesus,
reached completion with the Prophet Muhammad, may God’s bless-
ings and peace be upon them all, this meant of necessity that there
would be no more need for prophets. Instead, the completed, final mes-
sage has continued to be conveyed from one generation to the next via
scholars, each of whom fulfills the role of prophet in his or her genera-
tion. Given the knowledge and means at their disposal, such scholars
teach people, call them to truth and justice, and derive relevant rulings
from the divinely revealed message in order to provide remedies and
solutions to newly arising issues and problems in the life of society.
All speech addressed to a prophet, whether explicitly or implicitly,
is pedagogical and instructional in nature, its purpose being to guide
people to a better way and to the best possible solutions given their cur-
rent circumstances. It is not, however, new legislation. When we
encounter discourse that begins with the imperative, “Say…,” we need
to examine the content that follows. If it contains legal rulings such as
those we find, for example, in S‰rah al-Baqarah, 2:222, which deals
with marital relations when the wife is menstruating, then the person
addressed with the imperative “Say” is the Messenger of God in his
role as apostle. If, however, the text is simply instructional, such as,
“Say: ‘He is the One God….’” (S‰rah al-Ikhl¥|, 112:1), then he is being
addressed in his role as prophet. If the discourse contains the word
“apostle” (ras‰l) explicitly and the text is related to legal rulings or
obedience to God, then the discourse is addressed to the Messenger of
God in his role as apostle, whereas if it has to do with instructions or
repetition following an act of obedience to God, then it is directed to
him in his role as prophet.

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Prior to being chosen by God, no one knows that he will become a


prophet or an apostle. He has no foreknowledge of this event, nor
would such a person seek out such a calling. Rather, “[In His Almight-
iness,] God chooses message-bearers from among the angels as well as
from among men. But, behold, God [alone] is All-Hearing, All-Seeing
[whereas their knowledge is limited]” (S‰rah al-¤ajj, 22:75; see S‰rah
al-An¢¥m, 6:124). It is essential that we understand the concepts of
prophethood and apostlehood as they are set forth in the Qur’an itself,
and not as some present them based on their own whims and fancies.

[second]
Prophets in the Qur’an

The Qur’an clears the prophets who came to the children of Israel of
the false accusations that have been leveled against them, and stresses
their full humanity:

For [even] before your time, [O Muhammad,] We never sent [as Our apos-
tles] any but [mortal] men, whom We inspired – hence, [tell the deniers of
the truth,] “If you do not know this, ask the followers of earlier revelation”
and neither did We endow them with bodies that could dispense with food,
nor were they immortal. (S‰rah al-Anbiy¥’, 21:7-8)

The Qur’an sets forth the broad outlines of how to view and
respond to the prophets, whose stories as told in the Qur’an provide
systematic foundations for defining the contours of the human soci-
eties with which the prophets dealt in a variety of time periods. The
Prophet is quoted in ßa^Ï^ al-Bukh¥rÏ as having described the “prophet-
ic structure” of societies in the words:

The relationship between me and the prophets who preceded me might be


likened to a man who built a house. The house was well-made and beautiful
except for the fact that it was missing a brick in one corner. People walked
around the house and marveled, saying, “Why was this brick left out?” I
am that brick. I am the seal of the prophets.

Both the Qur’an and the Sunnah affirm the infallibility (¢i|mah) of

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the prophets in the sense that no true prophet would be capable of com-
mitting a major sin. After all, in order for them to fulfill the purpose for
which they were sent, the prophets must be worthy examples to emu-
late. They must be above any action that would call their integrity or
their message into question, and be fortified against the possibility of
disobeying God by violating the revelation given to them.

The Relationship Between the Prophet Muhammad


and the Prophets Who Preceded Him
The Qur’an sums up the relationship between the Prophet Muhammad
and the prophets who preceded them in the words, “Verily [O you who
believe in Me,] this community of yours is one single community, since
I am the Sustainer of you all: worship, then, Me [alone]” (S‰rah al-
Anbiy¥’, 21:92). God’s prophets make up “a single community” with
respect to their messages, the source from which these messages have
come, their call for adherence to God-given ideals and self-purifica-
tion, and their call to lay the foundations of human civilization on
Earth. The Qur’an sets forth the points of commonality and difference
among the prophets and messengers; similarly, it shows the constants
and variables in the messages they brought. Specifically, the Qur’an
stresses four important dimensions: (1) doctrine, (2) human values and
morals, (3) divinely revealed law, and (4) human interactions in society.
As for detailed and newly formulated laws, these differ from one society
to the next based on variables of time and place.

The Acts of Worship Engaged in by the Prophet


Before he Received His Divine Calling
Were the acts of worship engaged in by the Prophet before and after he
received his divine calling based on the laws and traditions adhered to
by those who had received revelation before his time? Scholars of the
fundamentals of Islamic jurisprudence may be divided into three cate-
gories based on their answer to this question. One group of scholars
denies that the Prophet worshipped in accordance with the rites of
those who had come before him. A second group affirms that he did
worship in accordance with former practices. And a third group
expresses no opinion on the matter.

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The difficulty here results from a faulty understanding of the


Qur’anic context. Those belonging to the second group cite S‰rah al-
An¢¥m, where God commands the Prophet to “follow the guidance” of
those “whom God has guided” (6:90). They also cite S‰rah al-Na^l,
where God says, “We have inspired you, [O Muhammad, with this
message:] ‘Follow the creed of Abraham, who turned away from all
that is false, and was not of those who ascribe divinity to aught beside
God’” (16:123), as well as other Qur’anic passages which affirm the
oneness of the sources in the monotheistic tradition with respect to
faith in God alone, worship, values and morals. Through this affirma-
tion of oneness, such scholars have argued that if Jews and Christians
truly believe in the divine revelation that preceded Islam, then they are
obliged to accept the guidance and light brought in the Qur’an, since
they are essentially the same guidance and light that were brought by
previous revelations. As for divinely inspired legislation, it will differ
from one prophet to the next, but has been crowned at last by the
message of compassion and alleviation brought by the Prophet
Muhammad. As we read in S‰rah al-A¢r¥f (7:158):

Say, [O Muhammad]: “O mankind! Verily, I am an apostle of God to all of


you, [sent by Him] unto Whom the dominion over the heavens and the earth
belongs! There is no deity save Him; He [alone] grants life and deals death!”
Believe, then, in God and His Apostle – the unlettered Prophet who believes
in God and His words – and follow him, so that you might find guidance!

Hence, we may say that the divine message revealed to all apostles and
prophets is founded upon specific pillars, which are: the oneness of
God, the full humanity of the prophets and the truth of their messages,
and the command given to all prophets to follow the message revealed
to them.

[third]
The Tasks Assigned to the Prophets

God has assigned His prophets and apostles tasks and responsibilities
which they must carry out precisely as given. The Qur’an was revealed

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in order to clarify what these tasks are. It cites the examples of bygone
religious communities whose perceptions of who their prophets were
had become distorted, and warns against falling into the same errors
into which they once fell. The Qur’an stresses the full humanity, and
sinlessness, of all God’s messengers with a clarification of the meaning
of the miracles they performed. It emphasizes the finite nature of the
prophets’ human capacities, reminding its readers that whatever signs
these messengers and prophets performed were the doing of God
alone, Who has no partner, and Who granted them these miracles in
order to confirm the truth of their messages:

Say thou, [O Prophet:] “I am but a mortal like you. It has been revealed to
me that your God is the One God: go, then, straight towards Him and seek
His forgiveness!” And woe unto those who ascribe divinity to aught beside
Him. (S‰rah Fu||ilat, 41:6)

The revelations given to earlier prophets took the form of com-


mands to adhere to the rulings that had been revealed to them. They
were to exhort their peoples and show them how to practice the
revealed teachings, thus applying what might be termed “the jurispru-
dence of piety.” Their lived examples were not an end in themselves,
but were, rather, an extension of the revelations they had been given.
Hence, as the Torah relates concerning Moses, Aaron and all other
prophets sent to the children of Israel, these individuals would inform
the people of what was being revealed to them. Then they would
exhort them to act on it and warn them against violating it.

[fourth]
The Tasks Assigned to the Seal of the Prophets

Task Number 1: Til¥wah (recitation, or “following”


the revealed message)
God commanded his Prophet to recite or convey the Qur’an. Thus, we
are told in S‰rah ®l ¢Imr¥n that “Indeed, God bestowed a favor upon
the believers when he raised up in their midst an apostle from among
themselves, to convey His messages unto them (yatl‰ ¢alayhim ¥y¥tihi),

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and to cause them to grow in purity, and to impart unto them the divine
writ as well as wisdom…” (3:164). Another meaning of the Arabic
word yatl‰, often rendered as “recite” or “chant,” is to follow or imi-
tate. God says, “Consider the sun and its radiant brightness, and the
moon as it reflects the sun!” (S‰rah al-Shams, 91:1-2). A more literal
translation of the phrase rendered “reflects the sun” (wa al-qamari
idh¥ tal¥h¥) would be “as it [the moon] follows it [the sun].” The moon
derives light from the sun, and in this sense it is the sun’s “follower” or
“successor.”
God asks rhetorically, “And what of him who stands upon a clear
sign from his Lord, and a witness from Him recites it...?” (yatl‰hu)
(S‰rah H‰d, 11:17, A.J. Arberry). In this context, the verb yatl‰ might
also be understood to mean “acts on the basis thereof.” Hence, the
recitation – til¥wah – of God’s revelations may mean not only to recite
them, but to follow them in the sense of acting on the commands, pro-
hibitions, and exhortations they contain. Its meaning also includes the
notion of conveying from on high, as when God states, “This message
do We convey (natl‰hu) unto you” (S‰rah ®l ¢Imr¥n, 3:58).

Task Number 2: TablÏgh (announcement, declaration)


The verb balagha, from which the intensified verb ballagha (verbal
noun, tablÏgh) is derived, means to reach one’s final or intended desti-
nation, whether in a geographical, temporal, or metaphorical sense.
We read in S‰rah al-N‰r: “Withal, the Apostle is not bound to do
more than clearly deliver the message (al-bal¥gh al-mubÏn)” (24:54).
The Qur’anic phrase al-bal¥gh al-mubÏn intimates that when apostles
deliver God’s message, they deliver it in its totality and enable people to
comprehend it fully in the sense of applying it properly, setting it up
as the model they emulate, instructing others in it, and seeking self-
purification.

Task Number 3: Bay¥n (explication)


The purpose for explicating the Qur’an is to prevent or, at least, to
reduce disagreements among people over how to understand the
Qur’an’s message. God says to the Apostle, “And upon you [too] have
We bestowed from on high this reminder, so that you might make clear

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(li tubayyina) unto mankind all that has ever been thus bestowed upon
them…” (S‰rah al-Na^l, 16:44). The process of making the revelation
clear takes place through words, actions, and the act of approving this
or that idea or action. God declares:

O people of the Book! Now there has come unto you Our Apostle, making
clear (yubayyinu) unto you much of what you have been concealing [from
yourselves] of the Book, and pardoning much. Now there has come unto
you from God a light, and a clear divine writ. (S‰rah al-M¥’idah, 5:15)

The act of clarifying or making clear might address different levels of


meaning. On a more general level, it might address concepts such as
lordship, divinity, and the divine attributes. On a more specific level it
might address itself to issues of belief, doctrine, law and rites of wor-
ship, all of which are areas in which people need clarification. Another
area where clarification is called for has to do with what we mean when
we say that the Qur’an determines what is true in earlier revelations, or
that it confirms the truth of whatever still remains of them (cf. S‰rah al-
M¥’idah, 5:48), bearing in mind that through his lived example, the
Prophet provided a practical model for how to preserve the best and
truest of what the earlier revelations contain.
Consequently, God has untiringly preserved His final revelation for
His exalted name alone. In S‰rah al-Qiy¥mah God says to the Prophet:

Move not your tongue in haste, [repeating the words of the revelation:] for,
behold, it is for Us to gather it [in your heart,] and to cause it to be read [as it
ought to be read]. Thus, when We recite it, follow you its wording [with all
your mind]: and then, behold, it will be for Us to make its meaning clear
(bay¥nuhu). (75:16-19)

In another verse God declares, “Behold, it is We Ourselves who have


bestowed from on high, step by step, this reminder, and, behold, it is
We who shall truly guard it [from all corruption]” (S‰rah al-¤ijr,
15:9). Hence, just as God gave no one but Himself a part in sending
down the revelation from high, neither does He give anyone else a part
in preserving the revelation, reciting it to His final Prophet, explaining
the meanings of its unequivocal verses, “gathering” it in the Prophet’s

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heart and causing him to recite it in such a way that he is in no danger of


forgetting any of it, then clarifying it in such a way that it, in turn, can
serve to clarify everything else. In this way, the various authoritative
references for human beings have been united in the Qur’an, which is
the final revelation given to the Seal of the Prophets in a sacred land.
Therefore, the Qur’an’s authority to validate or invalidate other scrip-
tures is absolute. Similarly, the Qur’an stands in judgment over the
guidance brought in the Sunnah of the Prophet. This means that the
Qur’an removes all the distortion and falsification to which the her-
itage brought by previous prophets had been subjected. It also corrects
uninformed interpretations by the ignorant and self-deluded, thereby
presenting the message anew in a true, purified form.

Task Number 4: Nu|^ (proffering sound advice)


The Qur’an relates that the Prophet H‰d once said, “O my people!
There is no weak-mindedness in me, but I am an apostle from the
Sustainer of all the worlds. I am delivering unto you (uballighukum)
my Sustainer’s messages and advising you truly and well” (S‰rah al-
A¢r¥f, 7:67-68). The phrase rendered here as “advising you truly and
well” might also be rendered, “and I am to you a faithful advisor” (wa
an¥ lakum n¥|i^un amÏn). The task of providing trustworthy advice
(al-nu|^) follows that of delivering the message (al-tablÏgh), since the
advice proffered is based on the message that has been delivered. The
Qur’anic concept of nu|^ encompasses a number of actions, one of
which is to recommend behavior which, if the person being advised
engages in it, will benefit him or her. It is understood here, of course,
that the person offering the advice wants nothing but the best for the
person he or she is advising.

Task Number 5: Ta¢lÏmuhum al-kit¥ba wa al-^ikmah (teaching


them the Book and wisdom)
We read in S‰rah al-Jum¢ah: “He it is who has sent unto the unlettered
people an apostle from among themselves, to convey unto them (yatl‰
¢alayhim) His messages, and to cause them to grow in purity, and to
impart unto them (wa yu¢allimuhum) the divine writ (al-kit¥b) as well
as wisdom (wa al-^ikmah) – whereas before that they were indeed,
most obviously, lost in error” (62:2).
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“Wisdom” (al-^ikmah) is a broad concept that encompasses every-


thing from the laws of the cosmos to human knowledge and discoveries.
Once we learn of such things, we become able to combine a reading of
the divine writ – written revelation – and wisdom as it manifests itself
all around us. The Prophet taught his Companions how to benefit from
the wisdom and knowledge God has deposited in the world so that they
could learn to live in harmony with the creation rather than combating
it or disregarding it in ignorance.

Task Number 6: Tazkiyat nuf‰s al-n¥si wa¢uq‰lihim (purifying


people’s hearts and minds)
In the verse quoted above we read about the Prophet’s task of causing
people “to grow in purity” (yuzakkÏhim) (62:2).

Task Number 7: Ittib¥¢ (teaching them to follow)


The verb ittaba¢a (verbal noun, ittib¥¢) means to follow someone or to
walk in his or her footsteps. God declares that “those who follow My
guidance (man tabi¢a hud¥y¥) need have no fear, and neither shall they
grieve” (S‰rah al-Baqarah, 2:38). The act of following spoken of here
is similar to that of imitating when it relates to another person. How-
ever, unlike imitation, the following spoken of here is based on under-
standing and evidence. Hence, when one follows a godly individual,
one does so based on the soundness of this person’s behavior and argu-
ments. S‰rah al-Baqarah (2:120) and other Qur’anic passages highlight
the difference between following based on understanding and knowl-
edge, and following based on mere whim. They analyze the outcomes
of these disparate ways of following so as to make it easier for us to
make the right choices. Sound “following” is based on reliable guid-
ance and knowledge, not on conjecture and caprice. As God says on the
lips of the Prophet Abraham, “O my father! Behold, there has indeed
come to me [a ray] of knowledge such as has never yet come unto you.
Follow me, then; I shall guide you onto a perfect way” (S‰rah Maryam,
19:43). God commanded His apostle to follow the revelation that had
been sent down to him, saying, “Follow you what has been revealed
unto you by your Sustainer” (S‰rah al-An¢¥m, 6:106). Similarly, He
commanded those who had believed in the Apostle to follow him: “Say

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[O Prophet]: ‘If you love God, follow me, [and] God will love you and
forgive you your sins; for God is Much-Forgiving, a dispenser of
grace’” (S‰rah ®l ¢Imr¥n, 3:31).

Task Number 8: Ta¢lÏmuhum al-iqtid¥’ bihi (teaching others


to imitate him)
God commanded the Prophet to imitate (iqtadih) those who had been
guided before him (S‰rah al-An¢¥m, 6:90). The act of imitation in this
context consists of following a leader’s way of dealing with proofs and
evidence, be this leader a prophet, a proponent of virtue, or whatever
else.

Task Number 9: Ta¢lÏmuhum al-ihtid¥’ bi al-hadÏ (teaching others


to be guided by truth)
The process of being guided, or finding guidance, has to do with what
we seek or aspire to and the choices we make in relation to earthly or
spiritual matters. God “has set up for you the stars so that you might be
guided by them in the midst of the deep darkness of land and sea”
(S‰rah al-An¢¥m, 6:97). And, speaking to the Prophet, God said:

Say [O Prophet]: “O mankind! The truth from your Sustainer has now
come unto you. Whoever, therefore, chooses to follow the right path,
follows it but for his own good; and whoever chooses to go astray, goes but
astray to his own hurt. And I am not responsible for your conduct.” (S‰rah
Y‰nus, 10:108)

God’s guidance of human beings is of four types. The first is the type
of guidance given to every morally accountable human being by way of
reason and necessary knowledge and information. As Moses stated to
Pharaoh, “Our Sustainer is He who gives unto every thing [that exists]
its true nature and form and thereupon guides it [towards its fulfill-
ment]” (S‰rah >¥h¥, 20:50). The second is the type of guidance God
gives to people by calling them through one of His prophets. God said
to the Prophet:

And indeed, [O Muhammad,] We did vouchsafe revelation unto Moses [as


well]: so be not in doubt of [your] having met with the same [truth in the

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revelation vouchsafed to you). And [just as] We caused that [earlier revela-
tion] to be a guidance for the children of Israel and [as] We raised among
them leaders who, so long as they bore themselves with patience and had
sure faith in Our messages, guided [their people] in accordance with Our
behest – [so, too, shall it be with the divine writ revealed unto you, O
Muhammad]. (S‰rah al-Sajdah, 32:23-24)

The third is the type of guidance that is provided in the form of divinely-
given success. As we read in S‰rah Mu^ammad, “It is such as these
whose hearts God has sealed because they [always] followed but their
own lusts, just as for those who are [willing to be] guided, He increases
their [ability to follow His] guidance and causes them to grow in God-
consciousness” (47:16-17). As for the fourth, it consists in guidance to
Paradise in the hereafter. This is the type of guidance referred to in
God’s words, “Indeed, from on high have We bestowed messages
clearly showing the truth; but God guides onto a straight way [only]
him that wills [to be guided]” (S‰rah al-N‰r, 24:46).
These four types of guidance are founded upon one another.
Without the first, the second will not take place. Conversely, if the
fourth takes place, this means that the preceding three types have also
taken place.
No one can guide anyone else by means of anything but supplica-
tion and invitation, and by setting forth the paths that lead to truth.
God told the Prophet:

And thus, too, [O Muhammad,] have We revealed unto you a life-giving


message [coming] at Our behest. [Ere this message came unto you,] you did
not know what revelation is, nor what faith [implies]: but [now] We have
caused this [message] to be a light, whereby We guide whom We will of Our
servants, and, verily, [on the strength thereof] you, too, shall guide [men]
onto the straight way.” (S‰rah al-Sh‰r¥, 42:52)

In a reference to the other types of guidance, God tells the Prophet,


“Verily, you canst not guide aright everyone whom you love: but it is
God who guides him that wills [to be guided]; and He is fully aware of
all who would let themselves be guided” (S‰rah al-Qa|a|, 28:56).
The types of guidance God withholds from wrong-doers and
deniers of the truth are the third type mentioned above, that is, the

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divinely given success that is granted only to those who have sought out
true guidance, and the fourth type, which consists in entry into Para-
dise in the life to come. As we read in S‰rah ®l ¢Imr¥n, “How would
God bestow His guidance upon people who have resolved to deny the
truth after having attained to faith, and having borne witness that this
Apostle is true, and [after] all evidence of the truth has come unto
them? For, God does not guide such evildoing folk” (3:86).
Some types of guidance are beyond any human being’s power to
provide, including even the Prophet himself. These are: the provision
of reason, divinely given success, and entry into Paradise. As God told
the Prophet, “It is not for you to make people follow the right path,
since it is God [alone] Who guides whom He wills” (S‰rah al-Baqarah,
2:272). In S‰rah al-Isr¥’ we are told that “he whom God guides, he
alone has found the right way; whereas for those whom He lets go
astray you can never find anyone to protect them from Him” (17:97),
which means that those who seek out guidance will be granted success
by God and brought to Paradise. We read in S‰rah al-Ins¥n: “Verily,
We have shown him the way: [and it rests with him to prove himself]
either grateful or ungrateful” (76:3), and in S‰rah al-Balad, “Have We
not given him two eyes, and a tongue, and a pair of lips, and shown him
the two highways [of good and evil]?” (90:10), where “the two high-
ways” refer to what can be ascertained about good and evil through
reason and the law. Speaking of people’s ability to deceive themselves
through their willful choices, God warns:

...As it was He Who brought you into being in the first instance, so also
[unto Him] you will return: some [of you] He will have graced with His
guidance, whereas, for some a straying from the right path will have
become unavoidable: for, behold, they will have taken [their own] evil
impulses for their masters in preference to God, thinking all the while that
they have found the right path! (S‰rah al-A¢r¥f, 7:29-30)

As for God’s saying, “No calamity can ever befall [man] unless it be
by God’s leave: hence, whoever believes in God guides his [own] heart
[towards this truth]; and God has full knowledge of everything”
(S‰rah al-Tagh¥bun, 64:11), it is a reference to the God-given success
that a person is capable of seeking. (On the subject of guidance, see also
S‰rah al-An¢¥m, 6:87, and S‰rah al-Nis¥’, 4:68).

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Task Number 10: Ta¢lÏmuhum al-ta’assÏ bihi (teaching them


to emulate him as their model)
The Arabic word rendered “model” or “exemplar” (uswah) is found in
only three places: “Verily, in the Apostle of God you have a good
example (uswatun ^asanah) for everyone who looks forward (with
hope and awe] to God and the Last Day, and remembers God unceas-
ingly” (S‰rah al-A^z¥b, 33:21), “Indeed, you have had a good example
(uswatun ^asanah) in Abraham and those who followed him…”
(S‰rah al-Mumta^anah, 60:4), and, “In them, indeed, you have a good
example (uswatun ^asanah) for everyone who looks forward [with
hope and awe] to God and the Last Day” (S‰rah al-Mumta^anah,
60:6).
One of the ways in which to emulate the model found in the Prophet
is to abide by the teachings of the Qur’an itself. Once, when asked
about the Prophet’s character, ¢®’ishah replied, “Do you not read the
Qur’an? His character was embodied in the Qur’an.”
Emulation of someone whom we take as our example requires that
we view this person’s words and actions as all growing out of particu-
lar causes and occasions, and as being linked to rulings or precepts of
some kind. This person’s words and deeds must not be examined piece-
meal, but in their entirety, as an overall phenomenon ordered by
universal laws and principles that can be studied and analyzed so that,
having placed the model’s statements and actions within a larger
framework, we can search for the purposes and aims behind all that
this individual said and did.

Task Number 11: Al-Haymanah (the exercise of finality


and supremacy)
The process or act of haymanah is spoken of in S‰rah al-M¥’idah,
where God says to the Prophet, “And unto you have We vouchsafed
this divine writ, setting forth the truth, confirming the truth of whatever
there still remains of earlier revelations and determining what is true
therein” (5:48). The phrase “determining what is true therein” is a ren-
dering of the Arabic phrase muhayminan ¢alayhi, which means to
watch or guard over, to oversee, and hence to exercise supremacy or
ascendancy over someone or something. This is the role the Qur’an is

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described as exercising in relation to the scriptures that preceded it:


determining what truth they still contain and confirming that truth.
Being the final revelation, the Qur’an becomes the unified source of
religious authority or governance for human beings. As such, it
removes whatever distortions, falsehoods, and misinterpretations had
been introduced into, or imposed on, the message brought by previous
prophets as passed down from one generation to the next, and presents
this message in its pristine form.

[fifth]
The ®yah (Miracle or Sign) in Previous Messages
and in the Final Message

It was necessary in the divine wisdom for the prophets to be specially


chosen, since it was they who would bring God’s messages of guidance
and light to humankind. As God declared to the Prophet, “And, truly,
We sent forth apostles before you, and We appointed for them wives
and offspring” (S‰rah al-Ra¢d, 13:38). Although the prophets are
human beings from the physical standpoint, they are, from the spiritu-
al standpoint, part of the realm of divine command prepared to receive
divine inspiration and spiritual power for which they have been singled
out. Concerning Jesus, God states, “And We vouchsafed unto Jesus,
the son of Mary, all evidence of the truth, and strengthened him
with holy inspiration” (S‰rah al-Baqarah, 2:253) and, addressing
Muhammad, “trustworthy divine inspiration has alighted with it from
on high upon your heart, so that you may be among those who preach
in the clear Arabic tongue” (S‰rah al-Shu¢ar¥’, 26:193-195). They
were enabled to receive inspiration through the mediation of angels,
while the human bond they shared with those around them equipped
them to deliver to others what had been revealed to them. As God
explains in S‰rah al-An¢¥m regarding the Prophet’s opponents:

They are saying, too, “Why has not an angel (visibly] been sent down unto
him?” But had We sent down an angel, all would indeed have been decided,
and they would have been allowed no further respite [for repentance]. And

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[even] if We had appointed an angel as Our message-bearer, We would


certainly have made him [appear as] a man… (6:8-9)

The Qur’an talks about how, in all ages, people have asked the prophet
in their midst for a “sign,” or ¥yah. When this request grew out of a sin-
cere desire to find the truth, it was met with a positive response,
whereas, when it was made with other motives, the prophet concerned
would refuse to engage in this sort of “bargaining” with the Almighty.
A miracle, or sign, serves as a declaration by God that His servant
has spoken the truth. However, it does not cause the messenger to cease
being a mere human being. Nor does it abrogate the laws of nature or
aim to paralyze human reason or force it into abject submission.

1. The Qur’anic Distinction Between a Miracle (Mu¢jizah)


and a Sign (®yah)
It has become commonplace to use the phrase “the miracles of the
prophets” in place of the more Qur’anic concept of “the signs of the
prophets.” The question then arises: What outcomes have resulted
from this confusion? One might say that even though both “miracles”
and “signs” were originally seen as evidence of, or a witness to, the
veracity of the person through whom God had brought about the event
in question, the confusion between the concepts of “sign” and “mira-
cle” has entrenched an attitude of stubbornness and defiance among
those prone to resist the truth. The difference between the two is actu-
ally quite significant. The stuff of “the miraculous” tends to stir up
resistance and defiance among those who witness it. As for the “sign,”
it includes the element of miraculousness, but presents the miraculous
event as a kind of evidence, the function of a “sign” being to prepare
those who witness it to listen more attentively, and to be more receptive
to the message and the message-bearer.

2. The Term “Miracle” (Mu¢jizah): Its Definition, and its


Qur’anic Usage
The Arabic term ¢ajz conveys the sense of failure, weakness, or inability
to do something; as such, it connotes the opposite of ability or strength.
As Cain cried out, “Oh, woe is me! Am I then too weak (¢ajaztu) to do

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what this raven did…?” (S‰rah al-M¥’idah, 5:31). Elsewhere God


states, “Verily, that [reckoning] which you are promised is bound to
come, and you cannot elude it (wa m¥ antum bi mu¢jizÏn)” (S‰rah al-
An¢¥m, 6:134). In other words, they are unable either to slow the
coming of the divine judgment for themselves, or to prevent others
from following the prophets. In S‰rah Saba’ we find another derivative
of the root ¢-j-z, as God speaks of “those who strive against Our
messages, seeking to defeat their purpose (mu¢ajizÏn)” (34:5) in the
mistaken belief that there is no resurrection, reward or punishment in
the life to come. The same root appears in the Prophet’s warning to
deniers of the truth that “you cannot elude Him on earth (wa m¥
antum bi mu¢jizÏna fi al-ar\)” (S‰rah al-Sh‰r¥, 42:31).
As will be clear, the Qur’anic usage of terms derived from the trilit-
eral root ¢-j-z has nothing to do with the signs, or ¥y¥t brought by the
prophets in support of their messages. In fact, there is nothing to indi-
cate that the words mu¢jizah and ¥yah are synonymous. Hence, there is
a need to reclarify Qur’anic concepts, such as sign, or ¥yah, and to dis-
tinguish them from non-Qur’anic ones, such as that of miracle, or
mu¢jizah. There is a constellation of complementary Qur’anic con-
cepts, the use of any one of which will evoke associations with other,
complementary, terms and concepts. However, if some extraneous,
non-Qur’anic concept is interpolated among them, they lose their
coherence and mutual complementarity, which in turn distorts them
and robs them of their meaning.
Al-Q¥\Ï ibn al-B¥qill¥nÏ has mentioned four conditions that must
be met in order for something to be termed miraculous (mu¢jiz). These
four conditions are: (1) that God alone would be capable of it; (2) that
it is so out of the ordinary that it may be said to violate a law of nature;
(3) that no one but a prophet would be able to manifest the likes of it;
and (4) that it take place at the hands of an apostle who is challenging
the people to whom he has been sent, and with the claim that it is a sign
of the truth of his message.

3. The Meaning of the Term ®yah


The word ¥yah has been defined as a sign or signal. It may also refer to a
unit or verse of the Qur’an. According to Ab‰ Bakr, “The reason a

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verse of the Qur’an is referred to as an ¥yah is that it serves as a sign that


a unit of speech has ended, and that another unit of speech is begin-
ning.” It has also been suggested that the reason each verse of the
Qur’an is referred to as an ¥yah is that, as a set of words from the
Qur’an, it reveals God’s signs and wonders. Further, the word ¥yah
can refer to a lesson or moral, as when God says, “Indeed, in [the story
of] Joseph and his brothers there are messages for all who search [after
truth]” (S‰rah Y‰suf, 12:7).

4. The Concept of ®yah in the Sayings of the Apostle


It has been narrated on the authority of Ab‰ Hurayrah that the
Messenger of God said, “Every prophet has been given signs (¥y¥t) on
the basis of which people have placed their trust in him. What I have
been given is a revelation with which God has inspired me. Hence, I
hope on the Day of Resurrection to be the one with the greatest number
of followers.” Note that he did not use the term “miracle” (mu¢jizah);
rather, he used the Qur’anic concept of “sign,” or ¥yah.

5. The Concept of ®yah in the Qur’an


Al-I|fah¥nÏ defined ¥yah as a clear, visible sign. The term ¥yah has also
been used to refer to a tall building, as when H‰d says, “Will you, in
your wanton folly, build [idolatrous] altars (¥yatan) on every height
and make for yourselves mighty castles…?” (S‰rah al-Shu¢ar¥’, 26:
128-129). The word ¥yah is derived from the verbal noun al-ta’ayyÏ,
which is the act of settling and establishing oneself on something. The
verb ta’ayya has also been defined more or less synonymously with the
verb arfaqa, meaning to be useful to, or serve, or with the verb awiya,
meaning to provide lodging for shelter for.

6. The Meanings Associated With the Words ®yah


and ®y¥t in the Qur’an
It will be necessary here to draw a distinction between an ¥yah in the
sense of a structural unit of the Qur’an, and an ¥yah in its more purely
logical sense. Used in the first sense, every clause in the Qur’an that
conveys a ruling or a self-contained meaning would be an ¥yah,
whether the linguistic unit in question constitutes an entire surah, or

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chapter, of the Qur’an, or just one part or division of a surah. Alterna-


tively, every clause separated from another by a verbal marker might
be referred to as an ¥yah, on which basis we calculate the number of
verses (¥y¥t), in a surah. The following are three senses of the word
¥yah:

a) “Signs,” or ¥y¥t in the sense of the ongoing patterns and laws obser-
vant in the cosmos. This sense of the word is found in the passage
that reads:

And among His wonders is this: He creates you out of dust, and then, lo!
you become human beings ranging far and wide! And among His wonders
is this: He creates for you mates out of your own kind, so that you might
incline towards them, and He engenders love and tenderness between you:
in this, behold, there are messages indeed for people who think! And
among his wonders is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the
diversity of your tongues and colors: for in this, behold, there are messages
indeed for all who are possessed of [innate] knowledge! And among His
wonders is your sleep, at night or in daytime, as well as your [ability to go
about in] quest of some of His bounties: in this, behold, there are messages
indeed for people who [are willing to] listen! And among His wonders is
this: He displays before you the lightning, giving rise to [both] fear and
hope, and sends down water from the skies, giving life thereby to the earth
after it had been lifeless: in this, behold, there are messages indeed for peo-
ple who use their reason! And among His wonders is this: the skies and the
earth stand firm at His behest. (S‰rah al-R‰m, 30:20-25)

b) Social “signs” such as those we find in the stories of the prophets.


This sense of the word may be seen in the following passage:

As God declares, “And indeed, [in times long past] We sent forth Noah
unto his people, and he dwelt among them a thousand years bar fifty; and
then the floods overwhelmed them while they were still lost in evildoing:
but We saved him, together with all who were in the ark, which We then set
up as a symbol (¥yah) [of Our grace] for all people [to remember]. (S‰rah
al-¢Ankab‰t, 29:14-15)

c) The verses of the Qur’an. This sense of the word is found in S‰rah
al-Naml, which reads, “These are messages (¥y¥t) of the Qur’an – a
divine writ clear in itself and clearly showing the truth” (27:1).

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7. The ®y¥t, or “Signs” of the Prophets


In the Qur’an the word ¥yah appears sometimes in the singular, and at
other times in the plural, ¥y¥t. In S‰rah al-Mu’min‰n it is used in the
singular: “And [as We exalted Moses, so, too,] We made the son of
Mary and his mother a symbol (or “sign”) [of Our grace]” (23:50). The
singular form, rather than the dual, is used because each of these two
individuals – Jesus and his mother Mary – contributed to a single,
greater “sign” through their relationship to each other. Speaking of
Moses, God says, “And indeed, We gave unto Moses nine clear mes-
sages (¥y¥t)” (S‰rah al-Isr¥’, 17:101). In S‰rah al-A¢r¥f, the Prophet
S¥li^ speaks to the people of Tham‰d, saying:

O my people! Worship God alone: you have no deity other than Him. Clear
evidence of the truth has now come unto you from your Sustainer. This she-
camel belonging to God shall be a token (¥yah) for you: so leave her alone
to pasture on God’s earth, and do her no harm, lest grievous chastisement
befall you. (7:73)

This “token” was sent to present the people with such a clear sign
that they would have no excuses before God should they fail to respond
to it with faith and obedience. Again, we read in S‰rah al-An¢¥m, “Yet
whenever any of their Sustainer’s messages (¥yatun min ¥y¥ti rabbi-
him) comes unto them, they [who are bent on denying the truth] turn
their backs upon it” (6:4), and in S‰rah Y‰nus: “Say: ‘Consider what-
ever there is in the heavens and on earth!’ But of what avail could all the
messages (al-¥y¥t) and all the warnings be to people who will not
believe?” (10:101).

8. Signs Intended to Inspire Fear or to Present a Challenge


God declared:

And nothing has prevented Us from sending [this message, like the earlier
ones,] with miraculous signs [in its wake], save [Our knowledge] that the
people of olden times [only too often] gave the lie to them: thus, We pro-
vided for [the tribe of] Thamud the she-camel as a light-giving portent, and
they sinned against it. And never did We send those signs for any other pur-
pose than to convey a warning. (S‰rah al-Isr¥’, 17:59)

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The “signs” referred to here are those which were sent to bygone
nations in order to arouse holy fear in those who witnessed them. As
for the generation of people among whom the Prophet was born, God
affirmed that He would not overtake them with chastisement. Rather,
in dealing with these people, God limited Himself to evidence rather
than inflicting on them the punishment that they had so foolishly
sought to hasten (S‰rah al-¢Ankab‰t, 29:54).

9. Distinguishing Features of the “Sign” of the Final Message


The final message to humankind as it pertains to miracles (al-mu¢jiz¥t)
and signs (al-¥y¥t) differs from previous revealed messages in style,
form and content. God caused Muhammad’s prophethood and mes-
sage to be founded on knowledge and reason. By the Prophet’s day,
human beings had been prepared to comprehend the Creator’s final
discourse addressed to them. As such, they began realizing their capac-
ity to draw the proper connections between the signs of the cosmos (the
observed patterns and laws of nature) and the written “signs” found in
the Qur’an in such a way that they were led to believe in the reality of
the Unseen Source of all. God addresses the people of the Prophet’s
day, saying, “Would you, perchance, ask of the Apostle who has been
sent unto you what was asked aforetime of Moses? But whoever
chooses to deny the [evidence of the] truth, instead of believing in it,
has already strayed from the right path” (S‰rah al-Baqarah, 2:108).
God’s intention for us is to further develop tools for investigation,
reflection, contemplation on the expanses of the universe and its laws,
and strengthening the bond between ourselves and the One who has
placed the Earth and its resources at our disposal. The cosmos and its
laws are miraculous signs (¥y¥tun mu¢jiz¥t) that have been manifested
to human beings in order for them to contemplate their meanings on
both the material and spiritual planes and, having done this, put them
to use in the service of the Earth and all its inhabitants.
The sign granted to Muhammad, the last of God’s prophets, was
the Qur’an. In giving this sign, God left humanity with the responsibility
to discover, investigate, and reflect on the realities of the universe in
successive ages. As we read in S‰rah al-Dh¥riy¥t, “on Earth there are
signs (¥y¥tun) [of God’s existence, visible] to all who are endowed with

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inner certainty, just as [there are signsthereof] within your own selves.
Can you not, then, see?” (51: 20-22). Here we have an exhortation to
combine a reading of written revelation in the form of the Qur’an, and
the natural revelation manifested in the universe around us.
This exhortation is found in numerous passages of the Qur’an,
since it is through this “double reading” of revelation that we are
empowered to fulfill our God-given responsibility as vicegerents and
stewards on Earth. It is through this same double reading of revelation
that we develop tools with which to reason, reflect, investigate, under-
stand, explain, interpret, reinterpret, and put our knowledge to creative
uses.
All these functions require autonomous, effective, sound reasoning
abilities. The message of the Qur’an directs us to the realm of the
unseen not to paralyze reason, but rather, to put our reason to work,
and to help us see that the realm of the unseen is subject to the same
Majestic Creator to Whom the visible world is subject and that the
relationship between these two realms is precisely ordered and con-
trolled. Hence, there is no reason for us to fear Nature, or to flee from
the unknown. Rather, we are called upon to study and understand it
with assistance from the “signs” of the revealed Book. As for the uni-
verse, is it not intended to dazzle or frighten us into a submission born
of ignorance. Rather, it is a realm for the constructive action that lies at
the heart of true stewardship.
If we confuse Qur’anic concepts with notions that are extraneous to
the Qur’anic frame of reference, we endanger our ability to understand
the Qur’an properly. The reason for this is that notions derived from
non-Qur’anic sources or frames of reference will be laden with presup-
positions or premises that differ from, and may well conflict with, the
Qur’anic perspective. Hence, the interpolation of such notions into our
constellation of Qur’anic concepts, which derive directly from God,
will obscure and distort the Qur’anic conceptual framework. And this,
in fact, is what has happened in relation to the concepts of sign (¥yah)
and miracle (mu¢jizah), the former of which is Qur’anic, and the latter
of which is not. When scholastic theologians and Muslim philosophers
replaced the phrase “the signs of the prophets” (¥y¥t al-anbiy¥’) with
the phrase “the miracles of the prophets” (mu¢jiz¥t al-anbiy¥’), this

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worked at cross purposes with the divine intent behind the concept of
¥yah, or sign, which fosters an association between manifestations of
the Divine in the physical universe and its manifestations in the written
revelation. Given the proper understanding of the concept of ¥yah, or
sign, the finality of the Prophethood and message of Muhammad is
reflected in people’s ability to connect the concrete signs of God’s exis-
tence and attributes in the natural world with the linguistic signs of the
Divine in the Qur’an, with or without the direct presence of a prophet.
As time went on, a confusion arose between the sign that had been
given to the Prophet – the Qur’an – and the miracles that had been
wrought at the hands of earlier prophets such as Moses, Jesus and
others. The miracles of former prophets, particularly Moses and Jesus,
were observable events in the material world that were appropriate to
the eras in which their associated divine messages were revealed. In
many such situations, those whose hearts were hardened to God’s mes-
sage demanded miracles. Following the miracles’ occurrence however
they persisted in their unbelief and were destroyed by God, which
served as a warning to others. As God states in S‰rah al-Isr¥’, “And
nothing has prevented Us from sending [this message, like the earlier
ones,] with miraculous signs [in its wake], save [Our knowledge] that
the people of olden times [only too often] gave the lie to them” (17:59).
Unlike earlier messages from God, the Qur’an served as an
announcement of both warning and good tidings. Moreover, it was
conveyed in a way that did nothing to paralyze or hinder human intel-
lectual powers. The miraculous signs given to Moses in the time of
Pharaoh, which were met with hardness of heart on the part of the chil-
dren of Israel, were linked to a tightening of the divine law, as though
subjection of the children of Israel to a theocracy was a substitute for
the chastisement of being exterminated. This was the basis for the
divine decree among the children of Israel “that if anyone slays a
human being, unless it be [in punishment] for murder or for spreading
corruption on earth – it shall be as though he had slain all mankind…”
(S‰rah al-M¥’idah 5:32). Hence, such a person had to be put to death
without the possibility of either pardon or the payment of bloodwit,
for example.

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The Qur’an draws Muslims’ attention to the connection between


the rejection of God’s miraculous signs and subsequent divine chastise-
ment, and it was because of this very connection that God did not grant
concrete miracles such as the raising of the dead, healing the sick, mul-
tiplying food and the like to the people of Muhammad’s time. As we
saw in S‰rah al-Isr¥’ quoted above, “And nothing has prevented Us
from sending [this message, like the earlier ones,] with miraculous
signs [in its wake], save [Our knowledge] that the people of olden times
[only too often] gave the lie to them” (17:59) or, like “the people of
olden times,” such individuals were simply looking for an excuse to
reject faith in Muhammad, his message, or the afterlife. As we read in
S‰rah al-Furq¥n:

And [even] before you, [O Muhammad,] We never sent as Our message-


bearers any but [mortal men] who indeed ate food [like other human
beings] and went about in the marketplaces: for [it is thus that] We cause
you [human beings] to be a means of testing one another. Are you able to
endure [this test] with patience? For [remember, O man,] your Sustainer is
truly All-Seeing! (25:20)

Whenever people raised an objection to the Prophet’s message, the


Qur’an would refute it with a stronger argument. Thus, for example,
when people complained about the Qur’an’s being sent down piece-
meal, the response came in S‰rah al-Furq¥n, where God declared:

Now they who are bent on denying the truth are wont to ask, “Why has not
the Qur’an been bestowed on him from on high in one single revelation?”
[It has been revealed] in this manner so that We might strengthen your
heart thereby – for We have so arranged its component parts that they form
one consistent whole, and [that] they [who deny the truth] might never
taunt you with any deceptive half-truth without Our conveying to you the
[full] truth and [providing you] with the best explanation. (25:32-33)

We have a plethora of verses which offer cogent arguments for the


Qur’an’s being the greatest and most irrefutable of all signs. However,
even though no prophet or apostle had produced a sign like the Qur’an
before, the people of the Prophet’s day were steeped in narratives of
physical miracles that had been performed by previous messengers. As a

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consequence they viewed the absence of such miracles on Muhammad’s


part as a denigration of his message and his station. People compared
him to Moses, at whose hands plagues were visited on the people of
Egypt under Pharaoh and who parted the Red Sea, causing his enemies
to be drowned in their pursuit of the children of Israel, and Jesus, who
raised the dead and healed the sick. Of course, these mighty signs and
miracles weren’t enough to prevent the people of Israel from worship-
ping a golden calf in the wilderness not long after they crossed the Red
Sea. Nor were they enough, after they saw other peoples of the land
bowing down to idols, to deter them from demanding that Moses
make them an idol to worship. Clearly, then, these miracles had failed
to address the people’s minds and hearts.
Nevertheless, narratives such as these led some people to attribute
physical miracles to the Prophet Muhammad and, as a consequence, to
preoccupy themselves with miracle stories rather than focusing their
attention on the Qur’an. Meanwhile, they set aside the Qur’an’s intel-
lectual proof of its own message, which addresses human beings
everywhere in all stages of their cultural, scientific and academic devel-
opment, in favor of miracle stories attributed to the Messenger of God.
This was followed by attempts to reconcile such stories with the
Qur’anic verses which state unequivocally that the one and only sign,
or miracle, associated with the Islamic messages is the Qur’an. All mir-
acle accounts attributed to the Messenger of God must be judged in
light of what the Qur’an has to say on this topic. Otherwise, the
Muslim’s mind is turned into a hotbed of superstition. The Qur’an’s
position on this matter is clear, and the position of Muslim scholars
must conform itself to that of the Qur’an. The momentous, lasting mir-
acle of the Qur’an was sufficient for the Messenger of God, and it
should be sufficient for the Muslim community as well. And God
knows best.

10. The Final Message and its Distinguishing Features


The Qur’an has been preserved by God Himself: in its arrangement, its
style, and its uniqueness and inimitability, whereas the task of preserv-
ing earlier revealed books had been entrusted to scribes and clergy,
who forgot, distorted and lost parts of their scriptures. In the Prophetic

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Sunnah, we have been given a complete, integral body of literature that


works in harmony with the Qur’an on the levels of explication and
application, the role of the Qur’an being to confirm and “watch over”
the Sunnah in the sense that it serves as the criterion on the basis of
which we determine what is valid, or invalid, of the Sunnah as it has
come down to us. Along with the Qur’an, the Prophetic Sunnah plays a
role in shaping Islamic legislation. Rules have been set down to regu-
late the role the Sunnah plays in this process, which is founded upon a
combination of rational evidence, secondary evidence, and evidence
around which some disagreement exists. Given the comprehensive,
rounded nature of this process and its ongoing universal relevance, it
has rightfully survived and thrived.

conclusion

The Prophet Muhammad’s Sunnah is the Summation of the


Examples and Experiences Left by the Prophets Before Him

The life story and example of the Prophet merit the attention of people
everywhere, as they bring together the experiences and teachings of all
other prophets and messengers. In him we see, for example, Noah with
his patience and perseverance. We see Abraham with his struggle to
find truth, his piety, and his obedience. We see Moses, his toil, and his
keen concern for his people. We see Jesus, his self-denial, and his striv-
ing to ground his people in the deepest, most essential truths of their
religion. For the Qur’an constitutes the substance of the divine reve-
lation, while the Sunnah is the quintessence of the experiences of earlier
prophets with their respective people and the examples they have left
us. God commanded the Prophet:

Say: “I am not the first of [God’s] apostles; and [like all of them,] I do not
know what will be done with me or with you: for I am nothing but a plain
warner.” Say: “Have you given thought [to how you will fare] if this be
truly [a revelation] from God and yet you deny its truth? ...” (S‰rah al-
A^q¥f, 46:9-10)

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Seen from this perspective, the Qur’an and the Sunnah are capable
of empowering worshippers from all times and places, protecting them
from the attempts of Satan and his followers to bring such worshippers
into the ranks of those who refuse to bow down. Partial, decontextual-
ized readings of the Qur’an and the Sunnah are dangerous unless they
are bound firmly to the universal principles and values set forth in the
Qur’an and its higher purposes. The Prophetic Sunnah must be tied
inextricably to the Qur’an in a way that allows for no contradiction or
conflict between the two but, rather, combines them into a seamless
structural unity. The preservation of the Prophet’s example (Sunnah)
and life story (sÏrah) depends on the Qur’an, and everything said or
written by Muslim scholars, be they earlier or later, that indicates
otherwise is not worth discussing.

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2
Sunnah as Concept and
as Technical Term

[first]
The Concept of the Sunnah and its
Historical Development

i v i e w the word sunnah not as a technical term, but as a concept.1 In


fact, it is a highly precise and subtle legal concept that has had a far-
ranging and significant impact on the Islamic intellectual tradition
overall. The word sunnah encompasses a network of related concepts,
such as “way” or “path” (~arÏqah), custom (¢¥dah), social and natural
law (al-q¥n‰n al-ijtim¥¢Ï wa al-~abÏ¢Ï), and the like. Hence, whether in
its pre-Qur’anic use among Arabs, its Qur’anic usage, its use by the
Prophet Muhammad, its various uses by those living in the first genera-
tion of Muslims (who witnessed the Qur’anic revelation), or its uses
among Muslim scholars, be they scholars of the fundamentals of
jurisprudence (u|‰l scholars), jurists, scholastic theologians, or hadith
transmitters, the word sunnah signifies a full-fledged, fully rounded
concept that spans a number of disciplines. Hence, the transmutation
of the word sunnah into a mere technical term that could be used how-
ever one liked depending on the context led to a confusion and
vagueness that Muslims could well have done without.2
Consequently, it is important to investigate, analyze and reformu-
late this concept in order to rescue it from the misunderstanding that
now plagues it. What I aim to do here is not to further define the
already numerous terms now in use in discussions of the Sunnah.
Rather, my aim is to clarify the relationships among these various terms

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and, in so doing, to demonstrate the validity of viewing them as a single


overarching concept that represents a unified legal entity (^aqÏqah
shar¢iyyah w¥^idah) rather than a technical term that scholars can
bandy about however they wish, investing it with whatever meanings
suit their fancy on the pretext that specialists in every field are entitled
to their own jargon.

1. The Notion of “Concept” (Mafh‰m) and its Formulation


Approached morphologically, the Arabic noun mafh‰m, generally
translated as “concept,” is a passive participle derived from the triliteral
root f-h-m, meaning to understand. As such, its literal meaning is
“understood.” Logicians define it as a perception, realization or cogni-
tion (mudrak), as what takes place, and might take place, in the mind,
whether in the form of action or speech, whether through direct experi-
ence or someone else’s verbal description. U|‰l scholars (experts in the
fundamentals, or u|‰l, of Islamic jurisprudence) define the word
mafh‰m in contrast to man~‰q, that which is uttered or pronounced.
That which is uttered or spoken consists of a pronouncement on what
has been spoken of, and on one or more of its properties. An example
of a man~‰q might be, “I ate the apple,” which indicates both the fact
that I ate a particular apple, and that apples are edible (edibility is one
of their properties).
The notion of mafh‰m is then divided into two categories: (1) what
might be termed “harmonious meaning” (mafh‰m muw¥faqah), which
is what is understood directly from what someone says either by way of
exact correspondence or by way of implicit content, and (2) “divergent
meaning” (mafh‰m mukh¥lafah), which is what a statement or expres-
sion communicates by way of association, or through what has not
been said in contrast to what has been said.
The word sunnah is a broad, multifaceted category – a universal, if
you will – to which different expressions might apply based on a vari-
ety of considerations. The individual instances of this universal are
related to the word sunnah in numerous disparate ways. Hence, we
might amend the expression to read homonym (mushakkik).3 How-
ever, it is agreed upon among u|‰l scholars and logicians that if the
individual instances of the universal are not disparate, then they are to
be viewed as synonymous.

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Arab linguists have associated four meanings with the word sunnah
– manner or way (~arÏqah), habit or custom (¢¥dah), conduct or way of
life (sÏrah), and nature, disposition, or character (~abÏ¢ah). Although
these four meanings, being fairly disparate, render the word sunnah
closer to being a homonym, they are, nevertheless, quite close to each
other as well. However, I prefer to classify them as more or less synony-
mous due to links among them that reduce their dissimilarities and
mitigate the effects of such dissimilarities. Thus, for example, the
words ~arÏqah (way or manner) and sÏrah (conduct, way of life) are
quite close in meaning. Similarly, the words ~arÏqah (way, manner),
sÏrah (conduct, way of life) and ¢¥dah (habit, custom) have a shared
semantic field. As for the fourth meaning, namely, that of disposition
or character (~abϢah), it has elements in common with the notion
of law, that is, stability, continuity, and agreement on origins and
principles.
When we examine the ways in which u|‰l scholars, jurists and
hadith transmitters have used the word sunnah, we need to identify
each group’s particular epistemological framework. And in order to do
this, we need first to look to the Qur’an.

2. The Concept of Sunnah in the Qur’an


The triliteral root s-n-n occurs nine times in Meccan surahs, and ten
times in Madinan surahs. This root and its derivatives are used in the
Qur’an to refer to phenomena that have occurred with such regularity
in the cosmos and in society that they manifest predictable, unchang-
ing laws. God warns polytheists and those who have gone astray from
His path that, given the unchanging nature of the moral laws at work in
the universe and in human society, they will never escape the outcomes
of their waywardness and defiance. He says, “Tell those who are bent
on denying the truth that if they desist, all that is past shall be forgiven
them; but if they revert [to their wrongdoing], let them remember what
happened to the like of them in times gone by” (S‰rah al-Anf¥l, 8:38),
and:

...now that a warner has come unto them, [his call] but increases their aver-
sion, their arrogant behavior on earth, and their devising of evil [arguments
against God’s messages]. Yet [in the end,] such evil scheming will engulf

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none but its authors: and can they expect anything but [to be made to go]
the way of those [sinners] of olden times (sunnat al-awwalÏn)? Thus [it is]:
no change wilt you ever find in God’s way (sunnat All¥h); yea, no deviation
wilt you ever find in God’s way (sunnat All¥h)!” (S‰rah F¥~ir, 35:42-43)

The word sunnah is thus used in the Qur’an in the sense of “way.”
According to linguist and Qur’an commentator al-R¥ghib al-I|fah¥nÏ
(d. 502 ah/1108 ce):

When we speak of God’s sunnah, we are speaking of the way of His


wisdom and the way of obedience to Him, as in the verse where He warns,
“And [now,] if they who are bent on denying the truth should fight against
you, they will indeed turn their backs [in flight], and will find none to pro-
tect them and none to bring them succor, such being God’s way (sunnat
All¥h) which has ever obtained in the past – and never wilt you find any
change in God’s way (sunnat All¥h)” (S‰rah al-Fat^, 48: 22-23; see S‰rah
F¥~ir, 35:43 quoted above).

The ageless nature of God’s way may be seen in the fact that however
many branches there may be of the divine laws, and however different
these branches may appear, they all share a common, unchanging pur-
pose, which is to purify people’s hearts, thereby making them worthy of
divine reward and prepared to dwell in the divine presence.

3. The Word Sunnah From a Linguistic Perspective


From a purely linguistic point of the view, the word sunnah refers to
conduct or way of life, be it good or bad. The Messenger of God said:

If someone comports himself well as a Muslim (man sanna fÏ al-isl¥m sun-


natan ^asanah) and others follow this good example, he will be granted the
same reward as those who followed his example, yet without these people’s
rewards being diminished in the least. Conversely, if someone comports
himself badly as a Muslim (man sanna fÏ al-isl¥m sunnatan sayyi’ah) and
others follow this bad example, he will bear the same burden of guilt as that
borne by those who followed his example, yet without these people’s
burden being alleviated in the least.

As we have seen, the Messenger of God used the word sunnah to refer
to the act of setting an example, whether good or bad. Al-Kha~~¥bÏ

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(d. 388 ah/988 ce) wrote, “The original meaning of the word sunnah is
a laudable way of life. If it is used in an unqualified manner, it is the
positive sense that prevails. It can, however, be qualified by a negative
descriptor, as in the phrase, man sanna sunnah sayyi’ah (to set a bad
example, comport oneself in a bad way).” Al-Shawk¥nÏ quotes al-
Kis¥’Ï as saying that “the word sunnah means constancy, continuance,
perseverance (al-daw¥m).” Al-Shawk¥nÏ comments on this statement,
saying, “Perhaps what he [al-Kis¥’Ï] was speaking of was ‘something
that is done habitually, or on a regular basis’ (al-amr alladhÏ yud¥wamu
¢alayhi). Alternatively, he might be referring to the regular practices of
bygone generations.”

The derivation of the word sunnah


Fakhr al-DÏn al-R¥zÏ cites three possible derivations of the word
sunnah. (1) It may be viewed as a noun on the fu¢lah pattern, which
bears the sense of the passive participle, maf¢‰lah. In this case, the verb
sanna is understood to mean “to pour continuously,” or, “to pour in a
continuous stream.” Arabic speakers have likened a straight path to a
stream of water being poured out, since, once one has begun pouring
water, the water molecules follow each other in succession, and in a
single direction, thus forming a single entity. (2) The verb sanna may be
understood to mean “to sharpen,” as one does with a knife blade.
Hence, as used to describe the actions attributed to the Prophet, the
word sunnah bears the sense of something that has been sharpened or
refined. (3) The noun sunnah might also be derived from the verb
sanna as in the phrase sanna al-ibl, that is, to graze one’s camels gener-
ously. Similarly, the actions that were performed regularly by the
Prophet were referred to as sunnah in the sense that he persevered in
the practices he established.
Does the word sunnah refer to a custom or habit? According to al-
¢A\ud and many other u|‰l scholars, the word sunnah simply refers to
a way of life, habit, or customary practice. In his commentary on S‰rah
F¥~ir 35:43, al-ZamakhsharÏ states that the words, “can they expect
anything but [to be made to go] the way of those [sinners] of olden
times?” refers to these people’s expectation of a fate similar to “the
unleashing of chastisement against earlier peoples who had given

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the lie to their messengers.” Al-ZamakhsharÏ explains that God’s


“custom” (¢¥dah), which is to inflict retribution on those who give the
lie to His messengers – is not subject to change. Hence, he understood
the word sunnah to be synonymous with ¢¥dah, or customary practice,
which is the position taken by a number of other scholars as well.
However, though it may be acceptable to use the word ¢¥dah in rela-
tion to human beings, it is not appropriate to use it in relation to God.
Perhaps it would be more fitting to understand the word sunnah in
relation to God as meaning “law” (q¥n‰n), and this despite the use of
the word ¢¥dah in a supplication relating to deniers of the truth that
reads, “O God, [forget not] Your customary ways in relation to the
likes of them!” It should be remembered here that scholars might adopt
a given meaning and cite textual evidence in its support simply because
it is more consistent with their particular epistemological model.
Nowhere does a dictionary state explicitly that the word sunnah is
synonymous with the word ¢¥dah, nor that the word ¢¥dah is synony-
mous with way of life (~arÏqah) or conduct (sÏrah). What the dictionary
does tell us is that the word ¢¥dah is derived from the verb ¢¥da/ya¢‰du,
meaning “to return.” As such, it refers to an action to which one
returns over and over again. Some scholars have defined ¢¥dah as “the
repetition of something, all or some of the time, in the same way, and in
a mindless fashion.” According to ¢Abd al-GhanÏ, the words ¢¥dah and
¢urf are synonymous, where the word ¢¥dah refers to customary or
habitual actions, while the word ¢urf refers to customary or habitual
statements. He states, “To discuss ¢¥dah from a linguistic point of view
is one thing, and to discuss the sunnah is another. Nevertheless,
the word ¢¥dah has been treated as though it were synonymous with
sunnah when it is not.”
If we examine all meanings of the word ¢¥dah, we find that they con-
verge around the notions of continuation and persistence. Those who
take sunnah to be synonymous with ¢¥dah seem to be basing this
position on al-Kis¥’Ï’s statement, quoted above, that sunnah means
continuation, persistence (inna al-sunnah al-daw¥m). If, moreover, we
look at the dictionary definition of ¢¥dah as something that “becomes
established in people’s psyches” (m¥ yastaqirru fÏ al-nuf‰s), its defini-
tion in al-¢Ayn as “persistence or perseverance in something,” as well

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al-I|fah¥nÏ’s explanation of the word ~abÏ¢ah, meaning nature or


disposition, it becomes apparent that the word ¢¥dah may be used in
the same sense as ~abϢah; however, as we have had occasion to note,
the word ¢¥dah is synonymous with neither ~abÏ¢ah nor sunnah. Given
the aforementioned definition of ¢¥dah as the repetition of something,
whether some or all of the time, and the view of it as synonymous with
¢urf, meaning custom or more, it becomes apparent that it also bears
the sense of ~arÏqah, meaning manner or way of life. Hence, it conveys
the notion of continuation and repetition. In his book entitled al-Fur‰q
al-Lughawiyyah (Linguistic Distinctions), Ab‰ Hil¥l al-¢AskarÏ men-
tions differences between ¢¥dah and sunnah. He states, “¢®dah is some-
thing someone does continuously of his/her own accord while sunnah
is something one does based on a previous example.”
In sum, the meanings of the terms ¢¥dah, ~abÏ¢ah, ~arÏqah and
daw¥m share an element of commonality which, although it falls short
of synonymity, may nevertheless be classified as a kind of semantic
integration or homonymity.

4. The Concept of Sunnah in the Prophetic Sunnah Itself


Qubay|ah ibn Dhu’ayb said:

A certain grandmother came to Ab‰ Bakr the Upright and asked him for
her inheritance. He said to her, “According to the Book of God, you are due
nothing, and I can ascertain nothing from the sunnah of the Messenger of
God. So go back [home] until I have inquired of others.” He then asked the
Prophet’s other Companions. Al-MughÏrah ibn Shu¢bah said, “I once came
to the Messenger of God, and he gave her4 one-sixth.” Ab‰ Bakr asked
him, “Is there anyone else who agrees with you?” Mu^ammad ibn Masla-
mah al-An|¥rÏ rose and said the same thing al-MughÏrah ibn Shu¢bah had
said. So Ab‰ Bakr gave it to her.

Similarly, J¥bir ibn ¢Abd All¥h related that “The Messenger of God
established the practice of [offering] a slaughter camel and a cow on
behalf of seven people.”
In his book entitled, Na·arah ¢®mah fÏ T¥rÏkh al-Fiqh al-Isl¥mÏ (A
General Look at the History of Islamic Jurisprudence), Ali Hasan Abd
al-Qadir states:

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In Arab circles of olden times, the word sunnah was used to refer to the pro-
per way of life for both the individual and the community…This meaning
carried over into Islam in the early schools in the Hejaz, and in Iraq also,
where it referred to current or prevalent action. In Islamic circles the term
was used to mean that which was generally agreed upon, and the ideal of
correct behavior, yet without any specific reference to the example set by
the Prophet himself. It was not until the late second century ah that the
meaning of the word sunnah narrowed to the point where it referred solely
to the practices of the Apostle. This narrowing occurred under the influ-
ence of Imam al-Sh¥fi¢Ï, who went against the word’s original agreed-upon
usage.

[second]
Later Use of the Term Sunnah

During the first century ah, the term sunnah was associated with a
number of different meanings. The following meanings were gleaned
from al->abarÏ’s T¥rÏkh (History) by D. S. Margoliouth:

1. Based on a conversation that took place in 34 ah between ¢AlÏ ibn


AbÏ >¥lib and ¢Uthm¥n ibn ¢Aff¥n in which mention was made of
someone who “established a known practice and eliminated a little-
practiced innovation,” it can be gathered that the term sunnah was
used in the sense of legitimate, generally approved action as opposed
to unfamiliar or suspect innovation. A similar usage is found in a
quote attributed to >al^ah ibn al-Zubayr during the war against
¢AlÏ in 36 ah. He said, “This is a situation concerning which, since it
has never arisen before, we have neither a Qur’anic revelation nor a
precedent set by the Messenger of God.”

2. In 35 ah, the Caliph ¢Uthm¥n ibn ¢Aff¥n delivered a speech to the


people of Makkah in which he spoke of “the laudable practice
introduced by the Messenger of God (al-sunnah al-^asanah allatÏ
istanna bih¥ ras‰l All¥h) and the first two Caliphs.”

3. In the year 38 ah, ¢AlÏ ibn AbÏ >¥lib entered into a discussion with
al-KhirrÏt, who had opposed ¢AlÏ over the arbitration at the Battle of

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ßiffÏn and wanted to distance himself from him. In this context, he


said, “Come, let us study the book [the Qur’an] together and debate
over the sunan (plural of sunnah),” where the word sunnah is used
simply to denote people’s customary actions. Another example of
this use of the word sunnah is found al-Muhallab’s instructions to
his sons in the year 82 ah, saying, “Read and recite the Qur’an,
and teach the sunan and the rules of etiquette adhered to by the
righteous.”

4. The word sunnah has been used to refer to a variety of concepts and
entities, including the way of Islam (sunnat al-Isl¥m) (34 ah), the
way of the Muslims (sunnat al-muslimÏn) (36 ah), and the way of
God (sunnat All¥h) (38 ah).

5. It has been used to refer to the actions of the Prophet and the two
first Caliphs, Ab‰ Bakr and ¢Umar ibn al-Kha~~¥b; an instance of
this use is found in ¢Uthm¥n ibn ¢Aff¥n’s statement in 35 ah, quoted
above, in reference to “the laudable practice introduced by the
Messenger of God (al-sunnah al-^asanah allatÏ istanna bih¥ ras‰l
All¥h) and the first two caliphs.”

6. The word sunnah has been used to refer to things over and above
the actions of the Prophet, as in the statement made by Zayd ibn ¢AlÏ
in 122 ah, “We invite you to the Book of God and the sunnah of His
Prophet. We call upon you to maintain laudable practices (sunan),
and to extinguish [useless] innovations (bida¢).”

7. The word has been used to refer to Muhammad himself as the one
who led them to engage in laudable action. The source for this usage
is found in a discourse attributed to ¢AlÏ in the year 36 ah, in which
he stated, “He taught them the Book, wisdom, their religious duties
and the sunnah. The Muslims then appointed, as his successors,
two righteous leaders in keeping with the Book and the sunnah.
These two leaders exhibited good conduct and did not go beyond
the Sunnah. We owe it to you to act on the Book of God and the
Sunnah of His Messenger.”

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8. The word sunnah may refer to the action called for in the Qur’an.
This usage is found in a speech delivered by the founder of the
Abbasid state (¢Abd All¥h al-Saff¥^) in 129 ah, in which he stated,
“God revealed His Book to [the Prophet] from on high, permitting
what is permissible and forbidding what is forbidden. In it He
enacted His law and established its practices (wa sanna fÏhi
sunanahu).”

Confusion among meanings


Confusion relating to the meaning of the word sunnah arose among
scholars of certain schools of Islamic jurisprudence. Such scholars
cited the use of the word sunnah in statements made by the Prophet, his
Companions, and his Companions’ Successors, as evidence of the
exemplary nature of actions which they sought to encourage as desir-
able; however, they were using the word sunnah in the strictly termi-
nological sense that developed in the second century ah. In other
words, they had begun associating the word sunnah specifically with
the precedents set by the Prophet rather than understanding it in its
broader sense as any conduct worthy of emulation. This narrowed
conceptualization was mistaken, since, as we have noted, the term
sunnah as employed in the narratives about the life of the Prophet and
statements made by his Companions and their Successors was meant in
the more comprehensive sense to which we have made reference. This
broader sense of the word sunnah included beliefs, acts of worship,
day-to-day transactions, morals, rules of etiquette, and the like. It is
clear from the accounts of events in the life of the Prophet and from the
ways in which his Companions used the word that it refers to some
practice that had met with acceptance on the part of “the people of
opinion” (ahl al-ra’y) and leading, influential figures (ahl al-^al wa al-
¢aqd) either because it had been established by their forebears or senior
opinion leaders, or because it was a custom or tradition that had been
passed down among them and which, having met with acceptance on
the part of trusted authorities, was viewed as sound and worthy of
maintaining.

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1. The Sunnah in the Late First Century and the


Early Second Century ah
When ¢Umar ibn ¢Abd al-¢AzÏz became governor over Madinah in 86
ah, the people stood before him and he said, “O people, if you rise, we
rise, and if you are seated, we will be seated. The only One for whom
we should all rise is the Lord of the Worlds. God has imposed obliga-
tions and established practices (wa sanna sunan). Those who fulfill
these obligations and adhere to these practices will endure, and those
who neglect them will be blotted out.”
A careful reading of the exchanges that took place between ¢Umar
ibn ¢Abd al-¢AzÏz and his administrative officers and governors indi-
cates that the understanding of the Sunnah embraced by ¢Umar ibn
¢Abd al-¢AzÏz was the one he had received from the residents and schol-
ars of Madinah, who played a major role in his intellectual formation
when he served as governor over the city. The people of Madinah
understood the word sunnah to mean the actions that had been per-
formed by the Messenger of God and by his Companions after him.
This is the understanding which Imam M¥lik adopted and applied in
his book Al-Muwa~~a’. M¥lik took care not to include in his Al-
Muwa~~a’ any practice that was not adhered to by the people of
Madinah, who had inherited the guidance of the Prophet. If he received
a report that he considered to be valid but which did not form part of
the Madinans’ practice, he would include it his book; however, he
would state explicitly that the report in question was in conflict with
the practice that prevailed among the city’s scholars and was not to be
adhered to. At that time, therefore, the word sunnah had not yet been
used to refer to a mere statement or narrated account. Rather, it was
used to refer to the ongoing practices prevalent in the Madinan com-
munity. However, actions or practices that had gained such prevalence
would undoubtedly have had their origins in the Qur’an, which had
been revealed to the Messenger of God so that he, in turn, could teach
his people its wisdom, purify their hearts and minds, and strive mightily
against God’s enemies.

2. Sunnah and Hadith


In more than one passage of the Qur’an, God uses the word sunnah in

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relation to Himself. We read in S‰rah al-A^z¥b, for example, “Such


has been God’s way (sunnat All¥h) with those who [sinned in like man-
ner and] passed away aforetime – and never will you find any change in
God’s way (sunnat All¥h)!” (33:62) By “God’s way” is meant the
unchanging divine laws that manifest themselves in the cosmos, the
human soul, and society. The word sunnah is likewise used in relation
to human beings, as in S‰rah al-Nis¥’, which reads, “God wants to
make [all this] clear unto you, and to guide you onto the [righteous]
ways of life (sunan) of those who preceded you, and to turn unto you in
His mercy: for God is All-Knowing, Wise” (4:26). The phrase “the
[righteous] ways of life of those who preceded you (sunan alladhÏna min
qablikum)” refers to their predecessors’ repeated and consistent striv-
ing to follow the guidance of the prophets. When the word sunnah is
used in relation to the Messenger of God, it refers to practices through
which he was applying the teachings of the Qur’an, and in which he
engaged so repeatedly that they became a predictable, unchanging
pattern of conduct. This phenomenon is best expressed in the words of
¢®’ishah, who, when asked to describe the Prophet’s character, said,
“his character was that of the Qur’an” (k¥na khuluquhu al-Qur’¥n).
In other words, the teachings of the Qur’an had so permeated his being
that they had become second nature to him on the levels of daily con-
duct and worship. This being so, we are called upon to obey him. In this
case, the Sunnah finds its origin in the Qur’an and expresses itself
through the Prophet’s conduct and behavior.
As for the hadith literature, it emerged as people began relating to
others accounts of the things the Messenger of God had done, their
purpose being to communicate these things to people who had not wit-
nessed these events or actions themselves. Hence, a hadith (the word
^adÏth meaning “conversation,” “talk”) is an account in which one
informs others of some aspect of the Prophet’s Sunnah, that is, his prac-
tices and habitual ways of conducting himself. In other words, the
hadiths are not the sunnah as such but, rather, a collection of accounts
that describe the sunnah. Each such account was documented via a
chain of narrators that reassured believers of its veracity. The body or
text (matn) of the hadith might reflect the narrator’s own understand-
ing of the practices being described. Questions might then arise as to

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whether a given action or statement by the Prophet was an example


that Muslims were expected to emulate. Was the action the example to
be emulated, with the words being subordinate to the action and serv-
ing simply to confirm or reinforce it, or was it the other way around?
This, of course, is a matter that may concern only u|‰l scholars, whose
job it is to identify the sources of Islamic legislation and their levels of
priority. U|‰l scholars should have given the Prophet’s actions a higher
place than they did. Be that as it may, we place priority on actions
accompanied by words, such as we find in the hadiths, “Pray as you
have seen me pray,” and, “Take from me your rites of worship.”
Following this we have actions of the Prophet that are not accompa-
nied by words, which come closer to the concept of sunnah as tradi-
tionally understood. And lastly, we have words alone.
All controversies that have arisen among scholars have had to do
with the reports concerning the Sunnah (understood as what the
Prophet did, said, and approved), not with the concept of sunnah itself
(the notion of emulating what the Prophet did and said), since no true
believer in God and His Messenger would reject the idea of emulating
an action that can be documented as having been performed by the
Prophet, either because it is supported by the Qur’an, or because it was
transmitted in a sound and trustworthy manner. In sum, controversy
has been limited almost entirely to the question of whether the
Prophet’s Sunnah has been transmitted accurately. And God knows
best.

3. The Word Sunnah as Understood by Scholars in Specialized Fields


The meanings scholars have attributed to the word sunnah can be cate-
gorized based on the epistemological models peculiar to their
respective disciplines.

a) U|‰l scholars (scholars of the fundamentals of jurisprudence): The


epistemological model adopted by these scholars rests on working
“to prove that what serves as valid evidence in the realm of jurispru-
dence is also valid as evidence overall.” The u|‰l scholars’ focus on
this aspect led them to define the Sunnah as “the second source of
Islamic legislation.” Since they wanted to show the Sunnah to be an

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independent type of juristic evidence and one of the fundamental


sources for Islamic jurisprudence, they clothed the word sunnah in
this particular definition. Among the various possible meanings of
the word sunnah, they chose that of way or manner (~arÏqah). As for
the alternative meanings that others had adopted, they did not see
themselves as obliged to address them given their conviction that as
specialists in a given field, they were entitled to the use of their own
mutually agreed-upon terminology.

b) Jurists: The implicit epistemological model among jurists is


informed by the discourse of accountability (khi~¥b al-taklÏf),
which aims to assess and classify the actions of the morally account-
able individual. Seeing that the u|‰l scholars had relegated the
sunnah to second place among the various kinds of recognized legal
evidence, jurists decided to assign the word sunnah a similar place
within the discourse of moral accountability by defining it as a
desirable action whose value has been established on the basis of
conjectural evidence and which, therefore, cannot be classified as a
duty or obligation. Following this line of reasoning, jurists identi-
fied sunnah as an action for the commission of which one will be
rewarded, but for the omission of which one will not be punished;
or alternatively, as an action whose performer merits praise, but
whose non-performer merits no blame.

c) Hadith transmitters: The entire epistemological model of hadith


transmitters revolves around the twin poles of narrative (riw¥yah),
and chain of transmission (isn¥d). Hadith transmitters have thus
defined the Sunnah as everything that has been attributed to the
Prophet by way of actions, words, or affirmations of others’ actions
or words.

When we examine the definitions that these various groups have


assigned the word sunnah, we note a lack of common denominators
among them due to the disparate models which they use as their start-
ing points. Classification of the Sunnah as a secondary type of juristic
evidence (by the u|‰l scholars), for example, has nothing to do with

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whether the commission or omission of the related action merits


reward or punishment (as per the jurists’ definition of sunnah). Besides,
one might question the validity of defining the Sunnah as all actions,
words, or affirmations attributed to the Prophet. Consequently, these
three definitions of sunnah are disjointed and mutually irrelevant.
Hence, rather than treating the word sunnah as a technical term whose
meaning can be captured in a precisely formulated definition that per-
tains to a particular, limited field of specialization, it should be treated
as an integral, flexible concept that emerges from a comprehensive
theory which embraces all the meanings applicable to the word sun-
nah, whether on the levels of dictionary definitions, Qur’anic usages,
or the way it was used by the Prophet. Rather than remaining lost in a
maze of specialized jargon, we need to place the term sunnah within an
agreed-upon framework that gives it the flexibility it needs in order to
accommodate all the meanings with which it has been associated in the
past, as well as whatever meanings will emerge in the future.

[third]
Semantic Evolution of Notions Relating
to the Concept of Sunnah

1. Semantic Evolution of the Term Fiqh


The term fiqh generally rendered nowadays as “jurisprudence” simply
means understanding or realization. The word fiqh has been used to
refer to knowledge gained through vision and observation, since vision
or seeing represents the most potent form of knowledge. The triliteral
root f-q-h occurs approximate twenty times in the Qur’an, most of
these instances being the present tense of the verb in the sense of
“understand.” The most precise form of understanding, which is the
understanding of the heart – the heart being the organ of discernment –
is seen in the Qur’anic usage of the word fiqh.
The word fiqh continued to bear the sense of understanding
throughout the early days of Islam. With the development of Islamic
society and changes in day-to-day interactions among people, religious
authorities needed sharper powers of understanding, which required a

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keenness to grasp the text under study and its subtle nuances of mean-
ing. ¢Umar ibn al-Kha~~¥b wrote to Ab‰ M‰s¥ al-Ash¢arÏ, “When
something is presented to you, exercise your powers of understand-
ing.” Commentators have understood this statement to mean that
correct understanding is a light that God casts into the servant’s heart.
Moreover, a mufti or ruler will only be able to issue a legal ruling or
govern justly by virtue of two kinds of understanding. The first is an
understanding and discernment of reality and the ability to ascertain
the true nature of what has taken place based on evidence, signs and
interrelations. The second is an understanding of the ruling appropri-
ate to this reality based on the contents of the Qur’an or a statement by
the Messenger of God. One of these kinds of understanding is then
applied to the other. The knower is the person who, through knowl-
edge and study of reality, determines the rulings of God and His
Messenger.
The step-by-step process involves reading, then knowledge and
understanding, where the understanding may either accompany
knowledge or follow it. Herein lie the beginnings of the use of fiqh.
This same order of events may be found in al->abarÏ’s commentary on
S‰rah al-Baqarah, 2:269, which speaks of God’s “granting wisdom
unto whom He wills.” Al->abarÏ cites various narratives in support of
different interpretations of the word al-^ikmah, or wisdom. He speaks
of recitation and study of the Qur’an (al-Qur’¥nu wa al-fiqhu fÏhi), or
the study of the Qur’an (al-fiqhu fÏ al-Qur’an), or the Book and the
study of it (al-kit¥bu wa al-fiqhu fÏhi), or the Qur’an, knowledge and
understanding (al-Qur’an wa al-¢ilmu wa al-fiqh). Knowledge, when
spoken of in conjunction with the Qur’an (the Book), is that which has
been narrated (the hadith or the sunnah), while fiqh, or understanding,
accompanies or follows knowledge.
When we compare this progression of meanings with the progres-
sion of dictionary definitions for the word fiqh, a clear parallel emerges
between the linguistic and social evolution of the term. Those charged
with issuing legal rulings for people, whether as judges or as muftis,
passed through a progression of stages: (a) Reading a written text, an
activity undertaken by people known as readers, or reciters (qurr¥’,
plural of q¥ri’); (b) knowledge passed down in a rote manner in the

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form of a sunnah or religious obligation (farÏ\ah) that clarified the


meaning of the Qur’an. Those who undertook this activity were
known as ¢ulam¥’ (plural of ¢¥lim, meaning “knower”), while the sun-
nah was referred to as knowledge, or ¢ilm. (c) Reflective understanding
and comprehension enlightened with insight. Those who engaged in
this activity were known as fuqah¥’ (plural of faqÏh), that is, jurists or
legists.
It should be borne in mind, however, that up through the second
century ah, the word fiqh was still not understood in the later sense just
mentioned, or in the way it is understood today. This may be seen from
the fact that Ab‰ ¤anÏfah (d. 150 ah/767 ce) understood the word fiqh
to refer to a comprehensive knowledge of the soul: its virtues and vices,
its strengths and weaknesses, a person’s beliefs, moral character and
behavior. The understanding involved was an insight so all-encom-
passing that it was worthy to be classed as the wisdom that God grants
to whom He wills (cf. S‰rah al-Baqarah, 2:269). In the days of Imam
M¥lik (d. 179 ah/795 ce), the term fiqh was still being used in a sense
that was broader than its modern-day definition, which is restricted to
a concern with people’s behavior and social interactions. The further
narrowing of the word’s import to the realm of action would come in
the following stage.
This next stage of development took place in a class of scholars who
concerned themselves more with meanings, technical terms and their
definitions, the division and classification of the sciences, and other
such pursuits which were not widespread in the Hejaz, and which
would not have been expected to have a great impact there. Iraq, by
contrast, was marked by an environment more conducive to such a
development. The word fiqh was not in circulation in its more special-
ized sense during the days of the Prophet’s Companions, although it
began to emerge toward the end of this period and during the era of the
Companions’ successors. Imam M¥lik joined the procession of reli-
gious culture at a time when the word fiqh had not been set apart as a
distinct technical term. Instead, muftis concerned themselves with
knowledge, or ¢ilm, urging others to gain a profound understanding
(fiqh) of what they knew. Nevertheless, the word fiqh had yet to
acquire the semantic dimensions with which it is associated in our day.

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2. Evolution of the Concept of Ra’y


The triliteral root r-’-y, from which the noun ra’y is derived, refers most
basically to the physical act of seeing. Since knowing something with
the mind is analogous to seeing something with the eye, the derivative
meanings of r-’-y include that of perceiving, discerning, considering,
and adopting or expressing a point of view or opinion (ra’y), all of
which involve the act of seeing with the “eye” of the mind. This sense of
the word is reflected in numerous words, such as ru’y¥, or vision, as
what one sees in a dream, and which might be termed a vision of the
heart, that is, belief. It might also be understood to refer to a waking
vision, such as that mentioned in S‰rah al-Isr¥’, 17:60. The Qur’an
uses the root r-’-y in the sense of sight more than it does in any other
sense. Its use in the sense of belief is rare except as one possible interpre-
tation, as in the case of S‰rah al-Nis¥’: “We have bestowed upon you
from on high this divine writ, setting forth the truth, so that you may
judge between people in accordance with what God has taught you
(ar¥ka, that is, caused you see or believe)” (4:105). Moreover, the
noun ra’Ï, which occurs infrequently in the Qur’an, conveys only the
general sense of understanding or consideration.
The word ra’y in the sense of opinion or point of view is an outcome
of knowledge and understanding, which are indispensable when there
is a need for a legal ruling on a given situation. In the context of the suc-
cessive roles that have been played by muftis – that of reader/reciter
(q¥ri’), scholar (¢¥lim) and jurist (faqÏh) – they have to form an opinion
or point of view whatever their level of culture or education happens to
be (from the ability to read, to the reception of narrated accounts, to
reflection on narrated accounts that have been passed down from one
generation to the next). Consequently, the stages through which the
term ra’y passed socially speaking parallel the stages through which
religious leaders passed (from readers/reciters, to scholars, to jurists).
We know that no sooner had the Apostle fallen silent then reciters
began reflecting on the contents of the Islamic message, deepening
their understanding of it and forming opinions. After the Prophet’s
death, his Companions met to discuss, debate and defend their respec-
tive points of view before arriving at the decision to pledge their
allegiance to Ab‰ Bakr as the first Caliph. Later they discussed and

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debated what to do in response to the apostasy of certain tribes on the


Arabian Peninsula. They were clearly striving for the best understand-
ing of the situation at hand, and of how to apply the text of the Qur’an
to said situation.
In the face of such trials, the Companions sought out the opinions
of individuals known for their knowledge and insight. They would
even use the word ra’y as a title of appreciation and respect. Al-¢Abb¥s,
for example, was referred to as Dh‰ al-Ra’y, that is, “The One with the
Opinion.” In other cases they would precede the word ra’y with a per-
son’s name, as in MughÏrah al-Ra’y (MughÏrah of the Opinion, that is,
MughÏrah the Perceptive), RabÏ¢ah al-Ra’y (RabÏ¢ah the Perceptive).
Used in this manner, the word ra’y refers to the disclosure of a prob-
lematic issue and the discovery of a solution to it. The word ra’y was
also appended to the names of some jurists, as in the case of Hil¥l al-
Ra’y, where the word ra’y meant simply penetrating insight.
The city of Madinah was home to those who had received knowl-
edge from the Prophet himself and whose perspicacity and observation
served as the basis of their governance. Madinah may thus have pre-
ceded other Islamic regions in its use of the word ra’y with this general
meaning, which draws no distinction between one jurist and another,
or between one mujtahid, or scholarly interpreter, and another. Imam
M¥lik himself once spoke of some opinion as “not worthy of consid-
eration,” describing it as ra’yun m¥ huwa ra’yun, which indicates that
Imam M¥lik viewed himself as qualified to give and evaluate opinions.
Ibn Qutaybah also viewed M¥lik as qualified to give informed opin-
ions. Ibn Rushd, in fact, termed Imam M¥lik “the commander of the
faithful” among those in the field of opinion-formation and applica-
tion of the principle of qiy¥s, or analogical reasoning.
This, then, is an explication of the word ra’y in the realm of under-
standing and knowledge. An opinion or point of view will differ
depending on one’s mindset, environment, and the culture that forms
one’s understanding, sets its orientation, and determines the precision
with which one thinks.

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3. Evolution in the Concept of Na||


a) Traditional uses of the root n-|-|
The word na||, the verbal noun derived from the triliteral root n-|-|,
has been used with numerous meanings, of which the following are the
most important:

• Lifting or raising in both the physical and nonphysical senses.


Hadith transmitters, for example, used the term na|| to speak of the
process of tracing (“lifting”) a narrative back to the Prophet, or
attributing a saying to the person who had uttered it. In praise of al-
ZuhrÏ, ¢Amr ibn DÏn¥r once said, “Never have I encountered a man
more conscientious about tracing his hadiths back to the Prophet
(m¥ ra’aytu rajul¥n ana||a li al-^adÏthi minhu).”
• Used in an unqualified sense, the word na|| has been used to refer to
something’s end or goal.
• Interrogation. One might say, na|| al-rajulu na||an, meaning
roughly, “The man thoroughly questioned, or examined (his inter-
locutor).”
• The act of specifying or appointing.
• The act of informing. To say, na||ahu ¢alayhi na||an, would mean
roughly, “He informed him of the matter.”
• The act of manifesting or making clear. One might say, na|| al-
shay’a na||an, meaning, “He made it clear.”

These, then, are the overall traditional uses of the Arabic root n-|-| and
its derivatives.

b) Na|| as used by Imam al-Sh¥fi¢Ï


In paragraph 56 of al-Ris¥lah, Imam al-Sh¥fi¢Ï wrote, “The Apostle
established no sunnah but that it was based on a ruling contained in a
text from the Qur’an (na||un ^ukmun).” In paragraph 97 he spoke of
“religious obligations clearly set forth (al-far¥’i\ al-man|‰|ah) in the
Book of God…,” and in paragraph 100 he spoke of rulings “which
[God] has manifested through the sunnah of His Prophet without the
presence of an explicit text from the Qur’an (bil¥ na|| al-kit¥b).” In

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this final passage, Imam al-Sh¥fi¢Ï was speaking of a practice that had
been clarified by the sunnah, but which was had not been explicated by
the Qur’an in any explicit text. In paragraph 298 he stated:

The sunan of the Messenger of God are of two types. The first consists of an
action in which he was applying an explicit teaching of the Qur’an (na||
kit¥b), while the second consists of an action in the course of which he
showed the specific practical meaning of a teaching stated in general terms
(bi al-jumlah) in the Qur’an. In both of them, however, he was applying the
Book of God.

The phrase bi al-jumlah (translated above as “stated in general terms”)


does not mean vague or obscure, but simply undetailed. Hence, it is not
being contrasted with clarity, but with detail, although clarity is intrin-
sic to detail. What we are talking about, then, is a general, universal
Qur’anic principle the meaning of which becomes clear through the
particulars, details, and practical applications provided in the Sunnah.
So, although the principle in question has not been stated explicitly, it
has nevertheless been revealed by God. And God knows best.5
The reason I have presented the concept of na|| as employed by al-
Sh¥fi¢Ï prior to discussing the word na|| as a technical term is that
Imam al-Sh¥fi¢Ï was a linguistic authority whose usage of a word car-
ried significant weight with regard to how it was to be defined. He is
also the founder of the discipline that came to be known as ¢ilm u|‰l al-
fiqh, or the fundamentals of jurisprudence. Al-Sh¥fi¢Ï is recognized by
the majority of Muslim scholars both ancient and modern as the
person who raised the status of what are known as ¥^¥d – ‘solitary’
hadiths, a term that applies to any hadith which is not mutaw¥tir (a
report narrated by a group of individuals sufficiently large and dis-
parate that it would be impossible for them to have colluded in
falsification) – by making a defense for their usefulness and reliability.
In addition, it was al-Sh¥fi¢Ï who raised the Sunnah overall to a status
parallel to that of the Qur’an. However, as will be seen clearly from the
quotes above, al-Sh¥fi¢Ï viewed the Qur’an alone as the foundational
text for Islamic teaching and practice. He stated in no uncertain terms
that any hadith classified as authentic and reliable must have a clear
origin in the Qur’an.

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c) The meaning of the word na|| in customary usage, and as a


technical juristic term
Scholars use the word na|| in its most unqualified sense to mean simply
“all intelligible speech.” Intelligibility is a necessary component of the
meaning of na||. It is in the nature of a na|| for its meaning to be fully
comprehensible and unambiguous. In other words, it is subject to
one interpretation only; hence, its apparent meaning being its actual
meaning.
If someone were to say, “this ruling is corroborated by the text”
(h¥dh¥ al-^ukm th¥bita bi al-na||), what this means is that the evi-
dence for the ruling in question has been established based on the
Qur’an or the Sunnah due to the fact that it can be traced back to the
Prophet. Among the majority of u|‰l scholars (referred to as Shafiites
or scholastic theologians), the term na|| refers to any word or phrase
that conveys a ruling in an explicit, unequivocal manner. An example
of a na|| in this sense is found in S‰rah al-Fat^, which states,
“Muhammad is God’s Apostle” (48:29) in a manner that leaves no
room for doubt that divine apostleship was given to Muhammad, and
which allows for no other interpretation. As for u|‰l scholars who were
legists associated with the Hanafite school, they defined na|| as “an
expression that is rendered clearer by virtue of its linguistic context,
and which, without this context, would not convey an obvious mean-
ing.” The example they provide of such a na|| is in S‰rah al-Baqarah,
which reads:

Those who gorge themselves on usury behave but as he might behave


whom Satan has confounded with his touch; for they say, “Buying and sell-
ing is but a kind of usury” – the while God has made buying and selling
lawful and usury unlawful. Hence, whoever becomes aware of his
Sustainer’s admonition, and thereupon desists [from usury], may keep his
past gains, and it will be for God to judge him; but as for those who return
to it – they are destined for the fire, therein to abide (2:275)!

The text here has to do with the distinction between selling and usury,
the former being permitted and the latter being forbidden. This distinc-
tion is understood based on the verse’s verbal context, in which God
states, “God has made buying and selling lawful and usury unlawful.”

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This context indicates that the intention of the text is to establish the
distinction between selling and usury. Scholars maintain that this verse
makes it plain that selling is permitted, while usury is prohibited. Never-
theless, the context mentioned above renders the verse still clearer in its
import.
Each particular school of thought has sought to defend its view on
this point. However, if we note what it means from a purely linguistic
point of view, as well as the way al-Sh¥fi¢Ï uses it, the word na|| clearly
refers to the Qur’an alone, which enjoys primacy over all else and
which is the ultimate goal and end. No other entity should be referred
to or described as the na||. Scholars of the fundamentals of jurispru-
dence could have used some other word rather than diluting this term
in the way that they have. Instead, however, other meanings have been
associated with it, which has obscured the nature of the relationship
between the Qur’an and the Sunnah. By translating the term na|| sim-
ply as “text,” thereby indicating that it can be used to refer to virtually
any statement or discourse, hadith scholars have sown confusion.
In sum, the term na|| applies properly only to the Qur’an and to
nothing else. As for the sunan, plural of sunnah, their purpose is to
clarify the Qur’anic na|| that requires explication. The Sunnah is sub-
ordinate to and inseparable from the Qur’an, revolving in its orbit.
However, the use of the term Sunnah in a manner that departs from the
meaning with which it was invested by the Prophet and his Compan-
ions, and which differs from one sect or juristic school of thought to
another, has turned the Sunnah from a legacy that provides us with
unifying guidance, to a source of misunderstanding and sectarian
divisions.

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3
The Qur’an as Creative Source
and the Sunnah as Practical
Clarification

t h e p r o p h e t forbade his Companions to mix the Qur’an with his


own words, and his rightly guided Caliphs wisely adhered to his
instructions in this regard. Hence, the relationship between the Qur’an
and the Sunnah was set down by God with the utmost precision, and
was explained by the Messenger of God with the utmost clarity. The
Qur’an is the creative source and revealer of divine ordinances, as well
as the explanation of everything relating to them. It is the Qur’an that
sets down the general principles and constants of the religion brought
by all the prophets.
Muslims have always agreed on the Qur’an’s centrality and
supremacy. This agreement extends to those who hold that the Sunnah
can stand alone as a source of legislation, since what such people pro-
pose as the basis for legislation is, upon closer examination, traceable
to the universals set forth in the Qur’an itself. Hence, the dual process
of establishing and clarifying God’s laws takes place through the
Qur’an in keeping with God’s declarations: “Judgment rests with none
but God” (S‰rah al-An¢¥m, 6:57), and: “We have bestowed from on
high upon you, step by step, this divine writ, to make everything clear”
(S‰rah al-Na^l, 16:89).
The Messenger of God recited the Qur’an, followed its teaching,
taught it to others, and showed them how to translate its words into a
concrete way of life, that is, into an ethical system that would govern
their actions, their conceptualizations, their morals, their dealings, and
their relationships. Hence, what is referred to as the Sunnah of the
Messenger of God is, in reality, a clarification and application of what
the Book of God had communicated. Therefore God said:

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But nay, by your Sustainer! They do not [really] believe unless they make
you [O Prophet] a judge of all on which they disagree among themselves,
and then find in their hearts no bar to an acceptance of your decision and
give themselves up [to it] in utter self-surrender. (S‰rah al-Nis¥’, 4:65)

This was because the basis of his decisions would be the rulings of the
Qur’an. This fact is stressed as follows in S‰rah al-M¥’idah:

And unto you [O Prophet] have We vouchsafed this divine writ, setting
forth the truth, confirming the truth of whatever there still remains of earlier
revelations and determining what is true therein. Judge, then, between the
followers of earlier revelation in accordance with what God has bestowed
from on high, and do not follow their errant views, forsaking the truth that
has come unto you. Unto every one of you have We appointed a [different]
law and way of life. And if God had so willed, He could surely have made
you all one single community: but [He willed it otherwise] in order to test
you by means of what He has vouchsafed unto you. Vie, then, with one
another in doing good works! Unto God you all must return; and then He
will make you truly understand all that on which you were wont to differ.
(5:48)

[first]
The Concept of Wa^y

In order for us properly to define the concept of sunnah and under-


stand the relationship between the Sunnah and the Qur’an, it is
essential that we arrive at a precise definition of “revelation” (wa^y) as
well. Only then will we succeed in avoiding the excessive leniency that
has allowed people to classify as “revelation” other than the Qur’an
everything passed down on the authority of the Prophet including sim-
ply statements attributed to him in narrated reports traced back to his
Companions and their Successors. It should be borne in mind that
according to u|‰l scholars, the Qur’an is defined as “the speech of God,
which is to be followed and recited in a reverent, worshipful spirit,
whose opponents were unable to meet the challenge to produce the
likes of even its shortest surah, and which was thus shown to be beyond
the capacity of any mere human being to imitate.” As such, the
Prophet’s only role in relation to the Qur’an was to follow the angel
Gabriel in its recitation, and to relate it to others as he had received it.

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For the present discussion, wa^y will be defined as the divine speech
which God sent down from on high into the heart of His Servant,
Messenger and Prophet, which opens with S‰rah al-F¥ti^ah and con-
cludes with S‰rah al-N¥s (thus consisting of one hundred fourteen
chapters, or surahs). As for all other statements, actions, or affirma-
tions of others’ words or actions attributed to the Prophet, it is
unanimously recognized that they emerged based on a variety of con-
siderations. Among the things the Prophet did, some were simply
actions that would be engaged in by any human being by virtue of
being human; some involved application of the ordinances and princi-
ples laid down in the Qur’an; and some he engaged in within the
context of his functions as a religious and political leader, judge, mufti,
teacher, guide and legislator. Some of these actions will undoubtedly
fall into the category of “relativities” that applied exclusively to his
personal circumstances and which were appropriate to his and his
Companions’ specific environment, time and place. Still others, by
contrast, must be viewed as the basis for enduring legislation that
derives its timeless nature from the Qur’an. Until or unless these
distinctions are recognized, there will be ongoing debate over the rele-
vance of the Prophet’s life to modern times, and an ongoing failure to
determine even where the points of contention lie.
By identifying what “revelation” (wa^y) is vis-à-vis the Qur’an, the
Sunnah and the affirmation of God’s oneness and its implications (¢ilm
al-taw^Ïd), we will be able to clarify a fundamental aspect of the ques-
tion at hand – how to relate properly to the Sunnah of the Prophet.
Then, in the light of this clarification, it will become possible to correct
a number of other concepts as well.

1. What is the Meaning of Wa^y?


Al-I|fah¥nÏ wrote, “The root meaning of wa^y is a rapid signal.” Since
its definition includes the element of speed, the word wa^y has been
used to describe communication that involves symbol and allusion,
nonverbal sounds, bodily gestures, or writing. This sense of the word is
found in S‰rah Maryam, which tells us that Zakariah came “out of the
sanctuary unto his people and signified to them [by gestures] (aw^¥
ilayhim): ‘Extol His limitless glory by day and by night!’” (19:11).

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Hence, one meaning of the verb aw^¥ is to motion or point. This verb
appears in S‰rah al-An¢¥m, where God states:

And thus it is that against every prophet We have set up as enemies the evil
forces from among humans as well as from among invisible beings that
whisper unto one another (y‰^Ï ba¢\uhum il¥ ba¢\) glittering half-truths
meant to delude the mind… (6:112)

In S‰rah al-An¢¥m we read, “And, verily, the evil impulses [within


men’s hearts] whisper (y‰^‰na) unto those who have made them their
own that they should involve you in argument…” (6:121). The verb
aw^¥ as used in such contexts has been viewed as synonymous with the
verb waswasa used in S‰rah al-N¥s, which is a prayer for God’s protec-
tion “from the evil of the whispering, elusive tempter (al-wasw¥s
al-khann¥s) who whispers in the hearts of men (yuwaswisu fÏ |ud‰r al-
n¥s)” (114:4-5).
The noun wa^y is also, however, used to refer to the message God
conveys to His prophets and messengers through a variety of media.
The word of revelation might be delivered through a visible messenger
who communicates via audible speech; in another situation, the
prophet might hear speech without seeing where it is coming from; in
still another, the word from God might come in the form of the instinct
that tells bees, for example, to build their nests here or there (as in
S‰rah al-Na^l, 16:68), through a dream, or through some other form
of inspiration.1

Ilh¥m (inspiration) from a linguistic perspective. The word ilh¥m has


been defined as that which comes suddenly to a person’s mind. It refers
in particular to something that is poured out in abundance, and which
comes from God and the heavenly realms. The word ilh¥m has also
been defined as the act of casting into the heart something that brings a
sense of tranquility, and which God grants to some of His pure-hearted
ones. The verb alhama is used in S‰rah al-Shams, 91:8, which tells us
that God has imbued the soul (alhamah¥) with knowledge of both its
moral failings and its God-consciousness. Ibn SÏn¥ defined the word
ilh¥m as “that which the active intelligence casts into the human soul
supported by an intense purity, clarity and serenity, and by intense

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contact with intellectual principles.” In his Jam¢ al-Jaw¥mi¢, al-SubkÏ


defines ilh¥m as “that which is cast into the heart bringing solace and
peace, and which God bestows specially upon some of His pure-hearted
ones.” It could not, however, serve as authoritative evidence given the
impossibility of having complete confidence in someone who is not
protected from sin in his inner thoughts. The Sufis define it as “transfu-
sion, or breathing into the heart, soul or mind (al-nafthu fÏ al-r‰¢), and
a casting into the heart of a knowledge not based upon evidential rea-
soning and inquiry.” In this connection the Prophet is reported to have
said, “The Holy Spirit breathed into my heart” (inna r‰^ al-qudus
nafatha fÏ r‰¢Ï).” As for Muhammad Abduh (d. 1905 ce), he defined it
as “a sentiment of which the soul feels certain and whose promptings it
follows without knowing whence it has come. It might be likened to a
state of hunger, thirst, sadness or delight.” Drawing a distinction
between inspiration (ilh¥m) and divine revelation (wa^y), Rashid Rida
(d. 1935) wrote of

what some refer to as psychological suggestion or revelation (al-wa^y al-


nafsÏ), a phenomenon which philosophers have interpreted as a kind of
inspiration (ilh¥m) that wells up from within an individual’s higher self.
Our disagreement with such philosophers centers around the fact that, in
our belief, legitimate revelation (al-wa^y al-shar¢Ï) comes from outside the
soul of the prophet, having descended upon him from the heavens rather
than having welled up from within him as they suppose. [Our difference
with them also] revolves around our belief in the existence of a spiritual
messenger who has descended on the Prophet from God. As God declares
in S‰rah al-Shu¢ar¥’: “Now behold, this [divine writ) has indeed been
bestowed from on high by the Sustainer of all the worlds; trustworthy
divine inspiration has alighted with it from on high upon your heart, [O
Muhammad] so that you may be among those who preach in the clear
Arabic tongue” (26:92-95). As for inspiration, instinctual behavior (cf.
S‰rah al-Na^l, 16:68), visions in dreams, and Gabriel’s delivery of mes-
sages to the Prophet by appearing in a particular form, these are spoken of
in S‰rah al-Sh‰r¥, where we read that “it is not given to mortal man that
God should speak unto him otherwise than through sudden inspiration
(wa^yan), or [by a voice, as it were,] from behind a veil, or by sending an
apostle to reveal (aw an yursila ras‰lan fa y‰^Ï), by His leave, whatever He
wills [to reveal]: for, verily, He is Exalted, Wise.” (42:51)

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God speaks to the Prophet, saying, “before your time We never sent
any apostle without having revealed to him (ill¥ an n‰^iya ilayhi) that
there is no deity save Me, [and that,] therefore, you shall worship Me
[alone]!” (S‰rah al-Anbiy¥’, 21:25). In so speaking, God is referring to
a general kind of revelation, since the recognition of God’s oneness and
the necessity of worshipping Him is not found only in the revelation
granted to God’s messengers “endowed with firmness of heart” (S‰rah
al-A^q¥f, 46:35). Rather, this is something that can be known through
reason and human inspiration just as it can be known through special
revelation. What the aforementioned passage is drawing our attention
to is that it would be unthinkable for a messenger of God not to realize
God’s oneness and human beings’ duty to worship Him. In a reference
to the revelation that came to Jesus Christ, we read in S‰rah al-
M¥’idah, “And [remember the time] when I inspired the white garbed
ones2: ‘Believe in Me and in My Apostle!’ They answered: ‘We believe;
and bear You witness that we have surrendered ourselves [unto You]’”
(5:111). See also S‰rah Y‰nus, 10:87 and S‰rah >¥h¥, 20:48.
In reference to the revelation the Prophet had been given, God
instructed him, saying, “Follow you what has been revealed unto you
by your Sustainer – save Whom there is no deity – and turn your back
upon all who ascribe divinity to aught beside Him” (S‰rah al-An¢¥m,
6:106). Similarly, He said, “We have inspired you, [O Muhammad,
with this message:] ‘Follow the creed of Abraham, who turned away
from all that is false, and was not of those who ascribe divinity to aught
beside God’” (S‰rah al-Na^l, 16:123).
In S‰rah al-Anf¥l the word wa^y is used in association with the
angels: “Lo! Your Sustainer inspired the angels (awh¥ il¥ al-mal¥’ikah)
[to convey this His message to the believers]: ‘I am with you !’ (8:12)”
Elsewhere the Qur’an speaks of God “revealing” to the heavens what
their functions are to be, saying, “And He [it is who] decreed that they
become seven heavens in two aeons, and imparted unto each heaven its
function” (wa aw^¥ fÏ kulli sam¥’in amrah¥) (41:12). If the revelation
being referred to here is addressed to the inhabitants of the heavens,
who are not mentioned explicitly, then we conclude that God revealed
this to the angels. If, on the other hand, we view the entity to which the
revelation was given as being the heavens themselves, then, for those

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who consider the heavens to be nonliving it falls under the category of


revelation embodied in the laws of the cosmos, and for those who do
view the heavens as a living entity, it falls under the category of a spo-
ken command. In S‰rah al-Zalzalah we read about the Earth being the
recipient of God’s revelation or inspiration: “When the earth quakes
with her [last] mighty quaking, and [when] the earth yields up her bur-
dens, and man cries out, ‘What has happened to her?’ – on that Day
will she recount all her tidings, as your Sustainer will have inspired her
to do (aw^¥ lah¥)!” (99:1-5). Speaking to the Prophet about his recep-
tion of the Qur’an, God says, “[Know,] then, [that] God is sublimely
exalted, the Ultimate Sovereign, the Ultimate Truth and [knowing
this,] do not approach the Qur’an in haste, ere it has been revealed unto
you in full (min qabli an yuq\¥ ilayka wa^yuhu), but [always) say: ‘O
my Sustainer, cause me to grow in knowledge!’” (20:114).
During the lifetime of the Prophet, his uncle Ab‰ Jahl began a move-
ment to deny his prophethood. At a later time, al-WalÏd ibn al-
MughÏrah headed a movement that aimed to place revelation on a par
with non-revelation. Then, following the age of recording and transla-
tion there arose groups of freethinkers and atheists along with a variety
of philosophical currents. There were those who, for example, dis-
cussed the nature of created entities, including human beings, animals,
plants and inanimate objects, claiming that such entities had no true
existence. Those who held such a view saw no difference between the
miracles performed by prophets and the illusions produced by sorcerers
and cult priests.
Early members of the Muslim community believed in divine revela-
tion and prophethood as part of their faith in the realm of the unseen.
Once they had witnessed the challenge to produce the likes of the
Qur’an and it had become apparent how thoroughly inimitable the
Qur’an was, they felt no need to explain revelation or to represent it
in a way that would be acceptable to the philosophical mind or,
alternatively, to those with empirical mindsets of the sort that prevail
in our day and age.

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2. Qur’anic and Non-Qur’anic Revelation


As we saw earlier in S‰rah al-Sh‰r¥, 42:51, God speaks to human
beings either “through sudden inspiration (wa^yan), or [by a voice, as
it were,] from behind a veil, or by sending an apostle to reveal (aw an
yursila ras‰lan fa y‰^Ï), by His leave, whatever He wills [to reveal].”
The “apostle” spoken of here is “the faithful spirit,” while the “faithful
spirit” who revealed the Qur’an to the Messenger of God has been
shown to be the angel Gabriel. The Prophet had been prepared psycho-
logically and intellectually to receive the revelation in some ways that
are known only to God. However, we find indications of what these
ways were in some verses of the Qur’an, in the form of either a question
in the Prophet’s mind, a thought that occurred to him, or an aspiration
on his part to receive a decisive word from the Qur’an concerning some
situation that required a response or decision. As God said to the
Prophet when he was seeking clarity on the matter of Muslims’ direc-
tion for prayer, “We have seen you [O Prophet] often turn your face
towards heaven [for guidance]” (S‰rah al-Baqarah, 2:144). We also
know that at one point, one of the Prophet’s wives divulged a confi-
dence he had related to her. The Qur’an speaks of this saying, “And lo!
[It so happened that] the Prophet told something in confidence to one
of his wives; and when she thereupon divulged it, and God made this
known to him, he acquainted [others] with some of it and passed over
some of it” (S‰rah al-Ta^rÏm, 66:3).
Since the Prophet’s function was to convey to others the message he
had received from God, he was not permitted to forbid or sanction any-
thing unless he had received God’s command to do so. The Qur’anic
revelation that was given is what God willed to be included in His Book
by way of details, situations and events from the era of revelation.
Through the Qur’an we are informed of situations and events pertain-
ing to the period of revelation and the completion of the Islamic
religion. God revealed what people need to know about such matters
in the recited text of the Qur’an, which He promised to compile, clarify
and preserve from all distortion or conflicting accounts until the Day
of Judgment (S‰rah al-¤ijr, 15:9).
In this respect the Qur’an differs from all other historical records or
accounts, not included in the divine promise, with which people have

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tampered in one way or another. S‰rah al-Najm reads:

Consider this unfolding [of God’s message], as it comes down from on


high! This fellow-man of yours has not gone astray, nor is he deluded, and
neither does he speak out of his own desire: that [which he conveys to you]
is but [a divine] inspiration with which he is being inspired (in huwa ill¥
wa^yun y‰^¥) – something that a very mighty one has imparted to him.
(53:1-5)

One might ask: When was the Messenger of God, who was well-
known in his community, accused of being deluded? He was never
faced with this accusation until he began conveying the words of the
Qur’an and announced that he was God’s messenger to all people. In
the passage just quoted, God defends His messenger against this
charge, asserting that the words he is uttering are none other than “[a
divine] inspiration with which he is being inspired (in huwa ill¥
wa^yun y‰^¥).” Being familiar with his accustomed manner of
expressing himself, the members of the Prophet’s community accused
him of straying into error when he began giving voice to the Qur’an. In
his defense, God declared that he was neither “deluded,” nor was he
speaking “out of his own desire.”
Some people have interpreted the phrase that reads, “neither does
he speak out of his own desire: that [which he conveys to you] is but [a
divine] inspiration” as applying to everything the Prophet ever said.
However, this interpretation fails to take into account the context of
the verse in question. It should be remembered that God is not speaking
here to those who believe in the Qur’anic message, telling them that
they are obliged to act on every word that came out of the Prophet’s
mouth. Rather, He is addressing those who are giving the lie to the
Qur’an. Nor, on the other hand, does this mean that there is no evi-
dence for the authoritative nature of the Sunnah. As we read in S‰rah
al-Nis¥’, “Whoever pays heed unto the Apostle pays heed unto God
thereby” (4:80). The behaviors in which the Messenger of God
engaged in his daily life other than those directly related to the
Qur’anic revelation were subject to the same human laws to which all
other people’s behaviors are, although on the highest planes of perfec-
tion. The Qur’an makes reference to this in numerous verses addressed

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to the Apostle. S‰rah ®l ¢Imr¥n (3:161), for example, reads, “And it is


not conceivable that a prophet should deceive – since he who deceives
shall be faced with his deceit on the Day of Resurrection, when every
human being shall be repaid in full for whatever he has done, and none
shall be wronged.”
In some situations the Messenger of God would do something for
which he was corrected by a verse of the Qur’an. In S‰rah al-A^z¥b, for
example, God says to the Prophet:

And lo, [O Muhammad,] you did say unto the one to whom God had
shown favor and to whom you had shown favor, “Hold on to your wife,
and remain conscious of God!” And [thus] would you hide within yourself
something that God was about to bring to light – for you did stand in awe of
[what] people [might think], whereas it was God alone of Whom you
should have stood in awe! (33:37)

In another situation God said to him, “No [other] women shall hence-
forth be lawful to you nor art you [allowed] to supplant [any of] them
by other wives, even though their beauty should please you greatly -:
[none shall be lawful to you] beyond those whom you [already] have
come to possess. And God keeps watch over everything” (33:52). The
Qur’an specifies the nature of the revelation that God has commanded
His messenger to record and convey to others, and whether it includes
only the Qur’anic revelation, or other types of revelation as well. God
addressed the Prophet in S‰rah al-An¢¥m with the words:

Say: “What could most weightily bear witness to the truth?” Say: “God is
witness between me and you; and this Qur’an has been revealed unto me so
that on the strength thereof I might warn you and all whom it may reach.”
Could you in truth bear witness that there are other deities side by side with
God? Say: “I bear no [such] witness!” Say: “He is the One God; and,
behold, far be it from me to ascribe divinity, as you do, to aught beside
Him!” (6:19)

This is a testimony from God and from His messenger to the fact that
the Qur’anic revelation is the very message that the Prophet had been
commanded to convey to people. The Qur’an is the true source of
knowledge. Hence, we read in S‰rah F¥~ir:

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And [know that] all of the divine writ with which We have inspired you is
the very truth, confirming the truth of whatever there still remains of earlier
revelations for, behold, of [the needs of] His servants God is Fully Aware,
All-Seeing. And so, We have bestowed this divine writ as a heritage unto
such of Our servants as We chose: and among them are some who sin
against themselves; and some who keep half-way [between right and
wrong]; and some who, by God’s leave, are foremost in deeds of goodness:
[and] this, indeed, is a merit most high! (35:31-32)

In defining the divine message and the Prophet’s role in it, God said to
him:

[You are but entrusted with Our message:] and so We have revealed unto
you a discourse in the Arabic tongue in order that you may warn the fore-
most of all cities and all who dwell around it – to wit, warn [them] of the
Day of the Gathering, [the coming of] which is beyond all doubt: [the Day
when] some shall find themselves in paradise, and some in the blazing
flame. (S‰rah al-Sh‰r¥, 42:7)

Elsewhere He said to him:

Thus have We raised you [O Muhammad] as Our Apostle amidst a com-


munity [of unbelievers] before whose time [similar] communities have
come and gone, so that you might propound to them what We have
revealed unto you: for [in their ignorance] they deny the Most Gracious!”
(S‰rah al-Ra¢d, 13:30)

And elsewhere:

Is it, then, conceivable [O Prophet] that you couldst omit any part of what
is being revealed unto you [because the deniers of the truth dislike it,- and]
because your heart is distressed at their saying, “Why has not a treasure
been bestowed upon him from on high?” – or, “[Why has not] an angel
come [visibly] with him?” [They fail to understand that] you are only a
warner, whereas God has everything in His care. (S‰rah H‰d, 11:12)

Hence, the revelation given to the Messenger of God was defined in


terms of both quality and quantity such that he could distinguish the
parts from the whole. For unlike the revelations the Arab community
had inherited prior to it, the Qur’an was recorded and reviewed during

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the lifetime of the Prophet and under his supervision. We read in S‰rah
al-Isr¥’:

And they will ask you about [the nature of] divine inspiration (al-r‰^). Say:
“This inspiration [comes] at my Sustainer’s behest; and [you cannot under-
stand its nature, O men, since] you have been granted very little of [real]
knowledge.” And if We so willed, We could indeed take away whatever We
have revealed unto you (m¥ aw^ayn¥ ilayk), and in that [state of need] you
would find none to plead in your behalf before Us. [You are spared] only by
your Sustainer’s grace: behold, His favor towards you is great indeed! Say:
“If all mankind and all invisible beings would come together with a view to
producing the like of this Qur’an, they could not produce its like even
though they were to exert all their strength in aiding one another!” (17:85-
88)

This passage from the Qur’an specifies the source from which Muslims
draw their religious knowledge and legal rulings, and which God has
not willed to “take away.” Rather, it is enduring, having been pre-
served by God’s providence. The Qur’an itself is the divine sign which
demonstrates the Prophet’s truthfulness. God challenged the Arabs of
the Prophet’s day to produce something comparable to the Qur’an, but
they were unable to do so. Doesn’t this challenge by the Qur’an alone
show that the text that was revealed to the Apostle and which he was
commanded to deliver to others is none other than the Qur’an itself,
God’s final message?
God has made clear in numerous verses of the Qur’an that there is
no way for us to determine the accuracy of historical reports and narra-
tives dealing with the miraculous unless we have access to a source of
knowledge that can be demonstrated indisputably to be of divine
origin. After an account of miraculous events in the lives of Mary the
mother of Jesus and of Zachariah, Mary’s guardian and father of John
the Baptist (®l ¢Imr¥n, 3:37-43), God told the Prophet that:

This account of something that was beyond the reach of your perception
We [now] reveal unto you: for you were not with them when they drew lots
as to which of them should be Mary’s guardian, and you were not with
them when they contended [about it] with one another. (3:44)

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God warns us not to fabricate lies against Him or to claim to have legal
sources to which He has lent no authority. In S‰rah al-An¢¥m God asks
rhetorically, “And who could be more wicked than he who invents a lie
about God, or says, ‘This has been revealed unto me,’ the while nothing
has been revealed to him? – or he who says, ‘I, too, can bestow from on
high the like of what God has bestowed’?” (6:93). Similarly, He warns
against following anything but that which has been revealed from on
high, saying:

Means of insight have now come unto you from your Sustainer [through
this divine writ]. Whoever, therefore, chooses to see, does so for his own
good; and whoever chooses to remain blind, does so to his own hurt. And
[say unto the blind of heart]: “I am not your keeper.” And thus do We give
many facets to Our messages. And to the end that they might say, “You
have taken [all this] well to heart,” and that We might make it clear unto
people of [innate] knowledge, follow you what has been revealed unto you
(m¥ ‰^iya ilayk) by your Sustainer – save whom there is no deity – and turn
your back upon all who ascribe divinity to aught beside Him. (S‰rah al-
An¢¥m, 6:104-106)

This Qur’anic revelation is the Law which God commanded His


messengers, and all Muslims, to adhere to. Any interpretation of this
Law must have a Qur’anic basis and be consistent with Qur’anic evi-
dence. Additionally, no such interpretation will be acceptable or valid
unless the person offering it is marked by godliness (al-rabb¥niyyah), a
quality that all God’s messengers and prophets have exhorted their
hearers to cultivate. It was this virtue that God was speaking of in
S‰rah ®l ¢Imr¥n when He declared:

It is not conceivable that a human being unto whom God had granted reve-
lation, and sound judgment, and prophethood, should thereafter have said
unto people, “Worship me beside God”; but rather [did he exhort them],
“Become men of God (k‰n‰ rabb¥niyyÏn) by spreading the knowledge of
the divine writ, and by your own deep study [thereof].” (3:79)

Herein lies an affirmation of the fact that the Qur’an contains every-
thing God willed to convey to the created world until the Day of
Judgment. God has affirmed this by making clear that the task assigned

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to His Apostle was to warn others based on the Qur’anic revelation he


had received from on high. As God says in S‰rah al-An¢¥m:

Say [O Prophet]: “I do not say unto you, ‘God’s treasures are with me,’ nor
[do I say], ‘I know the things that are beyond the reach of human percep-
tion’; nor do I say unto you, ‘Behold, I am an angel’: I but follow what is
revealed to me.” (6:50)

The Qur’an is the sign the Apostle was granted as evidence of his
truthfulness:

And [thus it is:] whenever Our messages are conveyed unto them in all their
clarity, those who do not believe that they are destined to meet Us [are wont
to] say, “Bring us a discourse other than this, or alter this one.” Say [O
Prophet]: “It is not conceivable that I should alter it of my own volition; I
only follow what is revealed to me. Behold, I would dread, were I [thus] to
rebel against my Sustainer, the suffering [which would befall me] on that
awesome Day [of Judgment] (S‰rah Y‰nus, 10:15)!”

Here we have clear evidence that the Messenger of God himself was
commanded to convey nothing to people but a single legal source, that
is, the Qur’anic revelation containing God’s final, eternal message.
God has warned Muslims, and mankind, not to adopt legal texts
other than those of the Qur’anic Law, which were recorded during the
era of revelation under the supervision of the one to whom the revela-
tion had been given. He has said:

Hence, do notutter falsehoods by letting your tongues determine [at your


own discretion], “This is lawful and that is forbidden,” thus attributing
your own lying inventions to God: for, behold, they who attribute their
own lying inventions to God will never attain to a happy state! (S‰rah al-
Na^l, 16:116)

So hold fast to all that has been revealed to you: for, behold, you art on a
straight way; and verily, this [revelation] shall indeed become [a source of]
eminence for you and your people: but in time you all will be called to
account [for what you have done with it]. (S‰rah al-Zukhruf, 43:43-44)

From the foregoing we may conclude that the explication and

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application of Qur’anic teachings that we find in the life of the Prophet,


and which came later to be referred to as the Sunnah, are subject to the
judgment of the Qur’an, as is the heritage left by all prophets and mes-
sengers of God. This is why we find the Qur’an correcting some of the
Prophet’s actions and applications of Qur’anic teachings, as in S‰rah
al-Anf¥l, where God declares:

It is not fitting for an apostle that he should have prisoners of war until he
hath thoroughly subdued the land. Ye look for the temporal goods of this
world; but Allah looketh to the Hereafter: And Allah is Exalted in might,
Wise. (8:67)

Elsewhere, when the Prophet had allowed certain fighters to stay back
from a military expedition, God chided him, saying, “May God par-
don you [O Prophet]! Why did you grant them permission [to stay at
home] before it had become obvious to you as to who was speaking the
truth, and [before] you came to know [who were] the liars?” (S‰rah al-
Tawbah, 9:43). These are only some of the passages which demon-
strate that it is the Qur’an that stands in judgment over the Prophet’s
actions. This was one of the ways in which God preserved, protected
and corrected His Messenger, which in turn gives us all the more rea-
son to have confidence in the Prophet’s explications of the Qur’an. For
this reason al-Sh¥fi¢Ï wrote saying, “No situation will ever arise for an
adherent of God’s religion but that he will find, in the Qur’an, a source
of guidance relating thereto.” In support of this statement he cites the
first verse of S‰rah Ibr¥hÏm, which reads:

AlÏf. L¥m. R¥. [This is] a divine writ which We have bestowed upon you
from on high in order that you might bring forth all mankind, by their
Sustainer’s leave, out of the depths of darkness into the light: onto the way
that leads to the Almighty, the One to Whom all praise is due. (14:1)

(See also S‰rah al-Na^l, 16:44 and 89, and S‰rah al-Sh‰r¥, 42:52). It
follows that the actions and sayings which Muslims are called upon to
emulate and which are viewed as divine revelation themselves have
their roots in the Qur’an. If something lacks a Qur’anic foundation, it
may still be drawn on as a source of wisdom and practical benefit.
However, it will not have the character of divinely revealed legislation.

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[second]
The Sunnah and the Theory of Elucidation

The theory on which we base our concept of the Sunnah – one that
delineates the nature of the relationship between the Qur’an and the
Sunnah – we are terming “the theory of elucidation” (na·ariyyah al-
bay¥n), where the word “elucidation” (bay¥n) is understood in the
Qur’anic sense of clarification and explication. The Sunnah may be
thought of as an applied, interpretative elucidation of the Qur’an. As
such, it remains within the Qur’an’s orbit and under its authority. The
Sunnah is never autonomous of the Qur’an; on the contrary, it is insep-
arable from it.
The example set by the Prophet for the Muslim community is the
summation of the life stories of all the prophets who preceded him and
the guidance they brought. As God said to him, “Say: ‘I am not the first
of [God’s] apostles; and [like all of them] I do not know what will be
done with me or with you: for I am nothing but a plain warner’” (S‰rah
al-A^q¥f, 46:9). The actions of God’s prophets and messengers
embody the practical aspect of the revelations they have received so
that their followers can emulate and obey them. As God declares in
S‰rah al-M¥’idah:

O People of the Book! Now, after a long time during which no apostles
have appeared, there has come unto you [this] Our Apostle to make [the
truth] clear to you, lest you say, “No bearer of glad tidings has come unto
us, nor any warner”: for now there has come unto you a bearer of glad
tidings and a warner – since God has the power to will anything. (5:19)

The explanatory role the Prophet was intended to play is described


in S‰rah al-M¥’idah, where God says:

And unto you [O Prophet] have We vouchsafed this divine writ, setting
forth the truth, confirming the truth of whatever there still remains of earlier
revelations and determining what is true therein. Judge, then, between the
followers of earlier revelation in accordance with what God has bestowed
from on high, and do not follow their errant views, forsaking the truth that
has come unto you. (5:48)

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However, the Prophet’s performance of these functions will only yield


the knowledge, wisdom and purity of heart they are intended to if his
followers abide by what he taught. As God reminded him:

But nay, by your Sustainer! They do not [really] believe unless they make
you [O Prophet] a judge of all on which they disagree among themselves,
and then find in their hearts no bar to an acceptance of your decision and
give themselves up [to it] in utter self-surrender. (S‰rah al-Nis¥’, 4:65)

Unlike interpretation (ijtihad), analogical reasoning (qiy¥s) and their


subsidiary disciplines, the Prophet’s Sunnah is at once both explanatory
and binding in nature. As God says in S‰rah Ibr¥hÏm:

[This is] a divine writ which We have bestowed upon you from on high in
order that you might bring forth all mankind, by their Sustainer’s leave, out
of the depths of darkness into the light: onto the way that leads to the
Almighty, the One to whom all praise is due. (14:1)

And as He says to the Prophet in S‰rah al-Na^l: “And upon you [too]
have We bestowed from on high this reminder, so that you might make
clear unto mankind all that has ever been thus bestowed upon them…”
(16:44).

1. The Concept of Bay¥n (Elucidation) as Understood by


Imam Al-Sh¥fi¢Ï
According to al-Sh¥fi¢Ï, the process of bay¥n involves clarification of
the Qur’an through its application and interpretation in concrete cir-
cumstances. At the height of his conflict with the Ahl al-Ra’y (People of
Opinion) and his defense of the Ahl al-¤adÏth (People of Hadith), al-
Sh¥fi¢Ï interpreted the concept of bay¥n as implying that there is a
degree of vagueness or obscurity (ibh¥m) in the Qur’an, which con-
tains passages that are general (mujmal) or ambiguous (mutash¥bih)
as well as allusion (kin¥yah), figures of speech (isti¢¥rah), metaphor
(maj¥z), and ellipsis (^adhf). It is due to the presence of such phenomena
in the Qur’an that it requires elucidation, or bay¥n. Al-Sh¥fi¢Ï devoted
an entire section of al-Ris¥lah to a discussion of the process of elucida-
tion, which he divided into five levels. The first and second levels

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involve the Qur’an’s elucidation of itself, while the third level includes
the ways in which the Messenger of God added specificity to passages
of the Qur’an that were general in nature. So, for example, he detailed
the command in S‰rah al-Nis¥’ to “be constant in prayer” (4:77) by
specifying the number of prayers one is required to pray daily and the
times at which they are to be performed.
The fourth level of bay¥n includes the elucidations provided by the
Prophet’s actions, that is, his Sunnah. The Sunnah makes clear those
things which God left it to the Prophet to clarify. Al-Sh¥fi¢Ï stresses
throughout his discussion that what the Messenger of God elucidated
always had its source in the Qur’an. It was in affirmation of this point
that he wrote, as mentioned above, “No situation will ever arise for an
adherent of God’s religion but that he will find, in the Qur’an, a source
of guidance relating thereto, be it explicit or implicit.” Anything that is
not dealt with specifically and explicitly in the Book of God will be
addressed through the general, universal principles it sets forth. Al-
Sh¥fi¢Ï concludes his treatment of bay¥n with a lengthy discussion of its
fifth level, which consists of clarifications that take place through lin-
guistic cues, concrete phenomena or indications, and the like. It is here
that al-Sh¥fi¢Ï helps us to see the relationship between bay¥n and
language in particular.

Binding elucidation (al-bay¥n al-mulzim)


The Qur’an’s self-elucidation is undoubtedly the highest level of bay¥n.
Therefore, it is essential that Muslims familiarize themselves with it
and give it precedence over all other types of elucidation. Of the
remaining levels of elucidation, the Prophet’s actions, words and affir-
mations are the only type that is binding on Muslims. The process of
emulating the Prophet is related, of course, to belief in his sinlessness,
that is, his having been protected by God from the commission of any
sin, great or small, throughout his life. After all, if the Apostle was not
sinless, then the divine injunction to obey and emulate him would entail
a command to commit error and wrongdoing, which is unthinkable.
Hence, all verses of the Qur’an that urge us to obey the Messenger of
God may be seen within the framework of this structural unity, which
commits us to observing both the Qur’an’s elucidation of itself and its

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elucidation by the Prophet. All other forms of elucidation are said by


u|‰l scholars to be the subject of disagreement. Hence, assuming they
can be classed as valid forms of elucidation, they are non-binding in
nature.

2. Bay¥n as Understood by U|‰l Scholars


Imam al-R¥zÏ divided what he termed “generalities in need of elucida-
tion” (al-mujmal al-mubayyan) into a number of categories. He then
treated the second of these categories under a number of different
headings, one of which was “types of texts which require elucidation”
(al-mubayyan wa aqs¥muhu) as well as the types of elucidation (aqs¥m
al-bay¥n¥t). He also devoted a discussion to the question of how to
rank that which requires elucidation (al-mubayyan) vis-à-vis that
which elucidates it (al-mubayyin). A study and analysis of al-R¥zÏ’s
discussions shows that he made numerous additions to the theory of
elucidation as set forth by Imam al-Sh¥fi¢Ï. Nevertheless, one senses a
gap between that which requires elucidation – the Qur’an – and that
which elucidates it – the Sunnah – because of the extent to which the
theme of moral accountability dominates the juristic mindset. The
majority of u|‰l scholars held that even an action unaccompanied by
speech could be considered a means of elucidating the Qur’an, the
question then being whether or not such an action constituted a basis
for a legal ruling applicable to morally accountable individuals. For
details on the four points of view taken on this question, see al-R¥zÏ’s
al-Ma^|‰l fÏ ¢Ilm al-U|‰l.
The complexity of the ensuing debate reveals the confusion that
came to surround the concept of sunnah. Nevertheless, scholars’ con-
versations were interspersed increasingly with the notion that the
Sunnah revolves around the Qur’an, since that which elucidates (in this
case, the Sunnah) should not go beyond or take precedence over that
which is being elucidated (the Qur’an).

3. The Word Bay¥n as a Technical Term


The purpose in elucidating the Qur’an is to minimize disagreements
over how it is to be understood and thereby help people to apply it more
effectively (cf. S‰rah al-Na^l, 16:44). As we have seen, this elucidation

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takes place through actions, words and the act of approving this or that
idea or action (cf. S‰rah al-M¥’idah, 5:15). However, there are rules to
which the process of elucidation must adhere. For example, it must not
change the essential meaning of what is being elucidated or introduce
anything extraneous into it.
The role played by the Qur’an in relation to the legacies left by earlier
prophets is to affirm whatever truth they still contain, and to purge
them of whatever distortion or manipulation they had been subjected
to. Hence, the Seal of the Prophets was assigned a dual task: (1) to bring
the “unlettered” Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula (“unlettered” in the
sense of having no scripture of their own) into the fold of “the people of
the Book,” that is, those communities who possess a holy writ, by giv-
ing them the Qur’an, and (2) to show the Jews and Christians how the
Qur’an conveys the truths found in earlier revelation through a correc-
tive rereading of the legacy brought by earlier messengers and prophets.
Through the noble life he lived, the Messenger of God modeled the
best possible way to preserve the prophetic heritage on the practical
level and to apply the Qur’an’s teaching to day-to-day reality. Hence,
God has tirelessly preserved His final revelation for His own glory. As
He said to the Prophet in S‰rah al-Qiy¥mah: “Move not your tongue in
haste, [repeating the words of the revelation:] for, behold, it is for Us to
gather it [in your heart,] and to cause it to be read [as it ought to be
read]. Thus, when We recite it, follow you its wording [with all your
mind]” (75:16-18), and in S‰rah al-¤ijr: “Behold, it is We Ourselves
who have bestowed from on high, step by step, this reminder, and
behold, it is We who shall truly guard it [from all corruption]” (15:9).
Just as God involved no other being in revealing the Qur’an, He
involved no other being in its preservation. In this way there came to be
a single, authoritative point of reference for human beings in the
Qur’an.
As the final revelation, the Qur’an enjoys primacy over not only the
legacy left by earlier prophets; it also enjoys primacy over the words
and actions of the Prophet Muhammad. As we have stated before, the
Qur’an eliminated the distortion and falsification to which the heritage
brought by previous prophets had been subjected by correcting unin-
formed interpretations and presenting the message anew in a true,

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purified form. However, in order for this process to reach completion,


we must take one further step.

[third]
Examining the Sunnah in Light of the Qur’an

By examining the Sunnah in light of the Qur’an, my intention is to fol-


low in the footsteps of the majority of Muslim scholars from al-Sh¥fi¢Ï
to Imam al-Sh¥~ibÏ (d. 790 ah1388 ce), as well as those who came after
them, who held that every reliable, well-authenticated Sunnah must
have its origin in the Qur’an. Al-Sh¥fi¢Ï wrote in al-Ris¥lah:

Since God required the Prophet to follow what He had revealed to him,
…the Sunnah could not possibly be in conflict with the Book of God. On
the contrary, the Sunnah would be consistent with the Book of God by
applying or clarifying the meaning that God had intended to convey
through the Qur’an…..The Sunnah of the Messenger of God will never be
in conflict with the Book of God. Rather, it elucidates it, both in its general-
ities and in its specifics ... The elucidation of the specific and the general
alike falls under the category of exegesis … Every practice established by
the Messenger of God will be consistent with the Book of God, either as a
concrete application of an unambiguous text or as a God-given clarifica-
tion of something stated in the Qur’an in general terms.

Some scholars have divided hadiths into three categories based on


the nature of their relationship to the Qur’an. The first category con-
sists of hadiths that are in full agreement with the Qur’an, and which
Muslims are obliged to emulate. The second category consists of
hadiths that add something to the Qur’an, and which Muslims are also
mandated to emulate. The third category consists of hadiths that con-
flict with the Qur’an, and which are to be rejected.
Most scholars of the Hanafite school made examination of the
Sunnah in light of the Qur’an the foundation of their hadith criticism.
Al-SarakhsÏ (d. 286 ah/899 ce), for example, divided discontinuity in
historical reports into two types: (1) discontinuity in wording by which
he meant hadiths classified as mursal, and (2) discontinuity in mean-
ing. Al-SarakhsÏ then went on to explain that what he meant by discon-
tinuity in meaning was for a hadith to be in conflict with the Qur’an.

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Such a hadith would not be acceptable, nor would it be a valid basis for
action, whether the verse in question is general in meaning or specific,
and whether or not it is subject to more than one interpretation.
Al-SarakhsÏ arrived at his conclusions based on both authoritative
tradition (al-naql) and reason (al-¢aql). As for the authoritative tradi-
tion, it consisted in the Prophet’s statement that “every condition not
found in the Book of God is invalid, since the Book of God is truer
[than any other sources].” Al-SarakhsÏ interpreted the phrase “every
condition not found in the Book of God” to mean every condition
which conflicts with the Qur’an. He also cited the Prophet’s saying:

After I am gone, you will have numerous accounts of things I said and did.
If someone attributes some action or saying to me, compare it to the Book
of God. If it agrees with the Book of God, accept it and know that it is from
me. If it conflicts with the Book of God, reject it, and know that I had had
no part in it.

Al-SarakhsÏ’s rational argument centers around a process of com-


paring the Qur’an to the report vis-à-vis its reliability, since the Qur’an
is known to be fully trustworthy, whereas there is uncertainty sur-
rounding whether a “solitary” hadith (¥^¥d) can be reliably traced
back to the Messenger of God. When it is impossible to adopt both the
report and the Qur’anic text, one must adopt the more certain and
abandon what is subject to doubt. The same principle applies to both
specific rulings and general principles. A general principle is a binding
source for legal rulings in the area it addresses just as a specific text is.
The same is true with respect to texts that can support more than one
interpretation depending on the context, and those that can support
only one interpretation and whose meaning is unambiguous without
the need for clarification from the context. The reason for this is that
the text of the Qur’an is of certain reliability, while the text of a hadith
can never be deemed devoid of uncertainty due to the possibility that it
was narrated not verbatim, but only paraphrased in terms of its overall
meaning.
The text of the Qur’an enjoys greater reliability than a solitary
report (khabar ¥^¥d) based on the Qur’an’s being classed as mutaw¥tir
that is, something that has been handed down through such a large

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number of narrators that it would have been impossible for them to


conspire to deceive. Hence, if a solitary report conflicts with the Qur’an
this indicates clearly that it has been fabricated.
Stressing the importance of examining hadiths in light of the Qur’an
and the most widely circulating, well-recognized Sunnah, al-SarakhsÏ
praised Hanafite scholars for following this approach, saying:

These two approaches to hadith criticism are based on significant knowl-


edge and provide an effective means of preserving the religion. For
unjustified innovations and caprice have their origins in the failure to
examine solitary reports in light of the Qur’an and widely circulating
sunnah narratives. There are people who have treated the Sunnah as
authoritative despite the existence of uncertainty as to whether it actually
originated with the Messenger of God, and even though it does not provide
certain knowledge. Such people then proceed to interpret the Qur’an and
the widely circulating sunnah narratives in light of such dubious reports. In
so doing, they turn things on their heads by making the follower into the
leader, and by treating that which lacks certainty as their foundation. As a
consequence, they fall prey to whim, caprice, and harmful religious innova-
tion no less than those who reject any solitary hadith for the mere reason
that it is not mutaw¥tir ….By contrast, those of our scholars who give each
kind of evidence its proper weight are on the right path. These scholars
treat the Qur’an and the widely circulating sunnah narratives as their
authoritative foundation, interpreting solitary reports, which are of less
certain reliability, in light of them. That which agrees with the widely
accepted narratives, they accept; that which they find no mention of in
either the Qur’an or the widely circulating sunnah narratives, they also
accept and require people to follow; and as for that which conflicts with the
Qur’an and the Sunnah, they reject it.

Among those who held the same view as the Hanafites, albeit with
slight differences, was Imam M¥lik, whose approach was similar to
that of the jurists of Iraq who weighed solitary reports against the
Qur’an. Jurists of the Malikite school deduced from their imam’s
practice that he gave precedence to the apparent meaning of the Qur’an
over the Sunnah, especially if the Sunnah came into conflict with some
other standard, such as analogical reasoning or the practice that pre-
vailed among the people of Madinah, and on this basis he rejected a
number of hadiths. Imam al-Sh¥~ibÏ also supported the Hanafites’

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insistence on the need to weigh hadiths against the Qur’an, and made
mention of the fact that the earliest, most respected Muslim scholars
had done the same.
As for hadith transmitters and others who attributed to the Sunnah
as much authority as they attributed to the Qur’an, if not even greater
authority, they did not weigh hadith narratives against the Qur’an. On
the contrary, they vehemently denounced this practice, since they
denied the mere possibility that any authentic hadith could conflict
with the Qur’an in the first place. In expression of this point of view,
Ibn ¤azm (d. 456 ah/1064 ce) wrote:

It would be impossible for an authentic report to conflict with the Qur’an


to begin with. Every such report should be viewed as an authoritative
source of Islamic law, since it will either be (1) an addition to what is in the
Qur’an, providing an explanation of general statements found therein, or
(2) a specification of exceptions to general rules set down in the Qur’an.
There is no third possibility.

It appears that in the view of Ibn ¤azm and those of his ilk, when God
told the Prophet that he was to “make clear (li tubayyina) unto man-
kind all that has ever been thus bestowed upon them…,” (16:44) this
meant that the Prophet was to clarify what had been revealed in the
Qur’an through the Sunnah. In fact however and as I have shown, what
the Prophet was being told to do was to clarify the Qur’an through the
Qur’an itself, by reciting it and teaching people its meaning.
In support of their position, hadith transmitters cited a particular
hadith which indicates that the practice of comparing hadith narra-
tives to the Qur’an is not required. Ibn M¥jah (d. 273 ah/887 ce)
related on the authority of al-Miqd¥m ibn Ma¢di Karib al-KindÏ that
the Messenger of God said:

A time is coming soon when a man sated with worldly comforts will relate
something I said or did. And he will say, “We have the Book of God among
us [as a source of authority]. Whatever we find to be permitted therein, we
declare permissible, and whatever we find to be forbidden therein, we
declare prohibited. [However,] whatever the Messenger of God has forbid-
den, God Himself has forbidden.”

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According to al-Kha~~¥bÏ, this hadith warns us not to depart from


practices established by the Prophet that are not mentioned in the
Qur’an. This was in response to sects such as the Kharijites and the
Rafidites, who clung to the apparent meaning of the Qur’an and
ignored sunnah practices that served implicitly to elucidate the Qur’an.
As a consequence, they fell into confusion and error. Al-Kha~~¥bÏ
states:

This hadith indicates that there is no need to examine a hadith narrative in


light of the Book of God. Rather, whatever can be demonstrated to have
been done or said by the Messenger of God serves, by itself, as authoritative
evidence.

However, a statement such as this reflects serious confusion between


what has, and what has not, been demonstrated to be reliable and
trustworthy. As we have quoted al-Sh¥fi¢Ï and others as saying, a truly
well-authenticated report of an action or statement by the Prophet can-
not, in fact, conflict with the Qur’an. Ibn M¥jah also relates on the
authority of ¢Ubayd All¥h ibn AbÏ R¥fi¢, on the authority of the latter’s
father, that the Messenger of God said:

Let me not find any of you sated with worldly comforts and, when presented
with something I have commanded or forbidden, saying, “I do not know
[whether this is valid or not]. Whatever we find in the Book of God is what
we follow.”

As for the hadith cited by those who hold that we are obliged to
weigh hadith narratives against the Qur’an, hadith transmitters judge
it to be weak. In fact, they hold that such hadiths are forgeries. In this
connection, al-Kha~~¥bÏ quotes Ya^y¥ ibn Mu¢Ïn as saying, “This
hadith was forged by atheists.”
The hadith transmitters saw the practice of weighing the Sunnah
against the Qur’an as dangerous because they feared it would lead to
an abandonment of the Sunnah altogether and dependence on the
Qur’an alone. Al-Kha~~¥bÏ wrote, “This is the opinion of people who
have no share in the religion, and who have departed from the unani-
mous consensus (ijm¥¢) of the Muslim community.” In so saying,

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al-Kha~~¥bÏ associated this point of view with the teachings of the


Kharijites and the Rafidites. In defense of Imam A^mad [ibn ¤anbal],
Ibn al-Qayyim approves the hadith transmitters’ view, saying:

If everything that is required by the Sunnah but not required by the Qur’an
were viewed as an abrogation of it [the Qur’an], then most of the practices
established by the Messenger of God would be rendered null and void.
People would say, “This is an addition to the Qur’an and should not be
accepted or adhered to.” However, this is precisely what the Messenger of
God said would happen, and which he warned against.

The Kharijites, the Rafidites and other sects who were contempo-
rary to this debate failed to reconcile their respective points of view.
Jurists among the People of Opinion then introduced an additional
barrier to acceptance of hadiths being weighed against the Qur’an.
This barrier was termed “additions to the text,” as these jurists rejected
some hadiths simply because they contained legal rulings not found in
the Qur’an. Such extreme positions aside, the idea of weighing hadiths
against the Qur’an is a perfectly sound one; it is not an illegitimate
innovation or later addition to the religion. On the contrary, the notion
was in circulation during the days of the Prophet’s Companions and
was applied by both those who passed down numerous hadith narra-
tives and by those who did not. At the same time, it should be noted
that they did not compare hadiths to the Qur’an in all cases, but only in
those situations where the reliability of a particular hadith had been
called into question.
Shaykh Muhammad Abu Zuhrah (d. 1974) wrote:

From this you will see that jurists representing the People of Opinion, who
would not accept a hadith until they had examined it in light of the unam-
biguous verses of the Qur’an which require no elucidation, relied for their
methodology on the Companions themselves, including Ab‰ Bakr, ¢Umar
ibn al-Kha~~¥b, ¢®’ishah and others. Since these scholars modeled their
approach on that of the Companions, they cannot be viewed as innovators
in the negative sense of the word. On the contrary, they were “followers.”
The idea itself is a sound one, and controversy over it only arose due to par-
ticular circumstances and divergent ways of understanding it. This may be
seen in the fact that the hadith transmitters themselves treated it, in prac-
tice, as fundamental to hadith criticism, and held that if a hadith

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contradicted something found explicitly in the Qur’an, this indicated that


the text of the hadith had been forged.

Methodological Difficulties in Dealing with the Sunnah


As we have seen, the task of formulating the relationship between the
Qur’an and the Prophetic Sunnah with the requisite accuracy and
precision presented a major challenge to Muslim thinkers, and it con-
tinued to raise numerous questions. Some scholars held that the
Sunnah could be an independent source of Islamic legislation. As an
outgrowth of this position, jurists and u|‰l scholars concluded that the
Sunnah was the second source of Islamic legislation, the first source
being the Qur’an. They then set about constructing their intellectual
legacy based on the distinction between ‘definitive’ (qa~¢Ï) and ‘pre-
sumptive’ (·annÏ). The Qur’an, being definitive in nature, ranked first
as a source of legal rulings, while the Sunnah, being largely presump-
tive in nature, ranked second.
At the same time, some scholars referred to the Qur’an and the
Sunnah as al-wa^yayn, or “the two divine revelations,” the only differ-
ence being in the areas of inimitability (i¢j¥z), and unquestionability
(ta¢abbud). The Qur’an was seen as having been revealed word for
word, and the Sunnah as having been revealed on the level of meaning,
but not literal wording. The verses of the Qur’an thus served as the
basis for a challenge to others to produce something equal to them – a
challenge no one was able to meet – whereas the Sunnah was seen to
lack this quality of inimitability. Hence, it was held that the Qur’an
must be recited verbatim, precisely as it was revealed, whereas it was
permissible to narrate the Sunnah in paraphrase.
Conceptualizations such as these yielded a number of dangerous
outcomes, for example, the assertion that the Sunnah and the Qur’an
might contradict each other, in which case they would have to be
reconciled via abrogation, alternative interpretations, or by some
other means. This attitude led some to imagine or suppose that the only
distinctions between the Qur’an and the Sunnah were merely formal,
having to do with wording and status. In this way, the meanings of the
Qur’an came to be so intimately associated with the historical context
in which the Sunnah came into being and the interpretations linked

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with that context that it was believed that such interpretations could
never be changed or breached. Consequently, it was deemed impermis-
sible to explore any ways of understanding the Qur’an other than those
that prevailed during the lifetimes of the Prophet and the first genera-
tion of Muslims.
Any understanding that can lead to the mistaken belief that the
Qur’an is relative in nature rather than being a changeless document
that accommodates all times and places should be avoided as a danger-
ous perspective. It does no good to speak of the general nature and
inclusivity of the Qur’anic discourse if, at the end of the day, the
Qur’an is going to be viewed as a relative text whose meanings are
determined by time and place, since the upshot of this perspective is
that the Qur’anic text is incapable of either accommodating or tran-
scending the historical process of change. Such an outlook involves a
disregard for the Qur’an-Sunnah relationship set forth in S‰rah al-
Na^l, where God says to the Prophet:

And upon you [too] have We bestowed from on high this divine writ for no
other reason than that you might make clear unto them all [questions of
faith] on which they have come to hold divergent views, and [thus offer]
guidance and grace unto people who will believe. (16:65)

We have bestowed from on high upon you, step by step, this divine writ, to
make everything clear. (16:89)

In the same vein God addresses the Apostle in S‰rah al-Naml, saying:

[Say, O Muhammad:] “I have been bidden to worship the Sustainer of this


City – Him who has made it sacred, and unto Whom all things belong: and I
have been bidden to be of those who surrender themselves to Him, and to
convey this Qur’an [to the world].” (27:91-92)

Verses such as these make it clear that the pivot and source of the
message the Apostle was given is the Qur’an itself, and that the task of
Prophethood was to deliver and elucidate this message and to present a
concrete application of its values and precepts that people could emu-
late in all ages and places. There is no need for people to reconstruct
this application, and if they imagine themselves required to do so, they

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are mistaken. However, until we have precise definitions that enable us


to discern the subtle differences between the Qur’an and the Sunnah,
there will be serious confusion among Muslims as to where their
“authoritative points of reference” truly lie.
Islam’s intellectual history in the areas of jurisprudence and hadith
scholarship, among others, is replete with notions that have not been
well understood and which, as a consequence, have obscured the
nature of the Qur’an-Sunnah link. Among these notions are, for exam-
ple, that “the Sunnah stands in judgment over the Qur’an,” that “the
Sunnah abrogates the Qur’an,” or that “the Qur’an needs the Sunnah
more than the Sunnah needs the Qur’an.” All imprecise and irresponsi-
ble statements indicate how seriously the relationship between the
Qur’an and the Sunnah has been distorted in people’s minds.
Filled as it is with references to specific individuals and to concrete
events and situations for which it is easy to find counterparts and ana-
logues in later generations the Sunnah has proved to be more accessible
than the Qur’an as a source of input for the process of inferring rulings
from juristic particulars. This fact has, unfortunately, reinforced the
notion of a separation between the Sunnah and the Qur’an.
Matters have been further complicated by attempts to challenge the
authoritative status of the Sunnah or to undermine its importance. By
undermining the Sunnah’s importance, however, we undermine the
complementary relationship between the Sunnah and the Qur’an.

1. Difficulties Relating to the Legacy Left by U|‰l Scholars


Many contemporary Muslims have only a vague understanding of the
various tasks that were involved in the Prophet’s mission and the dis-
tinctions among them. The process of defining the boundaries among
these tasks is a challenging one that requires thorough, in-depth study.
The leading u|‰l scholars, who have made numerous statements about
the variety that marked the Apostle’s mission, have recognized the
distinction between the kinds of actions and behaviors the Prophet
engaged in simply as a member of society in keeping with his inborn
human propensities, and the things he did in his capacity as Prophet,
Messenger, teacher, religious leader, ruler, and the other functions he

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performed. However, they have not applied the same rigor in their
treatment of the Prophet’s statements.
Furthermore, u|‰l scholars made no distinction between the words
and actions of the Prophet that were legislative in nature, and those
that were not. When discussing Sunnah-related topics on which their
respective imams had stated positions, they would modify the posi-
tions taken by hadith transmitters to agree with those of their imams,
while accepting hadith transmitters’ definitions for terms such as |a^Ï^
(authentic), ^asan (good), mashh‰r (famous), mu¢allal (defective),
mudallas (concealed), and mu¢an¢an (containing the conjunction ¢an in
its chain of narration). At the same time, they classed the various types
of sunnah practices indiscriminately as “legislative.” Even those spon-
taneous actions or statements of the Prophet that could be shown to
have been performed or uttered out of simple habit, or in his capacity
as a human being like other human beings, were treated as implicit
sources of legislation.
Moreover, by promoting the view of the Sunnah as an independent
source of authority alongside the Qur’an, such scholars opened the
door to rulings that might be viewed as frivolous or unnecessary. Thus,
for example, if a statement by the Prophet indicated that a given action
was more or less neutral, it was classed as ‘permissible’ (mub¥^). This
stance led to a prolonged debate over the matter of permissibility
(ib¥^ah), the question being: Is something deemed permissible based
on a legal ruling, or based on a rational judgment? The majority of
these scholars insisted that permissibility is based on a legal ruling, and
listed ‘permissibility’ as the fifth juristic category into which they clas-
sified actions. The list then became: (1) obligatory (w¥jib), (2) forbidden
(^ar¥m), (3) recommended (mand‰b), (4) reprehensible (makr‰h), and
(5) permissible (mub¥^). By classing permissibility as a legal ruling
rather than a rational judgment, these scholars restricted the issue to
that of demonstrating that a given hadith narrative was authentic.
If this could be demonstrated, the matter was considered settled,
since every hadith narration was assumed, ipso facto, to be a kind of
legislation.

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2. The Juristic Method and its Dominance Over Approaches to the


Sunnah
Given the exclusively juristic focus on the Qur’an and the Sunnah as
sources of legal rulings, Muslims began losing sight of the fact that,
taken together, the Qur’an and the Sunnah are intended to build up
human society and help us achieve a prospering civilization. Hence,
there is a need to highlight the non-juristic aspects of the Qur’an and
the Sunnah, which have not received the requisite attention.
For those engaged in formulating juristic rulings, the Sunnah was a
more accessible reference than the Qur’an because it dealt directly with
events, individuals and situations for which it was easy to find counter-
parts and analogues in later times. This fact further reinforced the
notion of a separation between the Qur’an and the Sunnah, both of
which were increasingly read and interpreted from an atomistic per-
spective that caused scholars to lose sight of the overarching structural,
thematic and functional unity between them. This development served
in turn to entrench the notion of a hierarchy between the Qur’an and
the Sunnah which jurists upheld based on a forged hadith narrated on
the authority of Mu¢¥dh ibn Jabal.3
This hierarchy is based on a set of mistaken assumptions. The first
of these is that the verses of the Qur’an are finite, whereas the number
of situations and cases that might conceivably face human beings is
infinite. But, we ask, how can the verses of the Qur’an be finite when
God has said, “We have bestowed from on high upon you, step by step,
this divine writ, to make everything clear” (al-Na^l 16:89)? The two
subsequent verses mention universals such as justice, kindness, gen-
erosity and faithfulness to one’s word, which serves to show how the
Qur’an encompasses everything that has happened, or ever will hap-
pen, among human beings. God has told us explicitly, in fact, that He
has neglected nothing in the Qur’an (al-An¢¥m 6:38).
The second mistaken assumption is that Mu¢¥dh would only have
looked for rulings in the Sunnah after despairing of finding what he
was looking for in the Qur’an. Such an assumption runs contrary to the
complementary relationship God established between the Qur’an and
the Prophet’s practical application of its teachings. Another problem-
atic assumption of relevance here is that one only engages in ijtihad

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when one finds no ruling on the issue in question in either the Qur’an or
the Sunnah. We know from abundant evidence in Islamic legal sources
that human beings’ foremost duty is to know God. However, such
knowledge begins with rational investigation, followed by examination
of the Prophet’s claims and the miracle he was given, and ending with
acknowledgment of and faith in what he brought.
When we realize this fact, we discover that most of the controversy
that raged of old and which rages still, over the authority and autonomy
of the Sunnah as a source of Islamic legislation and whether the Sunnah
stands in judgment over the Qur’an or vice-versa has grown out of our
limitations as human beings, who have to investigate and digest the
more important things before going on to the less important ones.
Someone might object at this juncture that someone who engages in
ijtihad to resolve a question first gathers all the relevant hadiths at his
disposal; he then sifts, classifies and studies them, determining which
of them have abrogated others and which have been abrogated, which
are of unqualified validity and which require qualification, which are
general and which are specific, which are broad and which are narrow,
and so on. This being the case, the reading being done is comprehen-
sive. Why, then, is it described as being partial?
The answer to this question is that when we speak of a comprehen-
sive or inclusive reading, we are not speaking of the approach described
above. For although it may appear at first glance to be comprehensive
and inclusive, it does not revolve around the universals of the Sunnah
and the Qur’an as a whole. Rather, it revolves around a universal value
as it applies to a particular situation or juristic inquiry. A comprehen-
sive, inclusive reading of the Qur’an and the Sunnah is, by contrast, the
discovery of overarching, unchanging values through an investigation
of the Revelation’s overall content and aim and human beings’ purposes
in relation to the entire cosmos. The overarching, unchanging values to
which I am referring include for example the oneness of the Divine (al-
taw^Ïd), the need for self-purification (al-tazkiyah), and the goodness
of progress and prosperity (al-¢umr¥n). They also include the values of
justice, freedom, and the fulfillment of human needs from the most
basic material necessities to the level of more abstract, spiritual and
esthetic needs. Recognition of these governing values leads naturally to

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the formulation of regulatory principles, the disclosure of unstated


assumptions, and the identification of methodological determinants
such as philosophical premises and assumptions.
Interpretations founded on the juristic model alone may have con-
tributed to a failure to discern the need for a comprehensive approach
that views particular situations and Qur’anic verses within the broader
context of the overarching principles found in the Qur’an.

3. Isn¥d Methodology in Isolation


Isn¥d-based methodology has been viewed by some as an unrivalled
means of demonstrating a hadith’s authenticity and reliability. This
view is based on the assumption that there is nothing about the actual
content of a hadith that would render it inauthentic or unreliable. If
this assumption is correct, then if the isn¥d is judged to be sound, noth-
ing more needs to be said about the hadith in question. However, when
the content of a hadith is critiqued based on exacting, knowledge-
based criteria established by hadith transmitters themselves, these
criteria can be fruitfully integrated with and complemented by isn¥d-
based criticism. We then begin to see the Sunnah not as a collection of
disjointed texts, but, rather, as a means of applying the values and
teachings of the Qur’an.
The confidence placed in isn¥d-based methodology was based on
the assumption that the Qur’an’s unassailable authority was derived
from its having been transmitted by significant numbers of reliable
narrators from one generation to the next. In fact, however, the Qur’an
had been preserved from within by God Himself so that no falsehood
could infiltrate it regardless of how many, or few, individuals had been
involved in transmitting its text. Hence, such external factors had
nothing to do with the degree of reliability that could be attributed to
the Qur’an, the completeness with which it had been preserved, its
infallibility, or its definitiveness.
Would that hadith scholars, like many jurists, had committed them-
selves to the use of both methodologies. In this case, they would have
first examined the isn¥d, or chain of transmission, to determine how
reliable and authentic it is. They would then have subjected the matn,
or main body of the hadith to rigorous standards of authenticity and

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reliability based on the governing values of Islam – the oneness of the


Divine (al-taw^Ïd), self-purification (al-tazkiyah), and progress and
prosperity (al-¢umr¥n). In this way, the two methodologies would have
been allowed to complement one another and evolve together over time
and as a consequence, we could have avoided the huge controversy
that has arisen over what have come to be known as ‘disputed hadiths,’
or over the notion of ‘authoritativeness’ (al-^ujjiyah) itself. Nor would
we have witnessed the emergence of wayward sects such as those who
refer to themselves as ‘Qur’anists’ (al-qur’¥niyy‰n) when, in fact, a
true ‘Qur’anist’ would never spurn or judge the Sunnah based merely
on his or her own thoughts, desires, or whims, keeping the parts that
strike his fancy and rejecting that parts that he finds objectionable.
Most of the disagreements current today are a result of our having
neglected one of these two methods of hadith criticism. There are some
who adopt the isn¥d-critique method and who, if a hadith’s chain of
transmission is shown to be authentic, refuse to critique its matn since,
in their view, the hadith has “passed muster” and nothing remains to
be done. Others, by contrast, ignore the isn¥d altogether, since it makes
no difference to them whether the hadith under scrutiny was passed
down by al-Bukh¥rÏ, Muslim, al->abar¥nÏ, Ibn M¥jah or whoever else.
They simply critique the text of the hadith against the requisite criteria
without regard for its chain of transmission. Others, by contrast,
bypass these criteria, which no one has developed since the end of the
first four centuries ah, and subject them instead to standards which
others might view as capricious, arbitrary and subjective and, there-
fore, lacking in any academic or intellectual value. Needless to say, this
is a practice that no self-respecting scholar should ever fall into.
The only way to resolve the present impasse is to undertake a thor-
ough critique and analysis of both isn¥d and matn criticism. Both
methodologies should be evaluated in light of the knowledge that was
available during the historical periods in which they emerged. A study
should be undertaken of hadith transmitters’ use of these methodolo-
gies, whether separately or together, which hadiths were subjected to
only one methodology and not the other, these methodologies’ histori-
cal evolution, and the periods in which their use and development by
jurists and u|‰l scholars were halted or interrupted. The study and

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analysis of specific texts might also facilitate the reappraisal and refine-
ment of these methods.

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4
The Expanding
Role of Narrative –
A Historical Overview

i f t h e guidance brought by the Prophet had been followed after his


death the way it was during his lifetime, the question of how the
Qur’an relates to the Sunnah would simply never have arisen. We read
in S‰rah ®l ¢Imr¥n:

Indeed, God bestowed a favor upon the believers when he raised up in their
midst an apostle from among themselves, to convey His messages unto
them, to cause them to grow in purity, and to impart unto them the divine
writ as well as wisdom – whereas before that they were indeed, most obvi-
ously, lost in error. (3:164)

However, subsequent changes in people’s attitudes and interpretations


brought this question to the fore, which led in turn to difficulties in all
sciences relating to the transmission of the Islamic revelation and tradi-
tion. It even impacted the language in which the Sunnah and other
narrated reports were conveyed.
As we approach the second-most important formative influence on
the Muslim community (the most important being the Qur’an), we
need a clear historical perspective on succeeding Muslim generations’
attitudes toward the Qur’an and its elucidation in the Prophetic
Sunnah. For the purposes of this discussion, we will refer to these gen-
erations as (1) the generation that witnessed the Qur’anic revelation,
(2) the narrative generation, (3) the generation of jurisprudence, and
(4) the generation (or generations) of imitation or tradition (taqlÏd).

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[first]
The Generation That Witnessed the
Qur’anic Revelation

Given the clarity of perspective enjoyed by this first Muslim genera-


tion, the issue of the relationship between the Qur’an and the Sunnah
was unlikely even to arise. Members of the Muslim community were
accustomed to hearing the Messenger of God recite the verses of the
Qur’an that were being revealed to him, his teaching, his understand-
ing of the Qur’an, and his application of the wisdom contained in the
Qur’an in such a way that it answered their questions, ordered their
relationships, taught them what was permitted and forbidden, and
helped them distinguish good from bad, true from false. Sometimes
new verses would be revealed without having been triggered by a par-
ticular occasion or circumstance, while at other times they would come
in answer to a question or in resolution of a difficulty. The Qur’an
makes mention of fifteen situations in which the Prophet’s Companions
asked him for rulings on particular issues. In each of these places the
Qur’an says, “They ask you….,” and follows this with an answer to the
question being raised. Of these questions, eight were juristic in nature.
If the Messenger of God had known that he was authorized to legislate
in response to these and related questions, he would not have waited
for a ruling to be revealed to him, and would simply have answered the
questions himself without delay.
There were also situations in which the Messenger of God was com-
manded to issue rulings on matters he had not been asked about. An
example of such a situation is related in S‰rah al-An¢¥m:

Say: “Come, let me convey unto you what God has [really] forbidden to
you: Do not ascribe divinity, in any way, to aught beside Him; and [do not
offend against but, rather,] do good unto your parents; and do not kill your
children for fear of poverty – [for] it is We who shall provide sustenance for
you as well as for them; and do not commit any shameful deeds, be they
open or secret; and do not take any human being’s life – [the life] which
God has declared to be sacred – otherwise than in [the pursuit of] justice:
this has He enjoined upon you so that you might use your reason; and do
not touch the substance of an orphan – save to improve it – before he comes

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of age. And [in all your dealings] give full measure and weight, with equity:
[however,] We do not burden any human being with more than he is well
able to bear; and when you voice an opinion, be just, even though it be
[against] one near of kin. And [always] observe your bond with God: this
has He enjoined upon you, so that you might keep it in mind. And [know]
that this is the way leading straight unto Me: follow it, then, and follow not
other ways, lest they cause you to deviate from His way. [All] this has He
enjoined upon you, so that you might remain conscious of Him (6:151-
154).

In the same vein we have S‰rah al-Nis¥’, 4:2-59 and 92-94, as well as
the rulings found in S‰rah al-Isr¥’, 17:22-39. Numerous legal rulings
are also found in S‰rah al-Baqarah, S‰rah ®l ¢Imr¥n, and S‰rah al-
M¥’idah, not to mention the many rulings scattered throughout the
rest of the Qur’an in either explicit or implicit form. In short, all the
jurisprudence that has served as the basis for the legislation instituted
by the Muslim community has its origin in the Qur’anic Revelation. As
for the Prophet, he submitted to this Revelation and conveyed it to oth-
ers, clarifying it and teaching others how to translate it into concrete
actions. This understanding was accepted without question, as no one
of that generation viewed the Sunnah as anything more than a clarifi-
cation of the rulings found originally in the Qur’an. Never once did the
Prophet claim to have the right to legislate independently of the
Qur’an, since the Qur’an had left nothing out, and because an elucida-
tion is not the same as the formation of an autonomous ruling. Rather,
whatever rulings were issued had been present already in the Qur’an.
All the Prophet did was to make them clearer through his words, actions
and applications.
On those occasions when the Messenger of God issued independent
rulings, they all had to do with organizational matters and policies
which he saw as being matters of opinion and which, therefore, it was
appropriate for him to rule on as he saw fit. One such occasion had to
do with the prisoners of war who were taken at the Battle of Badr, and
in relation to whom a revelation came pointing out what the Prophet
should have done; another had to do with the situation in which some
of the hypocrites requested permission to stay back from the Battle of
Tab‰k. In these situations God made clear to people that He involves

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no one in His rule. Hence, it should be clear beyond a shadow of a


doubt that the Prophet did not see himself as being authorized to issue
legislation on his own. Rather, he was authorized to do nothing but
convey God’s laws to others and to be obedient to them. And, as we
have explained, his elucidation of God’s laws might take place in
words, actions, or approval of others’ words and actions.
The generation that witnessed the Qur’anic revelation was a pristine
generation that had yet to witness the appearance of sects or factions,
disagreements, juristic schools of thought, political struggles, or aspi-
rations to power on the part of this or that member of the Muslim
community. Those who possessed no political authority sought to
acquire cultural authority, and those who were unable to satisfy their
ambitions by stirring up tribal fervor that would elevate them to posi-
tions of leadership would assert their influence by creating philosoph-
ical, doctrinal or intellectual fervor.

1. Sunnah Methodology During the Era of the


Rightly-Guided Caliphate
The Caliphs Ab‰ Bakr and ¢Umar ibn al-Kha~~¥b sought to verify nar-
rated accounts by scrutinizing the content of any hadith that was
narrated. Imam al-DhahabÏ wrote:

Ab‰ Bakr was the first person to take precautions before accepting a report
he had heard. Ibn Shih¥b related on the authority of QabÏ|ah ibn Dhu’ayb
that a [certain] grandmother approached Ab‰ Bakr requesting that she be
included in someone’s inheritance. In response, Ab‰ Bakr told her,
“According to the Book of God, you are due nothing, and I am unaware of
the Messenger of God’s having mentioned anything due to you.” He then
asked the Prophet’s other Companions. Al-MughÏrah ibn Shu¢bah rose and
said, “I once saw the Messenger of God giving her [a grandmother] one-
sixth.” Ab‰ Bakr asked him, ‘Is there anyone else who has a similar
testimony?” Mu^ammad ibn Maslamah al-An|¥rÏ then offered a similar
testimony. So Ab‰ Bakr gave it to her.

Ab‰ Bakr thus established a way of dealing with any legal issue that
might be raised. The first step in the process was to bring the issue
directly to the Qur’an. Note that in taking this first step, the individual

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in need of an answer did not come to the Qur’an in search of proof texts
to support this or that preconceived notion, supposition or claim.
This initial inquiry was then followed by a second step that involved
searching for something the Prophet had said or done that pointed to a
relevant Qur’anic principle that he had been applying or clarifying. In
the event that something of relevance was found in the narratives
about the Prophet, it was not treated as textual evidence in support of
an already-established rule but rather as a clarification of the Qur’an’s
approach and its answer to the difficulty that had been posed. One of
the most distinctive features of this early era of Islamic history was the
insistence on keeping narratives about the Prophet to a minimum. At
times, however, this step would be accompanied by a request for an
additional witness in support of the first narrator, as we find in the inci-
dent related about Ab‰ M‰s¥ al-Ash¢arÏ, who quoted the Prophet as
having made a statement that one should knock three times before
entering a house; if one was allowed entry, so be it; if no one answered,
one was to withdraw. When Ab‰ M‰s¥ quoted this statement to ¢Umar
ibn al-Kha~~¥b, ¢Umar insisted that he bring forth another witness to
this statement before he acknowledged it as valid.
With regard to criticism of the matn, or text, of the hadith cited by
al-Bukh¥ri, Muslim and others about F¥~imah bint Qays, whose hus-
band had divorced her irrevocably and to whom the Messenger of God
supposedly allowed no housing or alimony, ¢Umar ibn al-Kha~~¥b said:

We will not disregard the Book of God and the Sunnah of our Prophet
because of something said by a woman who, for all we know, has now
forgotten [what she heard before], and who has both a place to live and
material support. As God has said, “When you…divorce women…do not
expel them from their homes; and neither shall they [be made to] leave
unless they become openly guilty of immoral conduct” (S‰rah al->al¥q,
65:1).

We also have accounts of situations in which ¢®’ishah took exception


to the Companions by checking narratives against the Qur’an and cor-
recting them on this basis. For example, she objected to a hadith acc-
ording to which deceased individuals are said to be tormented by their
families’ weeping over their loss. The basis for ¢®’ishah’s objection was

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the verse that tells us that “whatever [wrong] any human being com-
mits rests upon himself alone; and no bearer of burdens shall be made
to bear another’s burden” (S‰rah al-An¢¥m, 6:164).

2. The Prophet’s Actions are Divided into Two Categories


The first category consists of actions which were necessary in order for
the Prophet to carry out unambiguous Qur’anic directives, such as, “be
constant in prayer, and spend in charity” (S‰rah al-Baqarah, 2:43).
Such general commands, which are found scattered throughout the
Qur’an, were detailed later by the Prophet through his actions and
words, as when he said, “Pray as you have seen me pray,” and, “Take
your rites of worship from me.” In fact, Imam al-Ghaz¥lÏ went so far as
to say that no actions of the Prophet should be viewed as having a gen-
eral application except those that served to clarify an unchanging legal
ruling. This category of actions forms part of the Prophet’s mission to
convey the Divine Revelation he had received.
The second category consists of actions which the Prophet engaged
in on his own personal initiative in response to the situation at hand.
This category, to which scholars have referred as the Prophet’s “states
and traits,” stands in contradistinction to the divine message he had
been commissioned to deliver. This category might include interpreta-
tions offered by the Prophet based on his personal appraisal of a
situation, as well as things he did out of habit or as expressions of his
natural temperament.
As for the notion that the Prophet was authorized to legislate inde-
pendently of the Qur’an, it had not even been suggested at this stage.
Ibn al-Qayyim and others stated explicitly that the Messenger of God’s
task was to detail the rulings already found in the Qur’an and to spell
out the conditions, limitations, times and other qualifications associated
with some of its injunctions; these were referred to by u|‰l scholars as
“situational rulings” (al-a^k¥m al-wa\¢iyyah). The Prophet’s Compan-
ions attempted to make the Prophet’s applications into a “Prophetic
jurisprudence of the Qur’an” that would make it possible to formulate
an approach to addressing events and situations such as the one that
arose in relation to the grandmother who sought out Ab‰ Bakr with a
request for a share in an inheritance.

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[second]
The Narrative Generation is Born

The vacuum left by the Prophet’s passing was not one to be filled easily.
However, the edifice he had erected with the Qur’an as its foundation
was sufficiently sturdy that it was able to endure and preserve the unity
of the Muslim community despite the apostasy of a number of desert
Arab tribes after the Prophet’s death. Foremost among the leaders of
the generation that witnessed the Qur’anic revelation were Ab‰ Bakr,
¢Umar, ¢AlÏ, ¢®’ishah, and the remaining Companions. Islam main-
tained clear teachings concerning what was permitted and what was
forbidden, and when dealing with actions that appeared ambiguous, it
was possible with a bit of informed study and reflection to classify such
actions properly in light of the universal values taught in the Qur’an
and its explicit teachings. The Muslim community’s heartfelt love for
the Prophet also had a significant impact, both on early Islamic legisla-
tion and on the subsequent development of Islamic jurisprudence.
With the Islamic conquests, however, a variety of different peoples
began entering the Islamic fold. Islam was now being practiced in new
environments quite different from that of the Arabian Peninsula;
hence, new questions were being raised and new problems were being
faced. The intermingling of cultures began manifesting its effects, both
positive and negative, while ideas, opinions and claims unknown to the
generation that witnessed the Qur’anic revelation began to gain cur-
rency. As the first Muslim generation began to die out, people felt a
need for sources of guidance over and above the Qur’an to help them
address newly arising questions and problems. It was only natural,
then, that the Muslim community would begin interpreting the verses
of the Qur’an and, in some cases, reading into them meanings that
would help to meet their legislative and intellectual needs. Neverthe-
less, there were still numerous questions that could not be answered
simply by formulating opinions on the basis of informed or creative
interpretations. Consequently, people began collecting narratives and
reports in an attempt to trace everything of relevance to the life of the
Apostle.

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¢Umar ibn ¢Abd al-¢AzÏz and the Recording of Hadiths


One of the first systematic attempts to set the hadiths down in writing
was made by Caliphs Abd al-¢AzÏz ibn Marw¥n (d. 86 ah/705 ce) and
¢Umar ibn ¢Abd al-¢AzÏz (d. 101 ah/740 ce) – his son – together with
the jurists of their day. Noting the numerous disputes that had arisen
over where religious authority lay, these men sought to adopt the
Sunnah as a substitute for the various juristic schools of thought. ¢Abd
al-¢AzÏz and his son ¢Umar believed that if they collected all hadiths
relating the words and deeds of the Prophet and placed them in
people’s hands alongside the Qur’an as the means of elucidating the
Qur’an’s meanings and how they were to be applied, this would pre-
vent Muslims from dividing themselves into sects, schools, factions
and denominations. The result was the emergence of what we are
terming here “the narrative generation,” which differed in significant
ways from the generation that had preceded it.
As Caliphs ¢Abd al-¢AzÏz and his son ¢Umar viewed things, the pur-
pose behind the collection of narratives about the Prophet’s life was
not to create a corpus of additional or autonomous legislative evidence
that would stand alongside the Qur’an, since the Qur’an’s relationship
to the Sunnah was such that it would not have allowed for this kind of
understanding. However even the best of medicines can have unwanted
side effects, and the side effect that accompanied the collection of oral
narratives was that – just as the leaders of the first Muslim generation
had feared and cautioned against – people became so preoccupied with
these narratives that they lost their focus on the Qur’an. It was for fear
of this eventuality that the first Caliph, Ab‰ Bakr, had hesitated to
collect hadiths, and that ¢Umar ibn al-Kha~~¥b, soon after collecting a
number of hadiths, had them erased.

[third]
Legists and the Generation of Jurisprudence

The concept of fiqh, or jurisprudence, came into circulation in the year


40 ah/660 ce in response to the spread of narratives about the sayings
and actions of the Prophet. However, rather than being treated as a

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means of resolving disputes among scholastic theologians and jurists,


these narrated accounts evolved into a new weapon in the war between
proponents of different religious points of view, with each side defend-
ing its sect, school or denomination with whichever narratives served
as grist for its own mill. No sooner had the recording process begun
than people began relying on hadith narratives not simply as a way to
understand and apply the Qur’an as the Prophet had done but, rather,
as a source of Islamic legislation parallel to the Qur’an. There may even
have been some who gave the Sunnah priority over the Qur’an itself.
Consequently, the Qur’an lay abandoned or, at the very least, was
largely neutralized. This took place on the pretext that “the Qur’an is
subject to numerous interpretations” and, being miraculous and inim-
itable in its linguistic style, was seen as beyond the ken of all but a very
few select individuals. Meanwhile, people turned their attention to
fiqh and the Sunnah.
There then spread an erroneous notion that, by most estimates, the
Qur’an contained no more than around 500 verses comprising legal
rulings, and that it was these verses that should occupy most of schol-
ars’ attention. Among these verses, scholars tended to restrict them-
selves to those that begin with a clear positive or negative imperative
(do’s and don’ts). According to this view, the rest of the Qur’an had
been revealed in order to describe the afterlife and to relate parables,
stories, exhortations and the like. As a result, the only parts of the
Qur’an for which there was an urgent need were found in an estimated
330 verses: 140 dealing with rites of worship, around 70 containing
rulings on the family, around 70 on daily transactions, 30 dealing with
legal penalties, and approximately 20 on the judiciary, legal testimony
and the like. As for the hadiths containing legal rulings, they were esti-
mated at a maximum of 1,100 representing the core hadith narratives.
According to one scholar:

[T] he number of hadiths containing legal rulings is equal to the number of


Qur’anic verses containing such rulings; hence, each such verse is associated
with a single hadith that explains how to apply its content: 70 verses on
daily transactions, 20 verses on criminal offenses and penalties, and 90
verses on personal status.

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Overall, the Sunnah was to be the pivotal text for Muslims, since it
was from this text that one could both deduce the fundamental princi-
ples of the religion and issue fatwas on specific situations. In short, the
Sunnah was viewed as the self-sufficient guidebook to Islamic life.
Then some began going so far as to classify all hadiths as sources of
legal rulings, including even those that contained no rulings in explicit
form. Thus, as mentioned earlier in our discussion, some scholars rea-
soned that any report of something the Prophet had done, allowed, or
approved could be viewed as evidence that the act performed, allowed
or approved was to be classified as ‘permissible’ (mub¥^). On this
basis, these scholars treated permissibility (ib¥^ah) as a juristic category
in and of itself. It was at this point that the dividing lines among
Muslim scholars began to be drawn, ending in an actual split that led to
the formation of the two schools that came to be known as “the people
of opinion” (ahl al-ra’y) and “the people of hadith” (ahl al-^adÏth).
Each of these two schools developed distinctive features and its own
arsenal of proof texts.
At this juncture we will pause to examine the critical developments
that grew out of the notion that the Qur’an and the Sunnah are parallel
sources of religious authority.

a) Gone was the extreme care that had been taken by those in the first
Muslim generation to ensure that the Qur’an not be tainted by any-
thing else whatsoever. Instead, people became engrossed in reports
of things the Prophet had done or said until the Qur’an was nothing
more than a source of proof texts to be cited by scholastic theolo-
gians, u|‰l scholars, jurists and others. If someone argued for or
against something based on evidence from the Qur’an alone, some-
one would object, saying: “The Sunnah stands in judgment over the
Qur’an. The Qur’an does not stand in judgment over the Sunnah.”
Notions such as these were adopted even by religious leaders and
scholars of note. Sa¢Ïd ibn Man|‰r narrated on the authority of ¢¬s¥
ibn Y‰nus on the authority of al-Awz¥¢Ï on the authority of
Mak^‰l, who said: “The Qur’an needs the Sunnah more than the
Sunnah needs the Qur’an.” The same statement was related by al-
Awz¥¢Ï on the authority of Ya^y¥ ibn AbÏ KathÏr. In the same vein,
al-Fa\l ibn Ziy¥d said:

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I once heard Ab‰ ¢Abd All¥h (that is, A^mad ibn ¤anbal) being asked
about the hadith according to which the Sunnah stands in judgment over
the Qur’an, and he replied, “I would not dare make such claims. Rather, I
would say simply that the Sunnah explains and clarifies the Qur’an.”

Al-Fa\l also said: “I heard someone ask A^mad ibn ¤anbal


whether the Sunnah abrogates anything in the Qur’an, to which he
replied, ‘Nothing abrogates the Qur’an but the Qur’an itself.’” As
for Ab‰ ¢Umar, he said:

The position taken by al-Sh¥fi¢Ï, God have mercy on him, was that the
Qur’an can be abrogated by nothing but something else in the Qur’an,
since God has said, “And now… We replace one message by another”
(S‰rah al-Na^l, 16:101) and, “Any message which We annul or consign to
oblivion We replace with a better or a similar one. Do you not know that
God has the power to will anything?” (S‰rah al-Baqarah, 2:106)

Whatever the status enjoyed by these jurists and the circumstances


under which their ideas developed, such statements indicate that
tragedy had struck, and that the Muslim community was in crisis.
They were now legislating based on narratives other than the
Qur’an and claiming that the Prophet had brought both the Qur’an
“and something equal to it.” This was based on a hadith narrated
by al-Miqd¥m ibn Ma¢di Karib al-KindÏ on the authority of the
Messenger of God, whom he quoted as saying:

Verily, I have been given the Qur’an and something else equal to it. Verily, a
time is coming soon when a man sated with worldly comforts will say:
“You must abide by this Qur’an. Whatever you find permitted therein, you
also shall permit, and whatever you find forbidden therein, you also shall
forbid.” [But] verily, the flesh of donkey and fanged predators may not be
eaten. Nor, if a Jew or Christian living under Muslims’ protection should
drop some money in the street, are you permitted to pick it up and keep it
for yourself unless its owner has no need of it.

b) The majority of scholars during the period in question held that the
Sunnah could abrogate the Qur’an even if it took the form of a soli-
tary report (khabar ¥^¥d). Hence, they assumed that between the
Qur’an, the original source of the entire religion, and the Sunnah,

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the applied commentary on the Qur’an, there was an inconsistency


that could only be eliminated by claiming that one had abrogated
the other. Realizing, with his accustomed foresightedness, the dan-
gers inherent in such a claim, Imam al-Sh¥fi¢Ï categorically rejected
the possibility that the Qur’an could abrogate the Sunnah, or vice-
versa. In an attempt to propose a compromise, al-Sh¥fi¢Ï proposed
the idea of “support” (al-¢¥\id). According to this idea, the Qur’an
can only be abrogated by the Qur’an, but the Sunnah may serve as
evidence in support of the Qur’an’s abrogation of itself. Conversely
the Sunnah cannot be abrogated by the Qur’an, but only by some-
thing else from the Sunnah; however, this self-abrogation of the
Sunnah may find support in the Qur’an.

c) The aforementioned scholars circulated other statements as well in


justification of their position, all the while disregarding the fact that
the Qur’an is a book that has been guarded from all falsehood
(S‰rah Fu||ilat, 41:42). One of them stated, “The Qur’an can bear
numerous interpretations.” Consequently, it was concluded, there
was a need for the Sunnah to provide evidence specifying which of
these numerous interpretations should be adopted. However, this
contention flies in the face of all the assertions to the contrary in the
Qur’an, which describes itself as being clear and easy to understand
(12:1; 16:89; 19:97; 24:34; 36:69; 44:58; 54:17, and so on). The
Qur’an also describes itself as having been conveyed to people “in a
well-guarded divine writ” (fÏ kit¥bin makn‰n – S‰rah al-W¥qi¢ah,
56:78).
The Arabic word makn‰n, meaning “hidden” or “concealed,”
implies that the Qur’an conveys meanings that are only disclosed
little by little. As time passes, then, the Qur’an is shown to be capa-
ble of addressing all of humankind’s needs, at all times and in all
places. This is why we are told by al-Suy‰~Ï and others that many of
the Companions, when they recited a verse of the Qur’an whose
meaning eluded them, would say, “This is something whose inter-
pretation has yet to be provided.” In other words, they recognized
that the Qur’an contained aspects that, being “well-guarded,” bore
meanings that would not be made clear to them in their lifetimes

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given the fact that the realities to which the verses related had not
yet come into being. The words of the Qur’an thus transcended the
era in which they were revealed, being intended to address the prob-
lems of another age. The Companions who knew the Qur’an well
understood that they should not suspect the Qur’an of being
obscure or overly general, thereby confusing its readers or hearers
as to which of its many possible meanings was correct. Instead, they
held the Qur’an blameless and committed themselves to seeing it as
it portrays itself: as clear, easy to comprehend, and a means of
understanding other things more clearly as well.

d) Some claimed that whereas the verses of the Qur’an are finite, the
situations the Qur’an is required to address are infinite. Conse-
quently, they concluded, more evidence was needed in order to fill
what they mistakenly imagined to be a legislative vacuum. In so
claiming, however, they were overlooking the fact that, as we are
told in S‰rah Maryam, “never does your Sustainer forget [any-
thing]” (19:64). Given that, as the Qur’an itself tells us, it has come
to make everything clear, and God has neglected nothing in its
pages, this must mean that in the Qur’an we find universal prin-
ciples that are applicable to untold numbers of specifics and in light
of which we can address whatever new issues or problems happen
to arise. In short, the Qur’an is capable of accommodating virtually
all the details of human life. On this basis God assured the Prophet
that “they [who deny the truth] might never taunt you with any
deceptive half-truth without Our conveying to you the [full] truth
and [providing you] with the best explanation” (S‰rah al-Furq¥n,
25:33). The Qur’an is thus capable of leading us to the best solu-
tions in relation to all of life’s affairs.
The Qur’an has it own distinctive language and unmistakable
style. However, like communities before them, the Muslim commu-
nity exhibited a faulty understanding of what true piety entails, as
well as an urge to innovate and add their own ‘embellishments’ to
the religion. After belittling the Qur’an, supposedly in favor of
narrated accounts, they proceeded to abandon the Qur’an and to
neglect their narrated accounts as well, occupying themselves

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instead with self-devised rules to which they referred variously as


“jurisprudence” (fiqh), “principles of jurisprudence” (u|‰l al-fiqh),
“interpretation” (tafsÏr) and “exegesis” (ta’wÏl). They discussed the
Qur’an based on interpretations not supported by the text, while at
the same time adopting such a lenient stance on narrated accounts
that they stood in violation of the method established by al-
Bukh¥ri, Muslim, and the Companions who had recited the
Qur’an. They were likewise in violation of the approach that had
been adhered to by leaders of the generation that witnessed the
Qur’anic revelation, who would not accept a report from a single
individual even if he was one of the Companions themselves, unless
he could bring forth another narrator to testify to the accuracy of
what he had related. (We are told that when a Companion who had
narrated a report individually was unable to provide another wit-
ness to the same event, ¢AlÏ ibn AbÏ >¥lib would require him to take
an oath). This approach was adhered to until 40 ah.

1. The Contradiction Between the Claim That the Sunnah is Subject to


the Qur’an, and the Practice of Giving the Sunnah Priority When
Deducing Legal Rulings
When this generation adopted the position that the Sunnah has a status
inferior to that of the Qur’an, they viewed this as a solution to the prob-
lem of how to relate the Qur’an to the Sunnah. All they were doing,
however, was to highlight the inseparable link between the Qur’an and
the Messenger of God’s obedient application of it through what he said
and did. In their attempt to demonstrate the Sunnah’s autonomy from
the Qur’an, scholars mentioned only three issues, each of which is
encompassed by the universals set forth in the Qur’an. These were: (1)
the prohibition against a man’s marrying the paternal aunt of the
woman he is already married to, (2) the prohibition against consuming
donkey meat, and (3) the prohibition against consumption of fanged
predators, none of which is mentioned in the Qur’an. Scholars fell into
inconsistencies by claiming that the Sunnah, while being an autono-
mous source of evidence for legal rulings, nevertheless occupies a lower
status than the Qur’an. At the same time, they gave even solitary
reports priority over the plain meaning of the Qur’an, which they had

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likewise designated ‘a solitary report.’ These scholars maintained that


the Sunnah qualifies the Qur’an’s unqualified statements and specifies
its general statements. However, this assertion no longer had signifi-
cant impact on how the Qur’an-Sunnah link was defined.

2. The Emergence of Isn¥d Methodology


It was after 140 ah/757 ce that the isn¥d emerged as a means of resolv-
ing doubts concerning the reliability of narrated reports, and most
scholars date the first uses of the isn¥d method of hadith criticism back
to the second half of the second century ah. What this means is that the
reports that were collected and the narrators who passed them down
prior to 140 ah were not subjected to close scrutiny. When scholars
engaged in hadith criticism prior to this time, if they did so at all, they
might simply conduct a cursory examination of the matn alone to
ensure that it did not conflict with other hadiths on the same topic that
had been passed down either by trustworthy narrators, or by a larger
number of narrators than the report in question. When hadith trans-
mitters began focusing on isn¥ds, they did their best to trace the hadith
under study back to someone they knew and had met and from whom
they had heard reports directly. They would then leave it to this person
to vouch for the person on whose authority he had narrated the
account, and so on.
To those who placed confidence in it, the isn¥d appeared to be an in-
genuous way to eliminate doubts that might arise concerning whether
a given report could actually be traced back to the Messenger of God.
As for the Qur’an, people saw no need for an isn¥d to demonstrate its
reliability, since the Qur’an’s authority was seen as an outcome of its
internal structure and style, its dazzling impact on its hearers and its
way of speaking to their hearts, as well as its inimitability and its oppo-
nents’ failure to produce anything comparable to it.
Hence, people’s point of departure in relation to the Qur’an has
been one of either faith or disbelief. In relation to hadiths, by contrast,
people’s starting-point has been to doubt whether they can be traced
back to the Messenger of God. Until one can feel relatively confident
that the Prophet actually did or said what has been attributed to him, a
given report will be equally subject to belief or disbelief. Hence, the

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chain of transmission – isn¥d – is indispensable if one is going to


achieve a reasonable degree of certainty concerning the report in
question.
Attention was focused initially on the first person mentioned in the
chain of transmission, as if hadith scholars were depending on each
other to vouch for their respective narrators. This is why, after the end
of the second century ah, narratives began receiving more lenient treat-
ment. An example of this more lenient approach is the assessment of
narrators through a process referred to as al-sabr, that is, an in-depth
study of a narrator’s previous reports. If it was found that previous re-
ports passed down by a given narrator had been deemed sound, he was
judged to be trustworthy. If this same narrator then related reports that
were suspected of being forged or defective, they might still be accepted
based on the soundness of other hadiths associated with his name.
It has been observed that people began providing isn¥ds for some or
all of their narratives after the fitnah. However, there are numerous
understandings of what is meant by the term fitnah. Does it refer to the
revolt associated with the martyrdom of Caliph ¢Uthm¥n ibn ¢Aff¥n (d.
36 ah/656 ce), or to the discord that resulted from the new preoccupa-
tion with hadiths? Does it refer to the unrest associated with the
uprising in Madinah led by ¢Abd All¥h ibn al-Zubayr in 63 ah/683 ce?
To the persecution that targeted those who held that the Qur’an was
uncreated under the Caliphate of al-Ma’m‰n between 197-218 ah/
813-833 ce, or to the division that arose over the stance of the Murji’ite
sect? There were, quite clearly, numerous times of fitnah, that is,
unrest, uprisings, divisions and disturbances, the beginnings of which
were sparked by the assassination of Caliph ¢Umar ibn al-Kha~~¥b in
23 ah/644 ce.
Be that as it may, there came a time when the Muslim community
found itself drowning in a sea of narrated reports and traditions. Al-
Kha~Ïb al-Baghd¥dÏ (d. 463 ah/1071 ce), whose work spanned the
midpoint of the evolution of the People of the Hadith, wrote the fol-
lowing critique of the scholarship of his day:

Certain of our contemporaries have exerted great efforts in the study and
collection of hadith narratives. However, they have not adhered to the
methods followed by early hadith transmitters, who investigated the trust-

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worthiness of both the narrator and that which was narrated, distinguished
the bad from the good, derived legal rulings from the practices recorded in
the Sunnah, and raised questions based on hadiths’ contents concerning
what is permissible and impermissible.
These contemporary scholars, by contrast, content themselves with
the mere name of the hadith in question and do nothing but put it in written
form. Gullible and simpleminded, these men are like donkeys bearing loads
of books on their backs. Stoic and persevering, they have endured many a
hardship, travelled far braving land and sea and, overcoming fear and trep-
idation, spent unstintingly of self and substance. They have done all of this
in single-minded pursuit of the most trustworthy possible chains of trans-
mission. So set are they on their aim, however, that they accept accounts
from individuals of questionable integrity. They quote from people who
should not be trusted, and pass on narrations from people whose accounts
may or may not be accurate and reliable. They base their arguments on the
authority of those who fail to do a proper reading of the sources at their
disposal, and who do nothing to ensure that their accounts fulfill the condi-
tions for soundness and trustworthiness. Such individuals make no
distinction between someone who has simply heard an account or report
from someone else, and someone who has been granted official permission
to pass on narrated accounts. Similarly, they make no distinction between
different classes of hadiths: between musnad and mursal, or between
maq~‰¢ and mutta|il. They do not even know the name of the shaykh from
whom they received a hadith, and have to ask others to confirm this infor-
mation for them. They see it as permissible to pass on accounts from
individuals whose behavior is immoral and who are not well looked upon
by other adherents of their own schools of thought, and from innovators
whose religion has no sound root due to their corrupt beliefs. They see such
a practice as permissible; in fact, they view themselves as obliged to act on
the accounts related by such people as long as it has been established that
they did, in fact, relate the narrative in question and provided that the
narrative is accompanied by a lengthy isn¥d …When their isn¥ds are in
disagreement, they do nothing to correct or amend them, and when one of
them relates an account, he will have derived it from written sources with-
out having heard it directly or gone to the effort to collect it himself, and
without any knowledge of the character of the person who passed it on. If
such a scholar memorizes something, he mixes the lean with the fat, the
sickly with the healthy. Moreover, if there is confusion in the order of the
narrators in a report’s chain of transmission or if he is asked about the cir-
cumstances surrounding a hadith narrative, he gets flustered, and so begins
fiddling with his beard and clearing his throat to conceal his ignorance,
being little better than a braying donkey…

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Al-Kha~Ïb al-Baghd¥dÏ was attempting to be fair toward the People


of Hadith, criticizing only some of them and making clear why some of
the People of Opinion were so critical of them. However, through this
statement he paints us a picture of the full-blown crisis into which both
factions had fallen.

[fourth]
The Imitator Generations

When the schools of jurisprudence had crystallized into their final


forms, traditionalists (al-muqallid‰n) began devoting themselves slav-
ishly to the teachings of their respective imams, extolling their virtues
and working to recruit new adherents to their schools of thought. In
fact, there were some who went so far as to treat the statements of their
imams as though they were holy writ, discussing whether they were
subject to contradiction, whether some should be given preponderance
over others, whether some of their assertions could abrogate others,
and the like. Hence, there were many who concerned themselves more
with the Sunnah than they did with the Qur’an on the pretext that the
Sunnah encompassed the Qur’an and was intimately linked to it. They
then began using hadiths as proof texts in support of the teachings of
their imams, which led in turn to more attention being devoted to their
imams’ juristic teachings than to the Sunnah. As time went on, these
imams’ juristic writings came to be circulated and expounded so widely
that one would have thought Islamic Law consisted of nothing but
their teachings. This mode of thinking is illustrated in the following
statement by Hanafite scholar Ab‰ al-¤asan al-KarkhÏ:

The principle we adhere to is that every verse of the Qur’an that conflicts
with the teachings of our imams should be thought of either as having been
abrogated, or as being of lesser weight than the imams’ teachings. However
it is preferable for such verses to be interpreted in such a way as to reconcile
them with what our imams say.

Impertinent statements of this nature indicate that doctrinal bigotry


had spread to such a pathological degree that the trunk was being

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treated as an offshoot of the branch! When, at the turn of the third


century ah, commitment to the practice of ijtihad relating to jurispru-
dence and its principles waned, isn¥d methodology was supplanted by
a dependence on written versions of hadiths found in books. Hence,
hadiths might be spread through individuals who had not received offi-
cial permission to pass them on to others; they might also be recited
before a shaykh in an instructional setting and be passed on in this way.
Some hadiths were undoubtedly forged within the context of politi-
cal struggles and competing claims to legitimacy, including the disputes
that arose between Arabs and non-Arabs over status, recognition and
influence. These conflicts naturally yielded efforts by the warring sides
to bolster their positions with narratives and reports. After all, one
would have been hard pressed to find anything in the Qur’an to sup-
port or reinforce such controversies. Consequently, contenders turned
for support to narratives and reports, some of which were forged in
praise of particular cities, tribes, peoples, imams or scholars, and then
circulated widely. Examples of such forgeries include accounts extol-
ling the virtues of Imams al-Sh¥fÏ¢Ï and Ab‰ ¤anÏfah, the Kharijites,
the Qadarites, and others. This phenomenon merits attention from
critics, who would make a valuable contribution by sifting through
such narratives, distinguishing the authentic from the inauthentic, and
alerting people to their content.

Narratives Enjoy No Superiority Over the Qur’an


God has set the Qur’an apart through its distinct arrangement, style
and structural unity, as well as through its contents, the ease with
which it can be memorized, its impact, and the inability of its contem-
poraries, or anyone else for that matter, to meet the challenge to
produce something comparable to it. He has declared the Qur’an
above doubt and suspicion, free of contradiction and, hence, of indis-
putable reliability, its verses clear and unambiguous. God describes it
in S‰rah H‰d as “a divine writ…with messages that have been made
clear in and by themselves, and…distinctly spelled out” (11:1). The
Qur’an’s authenticity does not depend, nor should it depend, on any
narrative, however well-attested it might happen to be. Its definitive
certainty is founded on the fact that it is the speech of God to which no

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falsehood can gain access in any way whatsoever (S‰rah Fu||ilat,


41:42). The Prophet received it through Gabriel, and as he began recit-
ing it to others at God’s command, he inspired in them the desire to
memorize and recite it, to teach it and circulate it both orally and in
writing. Yet it was God who undertook to gather it together in the
Prophet’s mind, causing him to recite it properly, making its meanings
clear, and preserving it (S‰rah al-Qiy¥mah, 75:16-19; S‰rah al-¤ijr,
15:9).
However, wanting to elevate the status of narrative and related
methods, some of the People of the Hadith stressed the fact that the
Qur’an had also been narrated. In so doing, they sought to gain legiti-
macy for what came later to be known as ‘recitations’ (al-qir¥’¥t) and
the science of recitations (¢ilm al-qir¥’¥t), since it is these recitations
which actually do depend on narrative. Our position on these recita-
tions is that the Prophet permitted their use by individuals who had
difficulty pronouncing some of the letters found in the Qur’an. Hence,
those who had trouble pronouncing the letter \¥d were allowed to
replace it with a z¥’ or a sÏn, while those who were unable to pronounce
the ^¥’ could replace it with the letters ¢ayn or h¥’. However, in light of
the two final reviews of the Qur’an which the Prophet received from
Gabriel within days of his passing, this concession was not meant to
extend beyond his lifetime.
The necessity of discontinuing this concession was confirmed after
¢Uthm¥n ibn ¢Aff¥n compiled the Qur’an in what came to be known as
the Master Copy (al-mu|^af al-im¥m) which won the Muslim commu-
nity’s unanimous approval. Nowhere do ¢Uthm¥n or those who
assisted him in compiling the Qur’an mention a single word of this
Master Copy being recited in several different ways. Hence, reversion
to this concession after the death of the Prophet and after the Muslim
community’s unanimous acceptance of ¢Uthm¥n’s Master Copy is a
most peculiar development that should not have happened. It has been
supported on the basis of various narratives, including the hadith deal-
ing with ‘the seven dialects’ (al-a^ruf al-sab¢ah). However, these
accounts are themselves in need of review and critique on the level of
both their chains of transmission and their content.

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Let me reaffirm here that the Book of God needs no validation via
narratives passed down from one generation to the next. It is likewise
independent of all the recitations, be they canonical or otherwise,
which have been associated with it. Nor is the Qur’an subject to self-
abrogation.
The Qur’an and everything relating thereto are a divine concern
alone. If the Qur’an were dependent for its certainty on human narra-
tives, as are hadiths and other historical reports, it would not have been
possible for God to challenge both human beings and the jinn to pro-
duce something comparable to it. The Qur’an stands above all mere
narrative. As such, it stands above all human methods of preserving
texts, and it should not be subjected to the critical methods to which we
would subject some other discourse. Consequently, it is shameful for
some to say, as some in fact have said, that next to the Qur’an, ßa^Ï^ al-
Bukh¥rÏ is the most well-authenticated book of the Islamic heritage. It
would be perfectly valid for us to compare ßa^Ïh al-Bukh¥rÏ to some
other book of the same type. One might say, for example, that ßa^Ïh al-
Bukh¥rÏ is better authenticated than ßa^Ï^ Muslim, Musnad A^mad,
or Imam M¥lik’s Al-Muwa~~a’. But to compare it to the Qur’an itself
evinces an audacity and a lack of reverence for the Qur’an that I would
not have expected of a respectable Muslim scholar. For the Book of
God is without equal, and it would be unthinkable to view it as compa-
rable, parallel, or subject to being measured against any other entity
whatsoever. It is nothing but truth and unquestionable, unchanging
certainty.
However, as the People of the Hadith and the People of Opinion
were transmuted into political parties in every sense of the word, and as
the issue of the relationship between the Qur’an and the Sunnah was
dealt with in the midst of the tug-of-war taking place between them,
the juristic scene became a battlefield. In this context, ‘the Hadith
Party’ adopted certain narratives (which were themselves in need of
thorough examination on the level of both isn¥d and matn) in an
attempt to prove their claim that the practice of weighing the Sunnah
against the Qur’an would never be demanded by believers, but only by
atheists, freethinkers, hypocrites, libertines and others of their ilk.

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The Chronicling of the Sunnah


and its Historical Context

a n u n d e r s t a n d i n g of the historical context in which the Sunnah


was chronicled will help us to understand many of the defects that
plague the Islamic narrative heritage, as well as the impact this has had
on the formation of the Muslim mindset.
Prior to the coming of Muhammad ibn ¢Abd All¥h, the Arabs living
on the Arabian Peninsula had never witnessed the emergence of a
prophet and apostle in their midst. However as the revelation descended
upon him over a period of twenty-three years, those around him wit-
nessed its effects on a regular basis. They perceived the light that
surrounded the Prophet as Gabriel descended and reascended on so
many occasions that it became a kind of ‘given’ in their experience. The
effect of this experience was so profound that ¢Umar ibn al-Kha~~¥b
even denied that the Prophet had died. It was not easy for anyone, in
fact, to believe that he had died, especially given the great love people
had had for him and the faith of which this love was such an important
expression.
Not surprisingly, then, the incredulity with which the news of the
Prophet’s death was met served to catalyze the formation of three
groups. The first of these three consisted of political figures who
expressed their ongoing love for the Prophet by establishing a caliphate
patterned on his mission, which was seen as having manifested itself in
his every move, his every action and word, and even his every silence.
Perhaps the best illustration of this can be seen in the way Ab‰ Bakr
responded to the chaos that was unleashed by the widespread apostasy
(al-riddah) that took place after the Prophet’s death. Determined to
foil those who now treated all the instructions the Prophet had left

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them as though they had never existed, the Caliph acted with unaccus-
tomed resoluteness and forcefulness. Other political figures went even
further than this by insisting on the need to transfer the authority that
had been invested in the Prophet to the religious leaders of the Prophet’s
family in order to concretize the Prophet’s ongoing presence in the
Muslim community.
The second group consisted of Muslim mystics and ascetics who
believed that the Apostle’s Prophetic mission should continue in the
form of sainthood. In this view, the saint is the Prophet’s successor, or
caliph, standing in for the Prophet by performing miracles as he did
during his lifetime. Representatives of this perspective circulated a
large number of hadiths, as they considered the Prophet’s life to be a
clearer, more powerful embodiment of otherworldliness and asceti-
cism than the Qur’an was. Through their love for the Messenger of
God, they sought to embody his presence in their gatherings by singing
his praises in their poetry and prose. They also felt themselves justified
in attributing to him sayings for which there was no chain of transmis-
sion on the pretext that he had revealed these to them by supernatural
means. They had no hesitations about placing sayings in his mouth that
supported their thinking, and they interpreted verses from the Qur’an
in ways that harmonized with their own perceptions. One such verse is
in S‰rah al-Shu¢ar¥’, where God refers to the Prophet’s movements
“among those who prostrate themselves [before Him]” (taqallubaka fÏ
al-s¥jidÏn) (26:219). Muslim mystics saw this verse as a confirmation
that the ‘Muhammadan reality’ circulated among them in their dhikr
circles.
As for the third group, it was comprised of those who came later to
be known as the ¢ulam¥’ (al-¢ulam¥’, or “those who know”), including
scholastic theologians, jurists, and hadith scholars. It was the members
of this group and that of the Muslim mystics who changed the meaning
of the term sunnah such that, rather than referring simply to applica-
tion of and obedience to the Qur’an in people’s daily lives, it now came
to refer to virtually everything the Prophet was reported to have done
or said. To this expanded definition of the term sunnah was then added
a further element, as the Sunnah was said also to include everything the
Prophet knew others to have done or said without condemning or

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disapproving of it. The Prophet’s silence in response to others’ actions


or words was viewed as his tacit affirmation of their correctness, and
this silence itself was classified into different levels and degrees.
When the Companions dispersed among various cities, hadith
transmitters began traveling from place to place in order to continue
compiling and recording hadiths. At this point, the Sunnah was no
longer sought after as a clarification and application of the Qur’an, but
for its own sake, that is, for the simple reason that it had originated
with the Apostle. There was now a Sunnah-based corpus of legislation
alongside the Qur’an-based legislation. What the Prophet had not
done as a way of expounding the meaning of the Qur’an, he had done
as a way of drawing nearer to God. Out of these acts of devotion there
emerged what came to be known as ‘confirmed Sunnah practices’
(sunan mu’akkadah) which were almost on the order of religious obli-
gations. So influential was this trend of thought that jurists spoke of the
duty to fight against those who neglected to perform the two ‘volun-
tary’ sets of bows and prostrations prior to the dawn (fajr) prayer, or
the odd number (witr) performed after the final evening (¢ish¥’) prayer.
In this way, the Sunnah became the basis for a kind of ‘self-regula-
tion’ that left nothing, large or small, to chance in the believer’s daily
life. The Sunnah imposed itself by virtue of the religious duty to obey
and emulate the Prophet, whose every word, whose every move,
indeed, whose every pause – whether in the privacy of his own home, or
in public space – was treated as a law to be obeyed and enforced with
rigorous and loving devotion. The duty to conform to the Sunnah
remained in force regardless of whether or not the Prophet’s words and
actions were seen as an explanation and application of the Qur’an –
that is, as having been uttered or performed in his capacity as Prophet –
or as self-expressions that grew out of his role as one human being
among others.

[first]
The Chronicling of the Sunnah and
the Impact of Jewish and Greek Culture

The Jewish presence was significantly smaller in Makkah than it was in

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Khaybar or in Madinah and its environs, in part because the predic-


tions of their awaited prophet pointed to his coming to these latter
regions, and in part because they were largely engaged in agriculture
during that historical period. Hence, when the Messenger of God
received his calling and the Qur’anic revelation began descending upon
him, he attempted, in keeping with the guidance of the Qur’an, to draw
the Jews’ and Christians’ attention to the common ground they shared
with Islam. He stressed the fact that he had come in part to correct and
in part to confirm the previous revelations, and that the revelation he
had brought was an extension of the message that had been brought by
Abraham, the father of the prophets, who had been neither Jewish nor
Christian but, rather, committed to the worship of the one true God.
According to a narrative circulated by some writers on the authority of
Ab‰ Hurayrah (although we do not find it in sources recognized to be
authoritative) Ab‰ Hurayrah would narrate reports on the authority of
the Apostle, while Ka¢b would narrate reports on the authority of the
Jews. Those who heard such reports may have mistakenly related that
they had heard a report from Ab‰ Hurayrah when, in fact, they had
heard it from Ka¢b.1
Once the Hebrew Scriptures (al-tawr¥h) had been translated into
Arabic, it became possible for Muslims to analyze these documents,
which enabled them to see how much had been introduced into them
by Hebrew storytellers. Some men of learning then wrote books warn-
ing Muslims to beware of such lore; one such book is al-Suy‰~Ï’s
Ta^dhÏr al-Khaw¥|| min Ak¥dhÏb al-Qa||¥|. In his Kit¥b al-¤away¥n,
al-J¥^i· quotes Ka¢b al-A^b¥r as saying, “It is written in the Hebrew
Scriptures that Eve was punished in ten ways, and that Adam was like-
wise punished in ten ways.” He then comments on this, saying:

I suspect that much of what is related on Ka¢b’s authority where he is quoted


as saying, “It is written in the Hebrew Scriptures that…” is to be found in
books (that is, the books of the prophets), and what they [the Israelites]
have passed down from one generation to another from the books of
Solomon, as well as writings such as the Book of Isaiah and others. If those
who relate narratives on his [Ka¢b’s] authority about ¢Umar ibn al-Kha~~¥b
and the like are telling the truth as they have heard it, and if the shaykh
[Ka¢b al-A^b¥r] is not forging the reports, his words are to be understood in
the manner I have described to you.

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The interplay between the Arabs’ lack of a sacred scripture of their


own and the culture that prevailed prior to the coming of Islam lay the
groundwork for the acceptance of ideas and conceptualizations that
were foreign to Islam and which were bound to color our perceptions
of it. One such idea was that of Determinism (al-jabriyyah), that is, the
belief that human beings have no genuine free will and that everything
we do is predetermined by Fate. Determinism is alien to an Islamic per-
spective, which places great importance on the moral code and
people’s accountability before God for their choices and actions. Islam
does not acknowledge the notion that God controls human beings’
decisions as one of its premises.
On the contrary, Islam is founded upon complete freedom of
choice, and the relationship between human beings and their Lord is
founded upon an ancient covenant. Human beings were offered a
sacred trust and accepted it freely, as a result of which they were to be
held morally accountable. As stated in S‰rah H‰d, God has allowed us
this responsibility “in order to test you [and thus to make manifest]
which of you is best in conduct” (11:7). Human beings’ higher purpose
is to be God’s vicegerents, or representatives, on Earth, and it is in this
capacity that they are put to the test. There is no place for Determinism
in a religious teaching or law that rests on free human choices. Never-
theless, the prevailing culture read a deterministic doctrine into some
passages of the Qur’an and treated them as evidence for this baseless
doctrine despite its foreignness to Islamic teachings.
A series of philosophical and theological conundrums then emerged:
from determinism (al-jabriyyah), to predestination (al-qadariyyah), to
divine governance (al-^¥kimiyyah al-il¥hiyyah). Having differed to
this extent over the Qur’an, the Muslim community was now divided
and was unable to restore its unity with ease. The newly emerging
philosophical-theological sects found themselves unable to resolve
their disputes and divisions based on verses of the Qur’an. In fact, it
was with the Qur’an as their weapon that some of these groups simul-
taneously launched attacks on one another and defended themselves.
A favorite refrain was “the Qur’an is multifaceted” (al-qur’¥nu ^amm-
¥lu awjuh), meaning that the same verses that are interpreted in one way
might also be interpreted in the very opposite way. Another familiar

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refrain, also mentioned earlier, was that while the verses of the Qur’an
are finite, there are infinite numbers of situations that human beings
might conceivably face, as a result of which the Qur’an may not be able
to provide us with all the guidance we need.
It was during this period, particularly following the translation
movement initiated under the Abbasid Caliphate in the latter eighth
and mid-ninth centuries ce, that work commenced to establish clearer
distinctions and definitions in the Islamic sciences. Muslim scholars
were influenced in this context by Aristotelian logic, which concerns
itself with defining the essences of things. This type of logic exerted
such dominance over the Muslim mind that, in the words of al-Ghaz¥lÏ
(d. 505 ah/1209 ce), it became “the standard of knowledge,” the rule
by which understanding was measured. It was believed that this system
of logic would enable one to define the essences of things in a manner
that was at once comprehensive and exclusive. However, al-Ghaz¥lÏ
and a number of other scholars contested this notion. Ibn Taymiyyah
(d. 728 ah/1328 ce) in particular boldly contested Aristotle’s system
and sought to replace it with a Qur’anic approach to the definition of
things.
Adoption of the Aristotelian approach to concept definition
wreaked havoc on Islamic thought. It obfuscated the definitions of
terms and concepts in virtually all fields of Islamic study, including the
hadith sciences, whose later scholars failed to distinguish between the
concepts employed by u|‰l scholars and jurists, and between commen-
tators’ and hadith scholars’ understanding of the Sunnah. Among
earlier scholars, by contrast, these concepts had been clearer, more pre-
cise, and more consistent with the Qur’an than the definitions around
which such controversy raged later. Note, for example, the definition
of the Prophetic Sunnah offered by al-Sh¥~ibÏ (d. 790 ah/1388 ce):

The word sunnah is used to refer to that which has come down to us on the
authority of the Prophet, particularly in relation to things about which
there is no explicit Qur’anic text but which were addressed by the Prophet
himself, whether as a clarification of something in the Qur’an or for some
other purpose. The term is also used in contradistinction to the word
bid¢ah, or religious innovation. One might say, for example, “So-and-so is
‘on the Sunnah’ (ful¥n ¢al¥ al-sunnah),” meaning that he or she acts in

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keeping with the example of the Prophet, whether or not the person’s
action is explicitly called for in the Qur’an. Conversely, one might say, “So-
and-so is ‘on an innovation’ (ful¥n ¢al¥ bid¢ah),” meaning that he or she
acts contrary to the example of the Prophet, whether or not such a person’s
action is explicitly prohibited in the Qur’an.
This usage of the word sunnah appears to have been in specific refer-
ence to the actions of the one who brought the Law of Islam, even if these
actions were applications of the Qur’an. The word sunnah was also used to
refer to the practices of the Prophet’s Companions (whether or not such
practices were found in the Qur’an and the example of the Prophet, and
whether or not they were passed down to us in the form of written accounts),
or to interpretations on which the Companions or their successors collec-
tively agreed. For their consensus was considered binding; their successors’
practices were likewise based on this consensus and, hence, on an agree-
ment to require people to adhere to these practices based on their view of
what was in society’s best interests.

What Imam al-Sh¥~ibÏ says here about the critical issues he raises
conveys his personal understanding of the Sunnah. He may have
arrived at this understanding in response to certain controversies rag-
ing at that time around Sunnah-related questions. Be that as it may, his
statement reveals the depth of the chasm that had come to separate the
thought and jurisprudence of earlier thinkers from that of later
thinkers and, thus, the effects of time on ideas and concepts.
As we have seen, such boundaries and definitions are founded upon
Aristotelian thought, which erroneously gives terms truth value irre-
spective of their meaning and significance on the concrete level. At the
same time, they reflect the point of view of the individual engaged in
the defining process and his or her way of understanding the entity to
be qualified or defined. Such an individual will attempt to interpolate
elements into the definition in order to make it unvarying, universal,
preclusive, and beyond reproach. And since this was an impossibility,
there was never-ending controversy over any definition that happened
to be proposed. A cursory glance at any book from this era treating
matters of jurisprudence, the fundamentals of jurisprudence, logic or
scholastic theology will suffice as illustration of the wars that raged
over virtually every definition proposed. Consequently, numerous con-
cepts – including that of sunnah – were defined in ways that diverged
from the Qur’anic understanding of them.

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At this point we will examine the various stances that have been
taken on the matter of chronicling the Sunnah. We shall begin by iden-
tifying the attitude adopted by the Messenger of God himself toward
this process, which had serious implications for how the concept of
sunnah would be approached.

[second]
A Look at Hadiths That Address the Matter of
Recording Narrated Reports in Writing

Hadiths That Regard the Chronicling of Reports


as Undesirable
Ab‰ Sa¢Ïd al-KhudrÏ reported that the Messenger of God had said,
“Write nothing down on my authority. Whoever records anything but
the Qur’an on my authority must erase what he has written.”
Another account reads, “We asked the Prophet for permission to
write down [the things he said and did], but he did not grant it.”
Zayd ibn Th¥bit once went to see Mu¢¥wiyah ibn AbÏ Sufy¥n and
asked him about a certain hadith, whereupon Mu¢¥wiyah instructed
someone to write it down. In response Zayd said to him, “The Mes-
senger of God has commanded us not to write down any hadiths about
him.” There are also other hadiths with a similar purport.

Hadiths That Regard the Chronicling of Reports as Permissible


¢Abd All¥h ibn ¢Amr ibn al-¢A| said:

I used to write down everything I heard the Messenger of God say, since I
wanted to memorize it. However, members of the Quraysh tribe (that is,
Muslims who had emigrated from Makkah to Madinah) forbade me, say-
ing, “Are you writing down everything you have heard from the Messenger
of God even though he is merely a human being who sometimes speaks in
anger, and at other times speaks in approval?” So I stopped writing things
down. But when I mentioned this to the Messenger of God, he pointed to
his mouth and said, “Go on writing, for by the One who holds my soul in
His hands, nothing but truth has ever passed these lips.”

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Ab‰ Hurayrah once said, “None of the Prophet’s Companions has


related more accounts on his authority than I have. The only exception
is ¢Abd All¥h ibn ¢Amr, who writes things down, whereas I do not.” In
a similar vein, Anas ibn M¥lik said, “The Messenger of God said,
‘Record knowledge in writing.’” Additional hadiths with a similar pur-
port could be cited as well.

The Chronicling of Hadiths During the Lifetimes of


the Prophet’s Companions
During the era of the rightly guided Caliphs, it was clear to Ab‰ Bakr,
¢Umar ibn al-Kha~~¥b and other Companions and jurists well-versed in
the Qur’an that it was not permissible to write hadiths down or to nar-
rate excessive numbers of them lest people be distracted from the
Qur’an, which should be the primary foundation upon which Muslim
character is based on the levels of intellect, emotion and conduct.
Al-¤¥kim related in his sanad on the authority of al-Q¥sim ibn
Mu^ammad that ¢®’ishah said:

My father (Ab‰ Bakr) collected 500 hadiths that had been narrated on the
authority of the Messenger of God. He tossed and turned that night, and
the next morning he said to me, “Bring me all the hadiths in your posses-
sion.” So I brought them to him, whereupon he called for a fire to be lit, and
burned them. After this, ¢Umar ibn al-Kha~~¥b addressed the people, say-
ing, “O people, I have been informed that there are books among you. The
books most pleasing to God are those that are the fairest and most accurate.
Therefore, any of you who has a book in his possession must bring it to me
so that I can make an assessment of it.” Thinking that he simply wanted to
examine the books and correct them in light of established facts, the people
brought them to ¢Umar without hesitation. When he received them, how-
ever, he burned them...”

¢Abd All¥h ibn Mas¢‰d said, “All we wrote down during the
Prophet’s lifetime was the prayer for guidance (|al¥t al-istikh¥rah) and
the testimony recited during the five daily prayers (al-tashahhud).”
Similarly, Ab‰ M‰s¥ did not like to have his son write down the things
he had said for fear that he might have unintentionally added some-
thing to his accounts or omitted something from them. So he took
water and rubbed out everything his son had written.

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These and other accounts narrated on the authority of the Prophet’s


Companions make clear that the Companions were aware of the need
to adhere to the Qur’an as the molder and shaper of Muslim character,
and to view the guidance offered by the Prophet in proper relation to
the Qur’an. They were to clarify the way in which the Prophet applied
and recited the Qur’an and how he taught the Qur’an to others and
used it to refine their characters. At the same time, they were to take
care not to lead people away from the Book of God. It is a well-known
fact that whatever is first established in one’s mind, heart and behavior
will take priority over any later influences. One’s bedrock attitudes
and behavior will then be the standard against which one measures and
corrects everything else. Similarly, everything other than or subsequent
to the Qur’an was to be accepted or rejected based on the extent to
which it agreed, or disagreed, with the Qur’an’s teachings, and was to
be interpreted in light of the understanding gleaned from the Qur’an.
An analysis of the causes underlying divisions, sectarianism, and
other ills that afflict the Muslim community today serves as a reminder
of the fact that the weaker people’s relationship to the Qur’an is, the
greater will be their tendency to fragment their religion and to split into
factions and parties. Those who cling to the Qur’an, perform regular
prayers, and strive to keep the unity God has given them will fortify
themselves against disputes and disunity. And conversely, those who
abandon the Book of God and busy themselves with other things will
never experience true unity in mind or in heart. Hence, we call upon the
Muslim community to begin measuring everything other than the
Qur’an against the Qur’an. For as they do so, they will be embracing
the path of deliverance.

Chronicling of the Hadiths During the Lifetimes


of the Companions’ Successors
Some of the leading Successors of the Companions, including ¢Ubaydah
ibn ¢Amr al-Salm¥nÏ, Ibr¥hÏm al-Nakh¢Ï and others, refrained from
writing down hadiths. ¢Ubaydah in particular would not allow anyone
to write things down in his presence; nor would he allow anyone to
read to him. He once advised Ibr¥hÏm, saying, “Beware of passing
down anything I have said in written form.” Before his death,

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¢Ubaydah had his books brought to him, and then burned them. Al-
Sha¢bÏ said, “Never have I written anything down, nor have I ever
heard a man narrate a hadith and wanted him to repeat it to me.
Someone once told J¥bir ibn Zayd, “They are writing down your opin-
ions.” Offended, he replied, “Will you record something that I might
go back on tomorrow?” There are numerous other statements and
events of relevance to this theme. However, we have cited these by way
of illustration. Concerning the spread of the practice of recording
hadiths in the late first and early second centuries ah, Ab‰ Qil¥dah has
been quoted as saying:

¢Umar ibn ¢Abd al-¢AzÏz once came out for the noon prayer carrying a piece
of paper. Then he came out to join us for the mid-afternoon prayer carrying
the same piece of paper. “O Commander of the Faithful,” I asked, “what is
that in your hand?” He replied, “It is a hadith that was narrated to me by
¢Awn ibn ¢Abd al-¢AzÏz which I liked and decided to write down.”

However, no one before the reign of Caliph ¢Umar ibn ¢Abd al-¢AzÏz
has ever been reported to have said that the Prophet abrogated the
hadith in which he forbade others to record the Sunnah.

The Chronicling of Hadiths in the Second Generation of Successors


When, in the generation that followed al-ZuhrÏ (d. 124 ah/741-42 ce),
the command to write down the Sunnah was officially announced,
there were some who argued that this practice was undesirable. Al-
™a^^¥k ibn Muz¥^im wrote forebodingly, “A time is coming when
there will be so many hadiths in circulation that the Qur’an will lay for-
gotten and gathering dust.” In a similar vein al-Awz¥¢Ï lamented:

Such knowledge was honorable when it flowed from the mouths of men
who were receiving it and studying it amongst themselves. But when it was
relegated to books, its light was extinguished, and it passed into the hands
of people who were unworthy of it.

A practice common to some Successors of this generation was to


write hadiths down temporarily in order to memorize them. Then,
once the hadiths had been memorized, they would erase them. This

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practice had also been adopted by many of the earliest generations of


pious Muslims such as Sufy¥n al-ThawrÏ, ¤amm¥d ibn Salamah and
others.
Others by contrast are reported to have both collected and recorded
hadiths. Among the first to collect hadiths were Ibn Jurayj (d. 150
ah/767 ce), al-Layth ibn Sa¢d (d. 175 ah/791-92 ce), Imam M¥lik (d.
179 ah/795-56 ce), Ibn al-Mub¥rak (d. 181 ah/797 ce), and Sufy¥n
ibn ¢Uyyaynah (d. 198 ah/813-814 ce). All of these men belonged to a
single generation, and their method involved collecting hadiths passed
down on the authority of the Messenger of God and combining them in
a single book with sayings of the Companions and fatwas issued by the
Successors.

Support For, and Opposition to, the Recording of Hadiths


God did not assign the task of preserving the Qur’an to any human
being, not even to His Prophet. Rather, He took this task upon
Himself, causing it be preserved through its own arrangement, inim-
itability and eloquence. This process I am terming “preservation from
within.” The Prophet stressed the importance of writing down the
Qur’an, while placing equal emphasis on not writing down the
Sunnah. Before writing down a hadith, the Companions were expected
to request the Prophet’s permission, which he might grant in one situa-
tion but not in the next.
The hadiths according to which it is permissible to record the
Sunnah indicate that each situation must be judged on its own merits.
The small number of individuals to whom the Prophet granted permis-
sion to write down hadiths were those whom he knew for certain to
have absorbed the teachings, linguistic style and higher purposes of the
Qur’an so fully into their minds and hearts that there would be no dan-
ger of them confusing the Qur’an with anyone else’s statements.
However, the prohibition against recording hadiths was not simply
due to the concern lest the Qur’an be confused with other sources of
input, since the Arabs of that day had such a thorough command of the
Arabic language on the levels of rhetoric, style and grammar that such
admixture or confusion would have been virtually unthinkable.
Indeed, they were keenly aware of the distinctiveness of the Qur’anic

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text from that of narratives and reports passed down from the Prophet
himself. The concern to record the Qur’an at the very moment at which
it was revealed served as clear evidence that the Qur’an was a text
which was not to be subjected to any change whatsoever, whereas the
Sunnah, by contrast, was for the most part simply a practical clarifica-
tion that informed people of the ways in which the Prophet had applied
the Qur’an and/or approved or explained particular actions. The
Sunnah’s purpose did not necessitate that its text be preserved word for
word as in the case of the Qur’an. This is why the Companions and
early Muslim scholars judged it permissible to paraphrase the Sunnah,
and why they preferred that it be preserved not in written form, but in
people’s hearts and minds, since this would prevent it from becoming
a sacrosanct text that might compete with the Qur’an for people’s
attention and allegiance. The focus at that time was therefore not on
the Sunnah’s linguistic structures, but on the meanings it conveyed.
As for those who held that it was, in fact, permissible to record the
Sunnah, they were overgeneralizing the application of decisions the
Prophet had made in response to certain exceptional circumstances,
situations, and cases of urgent need. Given the unusual nature of such
situations, they implied no change in the Prophet’s stance against the
adoption of another text alongside the Qur’an that would serve as a
parallel source of authority, whether such a text was deemed equal in
status to the Qur’an, or of a lesser status.
Those who classed the Sunnah as the second source of Islamic legis-
lation hoped to refute this anticipated objection – that is, the question
of how they could place alongside the Book of God another, parallel
text that was independent of it and equal to it in authority. It was as if
they wanted to say: “Since we have given the Sunnah second place
rather than first, no blame should attach to this. For as can be seen, the
matter has nothing to do with status per se. Rather, it has to do with
textual reliability and the weight a text enjoys as evidence for or against
this or that argument.” In other words, it was a given that what could
be shown to have originated with the Messenger of God was binding
upon every Muslim. Hence, it was not a question of whether or not the
Prophet’s interpretations or applications of the Qur’an were authorita-
tive but, rather, of how the narratives conveying these interpretations

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and applications had been handed down. Herein lies the wisdom
exhibited by the Messenger of God, his Companions and his rightly
guided Caliphs in adopting the bedrock principle that nothing but the
Qur’an was to be written down.
Another purpose for the prohibition against narrating and record-
ing hadiths was to prevent a confusion between divine ordinances,
which the Prophet enforced on a practical level in other people’s pres-
ence, and the human aspect of the Prophet’s life, including his day-to-
day conduct and the interpretations he arrived at in various capacities,
including that of imam, judge, reformer, advisor and the like. As for
divine ordinances, the Prophet’s role was to convey them on God’s
authority as revealed to him in the Qur’an; he was also the first person
to carry out whatever God had commanded him while urging his
community to emulate his example in this connection. Hence, he was
the model and exemplar in obedience to God, adherence to God’s reve-
lation, and inviting others to believe in it and obey it.
However, the Prophet’s words, actions, or affirmations of others’
words and actions were generally not witnessed by more than a few of
his Companions who, none of them being infallible, might have remem-
bered events inaccurately or related them in inconsistent ways. Add to
this the fact that in keeping with the approach established by the
Qur’an, the Messenger of God wanted to limit the number of required
actions to the extent possible while maximizing the range of what was
permitted. Hence, given the fact that over time, solitary accounts took
on more and more binding authority, thereby increasing the burden of
do’s and don’ts in the process, it is better to allow everything other than
the Qur’an simply to remain part of the oral culture of Islam and, as
such, peripheral to the Qur’an.

The Emergence and Development of Hadith Narratives

a) The Circumstances Surrounding the Emergence of


Hadith Narratives
Hadith narratives emerged in response to newly arising questions that
called urgently for answers. As the era of the rightly guided Caliphs
came to an end, there came about a hitherto unknown split between

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religious-intellectual leadership on one hand, and political leadership


on the other. One of the most significant distinguishing features of the
first four Caliphs’ reigns, particularly during the lifetimes of Shaykhs
Muslim and al-Bukh¥rÏ, was the inseparability of these two spheres of
leadership – the religious-intellectual and the political. Not one of the
first four Caliphs, political though his functions were, stood in need of
a jurist or scholar to teach him his religion. Rather, each of them was at
once a religious scholar and a political leader in his own right. It was he
who guided his officials and judges, showing them what would, or
would not, be consistent with the message of Islam in both letter and
spirit, since he himself was an imam qualified to engage in ijtihad. The
four rightly guided Caliphs had no need of scholars to issue religious
rulings for them and tell them what would or would not be acceptable
under Islamic law. But with the end of the rightly guided Caliphate, this
union of political authority and religious-scholarly authority would
likewise come to an end.
As positions of power were occupied by leaders of the Umayyad
clan with plenteous stores of narratives to relate and with a fair under-
standing of Islamic jurisprudence, people were encouraged to narrate
more and more accounts from the life of the Prophet and to glean legal
rulings from them in response to newly emerging societal conditions.
As a consequence, hadith narratives became increasingly intertwined
with juristic and theological questions. This led in turn to the emer-
gence of pointed disputes which were met with force on the part of the
new caliphs.
In the midst of these events, Umayyad Caliph ¢Abd al-¢AzÏz ibn
Marw¥n began considering the idea of collecting hadith narratives in
the hope that they would provide an alternative to the conflicting juris-
tic opinions and rulings that were now sowing division and anarchy
among members of the Muslim community. The Sunnah was imbued
with an air of authority that the views of jurists, however scholarly,
lacked. For, being an explanation of the Qur’an, the Sunnah was, at
least in the case of its well-authenticated narratives, inseparable from
the Qur’anic text, whereas the same could not be said of the science of
jurisprudence. Caliph ¢Abd al-¢AzÏz entertained the hope that as the
Sunnah was joined with and confirmed by the Qur’an, it would clarify

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and resolve the issues over which individual members and factions
of the Muslim community were in such disagreement. When ¢Umar
succeeded his father ¢Abd al-¢AzÏz, restoration of the Muslim commu-
nity’s unity was his prime concern, as a result of which he initiated a
serious dialogue with all of the factions against whom previous
Umayyad Caliphs had declared war. Among these factions were the
Kharijites and others. In addition, ¢Umar ordered the collection and
examination of all hadith narratives and other traditions, his aim being
to provide the Muslim community with a jurisprudence that would
enable them to stop depending on jurists and their rulings, minimize the
causes for the many disputes that had arisen among them, and bring
them back to a focus on the Qur’an.
However, ¢Umar ibn ¢Abd al-¢AzÏz did not live long enough to com-
plete these ambitious projects. Worse still, the hadith narratives the
Caliph had set out to collect were exploited by his successors as an
additional means of sowing discord. Some of these successors treated
the Sunnah as parallel to the Qur’an. They lauded it as a text that not
only contained everything found in the Qur’an, but was distinguished
from the Qur’an by the fact that it offered more detail. Being both an
exposition of the Qur’an and an application of its teaching, the Sunnah
specified what was stated in the Qur’an only in general terms, and
qualified matters couched by the Qur’an in absolute terms. With this in
mind, al-Awz¥¢Ï (d. 157 ah/774 ce) went so far as to assert that “the
Sunnah stands in judgment over the Qur’an” and that “the Qur’an
needs the Sunnah more than the Sunnah needs the Qur’an.” As we saw
earlier, it was in response to assertions such as these that A^mad ibn
¤anbal declared, “I would not dare make such claims. Rather, I would
say simply that the Sunnah explains and clarifies the Qur’an.”
In response to unrest both internal and external, new societal and
religious developments, pressures exerted by the confluence and inter-
action of varied cultures and civilizations, and acceptance of the
peculiar maxim that “while the verses of the Qur’an are finite, the situ-
ations the Qur’an must address are infinite,” there had arisen a certain
atomistic mentality that could no longer see the organic unity between
the Qur’an and the Sunnah, and which looked to the latter for the tools
and mechanisms necessary to provide the juristic output required by
changing circumstances.

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Hence, the Sunnah was not a text that had been recorded in the gen-
eration that witnessed the Qur’anic revelation, nor had the Messenger
of God mandated anyone to record it. In fact, when the Prophet
learned of the portions of the Sunnah that some individuals had writ-
ten down, he ordered them erased. It need not be concluded from this
that the Prophet viewed his words and actions as carrying no weight as
evidence in relation to juristic rulings and that, therefore, they had
nothing to do with Islamic legislation and the development and guid-
ance of the Muslim community. However, he wanted to ensure that
Muslims’ thoughts and attitudes would be shaped first and foremost
by the Qur’an.

b) The Evolution of Narrative


The generation that was contemporary with the Prophet came to be
known as “the generation of reception,” the generation that followed
it was known as “the generation of narrative,” and the generation fol-
lowing it was known as “the generation of jurisprudence.” In fact,
however, there is overlap among these three generations. In the “gener-
ation of reception,” which witnessed the death of the Apostle, narra-
tives were already in circulation. However, most of those who heard
these narratives were able to verify their accuracy through direct con-
tact with the Apostle himself. Consequently, despite the circulation of
narratives during that time period, people’s emulation of the Prophet
was still based for the most part on direct observation of him and his
life. As for the generations of narrative and jurisprudence, they over-
lapped to a significant extent. Nevertheless, there remained issues and
questions that related specifically to jurisprudence rather than to
narratives. After all, scholars with the capacity to master both the field
of jurisprudence (fiqh) and that of narratives (hadith) were limited in
number, as a result of which there emerged a dangerous phenomenon
that might be termed, “the fiqh-hadith rift.” Manifesting itself initially
in 40 ah/660 ce, this rift contributed to the formation of the schools
that came to be known as “The People of Opinion” and “The People of
Hadith.” Despite the unwholesome effects to which this phenomenon
gave rise, seekers of knowledge benefited from it in certain technical
and educational respects.

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In the beginning of the narrative phase, neither Islamic (religious)


narratives nor historical and literary narratives were always treated
with the greatest of care. Sometimes, for example, a narrative would
have no isn¥d, or chain of transmission, but no one would ask about it
until social conditions had drawn attention to its absence. Ibn SÏrÏn
(d. 110 ah/729 ce) tells us:

No questions were asked about the chain of transmission until the time of
the fitnah. At that point they said, ‘Name your narrators for us.’ If the
narrators were found to be orthodox, the hadith in question would be
accepted. If, on the other hand, the narrators were found to be unorthodox
(religious innovators), their account would be dismissed.

It appears from the context that the fitnah mentioned by Ibn SÏrÏn
refers to the strife caused by the emergence of certain religious innova-
tions and heretical claims. In his book, Al-Im¥m M¥lik, Amin al-Khuli
tells us that until the death of Imam M¥lik in 179 ah/795 ce, the isn¥d
was still not being used in a systematic fashion as we see it being
employed by al-Bukh¥rÏ, for example, in the third century ah. Al-
Bukh¥rÏ lived more than two generations later, and two strata of hadith
scholars later. This may help to explain why, among the accounts
passed down by M¥lik and scholars before him, we find so many
hadiths with chains of transmission that go only as far back as one of
the Successors to the Companions. The plethora of hadiths in this cate-
gory (referred to as mursal), whose reliability has been a subject of
disagreement among u|‰l scholars appears to have resulted from the
fact that in the generations that followed immediately upon the lives of
the Companions, scholars saw no need to mention the specific Com-
panion with whom an account had originated.
From the foregoing it may be seen that Islamic sciences have passed
through three stages. (1) The “oral culture” phase: Oral traditions
included Sunnah narratives, as well as the Qur’an itself, which was the
only text at that time to have been committed to writing. Everything
else, with a small number of exceptions, was being circulated orally at
this stage. (2) The collection and recording phase, during which oral
accounts began to be collected and written down. During this phase,
hadiths and other traditions originating with the Companions were

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collected in books of Qur’anic commentary, jurisprudence, and the


like. (3) The sorting and categorization phase. This phase was marked
by a process of distinguishing among different types of knowledge, and
by the appearance of what came later to be known as “the principles of
the sciences” on the basis of which each science or academic discipline
was recognized as having its own distinct definition and focus.

c) ¢Umar ibn ¢Abd al-¢AzÏz’s Collection of the Sunnah


in Historical Context
When ¢Umar ibn ¢Abd al-¢AzÏz became Caliph, the Muslim community
was being racked by one division after another. Wanting to mend the
rifts and regain the allegiance of factions that had broken with the larger
community, he commenced his reform efforts by opening a dialogue
with the Kharijites. He conceded their points on some issues while cor-
recting on others, with the result that some of them returned to the
fold.
Explaining what ¢Umar aimed to achieve through the collection and
recording process, Ab‰ Zur¢ah al-DimashqÏ wrote:

…¢Umar ibn ¢Abd al-¢AzÏz sought to unify the people’s understanding of


things, be it in the form of legal rulings or scriptural interpretations…In
each Muslim metropolis and army there were individuals who had been
Companions of the Messenger of God. Among these were judges who
issued rulings that had been approved by the Apostle’s Companions as well
as by the cities’ inhabitants... To these rulings, then, they continued to
adhere.

What this passage shows is that as the Muslim head of state at the
time, ¢Umar ibn ¢Abd al-¢AzÏz’s aim was, by having the Sunnah collected
and written down, to make it into a law that would be binding on the
members of the Muslim community. This view is supported by the fact
that al-ZuhrÏ and others collected not only hadiths that were attributed
to the Apostle but, in addition, biographies of the Companions, some
of whom were among the rightly guided Caliphs and all of whom were
qualified jurists. This approach which ¢Umar ibn ¢Abd al-¢AzÏz referred
to in many of his sermons, points clearly to a practical understanding
of the Sunnah as including the Companions’ applications of the Qur’an.

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¢Umar ibn ¢Abd al-¢AzÏz and others at that time saw the need to col-
lect hadith narratives in order to provide the Muslim community with
a source of proper Qur’anic interpretation and application. The pur-
pose in so doing was to clarify the way in which the Prophet had
applied the teachings of the Qur’an so that Muslims would be able to
emulate his example, and to settle disputes and disagreements and
restore unity to the Muslim community. To this end, ¢Umar instructed
Muslim scholars throughout his Caliphate to collect hadith narratives.
He sent similar instructions to his regional governors, including Ab‰
Bakr ibn Mu^ammad ibn ¢Amr ibn ¤azm (d. 117 ah/735 ce), saying,
“Find hadith narratives relating the things done and said by the
Messenger of God, as well as those describing the ongoing practice of
the Muslim community. Then write them down, for I fear that knowl-
edge will be obliterated with the disappearance of those who possess
it.”
The best example of the kind of Sunnah collection that ¢Umar ibn
¢Abd al-¢AzÏz hoped to carry out may be found in Al-Muwa~~a’ by
Imam M¥lik ibn Anas. In what follows I present a description of the
approach Imam M¥lik followed in this work of his.

d) The Method Adhered to by M¥lik ibn Anas in Al-Muwa~~a’


Imam M¥lik’s Al-Muwa~~a’ is viewed as the earliest well-authenticated
collection of Islamic learning in the fields of both hadith and fiqh.
Concerning this work, Imam al-Sh¥fi¢Ï wrote, “I know of no scholarly
book more correct than that of M¥lik.” Abbasid Caliph Ja¢far al-
Man|‰r (d. 158 ah/775 ce) once said to Imam M¥lik:

Write a book whose contents I can require people to adhere to… O Ab‰
¢Abd All¥h, compile this knowledge and record it in books. In so doing,
avoid the austerities of ¢Abd All¥h ibn ¢Umar, the dispensations promoted
by Ibn ¢Abb¥s, and the anomalous practices taught by Ibn Mas¢‰d. Strive
instead for a path of moderation, encouraging people to adopt practices
that were agreed upon by the Companions.

¢Umar ibn ¢Abd al-¢AzÏz and Ab‰ Ja¢far al-Man|‰r were thus in
agreement concerning the importance of compiling knowledge that
went back to the time of the Companions in Madinah. ¢Umar had

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instructed Ab‰ Bakr ibn ¤azm to undertake such a collection, while


Ab‰ Ja¢far al-Man|‰r instructed Imam M¥lik to do the same. Given
that Imam M¥lik may already have seen the need to record knowledge
from the Madinan community for fear of its being lost, the Caliph’s
request would have provided him with additional motivation to do so.
Moreover, the caliphs who succeeded him held the same view. H¥r‰n
al-RashÏd (d. 193 ah/809 ce), for example, required the judges under
his Caliphate to rule in accordance with the teachings found in M¥lik’s
Al-Muwa~~a’. In praise of M¥lik’s virtues, al-Suy‰~Ï relates that when
H¥r‰n al-RashÏd requested that Al-Muwa~~a’ be widely distributed,
M¥lik objected, saying, “O Commander of the Faithful, the fact that
scholars hold differing opinions is a divine blessing upon the Muslim
community.”
Hence, one finds a visible common thread connecting what
Umayyad Caliph ¢Umar ibn ¢Abd al-¢AzÏz sought to accomplish by col-
lecting the Sunnah in his day, and what Imam M¥lik did in Al-Muwa~~a’
with encouragement from Abbasid Caliph H¥r‰n al-RashÏd. In both
cases, their aim was to unify the judiciary by eliminating differences
among the judges and governors in the various regions of the caliphate.
In other words, they strove to standardize Islamic jurisprudence by
providing judges with a written record of the actions and words of the
Messenger of God, his Companions, the early Caliphs, and those who
succeeded them – particularly those in Madinah who understood the
Sunnah to be the practices they had inherited from the Prophet and his
Companions. Governors and judges would thus have an authoritative
point of reference in governance, administration of the judiciary, and
issuance of legal rulings. The principle aim was thus not simply to
undertake a haphazard collection of accounts but, rather, to organize
the state legally and to encourage an insightful examination of the
Prophet’s actions and words that would guide people in emulating his
example. It bears noting here that both ¢Umar ibn ¢Abd al-¢AzÏz and
Imam M¥lik were adherents of the Madinah school, which ultimately
adopted a practical understanding of the Sunnah.
M¥lik was among the best-attested narrators of hadiths originating
in Madinah on the authority of the Messenger of God, with the most
trustworthy chains of transmission. He was also among the most

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knowledgeable about the issues of concern to ¢Umar ibn al-Kha~~¥b


and the sayings of ¢Abd All¥h ibn ¢Umar, ¢®’ishah, and the seven jurists
who served as advisors in Madinah to Caliph ¢Umar ibn ¢Abd al-
¢AzÏz.2 Together with a number of others, M¥lik established the
science of hadith narratives.
A question might arise as to how to categorize Al-Muwa~~a’: Does it
belong to the realm of hadith, or fiqh? Different answers have been
given to this question. Those who place emphasis on the numerous
hadiths which M¥lik cites in this work classify it as a book of hadith,
whereas others classify it as a work of Islamic jurisprudence due to is
juristic focus. In my view, Al-Muwa~~a’ is best classified as a work
dealing with what I would term the jurisprudence of the Sunnah (fiqh
al-sunnah), as it attempts to answer juristic questions based on hadith
narratives relating words and actions that would serve as the basis for
juristic rulings.
In Al-Muwa~~a’ M¥lik has sought to bring together well-attested
hadith narratives passed down by inhabitants of the Hejaz. These were
combined with sayings by the Companions and their Successors, as
well as the Successors’ Successors. When he first wrote the book, it con-
tained approximately ten thousand hadith narratives. Every year he
would review it and delete some of its contents. Ibn ¢Abd al-Barr quotes
M¥lik as saying, “Here is a book that I took forty years to write, and
which you have read in forty days. How little you understand of it!”
Al-Suy‰~Ï wrote saying that “No mursal hadith is cited in Al-Muwa~~a’
without at least one ¢¥\id, or support from another source.”

e) Al-Muwa~~a’ and ßa^Ï^ al-Bukh¥rÏ


In his introduction to ßa^Ï^ al-Bukh¥rÏ, Ibn ¤ajar (d. 853 ah/1449 ce)
wrote:

Some imams deem it problematic to ascribe the same authenticity to M¥lik’s


book as they do to al-Bukh¥rÏ’s even though both scholars imposed strict
conditions for acceptance of a hadith as sound, and both went to great
lengths to ensure the reliability of the hadiths they approved. The fact that
al-Bukh¥rÏ included more hadiths in his collection than M¥lik did does not
mean that he should be given priority in terms of authenticity. M¥lik, how-
ever, did not view a discontinuous chain of transmission as sufficient cause

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to call a hadith’s authenticity into question. Hence, his collection includes


hadiths that are classified as mursal and munqati¢, as well as hadiths
referred to as bal¥gh¥t, that is, hadiths whose chains of transmission
contain the phrase balaghanÏ min ful¥n (meaning, “It came to my hearing
through so-and-so…”).

As for al-Bukh¥rÏ, he viewed a discontinuous isn¥d as a weakness


which would disqualify a hadith from inclusion in his collection. He
only listed hadiths with discontinuous isn¥ds in his introductory or
marginal comments. Some hold that a hadith with a broken isn¥d may
still be valid as legal evidence. However, hadiths with unbroken isn¥ds
are still stronger provided that all the narrators in both cases are
upright individuals known to have had reliable memories. On this
basis, al-Sh¥fi¢Ï rightly described Al-Muwa~~a’ as being of greater
authenticity than the comprehensive hadith collections of his day such
as the J¥mi¢ of Sufy¥n al-ThawrÏ (d. 161 ah/778 ce), the Mu|annaf of
¤amm¥d ibn Salamah (d. 167 ah/783 ce) and others. In this respect,
al-D¥raqu~nÏ (d. 306 ah/918 ce) and others ranked Al-Muwa~~a’ above
the ßa^Ï^ compiled by Ab‰ Bakr ibn Khuzaymah (d. 311 ah/924 ce).
In his book Al-Madkhal il¥ Ma¢rifat al-ßa^Ï^, al-¤¥fi· al-Ism¥¢ÏlÏ
states:

I have studied Al-J¥mi¢ by Ab‰ ¢Abd All¥h al-Bukh¥rÏ, and I find it to be


truly comprehensive, as its title suggests. In addition to containing numer-
ous authentic hadith narratives, Al-J¥mi¢ offers well-expressed interpreta-
tions that can only be properly understood by those with a solid knowledge
of hadiths and their narrators, the science of narratives and their defects,
and jurisprudence and language.

Al-Bukh¥rÏ recorded nothing but accounts which he deemed by his


rigorous standards to be fully trustworthy and authentic. Consequently
he avoided having to mention numerous hadiths that supported
rulings that were inconsistent with his views. For, by virtue of his hav-
ing demonstrated these hadiths’ inauthenticity, they were rendered too
weak to be used as evidence against his position.
M¥lik wrote Al-Muwa~~a’ after the manner of the Hejazis; as such,
he set forth the sources of legal rulings derived from hadiths of agreed-
upon authenticity and divided the material into chapters based on a

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variety of juristic topics. In explanation of his method and terminology,


Imam M¥lik wrote, “This book presents narratives from the life of the
Messenger of God, sayings of the Companions, sayings of the Com-
panions’ Successors, and opinions that reflect the consensus of the
Madinan scholars, from which I have not departed.” He then expounds
his method of reasoning from the evidence, saying:

…What I have written here reflects the practice of people in my region, and
the contents of rulings issued among us which are known to the learned and
ignorant alike. Similarly, it reflects statements which I have heard from
men of knowledge in my region, and which I deem to be good and true. On
matters about which I have heard nothing, I have formulated my own inde-
pendent judgments by investigating matters in light of the juristic school
adhered to by those whom I met. In the process I have sought to arrive at the
truth, or a close approximation thereof, lest what I say be in violation of the
views of the adherents of the Madinah school.

Memorizers of the Qur’an concerned themselves with learning


hadiths’ various paths and chains of transmission, “some of which are
Hejazi, some of which are Iraqi, and some of which are from else-
where.” As for al-Bukh¥rÏ, he arranged hadiths by category and
compiled the chains of transmission passed down by the Hejazis, the
Iraqis, and inhabitants of the Levant, approving whatever hadiths they
had agreed upon and omitting those over which they had differed. He
would also cite and discuss the same hadith under a number of differ-
ent headings, each time highlighting those aspects of the hadith in
question that were relevant to the heading under which it was cited.
In his ßa^Ï^, Muslim (d. 261 ah/875 ce) adopted the same approach
as that of al-Bukh¥rÏ before him by including hadiths of agreed-upon
authenticity; he omitted any repetitions, compiled their chains of
transmission, and divided his material into chapters dealing with
selected juristic themes. Nevertheless, al-Bukh¥rÏ’s and Muslim’s col-
lections did not include all authentic hadiths, and for this they were
criticized by those who asserted that their conditions for accepting a
hadith as authentic were too strict. Ab‰ D¥w‰d, al-TirmidhÏ and al-
Nas¥’Ï then compiled their own collections, which included not only
hadiths classified as authentic (|a^Ï^) but, in addition, hadiths that

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fulfilled what are known as “conditions for practical application”


(shur‰~ al-¢amal), hadiths classified as “good” (^asan) and others as
well. In so doing, these compilers set out to provide a complete guide to
the Sunnah and its application, and their works are among the official-
ly recognized classics in the realm of hadith collection.

f) Al-Bukh¥rï’s Juristic Approach to the Formulation


of Section Titles
In a discussion of al-Bukh¥rÏ’s method of titling the sections of his
hadith collection, Ibn ¤ajar wrote:

Let us provide an overview of various types of section headings. Some of


these deal with the surface meanings of the text, others with its underlying
meanings. Our purpose here is not to focus on these types of headings.
Rather, our intent is simply to ensure that whatever heading we use is con-
sistent with the content of the text in question. The benefit to be derived
from the heading lies in communicating the general content of what fol-
lows it without regard for specific details. Al-Bukh¥rÏ might state, for
example, that a section contains such-and-such, or that it offers evidence
for such-and-such a particular ruling.
The section heading may use the same words found in the text being
presented. Alternatively, it might employ only some of the same words, or
simply be a loose paraphrase. When a loose paraphrase is used, it may indi-
cate that the text to follow has more than one meaning, in which case the
compiler identifies one of the two possible meanings as the more likely to be
the correct one based on what is cited of the hadith that follows. The hadith
might, on the other hand, contain words or phrases that support the very
opposite interpretation, such that the possibility of more than one meaning
inheres in the hadith, while the section heading specifies the meaning clearly.
The section heading is thus a clarification of the underlying meaning of the
hadith. As such, it plays the role of a jurist, for example, who might tell us
that a hadith that appears to be general in nature is actually specific in its
application or that a hadith that appears to be specific in nature actually
has general application, thereby indicating that there is an element shared
in common by the situation at hand and another, analogous, situation
ruled on previously, or that the specific principle being conveyed by the
hadith has a wider application than what appears on the surface… The
same interpretative phenomenon that occurs in relation to the specific and
the general may likewise occur in relation to the unqualified and the quali-
fied, simplifying what is problematic, clarifying what is vague, revealing

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the underlying layer of a text’s apparent meaning, or detailing the unde-


tailed. This situation is reflected in most of the section titles in this book.

According to a well-known statement by certain illustrious schol-


ars, “al-Bukh¥rÏ’s jurisprudence is found in his section titles.” This is
particularly the case in situations in which al-Bukh¥rÏ had found no
unambiguous hadith meeting his conditions for authenticity in relation
to a particular juristic topic or question. In order to provoke thought
on the issue at hand and to reveal meanings hidden in a text, al-Bukh¥rÏ
would frequently allude to a hadith cited elsewhere (earlier or later in
the book) that explained a certain point. He also tended to phrase his
section headings in the form of questions, his purpose being to show
whether a given ruling was founded on the evidence or not. In some
cases, the evidence would refute the ruling; in other cases it would sup-
port it, and in still others, it would lend support to two opposing views,
but in differing degrees. Al-Bukh¥rÏ would deliberately leave room for
further investigation by drawing attention to some uncertainty or con-
tradiction that would require one to abstain from supporting one view
over another. He might have believed, for example, that the hadith was
unspecific in nature, or that what was understood from it would differ
based on how one reasoned from the evidence. He frequently used a
section heading which, at first glance, yielded little meaning. For exam-
ple, one heading reads, “If a man says, ‘We missed the ritual prayer
(f¥tatn¥ al-|al¥h, meaning literally, ‘the ritual prayer passed us by’).’”
This section heading is an indirect response to those who deem it unde-
sirable to use this phrase, and who prefer instead for one to say, “We
failed to perform the ritual prayer on time” (lam nudrik al-|al¥h). He
would also use section headings that applied to specific situations, but
whose meaning was not immediately apparent. One such heading
reads, for example, “On whether an imam should clean his teeth with a
twig in the presence of his congregation.” At one time, cleaning one’s
teeth with a twig was considered something one shouldn’t do in public.
However, this view was reconsidered based on a hadith, first pointed
out by Ibn DaqÏq al-¢¬d (d. 701 ah/1302 ce), in which the Prophet
cleaned his teeth with a twig in others’ presence.

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Al-Bukh¥rÏ frequently uses a chapter heading in which he alludes to


the meaning of a hadith that does not qualify as authentic according to
his standards. At other times he makes explicit reference in the chapter
heading to such a hadith. In the discussion that follows, he sometimes
makes direct reference to the hadith’s contents, and sometimes indirect
reference. An example is the chapter entitled, “The Chapter on the
Chieftains of Quraysh” (b¥b al-umar¥’ min quraysh). This comes
directly from a hadith narrated on the authority of ¢AlÏ ibn AbÏ >¥lib
which does not fulfill al-Bukh¥rÏ’s conditions for authenticity. It is as if
al-Bukh¥rÏ were saying, “There is nothing on this topic that meets my
conditions for authenticity.” And given that his readers might not have
appreciated this fact, he left the book in draft form. Shaykh N¥|ir al-
DÏn A^mad ibn al-MunÏr, preacher of Alexandria, collected and
discussed four hundred section headings from this work, which were
also summarized by Badr al-DÏn ibn Jumm¥¢ah (d. 733 ah/1333 ce).
The topic was taken up briefly by Muhammad ibn Man|‰r ibn Jum-
m¥¢ah, whose work entitled, Fakk Aghr¥\ al-Bukh¥rÏ al-Mubhamah fÏ
al-Jam¢ Bayna al-¤adÏth wa al-Tarjamah contains only around one
hundred section headings. As for Zayn al-DÏn ¢AlÏ ibn al-MunÏr (d. 695
ah/1296 ce), he discussed the matter at length in his commentary on al-
Bukh¥rÏ (Al-Mutaw¥rÏ ¢an Tar¥jim al-Bukh¥rÏ: Shar^ al-J¥mi¢al-ßa^Ï^
li al-Bukh¥rÏ). I have come across one volume of a work by Ab‰ ¢Abd
All¥h ibn RashÏd al-SabtÏ entitled, Turjum¥n al-Tar¥jim ¢al¥ Abw¥b
ßa^Ï^ al-Bukh¥rÏ, which shares a similar aim, and which covers up to
al-Bukh¥rÏ’s chapter on Fasting. Given the quality of this man’s work,
he would have done us a great service had he finished this book.
It is clear, then, M¥lik and al-Bukh¥rÏ each had distinct, cogent
juristic views which revealed themselves through their respective
works, Al-Muwa~~a’ and Al-J¥mi¢ al-ßa^Ï^. Similarly, from among the
hadiths whose texts and chains of transmissions fulfilled their criteria
for authenticity, each of these scholars cited those narratives that
supported his juristic views. In this respect, M¥lik and al-Bukh¥rÏ dif-
fered from most of their contemporaries. For while many other hadith
transmitters’ prime concern was simply to compile and record narra-
tives, be they accounts handed down on the authority of the Apostle or
the views of his Companions and Successors such as Ibn AbÏ Shaybah

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(d. 235 ah/850 ce) and others, M¥lik and al-Bukh¥rÏ approached
hadiths from a legal perspective, viewing them as the foundations for a
properly grounded Islamic jurisprudence.

conclusion

The Outcomes of the Chronicling Process

The question that now arises is: Can the term sunnah be used to refer to
what resulted from the process of recording the various accounts and
reports attributed to the Prophet? This question, of course, has to do
with the huge number of narratives that were compiled for us by
Muslim scholars and recorded by hadith transmitters.
In answer to this question, it should first be remembered that the
process of collecting the Sunnah was the fruit of a tremendous collec-
tive effort. However, it remains, in the end, a human effort subject to
human limitations, uncertainties and a degree of speculation. No one
can say for certain that the process encompassed every authentic hadith
or that it prevented the recording of any weakly attested hadiths.
Hence, it must be asked: How can people be expected to commit them-
selves religiously to something we may not be able to know in the first
place, or which might turn out to be weakly attested or even a forgery?
This question is rendered all the more pointed by the fact that the
recording process we are talking about only began in earnest in the mid-
second century ah, and was not completed until the third century ah.
The laborious enterprise which the chronicling process entailed had
major consequences. For one thing, the number of Islamic legal rulings
multiplied several times over, and this legacy, which was now passed
down from one generation to the next, became the most salient compo-
nent of every Muslim’s religious instruction and upbringing. For
another thing, narrators and transmitters had effectively turned the
Sunnah into an investigation into which sayings could accurately be
attributed to the Messenger of God, and which could not. In other
words, whereas during the lifetimes of the Prophet and his Compan-
ions, the Sunnah had been comprised of the concrete practices of the
Messenger of God in application of what had been revealed to him, the

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concept of the Sunnah then expanded to include everything the


Prophet was reported to have said, done, or even approved. This modi-
fied and broadened understanding of the Sunnah, formulated by
scholars of various academic disciplines based on the terminology
proper to their respective fields of study, was a departure from the con-
cept found both in the Qur’an and in Arabic lexicons. The revised
understanding of the Sunnah reflected changing temporal and geo-
graphical factors that helped to define more precisely which of the
practices and statements recorded in the hadiths contained binding
legal rulings for the entire Muslim community, and which of them had
been relevant only to those individuals to whom they were initially
related or addressed. Similarly, it helped to clarify which accounts rep-
resented individual human responses on the part of the Prophet whose
full dimensions would have been known only to those who had a direct
role to play in them.
The things the Prophet said and did, he said and did in response to
specific situations that arose in people’s daily lives; none of them
occurred in a vacuum. Hence, they were necessarily tied to practical sit-
uations of one sort or another. This is one of the most significant
aspects of the distinction that must be made between the Qur’anic text,
which for the most part contains universal principles, and the
‘prophetic text,’ which issued for the most part from concrete, chang-
ing circumstances.
When the hadith narratives portraying the life of the Prophet came
to be viewed as themselves constituting the Sunnah, messages that had
once been specific to defined situations came to be viewed as though
they were intended for general application. However, most of the
things the Prophet did and said were not only responses to specific,
concrete situations, they were also, and no less importantly, reflections
of his humanness. The Qur’an commanded the Prophet on numerous
occasions to declare openly that he was only a human being. And in
fact, he took care to emphasize this fact. As we noted in the incident
related earlier by ¢Abd Allah ibn ¢Umar, who would write down every-
thing he heard the Prophet said in order to memorize it, he was chided
for this by fellow Muslims, who reminded him that the Prophet’s
words might be influenced by human emotion.

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Consequently, the Prophet’s humanness disqualifies many of his


words and actions from being treated as the basis for binding legisla-
tion. He made this point explicitly clear in the well-known incident in
which he expressed the view that the pollination of palm trees was not
a useful practice, after which he reconsidered what he had said in light
of his lack of knowledge about such matters, saying, “I am only
human. So if I instruct you to do something relating to your religion, do
as I say. But if I instruct you to do something based on my opinion, then
remember that I am a mere human being.” In another version of the
same account, the Prophet was quoted as saying, “You all know best
how to handle your worldly affairs.” And in still another we read, “If I
have supposed something to be true, do not take me to task for a mere
supposition. But if I tell you something on God’s authority, then act on
it, for I would not lie about God.”
Herein lies the greatness, and earthiness, of this religion. Herein lies
its fitness for all times and places. For here we find the Prophet himself
drawing a decisive distinction between his abilities as Prophet and his
abilities as mere human being, between personal opinion and religious
instruction, between human attempts to discern truth and divine reve-
lation, between worldly affairs and spiritual affairs, between what he
says on his own behalf and what he says as God’s representative. There
exists, then, both revelation from God, which is binding as a religious
duty, and earthly matters about which experts in the field concerned
know best.
What we might term the ‘methodology of transmission’ (man-
hajiyyat al-naql) has dominated not only the field of hadith studies, but
virtually all of the sciences relating to Islamic tradition and law. Isn¥d
methodology was thus seen as the ideal means of purging the hadith
collections of all that was inauthentic, since it would make it possible
for people to place their full confidence in accounts that had been
passed down via well-attested chains of transmission. What many
failed to realize was that, applied in isolation, the isn¥d method cannot
provide complete certainty. On the contrary, certain individuals made
it their profession to fabricate hadiths’ chains of transmission just as
they fabricated their texts. If they heard a statement they approved of,
they would simply create an isn¥d for it. As Sa¢Ïd al-DimashqÏ once

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said, “If someone says something laudable, what is wrong with manu-
facturing an isn¥d for it?”! Such people knew, of course, that reputable
hadith scholars would only approve a hadith for inclusion in their col-
lections if it had what they thought to be a sound isn¥d.
Most of those who worked so diligently to collect the sayings of the
Prophet were, no doubt, motivated simply by the desire to preserve the
Apostle’s legacy, to pass on knowledge they had been entrusted with,
and to use these narratives as a kind of substitute for the Prophet’s
physical presence to which they no longer had access. Be that as it may,
once the hadith corpus came into being, it became the subject of a sci-
ence in its own right, and the basis for Islamic jurisprudence. With this
development, the Muslim community entered the phase of ‘juristic
production’ in which Muslim legal scholars had to sift through thou-
sands upon thousands of hadith narratives. Their task now was to
ascertain which hadiths were reliable and, therefore, valid as the basis
for Islamic legal rulings. If a hadith was judged to be reliable, one was
required to adhere to it as law, and if any jurist objected to or rebelled
against such a conclusion, the sincerity of his faith would immediately
be called into question. In fact, he might even be accused of outright
unbelief.
The Muslim scholarly community was thus split into two camps:
the ‘People of Opinion’ and the ‘People of Hadith.’ At the same time, the
three groups comprised respectively of political figures, ascetics/myst-
ics, and ¢ulam¥’, or academics, intensified their efforts to flesh out the
life of the Apostle in a way that would attenuate the harsh reality of his
absence. The Qur’an had prepared the way for the Prophet’s loss in the
following words, which were addressed to the stunned and grieving
¢Umar ibn al-Kha~~¥b and his fellow Companions: “Muhammad is
only an apostle; all the [other] apostles have passed away before him:
if, then, he dies or is slain, will you turn about on your heels? But he that
turns about on his heels can in no wise harm God – whereas God will
requite all who are grateful [to Him]” (S‰rah ®l ¢Imr¥n, 3:144). The
same state of affairs was addressed by Ab‰ Bakr, who declared, “To
anyone who worships Muhammad, let it be known that Muhammad is
dead, and to anyone who worships God, let it be known that God is
alive forevermore.” Hence although these factions grudgingly resigned

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themselves – at least theoretically – to the Prophet’s absence, they seem


to have reserved the right to reject it in their hearts. As a result, jurists,
u|‰l scholars, and scholastic theologians alike attempted to compen-
sate for the Prophet’s absence by reiterating, circulating, and passing
down accounts of events from his life.
As the Muslim community began committing its oral cultural mem-
ories to writing in the mid-second century ah, the Qur’an was largely
marginalized. As far as the Muslim laity were concerned, the Qur’an
was ambiguous and susceptible to numerous interpretations. Hence,
although the Qur’an was viewed as a major miracle, the only portion of
it which was viewed as vitally important consisted in somewhere
between 240 and 340 verses. Apart from these, the recorded Sunnah of
the Prophet now became the primary text in dialogue with which the
Muslim community’s “cultural memory” was to be molded. It was the
hadiths that now served as the source from which the principles of
Islamic jurisprudence were to be gleaned and as the basis for legal rul-
ings on specific situations. So pivotal had the hadiths become that it
was now possible to rely on them to the exclusion of all else, and
impossible to dispense with them in favor of anything else.
In consequence, the Qur’an’s role in Muslims’ lives was greatly
diminished, their relationship to it now being restricted to recitation
for the purpose of earning heavenly reward and gleaning moral les-
sons. The hadiths thus became the actual material out of which the
Muslim mentality was shaped – until, that is, the hadiths themselves
were superseded by a preoccupation with still other sources, about
which we will have more to say in what follows.

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6
The Authoritativeness
of the Reporting of
the Sunnah

The Authoritativeness of the Sunnah

i n i t s c a p a c i t y as the binding elucidation of the Qur’an through


the words and actions of the Prophet as heard and witnessed by the first
generation of Muslims, the Sunnah is viewed as authoritative by neces-
sity, and this authoritativeness is beyond dispute among Muslims
everywhere. However, controversy has arisen over the authoritative-
ness of the Sunnah as reported. The question is: Should a communica-
tion or report concerning an action or statement by the Prophet be
granted the same legal status as the action or statement itself? Can such
a report or communication be the basis for a binding legal ruling
originating with God?
The Muslim community would agree unanimously that God is the
sole Lawgiver and Governor, and that the authority to promulgate
laws for human beings is one manifestation of His divinity. Hence,
when we affirm the authoritativeness of the Prophet’s Sunnah and
Muslims’ obligation to recognize this authority, we are acknowledging
implicitly that in order to be truly authoritative, a report or communi-
cation of something the Prophet did or said must be shown beyond
reasonable doubt actually to have been done or said by him. This does
not mean, however, that the Prophet himself was the source of his own
authority, or that he was the actual promulgator of the laws he estab-
lished through this words and deeds.
So how is it that obedience to the Prophet can be said to be tanta-
mount to obedience to God? Since God requires us to obey the Apostle,
as when He states in S‰rah al-Nis¥’, “O you who have attained to faith!

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Pay heed unto God, and pay heed unto the Apostle” (4:59; see also
5:92, 47:33 and 64:12), does this not mean that the Apostle is a ruler as
well, and that the commands and prohibitions which he issues are not
from God, but directly from him? When God commands us to “pay
heed unto the Apostle,” He is commanding us to do whatever the
Prophet tells us to do. From these observations we might derive two
principles. The first is an obligation imposed by God to surrender to
the Apostle, while the second is the obligation to act, which is imposed
by the Apostle. Therefore, one might conclude, the Apostle is a ruler in
his own right.
Not so, however. Rather, the Ruler requiring action in obedience to
the imperatives issued by the Apostle is God alone; the Prophet is merely
the conduit through which the imperatives come. The words, “pay
heed unto the Apostle” mean that if the Apostle issues a command or a
prohibition, it is God who requires the Muslim to do what the Apostle
has commanded or to refrain from what he has prohibited. An example
of such a situation is the Prophet’s statement: “When the sun crosses the
meridian at your location on earth, I require you to perform the noon
prayer.” Were it not for God’s command to obey the Apostle, his
injunctions would not be binding upon us. For although he may appear
to be a ruler and commander in his own right, the actual Ruler and
Commander is God alone.

[first]
The Authoritativeness of the Sunnah and Reports
Thereof in the Generation Contemporary to the
Prophet, and the Narrative Generation

Muslim scholars agree that the validity of the use of a hadith narrated
on the Prophet’s authority in support of a religious doctrine or legal
ruling depends on two things. The first is the ability to demonstrate
with certainty that the account in question did, in fact, originate with
the Messenger of God. And the second is the ability to demonstrate
that the account in question was passed down from the Messenger of
God in an unquestionably reliable manner. The first condition applies

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to all generations without exception. As for the second condition, it


applies only to those generations that rely on accounts that have been
passed down from person to another – that is, the generation of the
Companions’ Successors and all generations since. The “narrative gen-
erations” include the Companions who had not yet reached puberty at
the time of the Messenger of God’s death. As for the Companions who
were adults during the Prophet’s lifetime, some of them may have
heard the Prophet say certain things with their own ears, or seen him
perform certain actions with their own eyes. In such cases, the second
condition cited above would have no relevance, since the person citing
the statement or action had witnessed it directly. As for those who were
the Prophet’s contemporaries but who were not present in Madinah at
the time of a given incident, they would have needed to verify their
occurrence through accounts they had heard from eye witnesses. So in
this sense, they would be in the same position as the Companions’
Successors and those who succeeded them.
The validity of narratives passed down on the authority of the
Prophet has been the subject of significant disagreement among Muslim
scholars, who have held widely divergent views on the method by
which one needs to verify that a given hadith was actually passed down
on the Prophet’s authority. According to some scholars, no method
can guarantee with even a reasonable degree of certainty that a given
account about the Prophet’s sayings or actions is accurate and reliable.
Consequently, they deny the validity of acting on anything that has
been passed down on the Prophet’s authority. Such scholars essentially
reject all reports about the Prophet’s words and deeds, not because
they actually believe that the Prophet did not do or say these things, nor
because such reports have no use as evidence in argumentation, but,
rather, because the accuracy and reliability of such reports cannot be
proven. Our purpose here is not to detail these debates or to argue in
favor of one view or another. However, we have alluded to them briefly
in the hope of clarifying to readers that these disagreements have not
revolved around the authoritativeness of the Sunnah itself.

Leading Jurists and Their Approaches to the Sunnah


The following presents a brief look at the approaches taken to the

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Sunnah by six Muslim scholars: Imam Ab‰ ¤anÏfah, Imam M¥lik,


Imam al-Sh¥fi¢Ï, and Imam A^mad ibn ¤anbal from the Sunni schools,
and from among the Shiites, Imam Zayd ibn ¢AlÏ, and Imam Ja¢far al-
ߥdiq.

1. Imam Ab‰ ¤anÏfah (d. 150 ah/767 ce)


Ab‰ ¤anÏfah was accused of violating the Sunnah, although he denied
the charge. When Abbasid Caliph Ab‰ Ja¢far al-Man|‰r wrote to him
saying, “Word has it that you place higher priority on analogical rea-
soning (qiy¥s) than you do on the hadiths!” Ab‰ ¤anÏfah replied:

It is not as you have heard, O Commander of the Faithful. Rather, I work


first on the basis of the Book of God. I then turn to the Sunnah of the
Prophet and, after this, to the legal rulings issued by Ab‰ Bakr, ¢Umar,
¢Uthm¥n, and ¢AlÏ. Lastly, I look at the legal rulings issued by the other
Companions of the Prophet. Only if there is disagreement among these do
I resort to analogical reasoning. And God remains exalted above His
creatures.

In the Hanafites’ view, a hadiths that has not gained wide circula-
tion (and has thus not been classified as mashh‰r or mustafÏ\) is of only
tentative value. As such, it neither specifies what is stated generally in
the Qur’an, nor qualifies what the Qur’an has stated in absolute terms.
Ab‰ ¤anÏfah would reject a solitary hadith (¥^¥d) if: (1) its content
was in conflict with the overall message or apparent meaning of the
Qur’an; (2) it contradicted other, widely circulating hadiths; (3) the
narrator of the hadith was not a jurist or scholar of Islamic jurispru-
dence; (4) the narrator, after passing on the hadith, acted in a manner
contrary to the hadith’s content; (5) it dealt with punishments or
means of atoning for serious offenses, since such measures lose their
validity if they are subject to the slightest doubt, and the narrator may
have lied or been mistaken in what he said; (6) some of the pious early
Muslims had challenged its reliability; and (7) it had ceased to be
employed in argumentation due to disagreement over it among the
Companions. (The last condition was sufficient basis for rejection of a
solitary hadith by some early Hanifite scholars, and most later ones).

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2. Imam M¥lik (d. 179 ah/795 ce)


Based on a reading of Imam M¥lik’s works, scholars of the Malikite
school concluded that he had given the apparent meaning of the
Qur’an priority over the Sunnah. In this respect M¥lik was in agree-
ment with Ab‰ ¤anÏfah except in cases where the hadith in question
was supported by something else. If such support was available, the
hadith could be understood to provide specification for something
stated generally in the Qur’an, or qualification for something stated by
the Qur’an in absolute terms. For example, if a hadith was supported
by the recognized practice of the Muslim community in Madinah (as in
the case of the hadith prohibiting the consumption of fanged preda-
tors), it was to be deemed valid and acted upon. In his book, al-
Muw¥faq¥t, al-Sh¥~ibÏ listed a set of questions in relation to which
Imam M¥lik had given recognized human interests (al-ma|la^ah) or
other general principles priority over other considerations. On this
basis he dropped solitary hadiths, since he viewed the principles he had
adopted as being of indubitable certainty, whereas the hadith he had
rejected, he viewed as providing tentative certainty only.
At the same time, M¥lik accepted hadiths classified as mursal as
well as so-called bal¥gh¥t, and even cited them as the basis for legal rul-
ings, even though it was he who had been so exacting in his criteria for
deciding which narratives to accept as valid. M¥lik would approve
hadiths with broken chains of transmission if he had heard them from
someone whom he trusted and whom he had chosen precisely because
he qualified as a reliable source based on M¥lik’s stringent list of crite-
ria for trustworthiness. The demanding process by which M¥lik vetted
the men from whom he would accept hadiths in the first place gave him
confidence in the accounts they related to him. His decision to approve
hadiths with broken chains of transmission was thus based on personal
considerations, and not only on methodological ones.
M¥lik stipulated that a solitary hadith could only be rejected based
on evidence of definitive certainty; he also stipulated that the hadith in
question not be supported by any other evidence (in the form of a well-
authenticated text or principle). If these two conditions were not met, a
solitary hadith could not be rejected simply because it only had one
narrator. Moreover, definitive evidence can only be rejected if it is

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opposed by some other piece of evidence which is equally, or more,


definitive than the evidence in question. It bears noting here that M¥lik
understood the Sunnah to consist of practices of the Prophet’s
Companions. He observed, for example, that when ¢Umar ibn ¢Abd al-
¢AzÏz wanted to spread knowledge of the Sunnah, he ordered the
collection of the legal rulings that had been issued by the Prophet’s
Companions.

The Qualitative Classification of M¥lik’s Statements


in Al-Muwa~~a’
Imam M¥lik sometimes used the term sunnah in Al-Muwa~~a’ in a
sense close to that given for it in Arabic lexicons, that is, in the sense of a
plan or a method. However, when he used it to refer to actions and
statements attributed to the Apostle, he would accompany it with
expressions that had become more or less obsolete in juristic circles. In
particular, he tended to marshal a plethora of superlatives, describing
the practices he was citing in clarification of this or that Qur’anic verse
as “the best thing I have ever heard.,” “…the most remarkable ruling
ever made...” and the like. Hence, it is apparent from the rather flow-
ery expressions M¥lik introduced into his usage of the term that he was
not employing the word sunnah in a formal or technical sense, since
such language was more or less unheard of in juristic writings.
As for the matter of consensus (al-ijm¥¢), Imam M¥lik makes refer-
ence to it both indirectly, as when he speaks of “that which is agreed
upon” (al-amr al-mujtama¢ ¢alayhi), or “things about which there is no
dispute” (alladhÏ l¥ khil¥fa fÏhi) and directly, as when he states his
belief that his book reflects “the consensus of the Muslim community
in Madinah” (ijm¥¢ ahl al-madÏnah). As used by M¥lik, then, the term
ijm¥¢ refers not to some general consensus of the Muslim community
everywhere but, rather, specifically to that of the community in
Madinah. As for the phrases “that which is agreed upon” (al-amr al-
mujtama¢ ¢alayhi) and “things about which there is no dispute”
(alladhÏ l¥ khil¥fa fÏhi), Imam M¥lik uses them when reasoning from
the Qur’an. Therefore, M¥lik’s understanding of the term ijm¥¢ cannot
easily be equated with the understanding of it which developed subse-
quently among u|‰l scholars. He defines ijm¥¢ specifically as the

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consensus of the Muslim community in Madinah, since it was they


who had inherited the Sunnah of the Prophet and passed it down in
their turn to others. The Madinan community was more knowledge-
able than anyone else of the rulings that best reflected the Prophet’s
legacy and the sources from which these had been derived. Conse-
quently, M¥lik set out to collect the hadiths that had been passed down
by the Madinans and the fatwas that had been issued by the
Companions who were residents of Madinah and who had lived dur-
ing the period when the Qur’an was revealed. He then recorded these in
Al-Muwa~~a’.

3. Im¥m al-Sh¥fi¢Ï (d. 204 ah /819-820 ce)


As discussed in Chapter Three, al-Sh¥fi¢Ï devoted an entire section of
his book Al-Ris¥lah to the five levels of the process of bay¥n, or eluci-
dation of the Qur’an.
In addition, al-Shafi¢Ï stipulated rigorous conditions that had to be
met in order for a solitary hadith to be deemed acceptable. These con-
ditions were as follows: (1) The narrator must be trustworthy, known
for his piety and honesty. (2) He must understand the events that
occurred well enough that he can either word them in more than one
way, or pass on the account verbatim, exactly as he heard it. (3) He
must have memorized the narrative in the written form in which he
possesses it. (4) He must actually have heard the account from the per-
son he claims to have heard it from. (5) The hadith must not contradict
some other hadith on the same topic which has been passed down by
trustworthy people of knowledge. (6) The previous conditions must be
met at every level of the isn¥d reaching all the way back to the Prophet,
or to a Companion or one of his Successors.
It should be remembered that the debates raging in al-Sh¥fi¢Ï’s time
between the People of Opinion and the People of the Hadith had pro-
duced a good deal of confusion in relation to the way in which the
concept of sunnah was understood and employed. As we observed ear-
lier in the writings of Imam M¥lik, the People of Opinion would only
accept a hadith if it was (a) classified as mashh‰r, (b) the subject of
unanimous agreement among scholars (mujma¢ ¢alayhi), and (c) con-
sistent with the practice of the Muslim community in Madinah. The

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People of Opinion would reject any solitary hadith which failed to


meet these criteria or which conflicted with the apparent meaning of
the Qur’an. In defense of the People of the Hadith, al-Sh¥fi¢Ï marshaled
evidence to demonstrate that the Sunnah could serve as a valid basis for
Islamic legal rulings even if it was in the form of solitary hadiths, pro-
vided that the individual who had passed the hadith down could be
shown to be trustworthy. The evidence cited by al-Sh¥fi¢Ï was com-
piled in Al-Ris¥lah, while his debates with his opponents are recorded
in Al-Umm.
The intellectual skirmish that took place between al-Sh¥fi¢Ï and his
challengers marked the beginning of the shift in which the Sunnah
ceased to be understood in its original sense and came to be defined as
the hadiths and reports narrated by hadith transmitters in keeping with
specific criteria. Al-Sh¥fi¢Ï emerged so victorious from this battle that
he was dubbed “defender of the Sunnah.”

4. Imam A^mad ibn ¤anbal (d. 241 ah /855-56 ce)


According to Ibn al-Qayyim, Imam A^mad viewed the Sunnah as the
second half of the primary source of Islamic teaching, that is, the
Qur’an. The wisdom in this position is easily discernible, since the
Sunnah is what elucidates and completes the Qur’an. Therefore, there
should be no contradiction between them, and if there appears to be
some conflict, it will be subject to resolution. Moreover, Imam A^mad
more than once expressed the view that Muslims should seek enlighten-
ment about their religion through the Sunnah.
As a hadith transmitter Imam A^mad was keen to write his Musnad
to be a guide to people. He wrote nothing in the field of jurisprudence,
nor did he dictate anything on this topic to his students. In fact, he was
unwilling for anything to be passed down on his authority in this area.
However, his students persuaded him to let them pass on his thoughts
in the area of jurisprudence, and he may well have spent his younger
years approving what was passed down and verifying the correctness
of its attribution to him.
The majority view among Muslim scholars has been that solitary
hadiths are acceptable as the basis for practice, but not as the basis for
belief or doctrine. However, Imam A^mad accepted solitary hadiths as

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the basis for belief as well. Nor did he require the narrators from whom
he received accounts, whether orally or in writing, to fulfill the strin-
gent conditions that had been set by Ab‰ ¤anÏfah and M¥lik. At the
same time, he established a rule according to which he was sometimes
lenient in relation to the isn¥d and sometimes strict. In this connection
he wrote, “If the hadith in question has to do with virtuous actions and
the reward they bring, I am lenient with its isn¥d; if, however, it has to
do with religious duties, prescribed punishments and means of atone-
ment, I am strict.”
Imam A^mad only included in his Musnad accounts narrated by
individuals whom he deemed trustworthy, upright, God-fearing and
truthful. He would only reject a hadith due to criticism of its content if
it was in conflict with some other hadith judged to be authentic; how-
ever, he did not require that a hadith be compared to the Book of God.
Rather, he viewed the Sunnah as explanatory of the Qur’an and its
meaning. In a letter to Musaddid ibn Musarhid al-Ba|rÏ, he wrote:

We define the Sunnah as the accounts that have been passed down on the
authority of the Messenger of God. The Sunnah explains the Qur’an by
clarifying its meanings. The Sunnah is not to be approached through the
use of analogical reasoning, nor is it to be understood, whether via reason
or on the basis of whim or fancy. Rather, one is simply to follow it, leaving
personal desire and caprice behind.

In Imam A^mad’s day, hadiths were classed as either well-authenti-


cated (|a^Ï^) or weak (\a¢Ïf). A third category included hadiths classed
as good (^asan), as well as weak hadiths which, if they had been passed
down via multiple lines of narrators, had been raised to the status of
‘good.’ According to Ibn Taymiyyah, the first person ever known to
have divided hadiths into the three classes of well-authenticated, good
and weak was al-TirmidhÏ. Explaining what he meant by these terms,
al-TirmidhÏ defined ‘good,’ or ^asan, as a hadith with multiple lines of
narrators, none of whom had ever been accused of lying, and which
was not inconsistent with any other hadith which had already been
approved as trustworthy. By weak, or \a¢Ïf, he referred to a hadith
whose transmitter had been accused of lying and was not good at mem-
orizing. If a hadith had been narrated by an unknown individual, it was

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feared that he might be untruthful or weak at memorization. However,


if the narrator was in agreement with some other narrator from whom
he had not transmitted his account, it could be concluded that if he had
transmitted an untruth, it was not done deliberately.
Imam A^mad’s Musnad contains weak hadiths because, in keeping
with the practice of his contemporaries, he wanted to include in his
compilation everything that had been narrated on the authority of
those of his generation. He thus compiled everything he received from
the narrators of that period, and only rejected an account if he had
proof that there was another, already approved, hadith that conflicted
with it. In other words, as we are told by his son ¢Abd All¥h, Imam
A^mad would not reject anything he had received unless there was a
related hadith that refuted it.
Imam A^mad was known never to give analogical reasoning priority
over a hadith, even if it was a weak report, as long as he had no evidence
of its being forged. On this point he was in agreement with his teacher,
al-Sh¥fi¢Ï, who had held that in dealing with hadiths there is no room
for personal opinion. However, Imam A^mad went even further than
al-Sh¥fi¢Ï, who had not been willing to recognize any weak hadiths
whatsoever. So, while [al-Sh¥fi¢Ï] gave [sound hadiths] priority over
opinion, [A^mad] gave them priority over analogical reasoning as
well]. In clear contrast to A^mad’s and al-Sh¥fi¢Ï’s approaches – and
particularly that of A^mad – Ab‰ ¤anÏfah and M¥lik are known to
have given priority to analogical reasoning over solitary reports.
As an example of how these scholars decided what hadiths to accept
or reject, let us take the hadiths classified as mursal by way of illustra-
tion. Hadiths classed as mursal were among the types of hadiths that
had been used in legal argumentation. Such hadiths were defined in
two different ways. Hadith transmitters used the term mursal to
describe a hadith whose chain of transmission is unbroken as far as one
of the Companions’ Successors, who then attributes the hadith directly
to the Messenger of God without mentioning the name of the Compan-
ion through whom he received the hadith in question. Jurists of that
era, by contrast, used the term mursal to describe any hadith whose
chain of transmission was not continuous all the way back to the
Messenger of God, whether the break was at the point of a Companion
or anywhere else in the transmission process.

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The authoritativeness of hadiths classed as mursal as the basis for


legal rulings has long been a subject of disagreement among Muslim
scholars. The majority view among the jurists who established the four
Sunni schools of jurisprudence (Ab‰ ¤anÏfah, M¥lik, al-Sh¥fi¢Ï and
A^mad ibn ¤anbal) was that such hadiths were admissible as evidence
in favor of legal rulings. Some of them admitted such hadiths without
exception; others even placed them on a par with well-founded hadiths
(musnad). Still others gave them a lower status than well-founded
hadiths, and still others, while placing them on a level lower than that
of well-founded hadiths, laid down conditions for their acceptance. It
is in this last category that we find al-Sh¥fi¢Ï.

5. Imam Zayd Ibn ¢AlÏ (d. 122 ah /740 ce)


The Zaydite school vis-à-vis the Sunnah: Solitary hadiths
According to the Zaydite school, solitary hadiths provide only tenta-
tive certainty. Consequently, they can be relied on as a basis for
practical rulings, but not for doctrine. When reasoning from evidence,
the Zaydites view solitary reports as lower in status than both the
Qur’an and hadiths classed as mutaw¥tirah. As for all other hadiths,
they can lend specificity to general statements in the Qur’an. The rea-
son for this is that specifying or restricting the meaning of a text is not
the same as abrogating it but, rather, is a form of application. On this
point, the Zaydites hold a position similar to that held by al-Sh¥fi¢Ï,
who views specification simply as a form of elucidation. We read in Al-
K¥shif that:

solitary reports cannot be relied upon in relation to the fundamentals of the


religion, definitive principles of jurisprudence, or principles of Islamic
Law, because these things require full certainty, whereas solitary reports
yield only partial certainty.

Zaydite conditions for narrators of solitary reports


In order for a report to be deemed trustworthy by the Zaydites, the fol-
lowing conditions must be met by its narrator: (1) The narrator must
be reputable and trustworthy, though it is not necessary that he be a
Zaydite or a descendent of the Prophet. (2) The report must not relate
to an obligation that is required of all morally accountable individuals,

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since obligations of this nature must be announced and passed on pub-


licly and, therefore, must be transmitted via a report that is mutaw¥tir,
not solitary (¥^¥d). (3) Although the Zaydites do not stipulate that pri-
ority be given to accounts narrated by a Zaydite, an account narrated
by ¢AlÏ ibn AbÏ >¥lib would nevertheless be accorded higher status
than an account attributed to any of the other Companions. (4) The
Zaydites accept hadiths classified as mursal as long as the Successor in
its chain of narration is trustworthy. If he was a mujtahid, his account
will be given more weight than if he was not. This is the view of Ab‰
¤anÏfah and M¥lik. As for al-Sh¥fi¢Ï, he would accept a hadith that was
mursal on two conditions, while A^mad would have deemed it weak.
(5) A narrator who was a faqÏh, or scholar of Islamic jurisprudence,
would be accorded greater reliability than one who was not.

6. Imam al-ߥdiq (d. 148 ah /765 ce)


Overall, the Twelver Shiites seem to agree to a significant extent with
the Shafiites’ approach to the principles of jurisprudence. Imam al-
ߥdiq stated, “In the Qur’an, God sent down clarification of all things.
He left out nothing that His servants might need. Hence, no one can
say, ‘If only such-and-such had been revealed in the Qur’an….’” In al-
K¥fÏ, al-KillÏnÏ (d. 319 ah/941 ce) wrote:

Ab‰ ¢Abd All¥h al-ߥdiq said, “If you find that a hadith is supported by the
Book of God or by something said by the Messenger of God, accept it.
Otherwise, what you have already been given is more worthy of trust.”

The Twelver Shiites also accept as valid the statement attributed to


the Prophet:

If you are told that I said a certain thing, compare the account to the Book
of God. If it is consistent with the Book of God, then I said it, and if is not
consistent with the Book of God, I did not say it. How could I go against the
Book of God through which God Himself has guided me?

This hadith in paraphrase form is found in al-K¥fÏ. Imam al-ߥdiq


taught his students to identify the Qur’anic basis for whatever hadith
they encountered saying, “If I narrate a hadith to you, ask me where it

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is supported in the Qur’an.” It is clear, then, that Imam al-ߥdiq viewed


the Qur’an as the foundation for everything, and the Sunnah as that
which clarifies the Qur’an.
The Twelver Shiites are divided into two camps on the matter of
whether to accept solitary reports. Earlier Twelver Shiite scholars
rejected such reports unless they were accompanied by unassailable
evidence that the report could be attributed to the Messenger of God or
to the infallible Imam. However, the majority of Twelver Shiite schol-
ars recognize solitary reports, with some of them stipulating that the
report must have been passed down by two or more narrators. On this
point these scholars have adopted the view of Imam ¢AlÏß, who insisted
that in order for him to accept an account, it had to have been passed
down by two or more narrators on the Prophet’s authority.
The Twelver Shiites’ acceptance of solitary reports also requires
that: (1) the narrator be a Twelver Shiite, and (2) the person on whose
authority the account was passed down also be a Twelver Shiite.
Hence, if a Twelver Shiite transmits a solitary report on the authority of
individuals who are not themselves Twelver Shiites, it will not be
accepted as valid. The Twelver Shiites thus accept only those accounts
that have come down through the descendants of the Prophet.

[second]
The Hadith Sciences: ‘Narrative’ and ‘Knowledge’

The study of hadiths is comprised of two branches – narration-based


hadith science (¢Ilm al-hadith riw¥yatan) and understanding-based
hadith science (¢ilm al-hadith dir¥yatan) – under which all knowledge
of hadiths can be classed.

1. What is Meant by the Word ‘Science’ (¢Ilm)?


The concept of ¢ilm rests on four principles: (1) strict adherence to
method, (2) objectivity, or academic integrity, (3) the ability of the dis-
cipline’s principles and premises to accommodate new developments,
and (4) its capacity for self-renewal. Every discipline must be willing to
monitor and revise its own discourse by critiquing it, discussing it, and

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adjusting it in light of facts and events. If the results it is yielding are


inconclusive, this indicates a flaw in its method. The scientific spirit is
embodied in an ongoing effort to pursue truth, and science can only
advance through critique and revision, since it does not always rest on
solid ground. As for the dictionary definition of the word ¢ilm, generally
translated as ‘science,’ it is synonymous with knowledge (ma¢rifah)
and understanding (fahm). If knowledge is marked by certainty, it is
referred to as ¢ilm.
Philosophers have used the word ¢ilm to refer to the formation of an
image of something in the mind; as such, it is a level of perception,
other levels being, in descending order, surmise (·ann), suspicion
(shakk), and illusion (wahm). The opposite of ¢ilm is ignorance (jahl),
whether compound (in which the ignorant person thinks himself to be
knowledgeable) or simple (in which the ignorant person knows himself
to be ignorant).
This plethora of definitions and differences aside, ¢ilm may be iden-
tified as perception or understanding, the realities perceived or under-
stood, or the abilities and skills acquired by the individual engaged in
the act of perceiving or understanding.

a) The First Sunni Scholars to Compile ¢Ilm of Various Types


• Al-¤asan ibn ¢Abd al-Ra^m¥n al-R¥mihramzÏ (d. 360 ah/971 ce)
in his book entitled, Al-Ba^th al-F¥|il bayn al-R¥wÏ wa al-W¥¢Ï,
which was preceded by a number of works on the same theme.
• Al-¤¥kim al-NÏs¥b‰rÏ (d. 405 ah/1014-1015 ce), who wrote a book
entitled, Ma¢rifat ¢Ul‰m al-¤adÏth in which he listed fifty types of
¢ilm. However, the book was never edited into final form.
• Ab‰ Na¢Ïm A^mad ibn ¢Abd All¥h al-I|fah¥nÏ (d. 430 ah/1038-
1039 ce), who added to al-¤¥kim’s book but did not do full justice
to the topic.
• Al-Kha~Ïb al-Baghd¥dÏ (d. 463 ah/1071 ce), who compiled rules of
narration in his book Al-Kif¥yah, and the protocols associated with
narration in Al-J¥mi¢ li ®d¥b al-R¥wÏ wa al-S¥mi¢. Al-Kha~Ïb al-
Baghd¥dÏ devoted a written work to virtually every one of the
hadith sciences, and all those who came after him were indebted to
his works in this area. His successors include al-Q¥\Ï ¢Iy¥\, who

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wrote Al-Ilm¥¢ il¥ Ma¢rifat U|‰l al-Riw¥yah wa TaqyÏd al-Sam¥¢,


and Al-Miy¥njÏ, author of M¥ L¥ Yasa¢u al-Mu^addith Jahlahu.
• Ab‰ ¢Amr ¢Uthm¥n ibn al-ßal¥^ al-Shahraz‰rÏ (d. 643 ah/ 1245-
1246 ce), who brought together the works of his predecessors in his
book, ¢Ul‰m al-¤adÏth. Better known as Muqaddimat ibn al-ßal¥^,
this work became the object of intense study. Commentaries on it
were written and abridged versions of it were composed, with some
opposing it and others defending it. Al-Shahraz‰rÏ’s work became
the mainstay of hadith study for those who came after him, includ-
ing al-ZarkashÏ (d. 794 ah/1392 ce), al-Zayn al-¢Ir¥qÏ (d. 806
ah/1403-1404 ce), and Ibn ¤ajar (d. 852 ah/1448 ce). Ibn al-
ßal¥h’s work was abridged by al-NawawÏ (d. 676 ah/ 1271-1272
ce) in his books Al-Irsh¥d and Al-TaqrÏb. It was summarized by Ibn
Jam¥¢ah (d. 734 ah/1333-1334 ce) in Al-Manhal al-RawÏ, by Ibn
KathÏr (d. 774 ah/1373 ce) in Al-B¥¢ith al-¤athÏth, and by al-
BulqÏnÏ (d. 805 ah/1402-1403 ce) in Ma^¥sin al-I|~il¥^.
• Al-ZarkashÏ wrote a book known as Istidr¥k¥t ¢®’ishah ¢al¥ al-
ßa^¥bah, which is a significant contribution to the discipline of text
criticism.
• Other abridged works dealing with the terminology employed by
Sunni scholars include Al-Iqtir¥^ by TaqÏ al-DÏn ibn DaqÏq al-¢¬d
(d. 702 ah/1302-1303 ce) and Nukhbat al-Fikr by Ibn ¤ajar al-
¢Asqal¥nÏ, who also wrote a detailed commentary on this work
known as Nuzhat al-Na·ar.

b) ¢Ilm as Understood by the Twelver Shiites


The first to compile knowledge from the Twelver Shiite perspective was
al-R¥mihramzÏ, followed by Ab‰ ¢Abd All¥h al-¤¥kim al-NÏs¥b‰rÏ
and A^mad ibn >¥wus (d. 673 ah/1274 ce), who established new
Twelver Shiite terminology as it related to the division of hadiths into
the three categories of |a^Ï^, muwaththaq, and \a¢Ïf.
In the area of understanding-based hadith study we have ¢AlÏ ibn
¢Abd al-¤amÏd al-¤usnÏ, who wrote Shar^ U|‰l Dir¥yat al-¤adÏth,
also known as al-D¥yah fÏ ¢Ilm al-Dir¥yah. Another scholar who
worked in this area was Ab‰ Man|‰r Bah¥’ al-DÏn al-¢®milÏ, who wrote
Al-WajÏz fÏ ¢Ilm Dir¥yat al-¤adÏth. Commentaries were written on this

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work by Hasan al-Sadr (Nih¥yat al-Dir¥yah) and Mu^ammad B¥qir


al-D¥m¥d (al-Raw¥shi^). However, most of the Twelver Shiites’ writ-
ings in the area of understanding-based hadith study took the form of
chapters in books on the fundamentals of jurisprudence, or introduc-
tions to books on Islamic jurisprudence.

c) The Zaydites
Apart from minor differences, most Zaydite terminology was based on
that of Sunni scholars. Among Zaydite hadith scholars we have Ibn
al-WazÏr al-ZaydÏ (d. 840 ah/1437 ce), whose work entitled TanqÏ^
al-An·¥r fÏ ¢Ul‰m al-®th¥r was explained by Mu^ammad ibn Ism¥¢Ïl,
known as al-AmÏr al-ßan¢¥nÏ, in his Taw\Ï^ al-Afk¥r. Al-ßan¢¥nÏ is also
known for his Subul al-Sal¥m and Thamar¥t al-Na·ar, where he dis-
cussed the criterion of uprightness and good repute (¢ad¥lah) which
hadith transmitters require a narrator to meet in order for his accounts
to be deemed acceptable.
Ibn al-WazÏr penned another book entitled, Al-¢Aw¥|im wa al-
Qaw¥|im fÏ al-Dhabb ¢an Sunnat AbÏ al-Q¥sim, and he summarized
the former work in Al-Raw\ al-B¥sim, which contains wide-ranging
studies on hadiths and hadith-related terminology from the Zaydite
point of view. Another relevant work by Ibn al-WazÏr is his Qa|ab al-
Sukkar Na·mu Bu^‰th Nukhbat al-Fikr li ibn ¤ajar.

2. Narrator-Based Hadith Study (¢Ilm al-¤adÏth Riw¥yatan)


Early scholars defined the field to which we refer here as ‘narrator-
based hadith science’ as “a discipline which concerns itself with the
way in which hadiths are traced back to the Messenger of God, with an
emphasis on their narrators’ precision and moral character and a
description of their chains of transmission (as mutta|il, ‘continuous,’
munqa~i¢, ‘broken’ and the like). This discipline might also be referred
as ‘the fundamentals of hadith’ (u|‰l al-^adÏth) on the pattern of ‘the
fundamentals of jurisprudence’ (u|‰l al-fiqh). As for later scholars –
those who came after al-Kha~Ïb al-Baghd¥dÏ (d. 463 ah/1071 ce) –
they defined it as “a discipline that treats the transmission of sayings,
actions, and attributes attributed to the Prophet, including sayings and
actions of others to whom he lent his approval. Such actions include

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even gestures and times of stillness while waking or sleeping.” Later


Shiite scholars also replaced the phrase “the Prophet” with “the infalli-
ble one” (al-ma¢|‰m).
The difference between these two definitions inheres in the fact that
the earlier one takes as its subject the characters of hadith narrators
without regard for the content of the accounts they narrated. The only
exceptions to this rule were situations in which the content of the
hadith might shed some light on the narrator’s character. As for the
later definition, it focuses on the content of the accounts transmitted
about the Prophet. In sum, then, earlier scholars’ focus of study was the
characters of hadith narrators, while the focus of later scholars was the
character of the Prophet. The scholar credited with establishing narra-
tor-based hadith science was Ibn al-Shih¥b al-ZuhrÏ (d. 124 ah/742
ce), who drew on everything that might help him to ascertain the
strength or weakness of narrators’ characters so as to determine
whether their accounts should be accepted or not.
As for whether one was required to learn this science, the ruling was
that given the existence of a good number of individuals with the
capacity to acquire this skill, it would be deemed a collective duty,
whereas it would be deemed an individual duty for those persons gifted
with ability in this area, since the aims and benefits of such a discipline
are evident.

3. Understanding-Based Hadith Study (¢Ilm ¤adÏth Dir¥yatan)


Earlier scholars defined the field to which we are referring as under-
standing-based hadith study as “the discipline which concerns itself
with the meaning being conveyed by the words of hadith narratives
based on the rules of the Arabic language, the principles of Islamic
Law, and the character of the Prophet.” Its topic of study was the hadith
narratives themselves; the sources on which it drew were Arabic mor-
phology, grammar and the like, as well as the principles of jurispru-
dence. The discipline had been established by the Companions of the
Prophet, who had studied his life, witnessed his words, actions and
character traits and had then communicated these things to others as a
means of elucidating the Qur’an and showing how to apply its teach-
ings and emulate the Prophet. The Companions verified the accuracy

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of what they transmitted through a process of mutual correction which


laid the groundwork for the method of text criticism that was devel-
oped by those who came after them. This discipline made it possible to
determine, with reasonable or complete certainty, that the account in
question was acceptable without qualification, acceptable given cer-
tain conditions, or unacceptable; in other words, whether it was fully
authenticated (|a^Ï^), weakly authenticated (\a¢Ïf), or inauthentic,
that is, forged (maw\‰¢).
Later scholars defined ¢ilm al-^adÏth dir¥yatan as “a discipline by
means of which one ascertains the character of both the narrator and
that which is narrated so as to determine whether the account should
be accepted or rejected.” Based on the foregoing, one will see that the
definition offered by earlier scholars allows for the study, critique and
analysis of the text of a hadith so as to determine whether it is incon-
sistent with the Qur’an, the well-authenticated Sunnah, sensory expe-
rience, or any other known constant. All these matters are included, for
earlier scholars, in the definition of ‘understanding,’ or dir¥yah. As
defined by later scholars, the discipline involves melding the study of
the narrator with that which is narrated. Consequently, “narrator”
and “understanding” are almost treated as one and the same thing. It
may be for this reason that these scholars devoted most of their efforts
to the study of chains of transmission and narrators’ characters, and
lent only secondary attention to text criticism. If the chain of transmis-
sion was judged to be sound, rarely was any effort expended on
critiquing the hadith’s content. Hence, a hadith’s acceptance or rejec-
tion hinged primarily on its isn¥d.
However, critiquing the text of a hadith is just as important as, if
not more important than, critiquing its chain of transmission, especially
given the fact that many hadiths have been narrated in terms of their
overall meaning rather than word for word. In fact, both earlier and
later scholars laid down criteria for text criticism which can be induced
from their writings and employed as the foundation for a methodology
in which the two approaches – isn¥d criticism and matn criticism –
complement and reinforce each other. If there is a flaw in the text
(matn) of a hadith, this is more likely than not related to a flaw in one or
more links of the chain of transmission (isn¥d) unless the same account

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was passed down through an additional, fully sound, line of narrators.


Therefore, if a flaw appears in the matn, the hadith scholar will need to
undertake a thorough, painstaking review of all the narrators who
transmitted the account. As for the actual process of text criticism, we
shall have more to say on this below.
At this point one might ask: Is it possible to view narrator-based
and understanding-based hadith study as a single discipline? As we
have seen, earlier scholars tended to view them as two separate fields of
inquiry, each of which makes a distinct contribution to the researcher’s
final conclusions and the decision whether to accept or reject a hadith.
Among later scholars, by contrast, we observe a tendency to combine
the two lines of inquiry. This merger produces a kind of overlap which,
in these scholars’ view, is necessary given the interrelated nature of the
conclusions one reaches. Nevertheless, I personally prefer the approach
adopted by the earlier hadith scholars, who maintained a separation
between narrator-based critiques and understanding-based critiques.
My reason for this preference is that by maintaining this separation or
distinction, we make it easier to employ the two approaches in a bal-
anced and sound manner. As the saying goes, “Too many cooks spoil
the broth.” For as we have seen, the merger of these two approaches
has often resulted in two much weight being given to isn¥d criticism at
the expense of matn criticism.

4. Division of Hadiths into the Twin Categories of


Mutaw¥tir and ®^¥d
For later Sunni hadith scholars, the Arabic terms ^adÏth, athar, khabar,
and sunnah are synonymous, all of them referring to a report of some-
thing the Prophet or one of his Companions or their Successors said,
did, or approved. This being the case, these four terms include not only
hadiths attributed specifically to the Prophet (marf‰¢), but, in addition,
those classified as mawq‰f (attributed to a Companion) and maq~‰¢
(attributed to a Successor). Some scholars defined hadiths strictly as
accounts that pertained to things said or done by the Prophet himself;
hence, their definition excluded accounts that could be described as
mawq‰f or maq~‰¢. Others, by contrast, held that an account referred
to as an athar was, by definition, mawq‰f. Some defined a hadith as

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something that relates specifically to something the Prophet said or


did, and a sunnah as one that relates his words, actions, approval of
others’ words and actions, and character traits.
As for the Twelver Shiites, they defined all four terms above as
referring to “an account that relates something which the Infallible
One said or approved,” where the title “the Infallible One” (al-
ma¢|‰m) could refer either to the Prophet or to one of the twelve
imams. The term ‘the Infallible One’ might also be applied to someone
who had been a companion to an Imam, or to a companion to one of
his companions. As for the word qawl, it referred to “an action or
approval on the part of the Prophet,” and “an action on the part of an
Imam.” For most scholars, the term qawl is synonymous with the
words khabar and athar, although the words athar and khabar might
be used to refer to “that which was said or done by the Infallible One or
by someone else.” For these scholars, the term ^adÏth might refer to
something someone had said, and the term sunnah to an action or the
approval granted to something someone had done or said. The term
khabar might be used to refer only to accounts describing the actions or
words of someone not considered to be infallible, and the term athar to
refer to a narrative passed down on the authority of an Imam or a
companion.

a) Hadiths Classified as Mutaw¥tir


Hadith scholars have differed over the definition of the term mutaw¥tir.
Some hold that whether a hadith is mutaw¥tir depends on the number
of narrators. Imam Ibn ¤ajar wrote:

A hadith may be classed as mutaw¥tir if it meets the following four condi-


tions: (1) The number of individuals who narrated the account is so large
that it would be virtually impossible for them to have colluded in deceit. (2)
All individuals in the chain of narration are of equally unquestionable
integrity. (3) The last individual in the chain of transmission physically
witnessed the action or heard the statement in question. (4) The account in
question conveys genuine knowledge to those who hear it.

Al-Kha~Ïb al-Baghd¥dÏ defined the term mutaw¥tir as referring to


reports “which have been transmitted by a sufficiently large number of

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people that, upon seeing them, one would know that it would have
been impossible for them to have agreed amongst themselves to lie.”
The question, then, is: How can we expect to acquire meaningful
knowledge from a report simply because it was passed down by a cer-
tain unspecified number of people? And on what basis can we deter-
mine how large this group of people has to be in order for it to be
impossible for them to collude in deception? One cannot help but
note, moreover, that all the proposed definitions of mutaw¥tir revolve
around the notion of lying and deliberate deception, whereas none of
them makes any mention of the possibility of error, illusion, forgetful-
ness and the like, to which even the most trustworthy narrator could
fall prey.
Scholars have never settled amongst themselves on the number of
narrators required for a report to be classified as mutaw¥tir, with some
specifying three as the minimum, and others specifying as many as
1,500! Each number proposed is based on the conclusions these schol-
ars have drawn from relevant texts or situations. With reference to
scholars’ speculations on the number of narrators required for a hadith
to be mutaw¥tir, Indian scholar Abdul Hayy Lucknawi (d. 1304 ah/
1887 ce) wrote:

All such statements and their like are invalid. The more correct view, put
forward by numerous hadith scholars, is that the classification of
mutaw¥tir does not require a hadith to have been transmitted by a particu-
lar number of narrators. Rather, what matters is that it convey certain
knowledge.

In the view of thinkers such as Lucknawi, the classification of a


hadith as mutaw¥tir has to do with one’s reason, emotions and sense of
trust or confidence in what an account is saying. After reviewing the
various points of view on the number of narrators required for a hadith
to be termed mutaw¥tir, Fakhr al-DÏn al-R¥zÏ (d. 605 ah/1209 ce)
stated:

None of these restrictions and qualifications has anything to do with the


question at hand. You might say: “If you define knowledge based on the
fulfillment of a certain, undefined quota of narrators, you will not be able

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to argue from this against an opponent.” And to this I reply, “We do not
argue in favor of certain knowledge on the basis of reports classed as
mutaw¥tir, that is, based on a requisite number of narratives that is not
even specified. Rather, as we have explained, the matter of whether one
may gain certain knowledge has to do with one’s perceptions.”

Is it Possible for a Report to be Truly Mutaw¥tir?


Hadith scholars have disagreed as to the possibility of a report’s being
mutaw¥tir. Ibn al-ßal¥^, for example, held that only rarely would one
find a report that qualifies as mutaw¥tir. In his Muqaddimah, he
wrote, “If someone were asked to produce an example of a hadith that
is mutaw¥tir, he would be hard pressed to find one.” However, as
hadith scholar al-BulqÏnÏ (d. 805 ah/1403 ce) noted, “An account
might qualify as mutaw¥tir in relation to matters of undisputable cer-
tainty even if it would be difficult or impossible to produce a chain of
transmission.” In Nuzhat al-Na·ar, al-¤¥fi· ibn ¤ajar quotes the
aforementioned statement by Ibn al-ßal¥^, after which he comments:

His [Ibn al-ßal¥h’s] claim that it is difficult to produce hadiths that are truly
mutaw¥tir is incorrect, as is the claim made by others that such hadiths do
not exist. Such claims grew out of a lack of familiarity with the many paths
of narration, narrators’ lives and circumstances, and the character traits
which necessitate that we rule out the possibility that they would have
colluded in deceit.

Ibn ¤ajar preceded his earlier statement in Nuzhat al-Na·ar with the
words:

The conditions a hadith must meet in order to be classed as mutaw¥tir are


obscure in the source (that is, in Nukhbat al-Fikr), because they are not
among the themes investigated by the science of isn¥d. For the science of
isn¥d deals with a hadith’s authenticity or inauthenticity so as to determine
whether it is a valid basis for action given its narrators’ characters and the
formulations used in passing on accounts (such as, “So-and-so informed
us,” “So-and-so related to us,” “We learned on the authority of so-and-
so,” and the like). In the case of a hadith classed as mutaw¥tir, by contrast,
no investigation is made into its narrators’ characters; rather, it is to be
acted upon without such an investigation.

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The Claim that no Hadith Qualifies as Mutaw¥tir


In the introduction to his ßa^Ï^, Ibn ¤ibb¥n wrote saying:

All hadiths [concerning things said and done by the Prophet] must be classi-
fied as ¥^¥d, or solitary reports; that is to say, none of them is mutaw¥tir.
For no report has been passed down by two narrators of good repute, each
of whom heard the account from two other narrators of good repute, each
of whom, in turn, heard it from two other narrators of good repute and so
on all the way back to the Prophet. Given the impossibility of such a
scenario, it must be concluded that all hadiths are solitary reports, that is,
not mutaw¥tir.

b) ®^ad, or Solitary Reports


Based on a specified set of criteria, Sunni scholars divide ¥^¥d reports
into two categories: acceptable (maqb‰l) and unacceptable (mard‰d).
Those that are deemed maqb‰l can be used as the basis for Islamic
juristic rulings that Muslims are obliged to act on, and they are viewed
as yielding speculative certainty. Moreover, Muslims’ obligation to act
on them stands regardless of whether or not there is external evidence
demonstrating their validity.
Both well-established later Twelver Shiite scholars and the Zaydites
agree with Sunni scholars that ¥^¥d reports are a valid basis for binding
Islamic legal rulings even if they lack external evidence in their support.
In fact, most beliefs that are viewed as being essential tenets of Islam
are based on reports that yield only speculative certainty, and we have
no statements by any of their imams to the effect that reports yielding
only speculative certainty are not to be acted upon. Indeed, both hadith
transmitters and u|‰l scholars have acted on such reports themselves,
and a good many imams indicate that they should be acted upon, as we
find, for example, in the hadith compilation of al-KulaynÏ (d. 329
ah/941 ce) and al->‰sÏ’s Al-Istib|¥r.
As for later scholars, the majority of them held that ¥^¥d reports
should be rejected and not acted upon if they lack external support. In
fact, al-Murta\¥ tells us that later scholars were unanimously in favor
of not relying on such reports as a basis for Islamic legal rulings. The
most well-established scholars among them saw this as a weakly sup-
ported position. However, those who did rely on such reports as

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evidence for legal argumentation stipulated that in order for them to be


the basis for action, they had to be listed in what they deemed authori-
tative Shiite works. Such works would have to include other, more
strongly attested reports that were not in conflict with them. A hadith
included in an authoritative Shiite work could be relied on even if its
narrator was not well-reputed and even if the hadith was \a¢Ïf, mursal,
mawq‰f, munqati¢, mu¢allal, or mu\~arib, since it was deemed suffi-
cient that scholars had accepted it based on its having a continuous
chain of transmission, and its being free of inconsistencies with hadiths
of established authenticity or other flaws. Earlier scholars applied the
term |a^Ï^ (authentic) to every report that was supported by evidence
recognized as authoritative, including fulfillment of these conditions.

Solitary Hadiths Yield Only Speculative Certainty


Al-Kha~Ïb al-Baghd¥dÏ devotes a passage in Al-Kif¥yah to a refutation
of “the dubious claim that a solitary hadith communicates certain
knowledge.” He then goes on to say, “Solitary hadiths are not accept-
able in relation to aspects of the religion which morally accountable
individuals are required to know and act upon… However, they are
acceptable for use in relation to matters that do not require certainty.”
Al-Man¥wÏ states in this connection, “Contrary to the majority opin-
ion according to which solitary accounts afford no knowledge of any
kind, Imams al-Ghaz¥lÏ, al-®midÏ, Ibn al-¤¥jib and al-Bay\¥wÏ hold
that a solitary hadith can provide certain knowledge if it is accompa-
nied by external evidence.”
U|‰l scholar al-ShanqÏ~Ï (d. 1393 ah/1973 ce) states, “A solitary
hadith provides no knowledge under any circumstances even if the nar-
rator is of good repute, and whether or not it is supported by external
evidence. This is the view of the majority of discerning thinkers,
although there are some who hold the opposite opinion.” As for al-
Sh¥~ibÏ, he stated, “It is clear that a solitary hadith yields no definitive
certainty.”
According to Fakhr al-DÏn al-R¥zÏ, “If a solitary hadith deals with
matters relating to the fundamentals of the religion, it holds no validity,
since matters such as these require definitive certainty, whereas a
solitary hadith provides only tentative certainty.” Al-B¥qill¥nÏ (d. 403

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ah/1013 ce) wrote, “Jurists and scholastic theologians have agreed to


term every report that fails to provide certain knowledge as a solitary
report, and this regardless of whether it was narrated by a single indi-
vidual or a group.” Al-DhahabÏ (d. 749 ah/1348 ce) wrote in Tadhkirat
al-¤uff¥·, “This gives us all the more reason to provide numerous lines
of narrators for hadiths in order for them to be elevated to the status of
reports that afford genuine knowledge, since a single narrator might be
affected by forgetfulness or a flight of fancy.” As for al-NawawÏ (d.
676 ah/1277 ce), he states in Al-TaqrÏb:

If a hadith is said to be authentic, this does not necessarily mean that it is


indisputably certain… According to Shaykh Ibn al-ßal¥^, any hadith
included in the ßa^Ï^ of either al-Bukh¥rÏ or Muslim is most definitely
authentic, and yields definitive knowledge. However, this point of view is
disputed by the majority of well-established scholars, who hold that any
hadith which is not mutaw¥tir affords only tentative knowledge.

After quoting Ibn al-ßal¥h in the introduction to al-Minh¥j, his


commentary on ßa^Ï^ Muslim, al-NawawÏ states:

What the Shaykh states here is in contrast to the view held by the majority
of well-established scholars, who hold that the hadiths found in the compi-
lations of Muslim and al-Bukh¥rÏ which are not mutaw¥tirah yield only
tentative certainty, since they are solitary reports… Despite the Muslim
community’s unanimous agreement on the necessity of putting the con-
tents of these two hadith collections into practice, they do not necessarily
agree unanimously that these hadiths are traceable with definitive certainty
back to the Messenger of God. Ibn Burh¥n al-Imam, for example, dis-
agreed vehemently with those who adopted Shaykh [Ibn al-ßal¥^’s]
perspective.

In a similar vein, al-BazdawÏ (d. 480 ah/1087 ce) stated, “As for the
claim that we can acquire certain knowledge through solitary hadiths,
it is without foundation, being refuted by logic and common sense. The
reason for this is that a solitary report inevitably entails probability,
and that which entails probability cannot be fully certain. Whoever
denies this to be the case exposes his own foolishness and ignorance.”
Al-Ghaz¥lÏ voiced a similar position, saying, “A solitary report does

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not provide certain knowledge. This is necessarily the case, since we do


not believe everything we hear. If we believed everything we heard and
we happened to hear two conflicting stories, how could we reconcile
the two opposites?”
The quotations above are a mere sample of the numerous state-
ments that have been made by well-established scholars in affirmation
of the intuitively obvious fact that solitary reports yield only tentative
knowledge.

5. Methodological Differences Between Earlier and Later Hadith


Scholars
One can observe a clear difference on the levels of both method and ter-
minology between early hadith scholars – generally identified as those
who preceded and were contemporaries of al-Kha~Ïb al-Baghd¥dÏ –
and later hadith scholars, that is, those who came between al-Kha~Ïb
al-Baghd¥dÏ (d. 463 ah/1071 ce) and al-¤¥fiz ibn ¤ajar (d. 852
ah/1449 ce). What this tells us is that the hadith sciences were engaged
in by two major groups, each of which was marked by its own distinc-
tive methods, concepts and academic protocols. The first of these
groups was marked by a practical bent, while the second adopted a
theoretical approach.
Earlier scholars, who approached the hadith sciences from a practi-
cal point of view, were the major hadith critics. It is this group that
bequeathed us most of our modern sources of information on hadith
scholarship during that era, whose foremost works were ßa^Ï^ Muslim
and ßa^Ï^ al-Bukh¥rÏ. The distinctive feature of this era, which
spanned approximately the first five centuries ah, is that its scholars
only received and circulated hadiths via direct oral transmission.
As for the later group of scholars, their approach to the hadith sci-
ences was to extract and define terminology found in existing writings.
These later scholars also formulated rules of hadith criticism based on
the practices of their predecessors. Unlike that of their forebears, the
later scholars’ work was marked by a reliance on written materials for
the transmission of hadiths rather than direct individual narration.
This later period also witnessed the development of logical principles
derived from Greek philosophy, which exerted a deepening influence

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on the Islamic legal sciences as a whole, and, in particular, on defini-


tions and distinctions.
The various differences between earlier and later hadith scholars
touched upon both understanding-based and narrator-based hadith
study. These differences impacted the definition of the phrase ‘hadith
science’ itself as a technical term, as well as all hadith-related terminol-
ogy and the legal rulings to which it gave rise. The changes that had
been witnessed in the field of hadith study resulted in a fair degree of
confusion in the methods its scholars were employing. Such confusion
went deep, in fact, affecting nearly all of the principles and foundations
on which later scholars based their endeavors.
The early hadith critics had a perspective on narratives and narra-
tors that set them apart from everyone who came after them. For one
thing, the accounts they worked with were derived from actual eyewit-
nesses. Hence, their work was based on direct contact with hadith
narrators, as a result of which they could familiarize themselves with
these narrators’ characters and circumstances. Consequently, they
possessed a thorough understanding that was not available to later
generations. In addition, when arriving at judgments about this or that
narrator, they refrained from adhering to unbending rules. Rather, and
unlike those of their successors, their assessments were founded upon a
consideration for specific circumstances and conditions. They did not
have a single rule which they applied to situations in which there was a
contradiction between a hadith with a continuous chain of transmis-
sion and another with an incomplete one, or between a hadith that was
traceable all the way back to the Prophet and another attributable only
to one of the Companions, or when there were additions to, or omis-
sions from, a given hadith, and this regardless of whether it was done
by one narrator or more than one. Rather, all judgments were subject
to surrounding contexts. They might reject an addition made to a
hadith account by a trustworthy narrator even though it was not in
conflict with the account narrated by someone else. Conversely, in a
case involving a choice between a hadith with a continuous isn¥d and
another with an incomplete isn¥d, they might rule in favor of the
hadith with the continuous isn¥d; however, they might rule in favor of
a hadith with a discontinuous isn¥d, or an account someone had traced

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to a weak narrator if the surrounding evidence indicated that what he


had done was right.
Consequently, their method tended to be quite selective, a fact
which is made clear by al-¤¥fi· ibn Rajab al-¤anbalÏ (d. 795 ah/1393
ce) in his work entitled Shar^ ¢Ilal al-TirmidhÏ. One also notes that ear-
lier scholars’ assessments of narrators tended to be relative rather than
absolute. Thus, for example, even if the hadith master Shu¢bah ibn al-
¤ajj¥j (d. 160 ah/777 ce) or someone else said that a given narrator
was trustworthy or weak, this was not a once-for-all verdict that
required one to accept, or reject, everything he had narrated. Rather,
the judgment would be applicable to a specific case, circumstance, or
hadith. Scholars might declare a hadith weak due to an error the narra-
tor had committed even though, generally speaking, they saw this
narrator as trustworthy. Or, conversely, they might deem a hadith to
be authentic in some respects, despite its overall weakness, while at the
same time remaining skeptical of other hadiths related by the same
narrator.
The prevalence of this phenomenon may help to explain the incon-
sistencies one observes in the narrator assessments offered by a single
imam such as, for example, Ya^y¥ ibn Ma¢Ïn, whose book Al-T¥rÏkh is
full of illustrative examples. However, the appearance of inconsistency
actually results from our own ignorance of the circumstances on the
basis of which the narrator in question was being assessed. Similarly,
by the end of the fourth century ah, it had become difficult, if not
impossible, for hadith scholars to familiarize themselves with narra-
tors’ life circumstances now that hadith study took place only through
books.
The aforementioned facts raise questions about the objectivity and
reliability of the rules, criteria, terms and definitions that were laid
down by later hadith scholars. Those who articulated these principles
had to engage in a good deal of interpretative work in their attempt to
make sense of the numerous statements they had inherited from their
predecessors on narrators and narratives. They lacked knowledge of
the specific circumstances that had surrounded the formulation of such
statements; hence, they disagreed over how to interpret them, and
derive principles and rules from them. For, as we have seen, most of the

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statements by earlier hadith scholars were relative in nature and, as


such, incomprehensible apart from the circumstances and situations to
which they were a response. Nevertheless, later hadith scholars formu-
lated rigid rules, criteria and definitions. They then proceeded to assess
the rightness or wrongness of their predecessors’ words against these
standards, and classified the hadiths they had passed down as authen-
tic or inauthentic based on their own criteria and in light of their own
circumstances rather than those of the scholars whose work they were
evaluating.

[third]
The U|‰l Method’s Influence on Later Hadith Scholars

Imam al-Sh¥fi¢Ï was the first scholar to write on the subject of the fun-
damentals of Islamic jurisprudence in his book Al-Ris¥lah, a work that
testifies to his mastery of the Sunnah and its related disciplines. Yet,
although al-Sh¥fi¢Ï was highly critical of scholastic theology and the-
ologians, the method adopted by his followers who wrote on the
fundamentals of jurisprudence was heavily influenced by scholastic
theology. In fact, his students’ approach to the classification of Islamic
jurisprudence came to be known as “the scholastic theological method”
which came to be associated specifically with the Shafiite school of
juristic thought. This method was also employed by the Malikite and
Hanbalite schools; however, it was the Shafiites who first initiated its
use in writings on the fundamentals of jurisprudence.
It should be remembered in this connection that the scholastic theo-
logical method relies on Greek logic in resolving issues relating to the
principles of jurisprudence and standardizing juristic rules, and that
u|‰l scholars view the Sunnah of the Prophet as the second source of
Islamic legislation. Moreover, the scholastic theologians’ practice of
studying the Sunnah based on concepts and terminology borrowed
from Greek philosophers and logicians opened up a chasm between
theory and practice in the hadith sciences, much like the wedge that
u|‰l scholars had driven between jurisprudence and its principles.

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Hence, beginning with the field of jurisprudence (fiqh) and its prin-
ciples (u|‰l al-fiqh), the Islamic sciences overall – including, of course,
the hadith sciences – came to be weighed down with the accretions of
Aristotelian logic and philosophy.

Examples Illustrating the Disparity Between the Approaches Adopted


by Earlier and Later Hadith Scholars
According to Burh¥n al-DÏn al-Buq¥¢Ï (d. 855 ah/1451 ce), “Ibn al-
ßal¥^ combined the methods of u|‰l scholars and hadith scholars who,
unlike scholastic theologians and u|‰l scholars, had no fixed rules for
establishing the trustworthiness of a narrator or narrative.”
In a discussion of types of flaws that might come to light in a hadith,
contemporary hadith scholar ¤amzah al-MalÏb¥rÏ quotes Imam al-
¤¥kim al-NÏs¥b‰rÏ (d. 405 ah/1014 ce) as saying: “The proof for us
lies solely in [a narrator’s] knowledge, understanding, and ability to
memorize.” Al-MalÏb¥rÏ goes on to say:

The phenomenon of eclecticism – that is, the practice of mingling the meth-
ods of jurists, u|‰l scholars, and hadith scholars – complicated matters in a
significant way. The first book to adopt this dual method was Al-Kif¥yah fÏ
¢Ul‰m al-Riw¥yah by al-Kha~Ïb al-Baghd¥dÏ. This method then became
standard practice among later scholars, who filled their books with cita-
tions of the opinions of scholastic theologians and u|‰l scholars, along with
the arguments given by each group, to the point where these thinkers’
opinions drowned out the voices of hadith critics themselves.

As for Ibn Rajab al-¤anbalÏ, he tells us that:

Al-¤¥fi· Ab‰ Bakr al-Kha~Ïb (i.e., al-Kha~Ïb al-Baghd¥dÏ) wrote an excel-


lent book entitled, TamyÏz al-MazÏd fÏ Mutta|il al-As¥nÏd (On Distinguish-
ing Among Additions Made to Hadiths with Continuous Chains of
Transmission) which is divided into two parts. In the first part, he rules that
it is valid either to mention additions that have been made to a hadith’s
chain of transmission, or not to mention them. In the second, he rules that
such additions should be rejected… al-Kha~Ïb is inconsistent here. On one
hand, he mentions in al-Kif¥yah that people disagree concerning differ-
ences among narrators with respect to whether or not they trace their
accounts back to the Messenger of God. However, none of their points of

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view comes from early scholars who knew the Qur’an well. Instead, they
come from the books of scholastic theologians. In addition, he favors the
view that an addition made [to a hadith’s text or chain of transmission] by a
trustworthy narrator is to be accepted unconditionally. This view, in which
he is supported by scholastic theologians and numerous jurists, contrasts
with the position he took in his book, TamyÏz al-MazÏd fÏ Mutta|il al-
As¥nÏd, for which he was criticized by some jurists and hadith scholars who
had agreed with the position he took in Al-Kif¥yah.

Commenting further on the writings of Ibn al-ßal¥^, al-¤¥fi· al-


¢Al¥’Ï (d. 761 ah/1359 ce) wrote saying:

Shaykh TaqÏ al-DÏn ibn al-ßal¥^, who steered a middle course between
hadith scholars and u|‰l scholars, divided additions to hadiths into three
types. However, in relation to such additions, appeal should be made to
hadith critics alone. Indeed, this matter lies at the heart of their specializa-
tion, and only their approach can be relied upon in determining which
additions to hadiths are acceptable and which are not. The authority of
these critics is derived from their broad memorization of hadiths, their
understanding of their content, and their knowledge of the circumstances
surrounding their narration… It has been made clear by those knowledge-
able in the field of hadith study that there are innumerable ways in which to
argue for a hadith’s authenticity, and that there is no set criterion on the
basis of which all hadiths can be judged. Rather, each hadith has to be
argued for individually. This argumentation is to be engaged in by experi-
enced, discerning researchers with knowledge of a hadith’s many lines of
narrators and forms of narration. This is why early hadith scholars did not
make blanket judgments. Rather, their view differed depending on what
they found in any given hadith. And God knows best.

According to al-MalÏb¥rÏ, “According to a group of leading schol-


ars of jurisprudence and its fundamentals, an addition made by a
trustworthy narrator to a hadith or its chain of transmission should be
accepted unconditionally.” This is the position that was taken by
Shaykh Mu^yÏ al-DÏn al-NawawÏ (d. 675 ah/1277 ce) in his writings.
However, it is a questionable view. Take, for example, a hadith which
is traced back to a single source, or original narrator, but which is nar-
rated in one way by a group of trustworthy hadith memorizers, and in
another way by a solitary narrator known to be less precise and skilled

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at memorization than the aforementioned group. This solitary narra-


tor has included additions that conflict with what was narrated by the
group. How, then, are we to accept such an addition? This question
becomes especially pointed if these narrators’ shaykh is one who, like
al-ZuhrÏ and others of his ilk, collected and preserved his hadith narra-
tives. For in such cases it might be said: If the shaykh had narrated the
hadith, it would have been heard by students of his who had memo-
rized vast numbers of hadiths. And if they had heard it, they would
have passed it on themselves, and would not have allowed it to be for-
gotten or neglected. In this and similar situations, it would seem most
likely that the narrator who included the addition is in the wrong.
This line of reasoning is adopted by al-Sh¥fi¢Ï in Al-Umm, where he
discusses the addition included by M¥lik and others to a hadith con-
cerning the freeing of a slave.1 According to al-Sh¥fi¢Ï:

the narrator [who introduced the addition] is in error, unlike those who
have memorized more and better than he has. He may also have erred by
including something which is shared in common with the other narrators’
account, but which he did not memorize on their authority. It should be
borne in mind here that the group in question represents a larger number of
people than this one individual. Hence, an addition which goes against an
account narrated by others, who have memorized more and who outnum-
ber the person who narrated said addition, should be rejected.

Hence, it can be concluded from Ibn al-ßal¥^’s writings as they


relate to the weakness in a hadith that the decision whether to accept an
addition to a hadith as valid depends on the contextual evidence. Al-
MalÏb¥rÏ states in this connection:

The contextual evidence will differ from one hadith to the next. There is no
one criterion against which all hadiths can be measured. Nor is it simply a
matter of whether a single trustworthy narrator has contradicted a group
of trustworthy narrators, or a narrator deemed to be more trustworthy.
The only people who are qualified to evaluate the quality of the evidence,
what it means, and its scientific dimensions, are hadith critics. Ibn al-ßal¥^
refers to this point when he speaks of “additional evidence which alerts the
knower (al-¢¥rif) in this regard,” where the term ¢¥rif, or ‘knower,’ refers
specifically to the hadith critic.

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Two other types of hadiths that relate to additions made by reliable


narrators are referred to as sh¥dhdh (‘irregular’) and munkar (‘unac-
knowledged’). Ibn al-ßal¥^ divides the category of sh¥dhdh into two
types. The first type is an individual hadith that conflicts with another
hadith related by a trustworthy narrator, while the second type is a
hadith which, although related by a weak narrator, does not conflict
with the account of some other narrator. The first type includes
hadiths related by a trustworthy narrator and whose content conflicts
with the account of someone viewed as a more qualified memorizer.
This conflict may take numerous forms, one of which is an addition to,
or deletion from, the hadith’s chain of transmission, its main text, or
both. If a narrator adds to the hadith something that was left out by
someone who would have been in a better position to memorize the
account in question, the hadith belongs to the first type of sh¥dhdh
mentioned above. If, on the other hand, the narrator who includes the
addition is in a better position to have memorized the account than the
narrator who left it out, then the hadith is classed as authentic, or
|a^Ï^. This indicates clearly that before validating an addition to a
hadith account made by a trustworthy narrator, we must consider the
factors and circumstances that qualify the narrator in question to have
memorized the hadith accurately.
Consequently, al-¤¥fiz ibn ¤ajar draws a close connection between
the matter of whether a hadith is classified as irregular, or sh¥dhdh,
and additions made by a trustworthy narrator. He states:

Hadith critics stipulate that in order to be authentic, or |a^Ï^, a hadith must


not be classed as sh¥dhdh (irregular), where the term sh¥dhdh describes an
account which, although it was related by a trustworthy narrator, is contra-
dicted by the account related by someone known to be more accurate at
memorization, by a group, or by someone more scholarly. The question is
then: Should such a hadith be deemed authentic (|a^Ï^), or irregular
(sh¥dhdh)? In such a case we have no choice but to recognize the contradic-
tion between unconditional acceptance of an addition made to hadith by a
trustworthy narrator and stipulating that no authentic hadith can be
classed as irregular, or resolve the difference between the two forms of the
hadith.

It will be seen from the foregoing that hadiths over which there is

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disagreement due to additions made by a trustworthy narrator,


whether to the chain of transmission or to the main text, are included in
the category of ‘irregular,’ or sh¥dhdh, if the additions resulted from
error or misperception. Hence, not every addition made by a trustwor-
thy narrator can be accepted as valid. Commenting on this matter,
al-¤¥fi· ibn ¤ajar notes that whereas hadith scholars stipulate that in
order to be judged authentic, a hadith cannot also be deemed irregular,
u|‰l scholars accept additions which might be viewed as irregular by
hadith scholars. In explanation of this difference in approach, al-¤¥fi·
ibn ¤ajar suggests that in his discussion of weaknesses in hadiths, Ibn
al-ßal¥^ relied on concepts derived from hadith scholars rather than
stating his own point of view, whereas in his discussion of irregular
hadiths, he may have lent greater weight to the views of jurists and u|‰l
scholars. And God knows best.

[fourth]
Narrator Evaluation: Objectivity and Subjectivity

The Definition and Scope of This Science


The discipline which in Arabic is termed ¢ilm al-rij¥l (literally, “the
science of men”) concerns itself with the circumstances and characters
of hadith narrators with a view to deciding whether to accept or reject
their accounts. Given the many factors which have a bearing on
whether an account should be accepted or rejected, this science
branched into numerous subdisciplines. These subdisciplines dealt
with topics such as: the history of births and deaths; names, agnomens
and titles; genealogies; countries and travelogues; shaykhs and their
pupils; narrator assessment; ways of differentiating between narrators
when, for example, names are the same but refer to different people,
names are written without voweling and are thus liable to be misread
or confused with each other, and so on; identification of weak vs. trust-
worthy narrators, and others.
The topic with which this science concerns itself is whether a given
narrator’s accounts are to be accepted or rejected. The term “narrator”
(al-r¥wÏ), although masculine in form, includes both men and women;

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hence, the term ¢ilm al-rij¥l is non gender exclusive. This discipline is by
no means self-contained or autonomous; rather, it is a branch of histo-
riography which examines the history of a particular class of people.
We read in Mift¥^ al-Sa¢¥dah by >¥sh Kubr¥ Z¥dah that: “this disci-
pline is, in one respect, a branch of history and, in another respect, a
branch of the hadith sciences.” The discipline of history concerns itself
with human beings and time in general, whereas ¢ilm al-rij¥l concerns
itself with narrators in particular: with their characters, the times in
which they lived, their travels, and their lifespans.

Who Were the Prophet’s Companions?


Early researchers into the characters of narrators exempted from
examination those whom they termed ‘Companions’ of the Prophet,
since they deemed everyone belonging to this category as individuals
of such integrity that there was no need to inquire into their moral
rectitude.
Hadith scholars defined the Companion of the Prophet as “anyone
who met the Prophet, believed in him, and died a Muslim.” According
to these scholars, the act of meeting the Prophet referred to in the defi-
nition above includes any meeting whatsoever, if even for a single
moment. The definition of Companion thus does not require the per-
son to have spent a year or more with the Prophet, or to have taken part
in warfare under his leadership. By contrast, hadith scholar ¢®|im al-
A^wal (d. 140 ah/757 ce) stipulated that the person must have been a
Companion of the Prophet in the more commonly accepted sense of the
term; this condition is likewise stipulated by u|‰l scholars. There are,
in addition, numerous other definitions of the term, a discussion of
which space does not permit.
U|‰l scholars themselves differed over what the term ‘Companion’
meant. Some defined it as referring to anyone who had seen the
Prophet, without having been with him for a significant period of time,
and without having narrated accounts on his authority. Others stipu-
lated that in order to be referred to as a Companion, the individual had
to have seen the Prophet and been with him for a long time, even if he
narrated no accounts on his authority. Still others defined the term

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Companion exclusively as someone who had spent a significant period


of time with the Prophet and received knowledge on his authority.
In order for someone to qualify as a Companion of the Prophet, he
or she had to have died a Muslim; hence, the term does not apply to
someone who saw the Prophet and believed in him, but died a non-
Muslim. Some scholars, such as al-NawawÏ and al-¢Ir¥qÏ, included
among the Prophet’s Companions those who, during his Prophetic
calling, were youths who had reached an age of sufficient discernment
that they could understand and engage in intelligent discussion; includ-
ed in this group were individuals such as the Prophet’s grandsons al-
¤asan and al-¤usayn, Ma^m‰d ibn al-RabÏ¢, and others. As for youths
who had not yet reached the age of discernment, their accounts were
not recognized as authoritative, but were classified as mursal even
though they were honored with the title of Companion. Al-Bukh¥rÏ
defined the Companions as “all Muslims who saw the Prophet.” This
definition is rejected by many jurists based on the two verses from
S‰rah al-Mun¥fiq‰n which read:

When the hypocrites come unto you, they say, “We bear witness that you
art indeed God’s Apostle!” But God knows that you art truly His Apostle;
and He bears witness that the hypocrites are indeed false [in their declara-
tion of faith]. They have made their oaths a cover [for their falseness], and
thus they turn others away from the Path of God. Evil indeed is all that they
are wont to do. (63:1-2)

The hypocrites referred to here were residents of Madinah who


claimed to be Muslims and who had seen the Prophet. However, they
secretly waged war on the Islamic message and conspired against the
Muslim community. The Qur’an thus warned them and threatened
them with banishment from the presence of the Messenger of God,
saying:

Thus it is: if the hypocrites, and they in whose hearts is disease, and they
who, by spreading false rumors, would cause disturbances in the City [of
the Prophet] desist not [from their hostile doings]. We shall indeed give you
mastery over them, [O Muhammad] – and then they will not remain your
neighbors in this [city] for more than a little while. (S‰rah al-A^z¥b 33:60)

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How is a Given Individual Shown to Have Been a


Companion of the Prophet?
Someone can be said to have been a Companion of the Prophet if one or
more of the following conditions are fulfilled: (1) There is an account
deemed mutaw¥tir that bears witness to such companionship – such as
the account relating the Prophet’s declaration to ten of his Companions,
who are mentioned by name, that they would be among the inhabi-
tants of Paradise. (2) There is a widely circulating account bearing
witness to this companionship. (3) There is a statement confirming the
fact by someone else who was known to be a Companion of the
Prophet. (4) There is a statement by a Successor judged to be trustwor-
thy based on someone else’s endorsement. (5) A claim to such
companionship was made by someone who lived during the Prophet’s
lifetime and who, being known for his upright character, would not
have lied.

The Uprightness of the Companions


Sunni scholars, as well as some Zaydite scholars and some of the
Mu¢tazilah, held that all of the Prophet’s Companions, including those
who took part in the uprisings that took place during and after the
assassination of ¢Uthm¥n ibn ¢Aff¥n in 35 ah/656 ce, were upright.
According to this view, such individuals could be classed among the
Prophet’s Companions even if they had committed serious sins. On the
other hand, some scholars held that the characters of the Prophet’s
Companions needed to be investigated just as those of other hadith
narrators did. According to another view, all of the Companions were
upright until the time when divisions arose among them; if, however,
the account in question was narrated after this point in history, a
Companion’s character would be subject to investigation just as any
other narrator’s character would be. In the view of still others, any
account narrated by a Companion following these events should be
rejected, since one of the two sides had to have been in the wrong; how-
ever, which of them was wrong is not known for certain. And lastly,
there are those who hold that we should accept hadiths narrated by a
Companion following these events if it is individual in nature, since our
basic knowledge of the Companions is that they were upright; hence,

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we have no proven basis for suspecting them of immorality, and such a


suspicion cannot be confirmed given evidence to the contrary simply
because we know that one, as yet unidentified, side of the conflict was
in the wrong.

The Study of the Companions


Not all of the Companions were equally knowledgeable about the
things the Prophet had said and done. In this connection, Masr‰q
wrote, “I have sat with Muhammad’s Companions, and I found them
to be like depressions in the ground where rainwater collects. Some of
these are so small that their water would suffice only one man. Others,
somewhat larger, would suffice two men. Others, being medium-sized
pools, would suffice one hundred men. And still others, the size of
ponds or lakes, would suffice the population of an entire land.” Ibn
Khuzaymah (d. 311 ah/923 ce) acknowledged the possibility that the
Companions could forget some hadiths, saying:

The Companions of the Prophet may have shortened some of the stories
from the Prophet’s life when they narrated them, while in other cases they
may have related events with perfect accuracy. Some of those who heard
the reports may have memorized some of the events, but not all of them,
and they may have forgotten some of the report after memorizing it.

So, if this could happen to the Companions themselves, what


should we expect from others?
In the course of discussing how to assess the knowledge possessed
by one of the Companions, Ibn ¤azm stated:

His [a Companion’s] knowledge can be ascertained through one of two


means. The first is the number of accounts he narrates and the number of
fatwas he issues. And the second is the degree to which the Prophet pressed
him in to his service. For the Prophet would certainly not have employed
someone with no knowledge. Hence, these are the principle witnesses to
the breadth of someone’s learning.

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[fifth]
The Terminology Employed in ¢Ilm al-Rij¥l

Is there a systematic method for assessing narrators’ characters that


was shared by earlier and later scholars? If so, what technical terms
were used in this process, and how were they used by earlier and later
scholars? And lastly, what indicators will help us to arrive at the cor-
rect assessments?

1. Systematic Rule Formulation vs. Subjective Interpretation


in Narrator Assessment
Early hadith critics frequently differed in their assessments of a single
narrator. In fact, the same narrator might be given varying assessments
by one and the same critic. In response, later scholars often read their
own interpretations into earlier scholars’ statements and terminology
in a misguided attempt to reconcile what they saw as inconsistencies.
This occurred despite the fact that an experienced, knowledgeable,
trustworthy critic was sure to have had reasons for reaching different
conclusions about the same narrator in different situations. For exam-
ple, the critic’s judgment concerning a narrator might be influenced by
something else he had heard from the same narrator. Commenting on
this sort of situation, al-Muallimi (d. 1966 ce) wrote in Al-TankÏl:

A hadith collector might ask about a given narrator, and then judge him
based on what he knows about him overall. He might then hear another
hadith transmitted by the same narrator and arrive at a judgment in which
he is prone to take another position. As a result, there appears to be some
contradiction among his various statements. And as a matter of fact, this is
what happened with D¥raqu~nÏ, whose sunan and other works contain
numerous examples of this phenomenon. He might even convey two or
three different verdicts of his own, imagining each of them to be absolute.

Elsewhere in Al-TankÏl, al-Mu¢allimÏ wrote:

What a hadith collector says about a narrative grows out of two processes.
The first involves making inquiries about the narrator and reflecting on
both his personal character and the hadiths he has narrated; from this the

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researcher derives an overall picture of the narrator and his work. The sec-
ond involves absorbing this overall picture and employing it as a broader
framework in the context of which he draws conclusions about this or that
particular hadith related by the narrator in question.

The first process leads to a judgment that might be termed ‘absolute’ in


the sense that it will not be challenged by some other judgment unless
the scholar’s interpretation of things has changed. As for the second
process, it may involve a shift in the scholar’s perspective with regard
to his assessment of a particular hadith. Suppose, for example, that the
scholar’s general observation about the narrator is that he is “truthful,
but with a tendency to imagine things.” If the scholar then discusses the
narrator in the course of examining two different hadiths of his, we
might well observe differences in the scholar’s assessments from one
hadith to another. Illustrating this phenomenon with particular exam-
ples, al-Mu¢allimÏ cites a situation in which the assessment of a given
narrator is not entirely clear. A hadith critic presents his personal
assessment of the narrator; however, the things he says about the nar-
rator differ from one situation to the next or one time to the next.
After mentioning a number of scholars in the field of hadith study
and narrator assessment before the time of Ya^y¥ ibn Ma¢Ïn (d. 233
ah/848 ce), al-DhahabÏ wrote:

Another leading scholar in the field of narrator assessment was Ya^y¥ ibn
Ma¢Ïn, who was once asked about various hadith narrators by ¢Abb¥s al-
D‰rÏ, ¢Uthm¥n al-Dar¥mÏ, Ab‰ ¤¥tim and a number of others. He
answered each of these men based on his personal interpretation. As he
spoke, his opinions and his ways of expressing himself about certain narra-
tors differed, just as the interpretations and opinions of jurists and other
mujtahids had differed. For in fact, the critics who express the most widely
varying opinions on a given narrator are the ones who engage in the most
ijtihad in this connection; they are also the ones who have written the most
about hadith narrators, and the ones who are asked the most questions
about them. And it was to this group of scholars that both Ibn Ma¢Ïn and
D¥raqu~nÏ belonged.

In fact, one even finds situations in which a critic expresses two differ-
ent opinions on the same hadith. One of these opinions will be

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influenced by the circumstances of the hadith’s narrator, while the


other will be influenced by the manner or tone of the person who asked
him for the opinion, or the setting in which the question was asked. The
questioner might have a stern demeanor and thus appear to want the
critic to be strict in his assessment, which will in turn color the assess-
ment he receives. Ibn Rajab’s commentary on al-TirmidhÏ’s al-¢Ilal
al-KabÏr includes an account related by ¢AlÏ ibn al-MadÏnÏ, who said:

I once asked Ya^y¥ ibn Sa¢Ïd about Muhammad ibn ¢Amr ibn ¢Alqamah.
He replied, “Do you want me to be lenient, or stern?” “I want you to be
stern,” I told him. Then he said, “He is not the man you want. He used to
say, ‘Our shaykhs are Ab‰ Salamah and Ya^y¥ ibn ¢Abd al-Ra^m¥n ibn
¤¥~ib.’”

Al-Kha~Ïb al-Baghd¥dÏ wrote in al-Kif¥yah:

Critics’ views on narrators are puzzling and convoluted. A critic, having


heard something uncomplimentary about a given narrator, may stop citing
his hadiths even though what he heard may not justify rejecting this narra-
tor’s accounts or doubting his integrity. If the narrator is alive, then the
hearer may view what he has done to be preferable in hope that the narrator
will exercise self-restraint and refrain from actions that would reflect a
weakness of character. If the narrator is no longer living, the person who
related the hadith on this narrator’s authority should be placed in the same
class as the narrator himself. Others hold that it is more apt to take precau-
tions for the religion’s sake by investigating to see whether other, similarly
suspicious reports, have been circulated. After all, it is human nature to
reveal one’s virtues and conceal one’s vices. However, if someone should
act in an unseemly manner, one should beware that he might act in a similar
manner in some other situation. This is why ¢Umar ibn al-Kha~t¥b said, “If
someone acts well toward us, we place our confidence in him, and his
inward intentions are of no concern to us. But if someone acts badly toward
us, we will not trust him or believe what he says even if he protests that his
intentions were good.”

In his book entitled Al-Ta¢dÏl wa al-Jur^, al-B¥jÏ (d. 474 ah/1096


ce) stated:

The critic who has deemed a narrator to be upright may say, “So-and-so is
trustworthy,” yet without meaning by this that the hadiths related by the

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narrator in question can be used in legal argumentation. Or he might say,


“So-and-so is acceptable,” by which he means that the hadiths related by the
narrator in question can be used in legal argumentation. A critic might be
asked about a virtuous, pious man who is more or less reliable in his
accounts and who is being compared to weak narrators. Someone asks,
“What is your opinion of so-and-so and so-and-so?” To which the reply
comes, “He is trustworthy,” by which he means that he is more trustwor-
thy than the individuals to whom he is being compared.

After providing numerous examples of the phenomena he has


described and citing evidence for his statements, al-B¥jÏ explains:
“What this shows is that the statements such critics make reflect the
questions they have been asked and differ accordingly, and will be
based on the comparisons among those being asked about.” Similarly,
a narrator might be deemed to have a faulty character because of some-
thing which, had it been done or said by someone else, would not be a
basis for such an assessment due to the person’s overall reputation for
virtue and knowledge. Al-B¥jÏ concludes his discussion with the words:

Therefore, the words used by critics in their negative or positive assess-


ments of narrators need to be interpreted by those who have a good
understanding of their intentions and aims. The only persons who have
such an understanding are those with specialized knowledge about this
sphere of inquiry. As for those who lack such expertise, they are in no posi-
tion to understand critics’ words however they see fit.

Commenting on this field of study, contemporary scholar Shaykh


Hassan Abd al-Mannan states:

It first needs to be understood that the decision as to whether a hadith is


well-attested or weak is a matter of interpretation. As such, it tends to
depend on how one conceptualizes things. Specifically, it depends on an
investigation of lines of narration and of the other hadiths related by the
same narrator. A given narrator might, in the view of A^mad and Ab‰
¤¥tim, for example, be viewed as unreliable, whereas al-Bukh¥rÏ, Ya^y¥
ibn Ma¢Ïn and others might disagree with this assessment. All of these
scholars may have investigated the hadiths in question, but on the basis of
differing criteria. Similarly they may have adhered to inconsistent methods.
In fact, the hadith scholar concerned might judge a hadith to be well-attested

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or weak without revealing the proof on the basis of which he made this
judgment, a phenomenon of which there are numerous examples.

2. Observations on the Science of Narrator Assessment


(¢Ilm al-Rij¥l)
We tend to assume that the circumstances of narrators were well
known to hadith critics from the time when narrations began to be
passed down. However, the establishment of the science of narrator
assessment was delayed by more than 160 years. In his ßa^Ï^, Muslim
quoted Ibn SÏrÏn (d. 115 ah/733 ce) as saying:

They [hadith collectors] did not used to ask about an account’s chain of
transmission. When the great uprising took place, people said, “Name your
narrators for us.” Then, if the narrator was found to be orthodox, his
hadiths were accepted, whereas if he was found to be an innovator, they
were rejected.

Discussing the beginnings of the science of narrator assessment, ߥli^


ibn Mu^ammad al-Baghd¥dÏ (d. 293 ah/906 ce) tells us that

the first person to pose the topic of narrators’ characters was Shu¢bah ibn
al-¤ajj¥j (d. 160 ah/777 ce). He was followed by Ya^y¥ ibn Sa¢Ïd al-
Qa~~¥n (d. 198 ah/813 ce), who was succeeded by A^mad ibn ¤anbal (d.
241 ah/855 ce) and Ya^y¥ ibn Ma¢Ïn (d. 233 ah/847 ce).

However, the method employed in investigating narrators differed


from one critic to another. Ya¢q‰b ibn Shaybah once asked Ya^y¥ ibn
Ma¢Ïn, “Do you know of any Successor who picked and chose his nar-
rators the way Ibn SÏrÏn did?” “No,” he replied, shaking his head.

[sixth]
Loopholes in Narrator Assessment Methodology

1. Falsification (al-TadlÏs) and Falsifiers (al-Mudallis‰n)


The dictionary definition of the Arabic verb dallasa is to engage in
deceit by concealing a flaw or fault. As a technical term in the field of

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hadith study, the verb refers to a narrator’s act of concealing a fault or


flaw in an account in order to mislead the hearer. As such, it is an act of
cunning and duplicity which has been widely condemned by hadith
scholars.
Despite the fact that the practice of hadith falsification was alarm-
ingly widespread among narrators in general, and among those of
Iraq in particular, books written on narrator assessment contained
descriptions of no more than one hundred such hadith falsifiers. An
examination of writings on hadith falsifiers reveals that they number
approximately one hundred thirty. If we subtract those who were only
probably falsifiers, the number comes to around one hundred twenty.
If we then subtract those narrators who were judged to be weak for
some reason other than hadith falsification, there remain no more than
seventy-five. These seventy-five were the only narrators whose hadiths
were accepted by early hadith scholars only on condition they stated
explicitly that they had heard a hadith from a specific person by saying,
“My shaykh related to me….,” “So-and-so related to me,” etc. So,
does this number include all narrators who engaged in hadith falsifica-
tion? Most certainly not.
Ibn ¢Abd al-Barr (d. 423 ah/1071 ce) stated in al-TamhÏd: “There is
a great deal of hadith falsification among the narrators in Kufah.”
Similarly, Shu¢bah ibn al-¤ajj¥j wrote, “The only narrators I have
encountered who do not engage in hadith falsification are ¢Amr ibn
Murrah and Ibn ¢Awn.” For this reason, Imam M¥lik dubbed Iraq “the
hadith mint,” since hadiths were produced there for public circulation
the way money is produced in a mint! Not only this, but hadith falsifi-
cation was practiced by the imams themselves, and by those who
narrated on their authority! Ibn al-Mub¥rak (d. 181 ah/797 ce) stated,
“Baqiyyah ibn al-WalÏd would be an excellent hadith transmitter were
it not for the fact that, instead of using the name by which a narrator is
well-known, he uses this person’s agnomen (“Father of so-and-so” –
Ab‰ Ful¥n) and, instead of using the agnomen by which the narrator is
best known (Ab‰ Ful¥n), he uses the person’s regular name (So-and-so,
son of So-and-so).” Ibn al-Mub¥rak went on to add that a certain nar-
rator “had been relating hadiths to us for years on the authority of
someone known as Sa¢Ïd al-Wa^^¥·Ï, only for us to discover much

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later that the person from whom he was passing on his accounts was
¢Abd al-Qudd‰s (whose hadiths were unanimously viewed as untrust-
worthy).” Other examples also make clear how difficult it was to
detect hadith falsification even among individuals who were one
another’s contemporaries.

2. Lying
The number of false hadiths continued to proliferate as time went on.
Shu¢bah ibn al-¤ajj¥j wrote, “No one has examined existing hadiths as
rigorously as I have, and I have discovered three-fourths of them to be
lies.” If we trace this phenomenon back in time, we find (as have other
hadith scholars) that it began in the days of the Prophet’s Companions!
¢Uthm¥n ibn ¢Aff¥n commented, “People relate things about the
Messenger of God that I have never heard of before!” In a similar vein,
Mu¢¥wiyah ibn AbÏ Sufy¥n once wrote a letter saying:

It has come to my knowledge that some men among you relate narratives
that are not consistent with the Book of God, nor have they come down to
us on the authority of the Messenger of God. Such men are ignorant!

As for al-Bukh¥rÏ, he wrote in his ßa^Ï^ with his own chain of


transmission:

¤amÏd ibn ¢Abd al-Ra^m¥n told me that he had heard Mu¢¥wiyah, speak-
ing of Ka¢b al-A^b¥r, say to a group of Qurayshites in Madinah, “He [Ka¢b]
was one of the most truthful hadith narrators to relate accounts on the
authority of People of the Book. Yet despite this fact, we cannot rule out the
possibility that he may have passed on lies without intending to.”

3. Obscurity of the Narrator


Hadith scholars deem a hadith weak if its chain of transmission con-
tains the name of a narrator judged to be obscure.2 However, the
criteria on the basis of which it was decided whether a narrator was
obscure or not differed from one period to another and from one place
to another. Consequently, the same hadith might go from being judged
authentic to being judged weak, and back again. In this connection,
A^mad ibn ¤anbal stated, “A narrator who has been deemed obscure

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will no longer be deemed thus if it is learned that an imam related


hadiths on his authority. However, an imam might relate a hadith on
the authority of someone who is not trustworthy.” After quoting
examples of such hadiths, Ibn Rajab commented:

The fact that a trustworthy person relates a hadith does not mean that the
person on whose authority he related it is himself trustworthy. For we
know that many trustworthy narrators such as Sufy¥n al-ThawrÏ, Shu¢bah,
and others, have related accounts they received from weak narrators.

4. Provinciality
Provinciality is a kind of prejudice or bigotry. If a critic is found to have
been influenced by such prejudice or bigotry, his assessment of hadiths
will be invalidated, and this regardless of whether he has deemed them
to be authentic or inauthentic, and whether he has deemed a narrator
to be strong or weak. Nevertheless, WakÏ¢ ibn al-Jarr¥^ said, “There is
no one from our region that we deem to be upright.” As for Sufy¥n ibn
¢Uyyaynah, he stated, “If one is looking for reliable hadiths and chains
of transmission that will inspire confidence in people’s hearts, let him
take his accounts from the people of Madinah.” Conversely, al-ZuhrÏ
wrote, “Never have I seen a people more prone to sever the ties of Islam
than the people of Makkah.” When ¢Abd al-Ra^m¥n ibn MahdÏ was
asked about the hadiths related by narrators from the Levant, he
replied with a dismissive gesture of the hand, while Ab‰ Sulaym¥n al-
Juzj¥nÏ (d. 823/1422 ce) denigrated the people of Kufah for being
Shiites and for their habit of swindling others.

5. Sentimentality
Sentiment has nothing to do with knowledge. Unfortunately, however,
it has colored many a critic’s assessment of both narrators and hadiths.
Imam M¥lik, for example, grew very fond of Ayy‰b al-Sakhtiy¥nÏ (d.
131 ah/749 ce) and declared him to be a trustworthy narrator, saying,
“Whenever the Prophet is mentioned, he weeps most pitifully. Hence,
seeing his immense reverence for the Prophet, I began writing down his
accounts.” Conversely, al-Nas¥’Ï (d. 303 ah/915 ce) refused to trans-
mit accounts narrated by Imam A^mad ibn ߥli^ due to the latter’s

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refusal to relate accounts directly to him.3 If space permitted, we could


cite numerous other examples of situations in which sentimentalism
has tainted the better judgment of otherwise outstanding religious
scholars.

6. Imitation
A number of hadith critics who were unfamiliar with narrators’ cir-
cumstances and characters simply parroted their associates’ opinions
and assessments of such narrators. Some of these critics then retracted
opinions they had voiced earlier after having the opportunity actually
to know the people they had been speaking about. The master of
hadith critics, Ya^y¥ ibn Sa¢Ïd, used to imitate others in denouncing
Raw^ ibn ¢Ub¥dah (d. 205 ah/821 ce) even though, without knowing
his name, he had found Raw^ ibn ¢Ub¥dah to be a trustworthy narra-
tor so that, in effect, he had made one person into two. Imagine…

7. Juristic and Scholastic Denominationalism


Differences among juristic schools or denominations have nothing to
do with whether a given hadith account should be accepted or rejected,
especially when the hadiths in question are not promoting one school
or denomination over another. Alas, however, it was precisely this sort
of difference of opinion that impacted scholars’ assessment of particu-
lar hadith narrators. Ab‰ ¤anÏfah stopped transmitting hadiths on the
authority of ¢A~¥’ ibn Rab¥^ (d. 114 ah/732 ce) because he had issued
a legal ruling in favor of temporary marriage (zaw¥j al-mut¢ah), and
A^mad ibn ¤anbal stopped transmitting hadiths on the authority of
¢AlÏ ibn al-MadÏnÏ (d. 234 ah/849 ce) and everyone who had cooperat-
ed with the Mutazilah authorities in the theological inquisition carried
out against those who, like A^mad, held the view that the Qur’an was
created. And the list goes on. Given the extremes to which the People of
Hadith went in the proliferation of hadith narratives, inter-denomina-
tional battles, and hadith falsification and forgery, some hadith experts
began pining for “the old days” before the Islamic heritage had been
glutted with hadith narratives of every shape and size. In this spirit we
find Sufy¥n al-ThawrÏ saying, “Would that I had never involved myself
in any of it [i.e., in the collection of hadiths], be they favorable toward
me, or unfavorable!”

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8. Fraudulent Claims for and Against Hadith Narrators


Hadith narrator assessment, whether negative or positive, should be
governed by integrity and objectivity rather than by personal inclina-
tions. However, the course of events in the field of hadith criticism has
been otherwise. Al-Sh¥fi¢Ï related that Sufy¥n al-ThawrÏ once told
Shu¢bah, “If you should criticize J¥bir al-Ju¢fÏ, who is a Rafidite, then I
shall criticize you…”4 Perhaps this is what led Shu¢bah to say once, “If
I passed hadiths on to you from none but reliable narrators, I would
only pass them on to you from a very small number.” Similarly, al-
Qa~~¥n stated, “If I passed on hadiths from none but those narrators I
approve of, there are only five from whom I would pass them on,” to
which Ya^y¥ ibn Sa¢Ïd added, “If I put the narrators whose accounts I
pass on to the test, I would pass them on only from a very few.”

[seventh]
Narrators’ Memory

Hadith scholars divide memory (\ab~) into two types. The first is \ab~
al-|adr, literally, “preservation of the chest,” which refers to memo-
rization – preservation – of things stored in one’s mind or heart, and the
second is \ab~ al-kit¥b, literally, “preservation of the book,” which
refers to the ability to memorize and preserve accounts that have been
recorded in writing. Now, we know that no matter how advanced a
person is at memorization, his or her memory will still be subject to
error. He or she could still forget, imagine things, have a lapse of atten-
tion, be confused, or undergo some change. Fearful that he would
forget the revelation, the Prophet kept repeating it until God said to
him, “Move not your tongue in haste, [repeating the words of the reve-
lation:] for, behold, it is for Us to gather it [in your heart,] and to cause
it to be read [as it ought to be read]” (S‰rah al-Qiy¥mah 75:16-17).

1. ™ab~ al-ßadr (Preservation of What is in the Mind,


That is, Unwritten)
Hadith collectors acknowledged that their accounts sometimes con-
tained errors. Ya^y¥ ibn Ma¢Ïn once said, “Whoever claims not to have

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made any errors is a liar.” As Sufy¥n al-ThawrÏ put it, “Hardly anyone
can avoid making mistakes,” and, “If we were determined never to
relate an account to you unless it was exactly as we had heard it, we
would not relate to you a single one.” There are two types of hadith-
related situations on which the act of forgetting has a bearing. The first
category includes things one forgets without noticing that one has for-
gotten them, (this type accounts for most cases). The second category
includes situations in which a narrator relates an account, and then for-
gets it until he is reminded of it by others who do remember it. If a
narrator has had a lapse of memory, there is disagreement over whether
or not to accept his account, with some accepting it and others, such as
the Hanafites, rejecting it. One hadith that falls into this category
states, “If a woman marries without her guardian’s consent, the mar-
riage will be null and void.” Another is the hadith narrated by Ab‰
Hurayrah concerning reaching a legal verdict based on a single witness
and an oath.
In sum, errors are bound to occur in the transmission of at least
some oral accounts, a fact which may lead to the appearance of contra-
dictions in the contents of various hadiths. Some of these contradic-
tions are easily detected, while others are not, which brings us to the
topic of paraphrased accounts.

2. Narratives Passed Down in Paraphrase


Passing down a hadith in paraphrase form involves substituting some
words of the narrative with synonymous terms. There have been differ-
ing views on this practice. Imam M¥lik held that it was not permissible
to paraphrase hadiths that were traced back to the Messenger of God
for fear that those who did so would be liable for the punishment due to
someone who lies about the Prophet. In the view of Ab‰ Bakr ibn al-
¢ArabÏ, it is a practice that was permissible only to the Companions of
the Prophet. The majority view, however, holds that it is permissible to
paraphrase accounts with unambiguous meanings by translating them
into other languages, since it is good to explain the law of Islam to the
peoples of the world in their native tongues. As for paraphrasing
hadiths in Arabic, it is held to be permissible for those who have a solid
grasp of the hadiths in question. However, it is not permitted in cases

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where the text contains homonyms, general concepts, and ambiguous


and comprehensive terms.
Hadith scholars are in agreement that most accounts that have been
passed down have been narrated in paraphrase. This is why ¢Umar ibn
al-Kha~~¥b was so insistent on the importance of a precise understand-
ing of any account that was narrated, since the narrator might use
terms which he believes to be synonymous with those in the original
account, or which he thinks to be identical in meaning to what the
Prophet said. Ibn SÏrÏn said, “I might hear a given hadith from ten peo-
ple, every one of whom narrates it in a way different from all the others,
yet the meaning remains the same.” He also said, “Anas ibn M¥lik nar-
rated few hadiths on the authority of the Messenger of God. But when
he did relate a hadith from the Prophet, he would say: ‘Or, as he
said…’” Qat¥dah quoted Zir¥rah ibn AbÏ Awf¥ as saying, “I have met
several of the Prophet’s Companions, who spoke of him in different
terms, yet conveyed the same message.”
There is unanimous agreement among scholars that someone who
is ignorant of the meaning of what he is transmitting should not be
allowed to narrate the hadith in question in paraphrase form, and that
those who did allow hadiths to be narrated in paraphrase only allowed
it on certain conditions. In this connection, al-M¥wardÏ wrote:

If you have forgotten how the original hadith was worded, you may para-
phrase it. Since you have taken responsibility for both the words and the
meaning but find yourself unable to convey one of the two, you must there-
fore convey the other, since failure to do so might entail suppression of a
legal ruling which you are obliged to communicate. If, on the other hand,
you have not forgotten the original wording, you are not permitted to
convey it in any but these words, because the Prophet’s way of speaking
was more eloquent than anyone else’s.

Describing the qualities a narrator must have, al-Sh¥fi¢Ï wrote:

A narrator of hadiths must be genuinely pious and known for his honesty.
He must understand the account he narrates and be aware of which words
would, if used, change the account’s meaning. [Otherwise], he must relate
it exactly as he heard it, and not in paraphrase form. Someone who para-
phrases an account without knowing which words would change its

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meaning has no assurance that he will not portray the forbidden as permit-
ted, whereas if he relates it word for word, there will be no danger of his
changing its meaning.

As we have seen, then, al-Sh¥fi¢Ï held that one may only paraphrase a
hadith if one understands it so thoroughly that there will be no danger
of distorting its meaning.

3. Preservation of Written Sources of Hadiths (™ab~ al-Kit¥b)


We have thus far been discussing the preservation of oral accounts; we
now turn to the preservation of written accounts, which were likewise
subject to being corrupted through additions, deletions or other
changes. Books were most frequently tampered with by their authors’
relatives, close associates and students – without their knowledge, of
course. Authors whose works are known to have been tampered with
include the Iraqi hadith collector and scholar, ¢AlÏ ibn ¢®|im ibn
ßuhayb, Kufan hadith scholar Sufy¥n ibn WakÏ¢ al-¤¥fi· ibn al-¤¥fi·,
Sufy¥n al-ThawrÏ, Ab‰ Muq¥til al-SamarqandÏ, Ibn AbÏ Maryam,
¢Abd All¥h ibn ߥli^, and Shu¢bah ibn al-¤ajj¥j. The errors that
occurred were of the type that most people would be unable to detect,
such as the omission or addition of a diacritical mark that would
change the meaning of a word entirely, failure to include the letter
hamzah, and so on.

[eighth]
Isn¥d Criticism vs. Matn Criticism

Hadith scholars who engaged in isn¥d criticism – criticism of a hadith’s


chain of transmission – did so essentially in service of the matn – the
body of the hadith. Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751 ah/1350 ce) wrote in his
book, Al-Fur‰siyah:

Let it be known that the authenticity of a hadith’s isn¥d is a necessary, but


not a sufficient, condition for the authenticity of the hadith itself. Rather, in
order for a hadith to be deemed authentic, a number of other conditions
must also be met. These are: (1) its isn¥d must be authentic, (2) it must
be free of weaknesses, (3) it must not be either irregular (sh¥dhdh) or

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unacknowledged (munkar), and (4) its narrator must be known not to have
contradicted other, trustworthy narrators or introduced variations into
their accounts.

1. Putting the Isn¥d to the Test of Academic Inquiry


Given the foregoing facts, the question arises: How credible is the isn¥d
in question, academically speaking, when judged in light of the various
factors which impact such credibility, such as: the assessment of the
narrator’s character, knowledge of narrators’ and scholars’ dates of
birth and death, the science of ¢ilal al-^adÏth, that is, the various weak-
nesses to which hadiths are subject, careful examination of the lines of
narrators included in the isn¥d, and external textual evidence?
If we reflect for a moment on the idea of relying entirely on our
examination of a hadith’s chain of transmission, including the charac-
ters of its narrators, as a basis for determining the authenticity of a
hadith attributed to the Messenger of God, we will see that we have
placed ourselves in a dangerous situation, since we are no longer
allowed to determine a hadith’s authenticity based on its actual con-
tent by comparing it to that of the Qur’an – the only text that we know
to be free of error. However, this kind of comparison is precisely what
the Prophet’s Companions engaged in.
The question that needs to be asked here is: What led hadith schol-
ars onto this slippery slope – the method of hadith criticism that relies
on the study of chains of transmission and narrators’ characters –
when the most we can derive from this method is tentative judgments
on such narrators and their accounts? Is it not sufficient for us to
appeal to the authority of the Qur’an itself – which God sent down as a
confirmation of previous revelations and a measuring rod by which to
assess them – when seeking to arrive at such conclusions? Did the origi-
nal Muslims place their faith in the Qur’an and follow the guidance it
had provided based on an inquiry into the character of the Prophet? Or
was it, rather, the Qur’an itself which served as the proof of the
Prophet’s truthfulness and the validity of his claims? The hesitation to
measure not only hadiths and other historical reports and narratives
but, in addition, opinions, ideas, and various interpretations, against
the Qur’an is simply a sign of the kind of mental paralysis that has

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afflicted Muslims, who have for centuries remained shackled to the


evidence afforded by hadiths’ chains of transmission. Such hesitation is
also an admission that because of our lack of freedom to appeal to the
Qur’an, we are no longer able to sift through and properly scrutinize
this vast accumulation of narratives.
The leading Companions, such as Ab‰ Bakr, and ¢Umar and the
Prophet’s wife ¢®’ishah, were well aware that assessment of narrators’
characters was not the true criterion on the basis of which to accept or
reject hadith accounts. They realized that such decisions had to be
based on the Qur’an, and on the hadith accounts that they knew with
certainty to be trustworthy and reliable. This decision-making process
required that they examine the actual content of the hadiths, and not
just their chains of transmission. Focusing on hadiths’ contents and
comparing them to the teachings of the Qur’an would provide a kind of
natural protection against allowing falsehoods to infiltrate the Sunnah.
Only this approach would be consistent with the Qur’an’s edict found
in S‰rah al-¤ujur¥t: “O you who have attained to faith! If any iniqui-
tous person comes to you with a [slanderous] tale, use your discern-
ment, lest you hurt people unwittingly and afterwards be filled with
remorse for what you have done” (49:6). What believers were urged to
verify was not a person’s character but, rather, the report they had
received, and the only way to verify the truth or falsehood of claims
relating to the religion would be to check them against the Revelation
they had at their disposal, the Revelation that had been preserved by
God Himself, and against the Sunnah they had been given as a way of
clarifying and applying this Revelation. This is not to say that we
should reject the isn¥d as a means of hadith verification. However,
examination of the isn¥d is meant to be merely a first step in the process
of sifting through hadiths, the second step being to measure the conclu-
sions reached through the first step against the yardstick of the Qur’an.
If the contents of a hadith with an acceptable isn¥d are confirmed by
the Qur’an, it will stand; otherwise, it should be eliminated. What hap-
pened, however, was that the first step was allowed to expand until it
took up nearly all of hadith collectors’ time and energy, and the Sunnah
was taken captive by ¢ilm al-rij¥l, the science of narrator assessment.

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By advocating this approach I am not, like some, issuing a call to


abandon the hadith collections that have come down to us. Such a step
would be unacceptable according to both the teachings of the Qur’an
itself and the demands of academic inquiry. At the same time – bearing
in mind the need for our approach to harmonize with both Qur’anic
imperatives and the scientific method – we must not view the hadith
collections we have been bequeathed by Islamic tradition in a hierar-
chical fashion, considering some to be “authentic” and others “more
authentic.” Rather, it should be remembered that every one of them
contains both authentic and inauthentic hadiths.
In fact, the whole concept of “authenticity” (a|a^^iyyah) has been
clothed in such sanctity that it poses a danger to Muslims’ intellectual
soundness, since it prevents us from thinking for ourselves. The claim
that there is a book, or set of books, that is “the most authentic” after
the Book of God is symptomatic of the methodological crisis into
which Muslim thinkers entered as they allowed their thinking to be
taken captive to the inviolability of the isn¥d and the written tradition.
After all, the Qur’an did not acquire its respected position because it
had been transmitted via well-authenticated lines of narrators but,
rather, because the One who had sent it down took it upon Himself to
preserve and protect it, saying, “Behold, it is We Ourselves who have
bestowed from on high, step by step, this reminder, and behold, it is We
who shall truly guard it [from all corruption]” (S‰rah al-¤ijr, 15:9).
If we consider any book comparable to the Qur’an, this indicates a
flaw in our ability to distinguish between what it means for the Qur’an
to be well-authenticated, and what it means for historical reports to be
well-authenticated. The Qur’an receives its authentification from with-
in itself, not from those who passed it down. The authentication of
historical reports, by contrast, must take place based on whether they
are confirmed by the Qur’an.
The scholars who recorded the Sunnah compilations which have
come down to us made no claims to have critiqued the contents of the
accounts they contained. Nor did the author of any of the Sunnah
collections claim to have compared hadiths one by one to the contents
of the Qur’an. Their task had been limited to the collection of hadiths
via the science of narrator assessment. Moreover, although some of

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them referred to what they had collected as “well-authenticated”


(|a^Ï^), they were defining the term “well-authenticated” in terms of
the criteria they themselves had adhered to in their processes of collec-
tion and selection. For if they had been striving for absolute reliability,
how could the same report be deemed “well-authenticated” by one
scholar, and “weakly authenticated” by another? This could occur
because the hadiths contained in these “well authenticated” compila-
tions had not been subjected to both isn¥d criticism and matn criticism.
After all, these very compilations also contain reports that have been
classed as “strange” (gharÏb), that is, as hadith one tier of whose chains
of transmission contained only one narrator. If we were to compare
reports in this category with the Qur’an, we would be certain to find
disparities and contradictions between them. Indeed, not a single |a^Ï^
hadith compilation is free of reports belonging to this category.

2. Matn Criticism (Hadith Text Criticism)


As we have stated, it is essential that we not simply critique a hadith’s
chain of transmission (isn¥d), but its text (matn) as well. This is the case
whether the isn¥d in question is “high” (¢¥lin) or “low” (n¥zil),5 ^asan
or less than ^asan. There are three reasons for the urgency of hadith
text criticism:
One: Al-Sh¥fi¢Ï stated in al-Ris¥lah that:

every practice for which the Messenger of God established a precedent was
in agreement with the Book of God. If it was a practice that had been
ordained explicitly in the Book of God, then it was in perfect conformity to
what had been ordained. If it had been stated in general terms in the Book
of God, the practice of the Prophet provided further clarity on God’s
authority… The Messenger of God was a native speaker of the Arabic
tongue who lived among Arabs. As such, he might say something which he
intended to be applied generally; he might also say something specific
which he intended for only specific application…If something was prohib-
ited in general but allowed in specific situations, these exceptions would
not cancel out the general prohibition. Similarly, if something was allowed
in general but prohibited in specific situations, these exceptions would not
cancel out the general allowance.

Al-Sh¥fi¢Ï, who was dubbed the Champion of the Sunnah, points in

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the passage just quoted to types of hadith narratives whose meaning he


could only determine by subjecting their texts to a thoroughgoing
critique and analysis as to how they were narrated, and how transmit-
ters received them and passed them on.
Two: Based on these and other statements made by al-Sh¥fi¢Ï, many
hadiths had been passed down in paraphrase form. Additionally, many
hadiths had, for one reason or another, passed undetected through the
porous sieve of the highly subjective isn¥d methodology.
Three: Critiquing a hadith’s matn helps to uncover hidden flaws in
the isn¥d; it may also help to attenuate the effects of subjectivity on
isn¥d assessments. By “subjectivity,” I refer to the judgments issued by
numerous hadith scholars deeming this or that hadith trustworthy or
untrustworthy based on nothing but the scholar’s personal opinion of
the narrator and his attitude toward the narrative in question. This can
be seen in the tendency of al-Sh¥fi¢Ï and others to use phrases such as, “I
was told by the trustworthy…,” “I was told by someone I would not
accuse…,” and the like, which makes it difficult to view the scholar’s
assessment of the hadith concerned as an impartial evaluation resting
on precise, objective data. Moreover, as was noted by the late Ahmad
Muhammad Shakir (d. 1958), among other researchers in the fields of
narrative-based and understanding-based hadith study (¢ilmay al-
riw¥yah wa al-dir¥yah), those who recorded biographical information
about hadith narrators did not write down the dates of narrators from
Makkah, and particularly not those of Madinah; hence, here was con-
fusion in their transmissions. When it came to the dates of narrators
from Iraq and the Levant, however, they did write them down.
In sum, only a combined critique of a hadith’s text (matn) and its
chain of transmission (isn¥d) will afford us a reasonable level of cer-
tainty in our assessment of the hadith’s validity and reliability.

3. Criteria for Hadith Text Criticism


Although standards for hadith text criticism have received some con-
sideration from hadith scholars, they have received the most attention
from jurists and u|‰l scholars. In fact, it has been reported of virtually
every leading u|‰l scholar, jurist, and mujtahid that he rejected some
accounts that hadith scholars had deemed reliable. Similarly, we have

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hadiths that were approved and applied by some mujtahids but rejected
by others, who then – on the basis of this rejection – reached contrary
conclusions on relevant issues. Such scholars raised issues relating to
the critique and interpretation of the hadiths in question, and of this we
have countless examples.
An examination of the various standards these scholars left for us in
the area of hadith text criticism yields a list of nineteen basic criteria
which, if not fulfilled, require a hadith to be rejected. These criteria are
as follows:

1. It must not conflict with the explicit, unambiguous import of the


Qur’an, the well-authenticated Sunnah, or necessary tenets of the
religion.
2. It must be consistent with sensory experience and what we know
of the observed world.
3. It must not conflict with established scientific knowledge or natu-
ral laws.
4. It must not be counter-intuitive or conflict with indisputable
evidence or established experience.
5. It must not be inconsistent with established scientific knowledge
in the fields of medicine, astronomy, and the like.
6. It must not be marked by a weak linguistic style that falls short of
the standards of eloquence established by the Prophet, who has
been described as “the most eloquent speaker of the language of
\¥d the world has ever known.” It must also be devoid of terms
that were not in circulation during the lifetime of the Prophet.
7. It must not promote immoral behavior inconsistent with Islamic
law.
8. It must not contain superstition or nonsense.
9. It must not promote allegiance to a particular school of thought,
sect or tribe.
10. It must not conflict with firmly established historical facts and
events, or with archeological evidence acknowledged by experts in
the field to verify such events and the time of their occurrence.
11. It must not recount significant events that have been witnessed
publicly on the authority of just one or two individuals.

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12. It must not conflict with fundamental Islamic doctrine on the


divine attributes – those attributes which must be predicated of the
Divine, those that cannot be predicated of the Divine. and those
that may be predicated of the Divine; similarly, it must not conflict
with fundamental Islamic doctrine with respect to what must,
what must not, and what may be reasonably said about God’s
honorable messengers.
13. It must not promise a tremendous reward for some trivial act, or
threaten a severe punishment for a minor offense.
14. The narrator must not have stood to gain personally from relating
the account in question, nor have related it under some external
influence.
15. It must not promote belief in doctrinal or philosophical teachings
taken from bygone religions or civilizations.
16. There must be no irregularity or serious weakness in the hadith’s
text or chain of transmission.
17. It must not have been rejected by the leading Companions or have
been a subject of dispute among them. If it was, this would indicate
that it was not viewed as authentic by the Companions them-
selves. And if the account was not viewed as well-authenticated
during the Companions’ day, there would have been no reason to
view it as such thereafter.
18. It must not have happened that, after the account had been attrib-
uted to a given narrator, this narrator denied having related it.
19. It must have been passed on in exactly the words in which the orig-
inal was phrased, without omissions or additions.

As may be seen, some of these conditions have to do with the narra-


tor; most, however, have to do with the narrative itself: its content and
wording. Moreover, the list is open to further additions. One also
notes that these conditions draw upon numerous approaches, includ-
ing the historical, the juristic, the linguistic, the scientific, the
analytical, and the sociological. This is not surprising given these
hadiths’ multidimensional nature. Moreover, by welcoming the con-
tributions of these various fields of inquiry, we can help to purge the
ßa^Ï^ collections of accounts that have not been borne out by a com-
prehensive critique methodology.

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Hadith scholars should be in the forefront of those who adopt the


use of this type of methodology. We have no reason to fear that the
application of these approaches will do the Sunnah any harm. Rather,
we should pursue this endeavor with confidence rather than leaving
work on the Sunnah to those who imitate contemporary Western
schools of criticism and counter-criticism that end up deconstructing
everything. Muslims’ thinking has been plagued by many an errant
idea, and the invading hordes keep flooding in. Hence, we need to cling
as never before to the Book of God and to the clarification provided in
the Sunnah of the Prophet, for this alone may be our salvation.
I urge my colleagues and all students of the sciences of Islamic law
and written tradition to learn and teach this methodology, to enrich
and crystallize it, and, in so doing, to thwart the efforts of those who
call for reliance on “the Qur’an alone” but who are the farthest possi-
bly cry from being supporters of the Qur’an. Rather, they have fallen
under the influence of modernist philosophies and tools of textual
criticism. Such people suppose that the Muslim community knows
nothing of this type of criticism when, in reality, Muslim scholars have
engaged in numerous forms of this discipline over the centuries, with
some of them (such as isn¥d criticism and the narrative-based and nar-
rator-based methodologies) having been unique to Muslim academics.
In the face of modern deconstructionist thought, hadith scholars
need to reexamine the mistaken notion that “the hadith sciences” are a
world unto themselves rather than being part and parcel of the broader
sphere of academic inquiry. Just as jurists have sometimes failed to
carry out their functions properly because they have not been well-
versed in the hadith sciences, we find that the ßa^Ï^ hadith collections
were infiltrated by accounts which, had it not been for some hadith
scholars’ lack of expertise in the sciences of jurisprudence and practical
life issues, would never have acquired the status they did.
Hence, the approach taken to the hadith sciences needs to be an
integrated one that takes careful consideration of the isn¥d and the
matn of each narrative within the broader context of juristic issues and
the ongoing social, economic, intellectual and spiritual challenges
presented by the world in which Muslims live their daily lives.

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Glossary of Terms

®^¥d: Linguistically, the term ¥^¥d (‘solitary’) describes a hadith transmitted by


only one narrator. Practically speaking, however, the term applies to any hadith
which is not mutaw¥tir.

Ahl al-Ra’y: Rendered here as “the People of Opinion,” this term refers to the fol-
lowers of Imam Ab‰ ¤anÏfah, who derived Islamic legal rulings through the use of
his reason and discernment, and who only accepted the hadiths that came his way
if they passed a set of exacting criteria.

Bal¥gh¥t: Hadiths whose chains of transmission contain the phrase balaghanÏ min
ful¥n, meaning, “It came to my hearing through so-and-so.”

™a¢Ïf: Meaning “weak,” the term \a¢Ïf describes a hadith whose chain of transmis-
sion is marked by discontinuity, and one or more of whose narrators has some
weakness in his character. There are numerous subcategories of weak hadiths.

GharÏb: Literally, “strange,” the term gharÏb is used to describe a hadith one tier of
whose chain of transmission includes only one narrator.

¤asan: Meaning simply “good,” ^asan is an adjective used to describe a


hadith whose authenticity is not as well-established as those classified as |a^Ï^, but
which is sufficient for use as religious evidence.

Ijtih¥d: The effort exerted by a suitably qualified scholar of jurisprudence to derive


legal rulings from Islamic sources (the Qur’an, the Hadith, analogical deduction
and consensus).

Isn¥d: The chain of transmission for a hadith narrative.

Kharijites: The Kharijites (Arabic, al-khaw¥rij) were a sect that revolted against
the authority of Caliph ¢Ali ibn AbÏ >¥lib after he agreed to arbitration with his
rival Mu¢¥wiyah ibn AbÏ Sufy¥n to decide the succession to the Caliphate follow-
ing the Battle of Siffin in the year 36 ah/657 ce. They held that “judgment belongs
to God alone,” and that God would decide succession by determining the victor in
battle, whereas arbitration would be decided by human beings. The Kharijites
developed extreme doctrines that set them apart from both mainstream Sunni and
Shiite Muslims.

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Glossary of Terms

Maq~‰¢: Meaning “severed,” maq~‰¢ is an adjective which describes a narration


attributed to a Successor of one of the Prophet’s Companions.

Marf‰¢: An adjective describing a narration attributed specifically to the Prophet.

Mashh‰r: Meaning famous or well-known, the term mashh‰r describes an


account that was reported by more than two narrators. According to some schol-
ars every narrative which comes to be known widely is called mashh‰r. A hadith
might be reported by only one or two narrators in the beginning, but become widely
known, that is, mashh‰r, at a later time.

Mawq‰f: An adjective describing a hadith attributed to one of the Prophet’s


Companions.

Mu¢allal: A ‘defective’ hadith.

Mujtahid: Someone qualified to engage in ijtih¥d.

Munkar: Meaning “unacknowledged,” the adjective munkar describes a hadith


which conflicts with another, authentic hadith, and which is related by a weak
narrator.

Munqa~i¢: Meaning “broken,” the adjective munqa~i¢ describes a hadith whose


chain of transmission is disconnected at any point. If any narrator in the chain of
transmission is known never to have heard accounts from the next narrator in the
chain, even though they were contemporaries, the hadith concerned is deemed
munqa~i¢.

Murji’ites: A sect which, as opposed to the Kharijites, held that human beings
should always defer judgments on others’ beliefs, since only God can judge what is
in a person’s heart. The name of the sect is derived from the verb arja’a, which
means to postpone or defer. Also in contrast to the Kharijites, the Murji’ites held
that a Muslim who commits a grave sin will remain Muslim provided that he or she
repents and retains his or her faith.

Mursal: An adjective used to describe a hadith whose chain of transmission goes


back only as far as a t¥bi¢Ï (one of the Successors to the Prophet’s Companions).

Musnad: Used as an adjective, the word musnad describes a hadith which is “well
supported” in the sense that it has a chain of transmission which goes back without
interruption to a well-known Companion, and from him to the Messenger of God.

Mutaw¥tir: An adjective used to describe a report narrated by a group of individu-


als sufficiently large and disparate that it would be impossible for them to have
colluded in falsification.

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Glossary of Terms

Mutta|il: Meaning “connected,” the adjective mutta|il describes a hadith whose


chain of transmission is free of any breaks.

Muwaththaq: Meaning “authenticated, documented, certified,” the term


muwaththaq describes a hadith whose chain of transmission goes back to the
Prophet via a narrator who has been judged by the Companions of the Prophet and
the Imams to be trustworthy, but whose doctrine is ‘corrupt’ in that he belongs to a
sect other than the Twelver Shiites.

Qadarites: Adherents of the doctrine of free will.

Rafidites: Derived from the Arabic r¥fi\ah, meaning “rejector,” the term Rafidite
is used to refer to someone who, in the view of the speaker, refuses to recognize
legitimate Islamic authority.

Sunan: Plural of the word sunnah, the word sunan also refers to a collection of
hadiths compiled by a Muslim scholar. Some of the best known collections of this
genre are Sunan Ab‰ D¥w‰d and Sunan Ibn M¥jah.

Sunnah: When upper case and un-italicized (Sunnah), this word refers to the entire
corpus of hadiths relating the words and actions of the Prophet viewed as the
model that Muslims are to emulate in their practical lives. When lower case and un-
italicized (sunnah), the word refers to a particular example set by the Prophet in a
particular situation. For example, the act of eating with one’s right hand rather
than one’s left might be referred to as ‘a sunnah.’ Lastly, when lower case and itali-
cized (sunnah), the word is being used in reference to the Arabic word as such, or to
the concept underlying the word.

U|‰l scholar: A scholar who devotes himself to the study of the principles of
Islamic jurisprudence (u|‰l al-fiqh).

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Notes

introduction

1. The term “later” refers generally to scholars of the third century ah and beyond,
that is, who came after the generations of the Companions, the Successors, and
the Successor’s Successors.

chapter two: sunnah as concept and as technical term

1. The differences between a concept (mafh‰m) and a technical term (mu|~ala^)


are subtle, but significant. A concept is associated with a definition that can be
expressed in a number of different ways, or what is sometimes known as a pro-
cedural definition. A technical term, by contrast, is generally associated with a
more rigid definition consisting of a distinct set of related words. As a result of
this difference, the individual word referred to as a “concept” might be associ-
ated with numerous other words, each of which communicates the same
meaning from a different angle or perspective. This is not so for the individual
word referred to as a technical term, which is viewed as conveying the intended
meaning uniquely, and which defies being treated as synonymous with other
words. This singularity or uniqueness is a trait special to what I mean by a
“technical term.” Hence, on the practical level, the notion of “concept” has
gone beyond the logical meaning of the word mafh‰m associated with a broad
conceptualization or understanding viewed within an inclusive, comprehen-
sive semantic and linguistic framework, and has come to be linked to a
particular word denoting a particular meaning. In this connection, see Bin¥’ al-
Maf¥hÏm: Dir¥sah Ma¢rifiyyah wa Nam¥dhij Ta~bÏqiyyah (Concept Building:
An Epistemological Study and Applied Models), Ibrahim Bayyumi Ghanim et.
al., Foreword by Taha Jabir Alalwani, (Cairo: IIIT, 1998).
2. The word sunnah has been defined by Arab linguists as “observed manner,
custom, and law,” by scholars of the fundamentals of jurisprudence as “the
second source of Islamic legislation,” by jurists as “actions whose commission
merits reward but whose omission merits no punishment,” and by hadith
transmitters as “sayings, actions, or approval attributed to the Prophet.”

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Notes

3. The homonym, or mushakkik, is a universal which may not be predicated


equally of all its individual instances, as, for example, the way existence can be
predicated more fittingly, and more eternally, of that which exists of necessity –
such as God – than it can of something that exists only contingently – as in the
case of created beings.
4. The pronoun “her” apparently refers to another woman, also a grandmother,
who had approached the Prophet in an analogous situation.
5. See al-Sh¥fi¢Ï, al-Ris¥lah, paragraphs 300, 303, 308, 314, 419, 440, 465, and
479.

chapter three: the qur’an as creative source and


the sunnah as practical c l a r i f i c a t i o n

1. In his outstanding work entitled Mufrad¥t GharÏb al-Qur’an (Unusual Terms


in the Qur’an), al-I|fah¥nÏ sets out to clarify the Qur’anic concept of wa^y
through a painstaking study of the word’s uses throughout the Qur’an. He
begins by tracing the linguistic meaning of the word wa^y, which forms the
foundation and starting point for constructing a sound network of Qur’anic
terms and concepts. Al-I|fah¥nÏ’s study represents one of the best and most
important contributions to the study of the concept of wa^y and its multiplicity
of meanings. Of course, wa^y in the sense of divine revelation is a supernatural
phenomenon. God chooses whom He wills of His servants to receive His reve-
lation. He also chooses an angel to receive the revelation and to deliver it to His
messengers and prophets, who in turn are charged with delivering it to their
communities. Such an angel may approach the human messenger in his angelic
form, or in some other form. Believers hold that the angel comes to God’s
prophet or messenger as a genuine human being, not merely as an apparition;
he also comes when the prophet or messenger is awake, not only when he is
asleep.
2. A reference to Jesus’ disciples.
3. The hadith in question relates that when the Messenger of God was about to
dispatch Mu¢¥dh to Yemen, he asked him, “How will you issue legal rulings if
you are presented with a case that requires adjudication?” Mu¢¥dh replied, “I
will rule based on the Book of God.” “So,” the Prophet asked him, “what if
you find nothing in the Book of God that addresses the situation?” “I will base
my ruling on the Sunnah of the Prophet,” Mu¢¥dh replied. The Prophet then
asked, “What if you find nothing that addresses the situation in either the Book
of God or the Sunnah of the Prophet?” “In that case,” said Mu¢¥dh, “I will do

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Notes

my best to form an opinion on my own.” Upon hearing Mu¢¥dh’s reply, the


Prophet struck his chest and exclaimed, “Praise be to God for leading the
Prophet’s envoy to that which is pleasing to the Prophet!” Ibn ¤ajar al-
¢Asqal¥nÏ tells us in TalkhÏ| al-¤abÏr that this hadith “was cited by A^mad, Ab‰
D¥w‰d, al-TirmidhÏ, Ibn ¢Udayy, al->abar¥nÏ, and al-BayhaqÏ from the hadith
of al-¤¥rith ibn ¢Amr on the authority of some of Mu¢¥dh’s companions, on
the authority of Mu¢¥dh.” Al-TirmidhÏ wrote, “We know it from no other
source, and its chain of narrators is not continuous.” In al-T¥rÏkh al-KabÏr, al-
Bukh¥rÏ tells us that the hadith was narrated by “al-¤¥rith ibn ¢Amr on the
authority of companions of Mu¢¥dh and on the authority of Ab‰ ¢Awn. It is not
authentic nor is it known through any other source.” As for Ibn ¤azm he stated,
“It is not authentic, because al-¤¥rith is not recognized as a narrator, and his
shaykhs are unknown.” Ibn ¤azm went on to say, “Some claim that this hadith
is mutaw¥tir, but this is untrue. In fact, it is a far cry from being mutaw¥tir,
since it was narrated by no one but Ab‰ ¢Awn on the authority of al-¤¥rith.” In
al-¢Ilal al-Mutan¥hiyah, Ibn al-JawzÏ wrote, “It is not authentic. However, all
the jurists cite it in their books and rely on it for their arguments. Besides, its
meaning is correct…” See Ibn ¤ajar al-¢Asqal¥nÏ, TalkhÏ| al-¤abÏr fÏ A^¥dÏth
al-R¥fi¢Ï al-KabÏr, ed. Abd Allah Hashim al-Yamani al-Madani, (Madinah: no
publisher, 1964), vol. 4, p. 206.

chapter five: the chronicling of the sunnah


and its historical context

1. I did not find the account with this particular wording in the places where I
would have expected it to be. However, I did find an account similar to it nar-
rated by Muslim ibn al-¤ajj¥j on the authority of Bishr ibn Sa¢Ïd, who said,
“Fear God, and be wary of the hadiths you hear. For I tell you truly: When we
sat once with Ab‰ Hurayrah, he narrated hadiths on the authority of the
Messenger of God and on the authority of Ka¢b al-A^b¥r. When speaking to
some of those who were with us, he related things on the authority of the
Messenger of God as though they were on the authority of Ka¢b, and other
things on the authority of Ka¢b as though they were on the authority of the
Messenger of God.” According to another version of the account, Bishr said
that Ab‰ Hurayrah “quoted things said by the Messenger of God as though
they had been said by Ka¢b, and other things said by Ka¢b as though they had
been said by the Messenger of God.” Bishr then added, “So fear God, and be
wary of the hadiths you hear.” This account was listed by one scholar under the

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Notes

heading, “His [Ab‰ Hurayrah’s] deceit by concealment” (tadlÏsuhu), quoting


from Al-Bid¥yah wa al-Nih¥yah by Ibn KathÏr (109/8). See Mahmud Abu
Riyyah, A\w¥’ ¢Al¥ al-Sunnah al-Mu^ammadiyyah (Cairo: D¥r al-Ma¢¥rif,
1994), Sixth Printing, p. 176 and its footnote.
In Muslim ibn al-¤ajj¥j’s Introduction to his ßa^Ï^ collection, he discusses
the weak points of certain narrators, and mentions the prohibition against
relating hadiths passed down on the authority of narrators who are known to
be weak. Assuming the aforementioned account to be validly attributable to
him, this is the place where I would have expected to find it. However, I found
no sign of it. See Muslim ibn al-¤ajj¥j al-QushayrÏ, ßa^Ï^ Muslim, ed.
Muhammad Fuad ¢Abd al-Baqi, (Cairo: D¥r I^y¥’ al-Kutub al-¢Arabiyyah,
1955), Part 1, p. 43-144.
The aforementioned account is likewise cited by al-Mu¢allimÏ, who writes,
“YazÏd ibn H¥r‰n said, I heard Shu¢bah say: Ab‰ Hurayrah used to engage in
deceit by concealment (tadlÏs). In other words, he used to relate what he had
heard from Ka¢b and what he had heard from the Messenger of God without
being careful to distinguish one from the other. This has been mentioned by Ibn
¢As¥kir.” See this narrative and the one prior to it both in this source and in Al-
Bid¥yah wa al-Nih¥yah, cited above. See also al-Mu¢allimÏ’s comment on this
matter in ¢Abd al-Ra^m¥n ibn Ya^y¥ al-Mu¢allimÏ, Al-Anw¥r al-K¥shifah li
m¥ fÏ Kit¥bi A\w¥’ ¢al¥ al-Sunnah min al-<al¥l wa al-Ta\lÏl wa al-Muj¥zafah
(Beirut: ¢®lam al-Kutub, 1402 ah/1983 ce), Part 1, p. 171.
2. These jurists were: Ibn al-Musayyab, ¢Urwah ibn al-Zubayr, al-Q¥sim ibn
Mu^ammad, Kh¥rijah ibn Zayd, Ab‰ Bakr ibn ¢Abd al-Ra^m¥n ibn ¤¥rith
ibn Hish¥m, Sulaym¥n ibn Yas¥r, and ¢Ubayd All¥h ibn ¢Abd All¥h ibn ¢Utbah
ibn Mas¢‰d.

chapter six: the authoritativeness of the


reporting of the sunnah

1. The hadith in question consists of a saying of the Prophet concerning a situa-


tion in which a slave is owned jointly by more than one person. If one of the
owners pays his share of the price of the slave in order to free him but has
enough money to pay the other owner’s share as well, he should do so. To this
content, some versions of the hadith add a phrase to the effect that if the owner
who wants to free the slave does not have enough money to pay the entire price
of the slave, then “what has been freed, has been freed” (faqad ¢atiqa m¥
¢atiqa).

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Notes

2. Hadith scholars divide obscure narrators into two categories. The first is
termed majh‰l al-¢ayn, that is, someone on whose authority only one other nar-
rator has related accounts, and who was not deemed trustworthy by said
narrator. The second category is referred to as majh‰l al-^¥l, or someone on
whose authority one or more other narrators have passed on accounts, yet
whose circumstances indicate that they had only superficial or general knowl-
edge about him. However, if there is evidence that the other narrators knew
him to be of good, upright character, then he is no longer deemed obscure.
3. Al-Nas¥’Ï spoke of A^mad ibn ߥli^ as being “neither trustworthy nor reli-
able,” adding that Yahy¥ ibn Ma¢Ïn had described him as “a lying pedant.”
According to Ibn ¤ajar, “Al-Nas¥’Ï declared him [A^mad] weak because of
something he had related on the authority of Ya^y¥ ibn Ma¢Ïn…” Ibn ¤ajar
then went on to mention that the reason for al-Nas¥’Ï’s increasingly vocal prej-
udice against A^mad was that the latter had refused to relate hadiths to
al-Nas¥’Ï because he (al-Nas¥’Ï) had kept company with certain hadith schol-
ars whom A^mad did not think well of.
4. What Sufy¥n was supposed to have said to Shu¢bah was, “If you criticize J¥bir
al-Ju¢fÏ, then I shall defend him.” J¥bir ibn YazÏd al-Ju¢fÏ’s hadiths were trans-
mitted by Ab‰ D¥w‰d, al-TirmidhÏ and Ibn M¥jah. However, a number of
scholars stopped transmitting his accounts when they learned of his dishonesty
and the impertinence with which he spoke against the religion of God. See al-
MizzÏ, TahdhÏb al-Kam¥l fÏ Asm¥’ al-Rij¥l, Part 4, p. 467. Ya^y¥ ibn Ma¢Ïn
once stated, “I once saw Ab‰ Shaybah’s two sons come to him (that is, to
Y‰nus ibn Bukayr), but he sent them away. They asked him for something
written, but he would not give it to them. So they went off and spoke badly
about him.” See al-MizzÏ, TahdhÏb al-Kam¥l, Part 32, p. 496.
5. A “high” isn¥d is one in whose first tier there are few, or fewer, narrators
between the last person to relate the hadith and the shaykh from whom this
person received it, while a “low” isn¥d is one in which there is a larger number
of narrators between the last person to relate the hadith and the shaykh from
whom he received it. For example, al-TirmidhÏ had a shaykh by the name of
Qutaybah ibn Sa¢Ïd from whom he received many hadiths. If the isn¥d for one
such hadith began, “I was told by Ab‰ M‰s¥ ibn al-Muthann¥, who was told
by Ibn Sa¢Ïd al-D¥rimÏ, who was told by Qutaybah…,” while the isn¥d for
another began, “I was told by Ab‰ M‰s¥ ibn al-Muthann¥, who was told by
Qutaybah…,” the first isn¥d would be “lower” than the second, which has
fewer narrators between al-TirmidhÏ and his shaykh.

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Reviving Cover CASED_Layout 1 02/03/2017 15:32 Page 1

IIIT Books-In-Brief Series


SELECTION OF IIIT PU BLICATIONS
This is a collection of the Institute’s key
publications written in condensed form Arif Kemil Abdullah
to give readers a core understanding of The Qur’an and Normative Religious Pluralism:
the main contents of the original. A Thematic Study of the Qur’an

reviving the balance


This work studies the position of the Sunnah in Islam and its fundamental
relationship to the Qur’an. The author carefully examines the sensitive issue of AbdulHamid AbuSulayman
AbdulHamid AbuSulayman The Qur'anic Worldview: A Springboard For
The Qur’anic Worldview: A Springboard for the development of the oral and written traditions, the problems scholars faced Cultural Reform
Cultural Reform despite painstaking work verifying the authenticity of reports, the character of Taha Jabir Alalwani
Taha Jabir Alalwani narrators, etc. and the ever growing complexity of a body of narratives that Apostasy In Islam: A Historical & Scriptural Analysis
Apostasy In Islam: A Historical &
Scriptural Analysis were making the simplicity and clarity of the Prophet’s life, words, and actions, Taha Jabir Alalwani
Ethics of Disagreement in Islam
Haggag Ali
a burgeoning maze of information. Taking the praiseworthy intention and
Mapping the Secular Mind: Modernity’s Quest for effort to emulate the Prophet into account, the author nevertheless makes the Haggag Ali
a Godless Utopia Mapping the Secular Mind: Modernity’s Quest for a
case that once the Sunnah had been collected, the Muslim community began to
Ahmed Essa with Othman Ali
Studies In Islamic Civilization: The Muslim
Contribution to The Renaissance
neglect the Qur’an in favor of narrations of what the Prophet had done and said
on the pretext that such narratives “contained” the Qur’an. Eventually they
Reviving the balance Godless Utopia
Ahmed Essa with Othman Ali
Studies In Islamic Civilization: The Muslim
Muhammad al-Tahir Ibn Ashur
Ibn Ashur: Treatise on Maqasid al-Shariah
then abandoned the Sunnah narratives in favor of Islamic jurisprudence on the The Authority of the Qur’an and the Contribution to The Renaissance
Hisham Altalib, A. AbuSulayman, Omar Altalib
pretext that Islamic juristic texts tacitly included both the Qur’an and the
Badrane Benlahcene Sunnah. It is with the aim of restoring the relationship between the two that this
Status of the Sunnah Parent-Child Relations: A Guide to Raising Children
The Socio-Intellectual Foundations of Malik Badri
Malek Bennabi’s Approach to Civilisation work has been written, that is, the Prophetic Sunnah must be tied inextricably
taha jabir alalwani Abu Zayd al-Balkhi’s Sustenance of the Soul: The
Cognitive Behavior Therapy of a Ninth Century
Katherine Bullock to the Qur’an in a way that allows for no contradiction or conflict between the
Rethinking Muslim Women and the Veil: Physician
two, to avoid misapplication and abuse of hadith, and to meet the requirements
Challenging Historical and Modern Stereotypes Badrane Benlahcene
and challenges of a new age. The Socio-Intellectual Foundations of
Abdelwahab M. Elmessiri
Epistemological Bias in the Physical and Malek Bennabi’s Approach to Civilisation
Social Sciences Dr. Taha Jabir Alalwani (1935– 2016) was a graduate of Al-Azhar University and an internation-

Taha Jabir Alalwani


Mohammad Omar Farooq
Mohammad Omar Farooq ally renowned scholar and expert in the fields of Islamic legal theory, jurisprudence (fiqh), and Toward Our Reformation: From Legalism to Value-
Toward Our Reformation: From Legalism to Value- u|‰l al-fiqh. He authored numerous works and was a member of the OIC Islamic Fiqh Academy, Oriented Islamic Law and Jurisprudence
Oriented Islamic Law and Jurisprudence and President of Cordoba University in Ashburn, Virginia, United States. Ismail R. al Faruqi
Sharmin Islam Islam: Religion, Practice, Culture and World Order
Ethics of Assisted Reproductive Medicine: A
Comparative Study of Western Secular and Islamic Sharmin Islam
Bioethics Ethics of Assisted Reproductive Medicine:
A Comparative Study of Western Secular and
Israr Ahmad Khan Islamic Bioethics
Authentication of Hadith: Redefining
the Criteria Fathi Malkawi
Epistemological Integration: Essentials of an
Fathi Malkawi
Epistemological Integration: Essentials of an
Islamic Methodology
Islamic Methodology Musfir bin Ali al-Qahtani
Musfir bin Ali al-Qahtani
 Understanding Maqasid al-Shariah: A
Understanding Maqasid al-Shariah: A Contemporary Perspective
Contemporary Perspective i s b n 978-1-56564-691-9
Ahmad al-Raysuni
Ahmad al-Raysuni Al-Shura: The Qur’anic Principle of Consultation
Al-Shura: The Qur’anic Principle of
Consultation Bassam Saeh
The Miraculous Language of the Qur’an:
Ahmad al-Raysuni Evidence of Divine Origin
Imam al-Shatibi’s Theory of the Higher           © 
Objectives and Intents of Islamic Law Zulfiqar Ali Shah
Anthropomorphic Depictions of God: The Concept
Zulfiqar Ali Shah of God in Judaic, Christian and Islamic Traditions.
Anthropomorphic Depictions of God: The Representing the Unrepresentable
Concept of God in Judaic, Christian and
Islamic Traditions. Representing the
Unrepresentable

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