Introduction
The famous six Hadith books were compiled after thorough research and scrutiny by the famous scholars about twelve hundred years ago[1]. The four famous Sunni Madahib were established earlier without these books.[2] Differences cropped up by judging earlier work (four Madhab of jurisprudence) with the later work (Hadith books). Some new sects grew and the tussle continues till now. However, for centuries the Hadith books have served the scholars. They are time tested and raising questions on their authenticity is considered a taboo. It is strange that the scholars during the last twelve hundred years could not see the glaring error in Hadith verification criteria that is being pointed out now. With the passage of time a cloud of holiness surrounds the Hadith books & their writers and they are considered above criticism. This approach is not in accordance of Islamic teachings.
Human Tendencies of Error
No one is above criticism except the Quran and the Prophet ﷺ. Quoting fake or weak narrations on the name of Prophet ﷺ which contradict the policy guidelines given by him ﷺ is a grave sin and crime, being disobedience to Allah and His Messenger ﷺ, the punishment is hell fire forever.[3] Moreover everything is not to be accepted blindly, Muslims are commanded to verify and to ascertain the facts.[4]
“We have not seen any lie greater than the lie of righteous people in the hadith (narration) [Muslim, Hadith: 40]
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said[5]:
“Do not lie to me. Whoever attributes a lie to me will enter Hellfire.” (Muslim:2)
“Whoever seeks guidance in other than the Qur’an, Allah will lead him astray, it (Qur’an) is a strong rope of Allah, and it is a firm and strong reminder, and it is a straight path…” (Extract from a long hadith narrated by Hazrat Ali – Tirmidhi 2906)
“Whoever follows the Book of Allah, he will neither go astray in this world nor be miserable in the Hereafter (i.e. he will not be punished). After that, Abdullah Ibn Abbas recited this verse: “Whoever follows my guidance (i.e. the Qur’an) will not go astray in this world, nor will he be miserable (in the Hereafter).(20:123)[6]
It is argued that no question should be raised on the Hadith book writers and scholars, because they did great work and all the knowledge of religious sciences we have now, has reached us through them. Finding faults and mistakes in them will make all this knowledge questionable, hence it is better to keep quiet and let things continue as they are. This is following the footsteps of Jews and Christians against the spirit of Quran:
“They (Jews and Christians) took their rabbis and their monks to be their lords besides Allah (by obeying them in things which they made lawful or unlawful according to their own desires without being ordered by Allah)” (Quran;9:31)[7]
Any human is likely to err, only Allah is perfect. If the scholars of the past committed some error, it does not undermine all their hard work which should be seen in its own merit. Allah will reward them accordingly according to their intentions and effort.
Allah says:
When it is said to them: “Follow what God has revealed:” They say: “Nay! we shall follow the ways of our fathers.” What! even though their fathers Were void of wisdom and guidance?(Quran;2:170).
“They were a people that have passed away. For them is what they earned and for you is what you earn. And you will not be questioned as to what they did.” (Quran;2:141).
Hadith Book Writing Ban
It is no secret that the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs[8] and the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them all) of the Messenger ﷺ of Allah did not write Hadith book, rather it was banned[9]. They knew very well the prohibition[10] by the Messenger ﷺ of Allah, because the previous communities went astray by writing extra books (Talmud and New Testament), abandoned the book of Allah (Torah & Injeel/ Gospel) and thus were misguided[11]. He ﷺ did not want this mistake to be repeated by Muslims[12]. Hiding this historic reality and concocting stories to cover up or deny this ban does not alter the facts, which any probing mind with research can discover.
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ مِن رَّسُولٍ وَلَا نَبِيٍّ إِلَّا إِذَا تَمَنَّىٰ أَلْقَى الشَّيْطَانُ فِي أُمْنِيَّتِهِ فَيَنسَخُ اللَّهُ مَا يُلْقِي الشَّيْطَانُ ثُمَّ يُحْكِمُ اللَّهُ آيَاتِهِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ﴿52﴾
﴾53﴿ لِّيَجْعَلَ مَا يُلْقِي الشَّيْطَانُ فِتْنَةً لِّلَّذِينَ فِي قُلُوبِهِم مَّرَضٌ وَالْقَاسِيَةِ قُلُوبُهُمْ ۗ وَإِنَّ الظَّالِمِينَ لَفِي شِقَاقٍ بَعِيدٍ
Shytan (Devil) tries to tamper with the desires of every prophet or messenger we have sent. Then Allah removes Satan’s temptations and confirms His verses. Allah is All-Knowing and All-Wise. He makes Satan’s temptations a test for those who have hypocrisy and disease in their hearts. And indeed, the wrongdoers are far astray. (Qur’an 22:52-53)[13]
The Shytan failed to tamper Quran verses, slowly and gradually whispered and penetrated the thinking of later scholars, suggesting to deviate and write Hadith books. He did not stop here but also convinced them to ignore the instructions of the Messenger ﷺ of Allah, who had commanded to accept only those Hadith narrations which are in conformity with the Quran, his ﷺ Sunnah (practice seen publicly by vast majority while Hadith is narrated by one or few people) and human intellect.[14] He had further commanded that his ﷺ speech does not abrogate Quran verses but Quran abrogates his ﷺ speech (Hadiths).
Veil of Holiness
If some early Muslim scholars committed errors, should we continue to follow the errors or follow clear instructions of Quran and Prophet ﷺ? The veil of holiness and inflatability does not exist in Islam, religious leaders are not taken as gods.[15] We do not doubt their sincerity, devotion and hard work, which is best known to Allah, who will reward them accordingly on the Day of Judgement. We are responsible for ourselves. We have to remove the distortions with the help of Al-Quran, (Muhaymin) Guardian, Watcher. Controller and (Musaddiq) Confirming Scriptures. Allah says:
O Muhammad! We have sent down to you this Book which has brought the truth and is a confirmation of what is before it of the Book and a watcher, guardian over it…(Qur’an 5:48)[16]
The Qur’an is protected by Allah from tampering by Shaytan in the process of revelation:
Satan’s Mission is to misguide the people, he casts temptations and whispers and tries to tamper. Satan was disappointed once he failed in his efforts to tamper with the verses of Qur’an, then he chose to attack the Hadiths scattered around in abundance.
The Farewell Exhortation of Prophet ﷺ
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the Rightly Guided Caliphs (رضی اللہ) adhered to the policy of not compiling Hadith books[17], because the first nations (Jews and Christians) wrote other books (Talmud, New Testament) and abandoned the Book of Allah (Torah and Gospel) and went astray.[18]
Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said:
“I have left you on a clear and bright path whose night is as bright as the day, from which only the perishable will deviate (Ibn Majah 43)[19]
“I command you to fear Allah, listen to the Ruler, and obey him, even if he is an Abyssinian slave, because whoever of you survives after me will soon see many differences among yourself. So you must hold fast to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, cling to it, and hold fast to it with your teeth, and stay away from new things brought out in to the religion, because every new thing is an deviation (Bidah), and every deviation is misguidance.[20]
Caliphs and Companions Obey Prophet ﷺ
The Caliphs and Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) held the Qur’an and the Sunnah of Messenger ﷺ by their teeth, and Satan failed to prevail upon them to write books of Hadith against the order of the Messenger ﷺ of Allah. The Companions, the commentators of the Qur’an, the scholars of religion who are the memorizers and narrator of thousands of Hadiths, practised it until their death, they neither wrote the Hadith nor the book and kept forbidding that they were bound by the order and Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. This includes famous names like Abu Hurairah (5374 hadiths), Abdullah bin Abbas (2660), Abdullah bin Masoud (800), Abdullah bin Umar (2630), Zayd bin Thabit, the scribe of revelation (92) and Quran compiler, Abu Saeed al-Khudhri (1170) (may Allah be pleased with them all). If these Companions had written books of Hadith, they would have been authenticated while other narrators were still alive, in this way they would have avoided the difficulty of memorising thousands of Hadiths – if these honourable companions did not know about the ban on writing Hadith books, how can the hadiths narrated be accepted? If Hadiths narrated by them are removed then what is left? Moreover, Zayd bin Thabit (RA) is the scribe of revelation and the one who wrote the Qur’an, then how will you accept his written Qur’an? Many companions even considered writing hadith as abomination, some were allowed due to weak memory, but many requests were declined by the Prophet ﷺ.[21]
The majority of the followers (tabaeen) also adhered to this Sunnah and the rulings of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, except for a few, but during the third century Hijrah the Shytan succeeded in his whispers, temptations and suggestions to write Hadith Books. New terminologies were invented[22], the Bidah (deviation) prevailed[23] and the name of Prophet ﷺ was used, hence it became difficult for anyone to speak out, due to fear of fake blasphemy accusations, the popular practice to suppress the truth.
Human Error and Shaytan Tampering of Hadiths
How can the books of Hadith, which were Compiled centuries later, be safe from the Interference of Shaytan?
It is a test, trial (fitna) from Allah, any interference by Satan in the Hadith books can be easily removed with the help of the Qur’an and by following the instructions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, but the temptations of Satan make a trial for those whose hearts are hardened with disease. And indeed, the wrongdoers stray far from the truth (Qur’an 22:53) – There is lot of emphasis on the ‘Chain of Narrators’ of Hadiths (silsilah asnad), which has its own merit, but the Messenger ﷺ of Allah, while laying down the criteria for acceptance of Hadiths, made it compulsory for it to be in conformity with Quran and his Sunnah.
‘Muhaimin’, The Watcher and Guardian
Allah called Himself and the Qur’an ‘Muhaimin’ – in Arabic, ‘Muhaimin’ means provider of protection, supervision, testimony, trust, confirmation and support. Allah says:
O Muhammad! We have sent down to you this Book which has brought the truth and is a confirmation of what is before it of the Book and a (Muhaimin’) watcher, guardian over it.(Qur’an 5:48)[24].
Calling the Qur’an a guardian over “the Book” (5:48) means that it is a watcher over them. The words of Allah and the words of people mixed in these books (Torah & Gospel) can be sorted out through the testimony of the Qur’an, whatever is in accordance with the Qur’an is the word of Allah and what is against the Qur’an. It is the speech of the people.[25]
Hadith books did not exist at the time of the revelation of the Qur’an, (it was prohibited permanently[26]) centuries later when they were compiled, protection from any error or tampering by Shytan is only possible through the testimony and confirmation of the Qur’an, which is Furqan (criterion to judge right and wrong[27]) is (Muhaymin) Guardian, Watcher. Controller and (Musaddiq) confirming Scriptures.[28]
Oral Narration of Hadith Ordered
Since the Messenger ﷺ of Allah had prohibited writing any book (Hadith books[29]) except Quran and advocated oral transmission of Hadiths:
“May Allah bless him who hears something from me, memorises it and keeps it in his mind and then tells it to others.”[30]
Hadith and Sunnah Subservient to Quran
Thus in his ﷺ wisdom he anticipated possibility of human errors and tampering by Shytan during oral transmission, so he commanded:
“Some conflicting hadiths will be narrated on my name, those which are in conformity with “Book of Allah” (Quran) and “My Sunnah” will be from me but those Hadiths are found to be in conflict with the “Book of Allah” and “My Sunnah” will not be from me”[31], [32] [This Hadith is supported by another Hadith: “My words cannot abrogate the word of Allah, but the words of Allah abrogates my words/statements. The word of God abrogates other words.”[33]]. Imam Shafi is also of the view that Hadith cannot abrogate any order of the Book of Allah (details follow).
Prophet ﷺ also laid down the condition that Hadith must be intellectually acceptable[34]
There are many verses of Quran and Hadiths which command obeying the Quran mandatory.[35]
Quran Keep on Sirat-e-Mustaqeem [Straight Path]
The Messenger ﷺ of Allah, said:
“Allah explained the example of the straight path (Sirat-e-Mustaqeem), that there are two walls on both sides of the path, the doors are open in them, and curtains hang over the doors.” There is a supplicant at the end of the path, he is saying, Go straight, do not be crooked, and above it there is another supplicant, when a person intends to open one of these doors, he Says: Woe to you, do not open it, for if you open it, you will enter it. Then the Prophet ﷺ explained it and said: “The path is Islam, open doors, forbidden things by Allah, hanging curtains, Allah’s limits, supplication at the end of the path is the Qur’an. And what is supplicated above it is the preaching of Allah in the heart of every believer. This hadith was narrated by Zareen. [Mashkat Msabeeh Hadith 191][36]
So supremacy of the Quran over all other sources is doubtless. Surah Al-Fateha is recited in every prayer many times in a day, Muslims seek and pray for the Straight Path (sirat-e-mustaqeem), which is provided by the Quran.
Shytan succeeded and some Hadiths are found in the books that seemed to abrogate the commands and teachings of the Qur’an – new terms heresy were invented calling the Qur’an ‘Recited Revelation’ and the Hadiths ‘Non-Recited Revelation’. (the terms Wahi Matoo and Wahi Ghair Matloo are neither in the Qur’an nor in any Hadith[37]). Hence the status of the Hadiths books was raised to be close to or equal to the Qur’an. This was the main reason of Hadith book ban[38]. The verses and some commands of the Quran were practically abrogated and rendered ineffective through such Hadiths.
Sheikh Hameeduddin Farahi (1862-1930 India)[39], writes: “I saw some hadiths in the Sahah (six famous Hadith books), which abrogate the Qur’an. We seek refuge from the belief that the word of the Messenger can abrogate the word of God” (Nizam al-Qur’an).[40]
The Worst Scholars who Abandoned the Qur’an
And Hazrat Ali Al-Murtaza (RA) is the narrator that the Prophet (PBUH) said, “Soon, a time will come upon the people that only his name will remain in Islam and only its traces in the Qur’an will remain. Their mosques will be inhabited (in appearance) but in reality they will be devoid of guidance. Their scholars will be the worst of the creatures under the sky. Fitna will arise in religion and it will return to them (i.e. oppressors will be imposed on them).” (Beyhaqi)
This hadith is marking the time when Islam will exist in the world but the hearts of Muslims will be devoid of the true spirit of Islam, so to say, they will be called Muslims except for the true purpose of Islam. They will be far away. Quran which is a permanent code of life and system of knowledge for Muslims and every single word of it is a guide for the religious and worldly life of Muslims. It will remain a book to be read only for blessing. Therefore, the meaning of “Qur’an Ritual” here is that the Qur’an will be recited by tajweed and recitation, but the mind will definitely not be familiar with its meaning, its commands and prohibitions will also be followed, but the hearts will be deprived of the wealth of sincerity. shall be.
There will be many mosques and they will be crowded, but they will be crowded in such a way that Muslims will come and gather in the mosques, but the worship of God, remembrance of Allah and teaching and learning, which is the main purpose of building a mosque, will not be fully achieved.
Likewise, those scholars who call themselves spiritual and worldly leaders will deviate from their official duties and create divisions in the Ummah in the name of religion, they will help and support oppressors. In this way, they will fulfill their personal goals by sowing the seeds of sedition and corruption in religion (Mishkwat Sharif. Volume 1. Statement of Knowledge. Hadith 263)
The reason for the difference is two things, love of position or love of wealth. Sayyiduna Ka’b bin Malik Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated from his father that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “If two hungry wolves are left in a herd of goats, they do not harm as much as a person who is greedy for wealth and position is harmful to his religion. (Al-Tirmidhi: 2376)
The Prophet ﷺ On Misguided Imams
The Prophet ﷺ said: “I fear one thing about my Ummah more than Dajjal”, he repeated it thrice. The narrator asked: who is that? He said: “The misguided Imams”.[41] The Prophet ﷺ said: “I fear the imams who lead my Ummah astray”[42] He also said: “A group of my Ummah will always prevail over the truth, those who do not help them will not be able to harm them until the command of Allah (Doomsday) comes”.[43]
The Prophet ﷺ said: “I am more afraid of the Dajjal (callers to Hell) than you (the people present)— —- if I am not present, then every man will be the one to establish the evidence on his own behalf and Allah will be my Khalifa (self-guardian) over every Muslim. [Sahih Muslim 7373 extract]
Imams with Devil’s Heart
The Messengerﷺ of Allah, said: “After me, there will be Imams (religious leaders) who will not follow my path and will not follow my Sunnah, but among them there will be people whose bodies are definitely human but whose hearts are of devil’s.” (Muslim)[44]
The Prophet ﷺ truly said: “I am afraid of the imams who mislead my Ummah”. The founders of other sects due to which the Ummah suffered division are misguided religious leaders. The misguided Imams refer to those who lead people in the name of religion, this includes corrupt authorities and misguided scholars. They claim to be calling for Sharia, but in fact, they are the most opposed to Shariah.[45]
Thus sectarianism, division, hatred, disunity and misguidance spread among Muslims, because the Quran has been limited to recitation and unauthentic, unverified books with contradictory contents to Quran are used as a source for guidance which leads to misguidance.
Umar bin Al-Khattab said to Ziyad: “Do you know by what things Islam will be destroyed? (Ziyad) said No – He (Umar) said: Islam will be destroyed by the mistakes of the scholars, by the arguments of the hypocrites about the Book of Allah, and by the opinions of the misguided Imams.[46]
Ramifications
The contents of Hadith in conformity with the Qur’an are the words of the Messenger ﷺ of Allah, he was known as a living example of Quran. The other words in conflict with Quran are not from Messenger ﷺ of Allah but tampering by Shytan or other people.
The Messengerﷺ of Allah, said:
“My words cannot abrogate the word of Allah, but the words of Allah abrogates my words/ statements. The word of God abrogates other words.” [Mushkat Masabeeh Hadith 189 & 190, Sunan Darqatni 1,117 ]
These meanings of this unambiguous Hadith have been found to be twisted, reversed blatantly in some Urdu explanations[47].
Imam Shafi on Abrogation
Imam Shafi[48] (may Allah bless him, born 150 AH/ 767 CE), died 204 AH/ 820 CE)) in his famous book “Al-Risala”[49] has discussed this issue. He writes: Allah Ta’ala has made it clear that only this Book (Quran) can abrogate the command given in the Book of Allah. Hadith cannot abrogate any order of the book of Allah because it is subordinate to the book of Allah. The scope of the Sunnah is the explanation of the commands of the Book of Allah.
Allah says:
Whenever Our authoritative revelations are recited to those who do not wish to meet Us in the life hereafter, say, “Bring us another book besides this one or change it.” (Muhammad), tell them, “I cannot change it myself. I only follow what is revealed to me. I fear that for disobeying my Lord I shall be punished on the great (Day of Judgement).” (Quran:10:15)[50]
Here Allah Ta’ala has told His Prophet ﷺ that you are only responsible for following the divine revelation and you cannot change it on your own. In this statement, “I cannot change it myself. I only follow what is revealed to me”. The thing that I have already mentioned above has been explained. Nothing can abrogate any law of the Book except the Quran itself. As only Allah Almighty can issue His decree, so it is also in His power to keep (or cancel) His decree forever. No one else has this authority except Him. Imam Shafi writes that the Quran can abrogate Hadiths/Sunnah. He quotes the examples:
Abrogation of Sunnah by Quran
1. Trade made Lawful but Riba is Forbidden by Quran
The Holy Prophet ﷺ declared certain types of trade as illegal, which Allah Almighty abrogated with this verse [ وَأَحَلَّ اللَّهُ الْبَيْعَ وَحَرَّمَ الرِّبَا]51: “Allah has made trade lawful and Riba is forbidden.” (On this basis the rulings of Prophet ﷺ regarding transactions are abrogated by this verse.)
2. Stoning of Adulterers Abrogated by Quran
The Messenger ﷺ of Allah stoned the adulterers, and this stoning was abrogated by Allah with this verse:[52] [ الزَّانِيَةُ وَالزَّانِي فَاجْلِدُوا كُلَّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمَا مِائَةَ جَلْدَةٍ] “The woman and the man guilty of illegal sexual intercourse, flog each of them with a hundred stripes”.
3. Hadith Contradicting Quran be Rejected
In this way, every hadith narrated from the Messenger ﷺ of Allah, if it does not appear to us to be in accordance with the Qur’an, can be rejected by saying, “He ﷺ might not have said that.” In this way, it will be considered correct to reject the hadith on following two grounds:
4. One is that if the words of the hadith are slightly different from the words of the Qur’an, even though its meaning is consistent with the Book of Allah (then it should be rejected) or else
5. If its words are slightly more than the words of the verse (even then it should be rejected), even if there is only a slight difference between them.[53]
Imams and Scholars Abandoned Quran
But it is centuries old practice to give priority to Hadith while ignoring Quran verses they contradict making it irrelevant. This has been prophesied in Quran that:
The Messengers will say (on the Day of Judgement), “Lord, my people had abandoned this Quran.” (Quran 25:30)[54]
“Surely the Shaitan is your enemy, so take him for an enemy; he only invites his party that they may be inmates of the burning fire”(Quran 35:6)[55]
Opinion of other Scholars
Sheikh Hameeduddin Farahi
As mentioned earlier, he says: “I saw some hadiths in the Sahah (six famous Hadith books), which abrogate the Qur’an. We seek refuge from the belief that the word of the Messenger can abrogate the word of God” (Nizam al-Qur’an).
Abu Al Ala Maududi
The great scholar of twentieth century Abul Ala Maududi concluded that: Any Hadith in conformity with the Qur’an is Saheeh (valid) even if its chain of narrators (asnad) is weak and any Hadith which is apparently Saheeh (valid) according to chain of narrators but does not conform with the Quran becomes weak (Zaeef). [Explanation of Quran verse 22:1, note 1]
Conclusion
The Quran is the Watcher, Guardian, Criterion, authority of Certification for all Books written on Islam (past, present, future), the original Supreme status as the last Book of Allah should be restored in practice not only in words. The Hadith literature should be thoroughly research and analyzed by as many teams of experts formulated at individual level and collectively at government level in Muslim countries. The Darul Ulooms Universities should organise research for this purpose. It’s not difficult in the era of the digital age. Muslim Ummah of around two billion should no more be misguided by Shytan the cursed one. We must pass this Trial (fitnah).
Allah may help us in this noble endeavour.
For further details and references visit:
https://bit.ly/Hadith-Basics
https://wp.me/scyQCZ-criteria
https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQkKmr5TWERCwX5GXs-pbYxd3hrP4mJ1BYPCKf25BxXWu27iAnIbRHkjyvEIg-dP1wWOWzw1offVxzL/pub https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQkKmr5TWERCwX5GXs-pbYxd3hrP4mJ1BYPCKf25BxXWu27iAnIbRHkjyvEIg-dP1wWOWzw1offVxzL/pub?embedded=true
