Importance of knowing the narrators of Hadeeth
the narrators of hadeeth are the most honourable and respectable muslims, as they are keepers and preservers of sunnah. most of them are the companions of the prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) who witnessed the acts and learnt the sayings of the prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ). others are the successors of the companions. who were blessed by allaah and they are highly respected by all muslims. they are shinning stars of islam.
their hearts were free from worldly desires. reading their biographies will increase love and devotion towards them and develop more interest to be faithful and obedient in the heart of the muslim who reads their biography.
allaah almighty says (what means): "verily, we have sent down the reminder, and surely, we will guard it (from corruption)." [quran; 15:9] the above promise made by allaah is obviously fulfilled in the undisputed purity of the quranic text throughout the fourteen centuries since its revelation.
however, what is often forgotten by many muslims is that the above divine promise also includes, by necessity, the sunnah of the prophet muhammad sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) for it is the practical example of the implementation of the quranic guidance, the wisdom taught to the prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) along with the scripture, and neither the quran nor the sunnah can be understood correctly without recourse to the other.
allaah preserved the sunnah by enabling the companions may allaah be pleased with them and their followers may allaah have mercy upon them to memorize, write down and pass on the statements of the messenger of allaah sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) and the descriptions of his way, as well as to continue the blessings of practicing the sunnah. later, as the purity of the knowledge of the sunnah became threatened, allaah caused the muslim nation to produce outstanding individuals of incredible memory-skills and analytical expertise, who journeyed tirelessly to collect hundreds of thousands of narrations and distinguish the true words of precious wisdom of their messenger sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) from those corrupted by weak memories, from forgeries by unscrupulous liars, and from the statements of the enormous number of scholars, the companions and those who followed their way, who had taught in various centers of learning and helped to transmit the legacy of muhammad sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) - all of this achieved through precise attention to the words narrated and detailed familiarity with the biographies of the thousands of reporters of hadeeth. action being the best way to preserve teachings, the scholars of islam also revived the practice of the blessed authentic sunnah.
unfortunately, however, statements will continue to be attributed to the prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) although the person quoting them may have no idea what the people of knowledge in the field of hadeeth science have ruled regarding those hadeeths, thus ironically being in danger of contravening the prophet's sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) widely-narrated stern warnings about attributing incorrect/unsound statements to him.
the methodology of the expert scholars of hadeeth in assessing narrations and sorting out the genuine from the mistaken, fabricated etc., forms the subject-matter of a wealth of material left to us by the scholars of hadeeth (traditionists).
a hadeeth is composed of two parts: the matn (text) and the isnaad (chain of reporters). a text may seem to be logical and reasonable but it needs an authentic isnaad with reliable reporters to be acceptable. 'abdullaah ibn al-mubaarak may allaah have mercy upon him (d. 181 ah), one of the illustrious teachers of imaam al-bukhaari may allaah have mercy upon him said: "the isnaad is part of the religion, had it not been for the isnaad, then people would have claimed whatever they wished."
among the sciences of hadeeth is the study of the chain of reporters (the isnaad). many muslim scholars have specialized in this field. it includes identifying the name of each and every narrator (reporter), his character (his truthfulness, piety, public behavior), his ability and reputation as a memorizer and the types of narrations he is known to report, whether authentic, weak, fabricated, etc. in addition, each narrator should be identified by a rating given by other narrators who knew him. so all of these and many other details must be considered to know the degree to which a hadeeth may be used as a basis for islamic belief or practice (sharee’ah), or merely as a point of interest (not to be attributed to the sayings, etc. of the prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention )).
after the book of allaah (the quran), the books of hadeeth collection that were collected by imaams bukhaari and muslim may allaah have mercy upon them are considered by the muslim scholars to be the most authentic books of hadeeth. however, there are other famous scholars in the field who compiled books of hadeeth such as; abu daawood (d.275), at-tirmithi (d. 279), an-nasaa’i (d. 303) and others may allaah have mercy upon them.
History of the Sunnah
muslims were, early on, aware of the significance of the sunnah and its authority. they, one generation after the other, were keen to preserve the sunnah because they saw that as a part of the preserving of the last revelations man is ever to receive. their efforts were unabated, and the remarkable job they did is unparalleled in the experience of any other religion or civilization.
at the time of the prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ):
one of the main reasons behind this is the fact that the prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) clearly taught the companions may allaah be pleased with them the importance of his sunnah, its place in islam and their role in saving it, teaching and conveying it to others around them and to those who would come after them. in so doing, he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) followed an effective methodology, which will be briefly outlined below:
1. he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) emphasized the importance of seeking knowledge and teaching it to others. he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) said: "seeking knowledge is obligatory upon every muslim (male and female)." [ibn maajah] also, he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) said: "whosoever pursues a path to seek knowledge therein, allaah will thereby make easy for him a path to paradise. no people gather together in one of the houses of allaah (mosques), reciting the book of allaah and studying it among themselves, without tranquility descending upon them, mercy enveloping them and angles surrounding them, and allaah making mention of them to those (angels) who are with him." [muslim]
2. he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) always had a center for teaching. most of the time, it was the mosque.
3. he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) was soft in his dealings and always facilitated things and made them easy for others. he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) was merciful and humble and made himself readily available.
4. he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) never pushed people into anything. instead, he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) gradually taught them and led them to change. he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) always motivated them to follow his example and be their best.
5. he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) would not continuously teach or work with them, but he would give them enough breaks to avoid overstressing or boring them.
6. he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) spoke plainly and clearly and he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) talked to people at their level of understanding and intellectual ability. whenever appropriate, he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) spoke to people in their own dialect for the arabs had different dialects.
7. he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) used the method of repetition. he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) would repeat whatever he wanted to stress for three times to insure that all heard him properly and clearly understood what he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) was saying.
8. when questioned, he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) would give more than what is expected as an answer and use the occasion to further clarify things for all, and teach about other things.
9. whenever the prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) had to choose between two ways, he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) chose the easier way, which had facility and mercy if there was nothing forbidden in that, and he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) kept away from the difficult and harsh ways.
10. he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) attached special attention to teaching the women and provided them special times for questions. he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) encouraged them to ask and learn.
11. he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) used to do his best in everything, and he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) perfected whatever he did, thus setting an example for others.
the era of the companions and their followers
the companions may allaah be pleased with them did their utmost to convey islam to the generations succeeding them in the best and most accurate way possible. they sincerely loved it, honestly lived according to it and faithfully preserved it and kept any impurity or irregularity out of it.
their role in the preservation of islam was one of utmost importance to its continuation, but they were highly prepared for it by the best teacher and trainer, the prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ). thus the studying of this era, especially with respect to the history and authority of the sunnah, is necessary to all students of knowledge.
and since this article will not provide enough details to properly cover the subject, it is recommended that the readers consult the following list of books on the subject:
studies of early hadeeth literature by m. m. azami, sunnah qabla at-tadween (the sunnah before writing) by ajaj al-khateeb, the sunnah and its place in islam by mustafa as-siba'ee, manhajj an-naqd fi uloom al-hadeeth (the methodology of critique in the sciences of hadeeth) by noor-ud-deen etr, al-hadeeth wal muhaddithoon (hadeeth and hadeeth narrators) by muhammad m. abu zahou, and hujjiatus sunnah (the authority of the sunnah) by houcine chouat.
methodology of the companions in preserving the sunnah
before discussing the companions' ways of learning, practicing, preserving and conveying of the sunnah, it is worthwhile to shed some light on the main points one needs to understand about the companions may allaah be pleased with them and their methodology:
1. the companions may allaah be pleased with them were fully aware of the responsibility they shoulder after the death of the prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ).
2. the companions may allaah be pleased with them are all trustworthy. they may allaah be pleased with them never doubted one another in the matters of this religion and the narration of hadeeth.
3. the companions may allaah be pleased with them have developed a methodology for scrutinizing hadeeths and narrators, and by doing that have established the rules of ascertaining narrations for those who came after them.
4. the ability of different companions may allaah be pleased with them to understand the sunnah, memorize it and convey it varied from one companion to another.
5. the companions may allaah be pleased with them left makkah and madeenah to many places around the muslim world, at the time, for the purpose of delivering the message and teaching islam to those who accepted it thus spreading the sunnah throughout the land.
it is interesting to note that about 750 companions may allaah be pleased with them narrated hadeeths, seven of whom narrated a high number of hadeeths, and about twenty narrated an average number, the rest narrated a small number.
the seven who narrated a large number of hadeeths are: abu hurayrah who narrated 5374 hadeeths, 'abdullaah ibn ‘umar narrated 2630, anas ibn maalik narrated 2286, 'aa'ishah narrated 2210 hadeeths, 'abdullaah ibn 'abbaas narrated 1660, jaabir ibn 'abdullaah narrated 1540, and abu sa'eed ai-khudri narrated 1100 hadeeths may allaah be pleased with them. they understood their role and were aware of the significance of their ability in narrating the hadeeths and did their best to deliver them diligently and accurately. muslims of all times are indebted to them may allaah be pleased with them.
most scholars group the main aspects of the methodology of the companions may allaah be pleased with them in preserving the sunnah into the following seven categories: prudence in narrating the hadeeths, verification and substantiation of the hadeeths before accepting them, critique, discussions and assessment of the narration, traveling for search and confirmation of the hadeeths, memorization, practice and writing of the hadeeths. some scholars refer to these aspects as ‘rulings’, ‘methods’ or ‘ways’ instead of methodology.
1- prudence in narrating the hadeeth:
because of the fact that the sunnah is a revelation and a sacred source for this religion, the companions may allaah be pleased with them were very careful when narrating what the prophet, sallallaahu alayhi sallam, said or did. this vigilance was illustrated in:
· avoiding narration unless they had to. ‘abdur-rahmaan ibn abi layla may allaah have mercy upon him said: “i have met with 120 companions may allaah be pleased with them from the ansaar (supporters of the prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention )), none of whom would narrate a hadeeth or answer a question of fatwa unless he absolutely had no choice but to do it. one would have to go and ask another instead of him, so much so you would keep going from one to the other until you get back to the first one you asked.” they may allaah be pleased with them understood that they were conveying the message brought to them by the prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) and that people see it as such, thus everyone wanted the other to do that because they may know it better. this, however, should not be construed to mean they avoided spreading the message or teaching islam to others. this prudence indicates they were fully aware of their role and its significance. they would rather let others, who may be more knowledgeable, do the job, but once they had to do, they did it in the best way possible.
· limiting or discouraging the narration. this attitude was adopted for the purpose of protecting the sunnah because it minimizes the possibility of mistakes or forgetfulness that may otherwise cause people to doubt the sunnah or mistrust the narrators. this trend was strongly encouraged by caliphs abu bakr and ‘umar ibn al-khattaab may allaah be pleased with them and was accepted and practiced by the companions may allaah be pleased with them. this attitude is founded on the famous hadeeth narrated by many companions may allaah be pleased with them: “it is sufficient —for one to tumble into lying - to narrate or repeat everything he/she hears.” [al-bukhaari and others]
· encouraging narration from knowledgeable companions may allaah be pleased with them. to strike a necessary balance between being cautious and insuring the transmission of the religion and the spreading of its teachings, the companions may allaah be pleased with them who had a great deal of knowledge—like those recommended by the prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention )—never hesitated to narrate, write or teach the sunnah. there are hundreds of narrations that encourage such practice so long as it is done in the right manner.
· opting for verbatim narration. guided with instruction in the hadeeth, “may allaah bless the person who hears a statement from me and conveys it as he/she heard it,” the companions may allaah be pleased with them did all that was humanly possible to keep their narration verbatim of what they actually heard from the prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ). there are many reported incidents, which testify to this fact. having such natural mastery of the arabic – that was common among them—and the fact that they may allaah be pleased with them saw and heard the prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) say, do and explain to them his teachings repeatedly, as well as their understanding of the need for verbatim transmission of narrations, all combined to make it easy for them not to cause changes as they narrate any hadeeth.
2- verification of the hadeeth before accepting it
this is an important tool that the companions may allaah be pleased with them established to safeguard the sunnah against any foreign material interference and accidental or deliberate mistakes. this was a common practice amongst all of the companions may allaah be pleased with them when receiving or narrating the sunnah. imaam ath-thahabi may allaah have mercy upon him mentioned this practice, in one of his great books, addressing the issue of hadeeth memorizers. he may allaah have mercy upon him said that it was one of the ways used by of the four caliphs may allaah be pleased with them to protect the hadeeth. for example, abu bakr may allaah be pleased with him was asked to rule in the case of a grandmother who came asking for her right in inheritance, he may allaah be pleased with him said that he knew of no amount due to her neither in the book of allaah (i.e., quran) nor the sunnah of the prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ). but when al-mugheerah may allaah be pleased with him told that he has witnessed the prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) give one-sixth of the total amount of the inheritance, he may allaah be pleased with him asked him if he had witness to substantiate this claim. and when muhammad ibn maslamah may allaah be pleased with him witnessed to the truth of that figure, abu bakr may allaah be pleased with him accepted it and gave the grandmother exactly that.
in the case of ‘umar ibn al-khattaab may allaah be pleased with him ath-thahabi may allaah have mercy upon him mentioned many incidents that testify to the fact that he may allaah be pleased with him always ascertained the narration when it was necessary to do so. he may allaah have mercy upon him narrated that maalik ibn aws may allaah be pleased with him heard ‘umar may allaah be pleased with him say to ‘abdur-rahmaan ibn ‘awf, talhah ibn az-zubayr and sa’d ibn abi waqqaas may allaah be pleased with them: “i ask by allaah, who maintains the heaven and earth! did you hear the prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) say: ‘i am not to be inherited, whatever i leave is to be given in charity'? they said: `yes, allaah is our witness.” [ahmad]
after narrating the above incidents among others, imaam ath-thahabi may allaah have mercy upon him repeatedly asserted that the verifications were not meant to doubt the truthfulness of any of the companions may allaah be pleased with them rather they were necessary to establish a standard of care and respect for what the prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, said or did. they may allaah be pleased with them did that for themselves and to institute a tradition to be followed and honored by all who come after them.
in summary, it is essential to note the following about this method:
- the purpose was to protect the sunnah, not to doubt one another. all of the companions may allaah be pleased with them are trustworthy as clearly stated in the quran, and doubting their trustworthiness can certainly damage one's faith.
- the purpose, also, was to establish a method and set an example to be followed by the rest of the muslim nation. the truth, however, remains that companions may allaah be pleased with them used to accept narration conveyed by any one of them. their request of witnesses or that the narrator gives an oath that he is saying the truth was to establish the methodology, so that people would not take narrating a hadeeth lightly. this fact may further be supported when considering that:
- sometimes they may allaah be pleased with them required a witness while at others they had the narrator give oath or reminded him of how serious it is to lie against the prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ). this variation indicates that the purpose was actually to establish awareness of the significance of narrating the hadeeth rather than set up a requirement of having more than one narrator as a condition for its authenticity.
- there are a very large number of narrations, which indicate that in many cases the companions may allaah be pleased with them had actually accepted hadeeth from one narrator without seeking any substantiation or verification.
6 - writing of the hadeeth
earlier in this series we discussed in some detail the writing of the sunnah in the era of the prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) and also showed that the companions may allaah be pleased with them were encouraged by him sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) to learn writing and that many of them learned and mastered it. thus, not only did the companions may allaah be pleased with them use their gift of strong memories to start a tradition of oral transmission of the sunnah, but also they added to that the use of their newly learned skill of writing. many companions may allaah be pleased with them had recorded these sunnah for their personal references and to supplement their memorized hadeeth. the existence of these personal references has been the subject of numerous treatises by old and contemporary scholars, both muslims and non-muslims.
there are, however, two points, which are mentioned by those who believe that the sunnah was not recorded by the companions may allaah be pleased with them and they need to be clarified. the first is the claim that some of the well-known companions may allaah be pleased with them were reported to have refused to write the sunnah and have ordered others not to write it. such reports included abu bakr, ‘umar lbn al-khattaab, ‘ali, ibn abbaaas and ibn mas’ood may allaah be pleased with them. and while some of these reports are authentic, none of them present the writing of the sunnah as being forbidden to undertake, rather these companions may allaah be pleased with them were afraid that this writing might generate confusion with the quran, and no report ever indicated that they tried to prevent others from writing it. in addition, these companions may allaah be pleased with them were against having a personal collection of the narrations, not against writing the sunnah in general, later some of them, like abu bakr, ‘umar and ‘ali may allaah be pleased with them while being caliphs, each ordered the writing of the sunnah in occasions for a variety of reasons.
the second point is the claim that it was ‘umar ibn abd al-‘azeez, who first ordered the writing of the sunnah as a collection. obviously, this is cited in support of the claim that no written record was made of the sunnah until that point in time. this is not true, for the authentic records prove that many collections-mostly personal were dated back to the era of the prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) and that of the companions may allaah be pleased with them. ‘umar's may allaah be pleased with him efforts however were part of the attempt to collect the hadeeths on a global scale to facilitate its availability to all. eventually this objective was achieved and all of the sunnah was put together in the well-known books, which represent a tradition of care and preservation unmatched by any religion or nation. it is an undisputable fact that the companions may allaah be pleased with them used their writing skills to preserve the sunnah and convey it to their followers.
7 - practice
an extremely important way the companions may allaah be pleased with them used to preserve the sunnah was their efforts to bring the sunnah into their practice and shape their life according to it. they may allaah be pleased with them truly understood that the emphasis islam places on knowledge goes beyond the mere theoretical understanding and intellectual exercise. they realized that prophet muhammad’s sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) teachings are not philosophical contemplations but ways and guidance that are intimately connected to the affairs of this life. they may allaah be pleased with them saw in the prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) a trainer and a role model, whatever they absorbed for him sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) they immediately put into practice. their atmosphere was one of following the sunnah at all levels, an environment that was produced by a widespread reverence and a constant practice of the sunnah. this environment provided the best situation for them to teach and train those who followed them the whole religion as they learned it and practiced it thus preserving it for all the time to come. we are all indebted to them.
efforts of the followers may allaah have mercy upon them to preserve the sunnah
the followers (taabi'een) may allaah have mercy upon them were the closest, of all muslim generations, to the generation of the companions may allaah be pleased with them in terms of righteousness, knowledge, ijtihaad (deduction of juristic opinion on matters which are not specified in the quran or the sunnah), keenness in following the guidance from the sunnah, and seriousness in spreading the religion. this was expected for they were the companions' students and were the first to receive the religion and knowledge from them as well as made every effort to preserve them.
in their era, islam spread over a very large area of the known world, people from all religions, nations and races came into islam, and the followers may allaah have mercy upon them had a major responsibility in preserving the religion as well as deliver it to all of these people—authentically and effectively. that turned out to be a major task for the number of the new comers into this young religion was far overwhelming to any number of scholars, teachers or callers (to islam). what made their job even more difficult was the fact that some of those who did not want islam to prevail, chose to fight it from within—by pretending to be muslims while their ultimate goal was to hurt islam.
the challenges the followers may allaah have mercy upon them had to deal with were new and difficult but allaah guided them to do the right thing - to follow the methodology set and provided to the companions of the prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ). the books of the seerah (the prophet's biography), islamic history and biographies are full of their struggle and success stories. they should be consulted by all for they are an incredible source of knowledge and inspiration.
looking at the era of the followers, one can easily see that they followed the exact footsteps of the companions may allaah be pleased with them in their methodology in preserving the sunnah. a closer examination however reveals that the followers may allaah have mercy upon them efforts to preserve the sunnah and spread the religion were further characterized by at least four points:
· they followed the same methodology they learned from the companions may allaah be pleased with them in loving the sunnah, learning it, and in following and teaching it. they embraced it strongly and honestly. however, they had to add to it new rules as well as extend some of the existing ones. they were facing a situation in which efforts to distort the sunnah were rampant, especially in some places like kufah. shu'bah ibn al-hajjaaj, may allaah have mercy upon him, for example, used to say: “accept knowledge only from those who are well-known to you.”
· they showed an unrivaled enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge. some of the companions may allaah be pleased with them had to teach groups that numbered in the thousands. ibn asaaker may allaah have mercy upon him wrote in at-taareekh al-kabeer (the grand history) that abu ad-dardaa’ may allaah be pleased with him had more than 1500 students in his circle in the masjid (mosque) of damascus alone. they encouraged one another as well as their children and the young among them to seek knowledge and devote all the time needed to master it. they learned the sunnah so well that they were capable of applying it in a fashion similar to that of the companions may allaah be pleased with them.
· they made a distinctive effort to write down the sunnah—both at the personal and official levels. records of these personal and official (by order of the caliph ‘umar ibn ‘abd al-azeez may allaah have mercy upon him) writings are available today.
. they made an amazing effort in spreading the sunnah everywhere and teaching it to all. the large number of study circles was a phenomenon of the followers' may allaah have mercy upon them era. scholars were available in large numbers in all of the regions of the muslim countries—egypt, kufah, basrah, syria, north africa, spain, persia and parts of the indian subcontinet.
Excellence in Faith
in one of the great prophetic narrations which included few, yet very comprehensive words, the prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) clarified one of the means for salvation, and a sign of the excellence of islam. this narration gives the believing slave a tool by which to measure himself and realize how close or far he is from the straight path.
abu hurayrah may allaah be pleased with him reported that the messenger of allaah sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) said: "it is from the excellence of (a believer's) islam that he should shun that which is of no concern to him". [at-tirmithi].
this narration contains many great meanings which a believer should understand and apply. it is one of the principles and foundations of good manners, and thus some scholars considered it to constitute one-third or one-fourth of the religion of islam.
imaam ibn al-qayyim may allaah have mercy upon him said: “the prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) summed all the aspects of piety and devoutness in this narration. he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) outlined for the slave what to do and what to shun, and it is an indication to the first pillar of soul purification, namely, shunning what does not concern the person, which leads to the second pillar, and that is busying oneself essentially with what concerns him”
he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) clarified that shunning that which does not concern the person is a means to attain excellence in religion. this means, that people, in reality, are of two categories, those who are excellent in islaam and those who are not. the one who applies islam inwardly and outwardly is the one who has reached the level of excellence , as allaah says (what means): “and who is better in religion than one who submits himself to allah while being a doer of good and follows the religion of abraham, inclining toward truth? and allah took abraham as an intimate friend.” [quran: 4:125].
on the other hand, the one who does not apply islam inwardly and outwardly is the one whose degree of commitment to islam is low, and one of the signs of this in him is that he busies himself in that which does not concern him.
the following verse is proof substantiating the meaning of the narration, in which allaah says (what means): “and they who turn away from ill speech” [quran: 23:3]. “… ill speech” is anything from falsehood, and that includes association, other minor sins and all useless speech, actions and concerns. furthermore, busing oneself with that which does not concern him is included in the definition of “ill speech”.
there are other prophetic narrations which highlight the virtue of excellence in religion, such as the narration of abu hurayrah may allaah be pleased with him in which he reported that the messenger of allaah sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) said: "when one of you reaches the level of excellence in faith, then every good deed is multiplied for him ten times up to seven hundred times; and each sin is recorded as only one, until he meets allaah” [muslim].
the saying of the prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ): “… that which is of no concern to him" means, that which does not benefit him in his worldly life or the hereafter, and this includes things that are prohibited, disliked, doubtful, and excess permissible matters which one does not really need.
the measure by which one knows whether something is of his concern or not, is islamic teachings and not ones desires.
many people decide to abandon enjoining good and forbidding evil under the pretext that this is interfering with people’s privacy and personal life. they would do so claiming that it is not a person’s concern to intervene in other people's affairs, basing their argument on an incorrect understanding of this very narration.
abu bakr as-siddeeq may allaah be pleased with him said: “o you people! you recite and misinterpret the following verse (which means): `o you who believe! take care of your own selves. if you follow the (right) guidance [and enjoin what is right (islamic monotheism and all that islam orders one to do) and forbid what is wrong (polytheism, disbelief and all that islam has forbidden)] no hurt can come to you from those who are in error.` [quran:5:105] but i have heard messenger of allah sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) saying: “when people see an oppressor but do not prevent him from (doing evil), it is likely that allaah will punish them all.”” [abu daawood & at-tirmithi].
in another narration he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may allaah exalt his mention ) said: “never that evil is committed and people do not prevent it, though able to do so, but allaah will overwhelm them with punishment”.
one other thing that one must concern himself with is the affairs of other believers and their issues, because he who does not worry about the affairs of his fellow muslims is not one of them.
the need to understand this narration, its implications and applications intensifies in times like ours, when people’s commitments and personal obligations have increased and priorities are mixed up.
the implementation of this narration is the first practical step toward reforming oneself and those under his guardianship and care which leads to achieving excellence in religion. this happens by concentrating on that which is beneficial and staying away from all that is not ones concern.
The Traditions of Prophet Muhammad
this article explores the different kinds of sunnah, which along with the qur'an form the main reference of islamic law.
scholars of islamic law differentiate between two types of prophetic actions and sayings: actions and sayings that are meant to be part of the shari`ah (islamic way and rules for life) and others that are only part of the prophet's life as a human, which are not always meant to be a law for every muslim to follow.
they call these two kinds of prophetic tradition as-sunnah at-tashri`yyah (legislative tradition) and as-sunnah ghair at-tashri`yyah (non-legislative tradition). for example, one of the prophet's companions , talha, narrated the following:
i was walking with the prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when he passed by some people at the tops of their palm trees. he asked, "what are they doing?" they answered, "pollinating the male into the female." he replied, "i do not think that this will be of benefit." when they were told about what the prophet said, they stopped what they were doing. later, when the trees shed their fruits prematurely, the prophet was told about that. he said, "if it is good for them they should do it. i was just speculating. so pardon me. but if i tell you something about god, then take it because i would never lie about god." another narrator said that the prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) added, "you know your worldly affairs better than i." (muslim)
this hadith shows one such non-legislative judgment given by the prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), which he made to the best of his knowledge. the hadith even shows an error in this technical advice, which the prophet and his companions discovered later via human experience, rather than via divine revelation.
the rationale behind this hadith may be to show that it is not part of the prophet's mission to contribute to technology and other similar worldly affairs through the revelation. rather, human empirical experience is meant to be the only means for these developments.
regarding the error that happened concerning the palm trees, the word `ismah (protection) is mentioned in the qur'an in the context of the prophet being protected from people's whims and satan's delusions. the protection of all prophets in the above sense is an islamic belief, which is a precondition to trusting the prophets' message and following their example. however, the islamic definition of infallibility does not necessarily include technical worldly matters that are not part of conveying the message, as the above example shows.
not for every muslim
furthermore, if the tradition or hadith is of the legislative type, it is not always necessarily and literally meant for all muslims. some rulings are for rulers only, some are for judges only, and so on. the following is one example:
hind bint `utbah complained to the prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about the greediness of abu sufyan (her husband) and asked whether she was allowed to take from his money without his knowledge. so the prophet said, "take what you and your children normally need (without telling abu sufyan)." (al-bukhari)
scholars commented on this hadith that the prophet was acting here as a judge rather than a prophet. in other words, he allowed hind in her specific case to do that, but the hadith does not give every woman a right to take whatever she wants from her husband's money without his knowledge, just for her own whim. scholars maintain that this hadith is for judges to learn from when they make a similar judgment, but not for every muslim.
the margin of error
it is true that there is a chance of error in this process. that is why scholars differentiated between different levels of authenticity, concerning the discipline of knowledge of prophetic hadith, by setting precise and rigid criteria. the following are two of these levels —among others— that are relavant here:
1. mutawatir (recurring, most famous). these are narrations that are conveyed through a large number of people who could not possibly agree to lie.
the qur'an and a certain number of prophetic traditions fall under this category. the qur'an, for example, was recited by thousands of people, and their recitations are the same. it is a logical conclusion that one can build firm beliefs and true obligations on this level of authenticity.
2. ahad (individual, single-chained narrations). these are narrations according to one or two narrators, and hence are less "confirmed" than the first kind.
scholars judged that these kinds of narrations could teach us about halal (lawful) and haram (forbidden), but could not be evidence of faith in their own right. this is because of the possibility of error in something that is narrated by only one or two people.
but a possibility of error in companions' narrations should not discredit them completely. there are levels of authenticity and there are many sources of error that do not necessarily discredit a person. so if the person is trustworthy, muslims accept the person's account but do not build matters of faith on it unless it is confirmed by a number of other narrators or witnesses.
in addition, scholars reject many hadiths because they are not up to the level of authenticity that implies any credibility. one example is when the narrator is known to be forgetful, ill-intentioned, or biased one way or another. that is why it is important to check the authenticity of a hadith before taking it, especially in matters related to islamic creed and jurisprudence.
muslim scholars have also set specific criteria for narrators of hadith before they can be accepted as narrators. these criteria are related to the biography of the narrator, including his or her reputation and moral attitude. hadith authenticity is an independent discipline of knowledge in itself.
