QUESTION:
I have met some ‘brothers’ who don’t believe in hadith and say that we should not follow it since it cannot be trusted and is misguiding us and adding things to the Deen can you please clear that up for me. They also disrespect Imam Bukhari and say how is it possible he collected hadith 250 years after the Prophet (peace be upon him) passed away, why did nobody do it when the Prophet was alive?
ANSWER:
Complete rejection of the ahadith literature which encompasses mutawatir (mass-narrated) ahadith which benefit qat’i (conclusive, definite) knowledge is an act of clear kufr. People who hold such heretic beliefs should not be referred to as brothers. This filthy belief is held by the Chakralwiyyah also known as the Parveziyyah, who call themselves Ahlul Qur’an or Qur’anists, who first reared their ugly heads in the Indian subcontinent.
The Prophetic Sunnah as conveyed in the ahadith literature is one of the sources of shari’ah and by rejecting it such people are in clear opposition to the Qur’an, yet they have the audacity to call themselves ‘People of the Qur’an’.
Allah has mentioned in the Qur’an,
“And whatsoever the Messenger gives you, take it, and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain from that”
[Surah al-Hashr Verse 7]
“We sent down to you the Remembrance (The Holy Quran) that you may explain to people what was sent down to them”
[Surah al-Nahl Verse 44]
The blatant absurdity of the claims laid by such people is manifest when one considers how these wretched people propose that one prays or performs hajj without the detailed description of such matters conveyed from the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وصحبه وسلم) in the hadith literature?
Their dismissive claim that hadith literature cannot be trusted shows complete ignorance of the principles of hadith science including narrator criticism which has allowed for the grading of ahadith according to their authenticity with respect to their chains of narration and accompanying text narratives and complete disregard of the concept of tawatur (mass narration) which benefits qat’i (conclusive) knowledge in that which is transmitted from the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وصحبه وسلم).
Their claim that ahadith were not recorded until 250 a.h. is a blatant lie. In fact ahadith were recorded at the time of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وصحبه وسلم) himself. The following are by way of example:
When Fathu Makkah occurred in 8 a.h. the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وصحبه وسلم) stood before the people and delivered a sermon. One of those present was Sayyiduna Abu Shah (رضي الله عنه) from the people of Yemen and he requested that the words of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وصحبه وسلم) be written down for him saying:
“Write it down for me O Messenger of Allah.” The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وصحبه وسلم) said: “Write it down for Abu Shah.”
[Sahih al-Bukhari hadith 2434]
Sayyiduna Amr ibn al As (رضي الله عنه) narrates that he would write the ahadith of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وصحبه وسلم) and memorise them until some people dissuaded him from doing so and he stopped. He narrates that he mentioned this affair to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وصحبه وسلم) who told him to write, taking an oath by Allah and saying:
“Nothing exits from me except that it is the Truth.”
[Musnad Imam Ahmad Hadith 6510]
The existence of well-known hadith compilations such as the Muwatta of Imam Malik (d.179 ah) (رضي الله عنه) pre-dating Sahih al-Bukhari also points to the shallowness of their claims.
Another early example of hadith recording is found in the Tabi’i Sayyiduna Hammam ibn Munnabih (d. 131 a.h.) (رضي الله عنه) who recorded ahadith narrated to him from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (رضي الله عنه) in a work known as ‘Al-Sahifah al-Sahihah’. This complete work was later related within the text of the Musnad of Imam Ahmad (رضي الله عنه).
These are some basic points indicating upon the corruptness of the call to reject the ahadith books. One should avoid contact with ahlul bid’ah (the people of innovation) in preservation of ones own Imaan. If it is hoped that particular individuals may leave their corrupt aqaa’id through discussion they should be referred to Sunni ulama in your locality.
Allah knows best.
May Allah protect our Imaan and give us tawfiq in living and dying upon the Aqidah of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah.
Answered by Ustadh Ibrar Shafi
Also see:
[Q-ID0063] Rejecting muttawatir hadith, disbelief or innovation?
[Q-ID0305] What is the ruling on those who refer to the sayings of the Prophet ﷺ as ‘oppressive’?
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