1 Qabeelat AlShams Chain of Command: Sciences of Hadith – Review Session 1 The Importance of Intentions The Prophet ﷺ said: “Verily, actions are but by intention and every man shall have that which he intended. Thus he whose migration was for Allah and His messenger, his migration was for Allah and His messenger, and he whose migration was to achieve some worldly benefit or to take some woman in marriage, his migration was for that which he migrated.” [Bukhari, Muslim] This is the most well known Ahad Ghareeb hadith as there is only one narrator in the first four levels of the chain. The hadeeth was narrated by Umar ibn al Khattab, who narrated to one tabi’ee Alqamah ibn Waqqas al-Laythi, who narrated to another tabi’i (Muhammad ibn Ibraheem at-Taymi) who narrated to another tabi’i (Yahya ibn Sa’eed Al-Ansari) who then narrated to many. The Prophet ﷺ also narrated: “Indeed Allah has forbidden for Hell the person who testifies ‘La ilaha illa Allah’ seeking thereby nothing but Allah’s Face (pleasure).” [Bukhari, Muslim] The condition in the Hadith above is that one is seeking Allah’s pleasure when doing deeds. Before any religious deed is accepted, it must fulfil 2 criteria: 1. Must be purely for Allah’s sake, i.e. have the correct intention. 2. Must be in accordance with Qur’an and Sunnah. “Sincerity is the musk of our hearts.” [Ibn Al-Qayyim (rahimahullah)] On Seeking Knowledge… Abdullah ibn Mubarak used to say: “The beginning of knowledge is the intention, then listening, then understanding, then action, then preservation, and then spreading it.” Knowledge has 3 rights over you: 1. To learn it 2. To act upon it 3. To teach it to others Some of the blessings of Knowledge • Seeking knowledge is so important that it is the only thing the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was commanded to ask for more of, not for more wealth or increase in status: “And say: My lord! Increase me in knowledge” [Surah Ta-Ha: 114] • Knowledge is a sign of Allah’s love for a person Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: 2 Qabeelat AlShams Chain of Command: Sciences of Hadith – Review Session 1 “If Allah wants good for someone, Allah will give that person an understanding of the religion.” [Bukhari] Abu Hurayrah reported that the messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Allah makes the way to jannah easy for him who treads the path in search of knowledge.” [Muslim] • Knowledge is so blessed that the benefits remain after ones death ''When the son of Adam dies, his good deeds come to an end except three: Sadaqah Jaariyah (continuing charity), knowledge which benefits others, pious offspring who will pray for him. The blessings and benefits mentioned above refer to those who seek Islamic knowledge as opposed to secular knowledge, which is also praiseworthy but doesn’t come under the same category of reward as seeking Islamic knowledge. What is the Study of Hadeeth? The Sciences of Hadith is entirely unique to Islam in that no other society has such a scrutinising and precise methodology of preserving statements of the Prophet ﷺ in place! Hadith studies refers mainly to hadith methodology and criteria that seek to verify accuracy of text and authenticity of hadith. It can be broadly divided into two main categories: ‘Ilm ar-Riwaayah – ‘knowledge of the narrations’ Refers to the textual study of hadith. It is knowledge of what the hadith is saying and benefits and rules you can extract from it. ‘Ilm ad-Diraayah – ‘knowledge of the chains and conditions of ahadith’ Study of the chain and principles that are used in determining the acceptability or unacceptability of a hadith. A useful analogy is comparing this to fiqh studies: ‘ilm ar-riwaayah would be similar to the study of fiqh ‘ilm ad-diraayah would be similar to the study of usool al-fiqh Most scholars specialise in either one or the other, but there are a few scholars that mastered both fields such as Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Imam al-Bukhari (rahimahumallah). There has been more forgery in the ‘uloom of hadith than any other Islamic science. If the sunnah is corrupted, the deen is also corrupted – these scholars that dedicated their lives to the study of hadith are in fact defenders of the deen! 3 Qabeelat AlShams Chain of Command: Sciences of Hadith – Review Session 1 Hadith Terminology Hadith -ثيدح Linguistic meaning: Speech, conversation, an item of news, something that is new (when used in adjective form) Technical meaning: Whatever is transmitted from the prophet (sad) of his actions, sayings, tacit approvals or physical characteristics. How does this term differ from Sunnah? The terms hadith and sunnah are often used interchangeably, but hadith is often used to refer specifically to the verbal statements of our prophet. Sunnah -ةَّنُس Linguistically means a way or path, or a manner/habit or conduct Technical meaning: Same as the definition of hadith but some hadith scholars also include the sunnah of the rightly guided caliphs as part of the definition. 1. Sunnah Qawliyyah – verbal statements of the prophet ﷺ. a. Example: Narrated Ibn ‘Umar: Allah’s Apostle said, “Cut the moustaches short and leave the beard (as it is).” [Bukhari] 2. Sunnah Fi’liyyah – the actions of the prophet ﷺ. a. “Salim narrated it on the authority of his father who reported: I saw the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) raising his hands apposite the shoulders at the time of beginning the prayer and before bowing down and after coming back to the position after bowing. But he did not raise them between two prostrations.” [Muslim] 3. Sunnah Taqreeriyyah -the approvals of the Prophet regarding the actions of the Companions verbally or tacitly. a. Example: Abu Hurayrah reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to Bilal (radiAllahu ‘anhu) "Tell me about the most hopeful act (i.e., one which you deem the most rewarding with Allah) you have done since your acceptance of Islam because I heard the sound of the steps of your shoes in front of me in Jannah.'' Bilal said: "I do not consider any act more hopeful than that whenever I make Wudu' (or took a bath) in an hour of night or day, I would immediately perform Salah for as long as was destined for me to perform.''[Al-Bukhari and Muslim]. When used in the context of fiqh, sunnah is one of the 5 rulings of deeds (fard, sunnah, mubah, makrooh, haraam) – an action you get rewarded for if you do. According to ‘aqeedah – sunnah is the opposite of bid’ah (innovation). According to ‘usool – the same definition as the hadith scholars but only those statements, actions, approvals and characteristics after the revelation, as their concern is to derive rulings. 4 Qabeelat AlShams Chain of Command: Sciences of Hadith – Review Session 1 Khabar -ربخ Literally means report or verbal communication/announcement of news. Closer in meaning to hadith than sunnah. Difference between khabar and hadith: Every hadith originates from the messenger. Khabar is information that comes from others concerning the prophet. Therefore, every hadith is a khabar but not every khabar is a hadith. Shi’i scholars include the sayings of their imams as khabar also, and they define sunnah as the sunnah of the Prophet only. Al-Athar – رثلأا Literally means imprint or relic. At times khabar and al-athar are synonymous, but it is a more comprehensive term as it includes everything that is attributed to the messenger, his sahabah, followers and leading figures. Athar Khabar Mawqoof Indicated by a sahaba to be sunnah but the chain does not reach the Prophet himself. Hadith Qudsi What the Prophet ﷺ said that Allah (swt) said to him. It is different from the Qur’an, as the Qur’an is the Arabic speech of Allah revealed to Muhammad ﷺ by way of Jibreel and is mutawaatir in meaning and wording. A hadith Qudsi is Allah’s speech in meaning only. It may be classified as other ahadith are as saheeh, hasan or da’eef, mutawaatir or ahad. Sanad Linguistically means pillar or support. With regards to hadith, it refers to the individuals that transmitted hadith from the Prophet ﷺ until it reaches us. Isnaad is the verbal noun of sanad and the terms are synonymous. Matn -Refers to the text of the hadith Musnid -A carrier of hadith – synonymous with rawi (narrator). Musnad Refers to hadith supported by chain of transmission. It refers to a hadith that is connected all the way back to the Prophet ﷺ. It is both mutassil (connected) and marfu’ (elevated). Excludes hadith with a broken chain e.g. mawquf and mursal ahadith. Musnad is not synonymous with marfu’ (elevated). Every musnad is marfu’ but not every marfu’ qualifies as a musnad. 5 Qabeelat AlShams Chain of Command: Sciences of Hadith – Review Session 1 The musnad must also be clear of any hidden ambiguity (tadlis). A schematic illustrating the components of a hadith