Definition Of Hadith

According to the dictionary, speech and hadith are synonymous with each other. However, in the terminology of Muhadhdhitheen, hadith is the name of a medium, which incorporates sayings, work or the speech of the infallibles. According to Muhadhdhitheen, news is also allegorically used for these meanings, while the phrase Sunnah, whose literal meaning is speech, acts or adage of the infallibles is also called hadith.

In earlier times, people used to narrate Ahadith on the basis of memory. However, with the passage of time, Ahadith were collected and edited in the book form in the first century Hijra. Later on, this process acquired great fame and the world of Islam then produced great masters of this maintaining this tradition, the example of which is not found in any other religion of the world.

Pre-Eminence Of Hadith

In reality, the science of hadith is one of the great branches of Islamic education. It contains all aspects of perpetual success in the hereafter and the material world. Allama Al-Majlisi’s thoughts on hadith are worth mentioning. He said -

“I swear on my life that I have found hadith to be an ark of success that is filled of eternal blessings. I have found them the minarets of guidance that are guarantors of salvation in the darkness of ignorance. I have seen the banners of the travellers on this route of guidance flying high, and how pleasant are the sound of echoes of the elders who invite others along this course to this campaign.

I have seen blooming gardens full of flowers and fruits of erudition in the districts of this city. I have seen passages, while travelling through this channel leading to magnanimity and virtuosity. I have not seen anywhere, any word of wisdom and perception, whose essence is not contained in the treasury of hadith. I have not learnt any fact or information whose core is not mentioned in the hadith.”

For the satisfaction of the faithful, we have quoted some Ahadith to show its eminence.

Imam Muhammad Al-Baqir (‘a) has said, “O Fazil, our Ahadith revive the dead souls.”

Imam Ja’far As-Sadiq (‘a) said that if you receive a Hadith from a reliable person, then it was better than the entire treasure of the world.

Allama Al-Majlisi wrote in his Risala al-I’tiqadia, “Then our Imams left their signs and news for us. Therefore, it is important that in this period of major occultation of the Imam, we remain in touch with their news, and ponder on its substance. Unfortunately, the people today have set up their faith on their personal conjectures by forgetting the news, narrations and reports of Ahl al-Bayt. They themselves have lost the way and they are making the rest to follow their drift.”

Harm Of Denying Ahadith

One must know that amongst Muslims, there was a sect, which denounced Ahadith. Some people sowed the seeds of this mischief during the last days of the Prophet’s life. They announced that the book of God was sufficient for them. This shrub has now established firm roots, and on occasions it has flourished well in the community. In the time of Ghulam Ahmed Parvez, it has become a fully blooming tree. This poisonous tree has maligned the clean ambience of Islamic thoughts.

We are thankful to the Lord that scholars of Islam without any sectarian divide have wiped out the essential ingredients of this harmful view by writing books and delivering lectures in public meetings. We present a few reasons below, as a counsel to demonstrate the importance of this topic.

It was clear in the mind of intellectuals that only a specialist rather than a non-specialist of a subject could make the viewpoint and philosophy of the matter much clearer and more lucid by way of explanations. Therefore, a book that contained the realm of almost everything and also declared that its hidden meanings were not known to everyone, rather only certain people had this knowledge, cannot be left to the conjectures of the general populace.

Among the religious responsibilities of the Prophet (S), one important chapter was the erudition of the Qur’an and its relevant logical discourses. If the Muslims, who were also excellent linguists, were capable of interpreting the Qur’an and its hidden meanings and concepts in the manner desired by God, then there was no need for the Prophet (S) to act as a teacher for them. Naturally, the teaching process of the Prophet (S) must involve words and phrases, which were different aspects of hadith. Any fair-minded individual could not deny this.

God says in Surah Al-Nahl:

وَنَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ تِبْيَانًا لِّكُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةً وَبُشْرَىٰ لِلْمُسْلِمِينَ

“… And We have revealed the Book to you explaining clearly everything, and a guidance and mercy and good news for those who submit...” (16:89).

This Qur’anic Verse made it abundantly clear that those narrations, elucidations and comments were nothing but the teachings about the subject matter of the Qur’an, and this was what was called hadith.

It was revealed in Surah Al-Nisa’:

إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ لِتَحْكُمَ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ بِمَا أَرَاكَ اللَّهُ

“(O Prophet) Surely We have revealed the Book to you with the truth that you may judge between people by means of that which Allah has taught you...” (4:105).

Again, these decisions that were made by the Prophet (S) for the people were in the form of words and texts, which were separate from the Qur’an. It was therefore, essential for the people to attain success of both worlds by stimulating Qur’anic concepts in the light of the prophetic conversations.

If the news and hadith were not counted as a necessary document, then we would not be able to solve any socio-religious problem related to the Islamic society. It was true that Qur’an had the mention of everything, but it had been kept so short and metaphorical that we could not even ascertain the numbers of rakat of the mandatory prayers or the measure of zakat.

There Is No Contradiction In The Ahadith Of Imams From Ahl Al-Bayt

It was an established fact that there was no contradiction in the Ahadith of the Prophet (S) and the Imam (‘a) from Ahl al-Bayt. Even the Sunni scholars appreciate this quality. Allama Muhammad Saeed Sindhi wrote in book Darasat al-Labib, “Whatever is the religion of one Imam is the religion of another Imam, among the Imams from Ahl al-Bayt. The apparent reason for this is that a contradiction arises only when there are false exponents.”

However, those who had been taught by God Himself through the Holy Spirit and Gabriel, and who could read the Preserved Tablet at an early age of their life, their words could never be incongruous. This was why Shaykh Bahai had written in his research paper, “Majority of our Ahadith, except a few, reach us through the Imams, and through them the chain of reporters reaches until Prophet (S) is the source, because their knowledge is illuminated from the lamp of Prophethood.”

Reasons Of Apparent Disagreement

One reason of this conflict between Ahadith was the interpreter’s own lack of knowledge and expertise. As a result, they assumed in their mind that there was some conflict in a given Ahadith when in reality there is none. The author of this book Shaykh Abu Ja’far has given several examples of this attitude in the text. Shaykh At-Tusi quoted some Ahadith from the Imams (‘a) in his book Al-Istabsar, stating, “Our Ahadith are very difficult; which can be only be appreciated either by the Angels, a Prophet or a tried and trusted Mu’min (faithful).”

It was also mentioned in some other Ahadith that their contents contained both lucid and metaphoric materials. Their understanding and interpretation were beyond the capabilities of less erudite people. They could not understand the apparent variation in Ahadith with their own limitations. Therefore, they jump to the conclusion that these Ahadith were conflicting in terms of their logical approach, reporting methodology or the Qur’anic verdict. Whereas, in actual fact there was never been any conflict between such Ahadith.

Imam Ja’far As-Sadiq (‘a) had said, “Those theologians who say that this is within our logical parameters and that is beyond or this can be interpreted by us by employing appointed rules and that cannot, are in the knowledge of the godly trained individuals as passages or statements with definite meaning. They can see the reflections of reality in those Ahadith.”

It might also be due to taqaiyya. It was reported from Imam (‘a), who said “We have put some divisions among you in order to save your and our lives because if you were all seen standing on a single platform then your identification might be easy and it would have resulted in your demise.”

Therefore, these shrewd individuals, who were godly trained, gave the true answer of a problem to some trusted individuals and the rest were provided with a disguised answer. This made the less scholarly ones a little baffled, while those who were accustomed with the diction of the Imams, knew what the real reply was and what was under the influence of taqaiyya?

Major reason of the diversity between Ahadith was a gap between the prevailing circumstances of those who reported and those who documented them. This has been adequately mentioned in the report of Salim Ibn Qais Hilali, which was documented in the text of this Risalah. We do not feel the need to add anything more than what has already been said.

We can only say that just as the Prophet (S) has encountered hypocrites and blighters, the Imams also came across a similar band of troublesome people, who wickedly manufactured fake reports to malign the name of Islam. It was for this reason that the Imams (‘a) and their true companions rendered a great service to unveil their criminal acts.

Our senior scholars made great efforts to remove majority of such material from our books. If an odd report was left behind, then Imam’s instructions were available to deal with it. Some rules and regulations have been developed in the light of these instructions. However, before we comment on those rules, we would like to add few words on the book of Salim Ibn Qais Hilali.

Book Of Salim Ibn Qais Hilali

Salim Ibn Qais Hilali was a major figure among the companions of Imam Ali (‘a), who died in 90th Hijra, during the reign of Imam Zayn Al-’Abidin (‘a). Allama Al-Hilli, along with other great Masters accepted his validity in his book Khulasat al-Rijal. Aban Ibn Abi Ayyash said that he was a God-fearing humble man and his face was radiant with piety. Hajjaj Ibn Saqafi tried to murder him and he escaped to reach the protection of Aban Ibn Abi Ayyash and stayed with him till his death.

Salim related the hadith, which was mentioned in the text of this chapter, to Aban close to his time of death. He handed over his book, whose initial name was Kitab as-Saqifa to Aban as well. There was a long debate among the Shi’a scholars about the origin of this book. Some scholars did not attribute it to Salim.

Shaykh Abi Ali Haeri had written with reference to Rijal al--Ghazaeri that it was undoubtedly a forged book. However, it was recently published in Najaf with a strong foreword that proved through undeniable evidence to be the work of Salim Ibn Qais. It was also established that this book was long used as a reference by senior clerics. In its foreword, Shaykh Nu’mani’s opinion about this volume was mentioned in chapter titled “Aaimma Athna Ashr” of Gaibat al-Nu’mani, “The summary of our investigation is that there is no doubt among grand Shi’a scholars about the book of Salim Ibn Qais. It is one of his immense original works, and it is an invaluable source to which our academics have always referred to and relied upon.”

Similarly, it was learnt from Qazi Badruddin Sabki’s book - Mahasa-nur Rasail Fi Marafatul Awail, that the first book, which had been written by a Shi’a scholar was that of Salim Ibn Qais. Ibn Nadeem confirmed this on the pages 307-308 of his book, Al-Fihrist. Allama Al-Majlisi wrote in Bihar ul Anwar, “Kitab Salim Ibn Qais is very famous. Some people have cast doubts on it. It is however, one of the major historical sources. Although Shaykh Al-Mufid has not offered a good opinion about it, but he too has accepted the Hadith narrated by Salim. It has been quoted by Shaykh Abu Ja’far.”

We could say that this book was reliable on a majority of counts, even though some of its narrations are questionable. This division of Ahadith suggested that Sahih will take precedence over Hasan, Hasan over Qavi, Qavi over Moosiq (reliable) and Moosiq over Dha’eef. Nevertheless, the book of Salim, gave us information about the diversity of Ahadith and its reasons. It was also a document on the legacy of Caliphate and Imamate amongst Ahl al-Bayt.

Types Of Ahadith

There were two types of Ahadith:

- Mutawatir (continuous)

- Wahid (singular).

If so many channels of repute reported a hadith then any fabrication or falsehood was unlikely. Such a hadith is called a continuous or a Mutawatir hadith and those, which have no such justifications available, are called singular reports.

According to the Senior Masters a singular report was also of two types: reliable, or - unreliable (anecdotal). A reliable singular report was the one that must have some intrinsic and extrinsic justifications to be certain of its reliability. The other type, which was devoid of this validation, was called anecdotal.

In the earlier period, as the scholars, due to the proximity with Imams (‘a) had access to such a material, but in the later period those references were not possible. Therefore, the scholars had to rely on the character and the disposition of the narrator. Therefore, the standards of vetting a narration or a report have changed. We have mentioned below a few types of Ahadith.

- Hadith al-Sahih (Correct) was every hadith, whose chain of authority reached the Imams (‘a) and all its narrators were Shi’as and righteous people. This was called a Sahih Hadith, according to the scholars of later period.

- Hadith al-Ahsan (Good) was a hadith whose chain of authority did not reach the Imams (‘a), yet its narrators were all Shi’a Ithna ‘Ashri. They were venerated even though their candour was not highlighted.

- Hadith al-Qavi (Strong) was a hadith, whose reporters were all Shi’a Ithna ‘Ashri, but there was no evidence available on their authenticity or inaccuracy.

- Hadith al-Moosiq (Reliable) was hadith whose chain of reporting reached the Imams (‘a) through pious individuals, who were not Shi’a Ithna ‘Ashri.

- Hadith al-Dha’eef (Weak) is that Hadith, which was devoid of all such conditions, mentioned earlier. It was called a weak narration.

In this chapter on hadith, one significant problem has remained untouched. The honourable author had not commented on this. It was that if some variations were found in the Ahadith and the reports that have reached us, then what should be done at the moment of its application. In other words, what should be accepted and what should be rejected, and what was the plan to adopt a suitable standard to justify such a step?

This has been a very long debate, and a complete chapter of Islamic law was devoted to this subject. In this connection, several statements of the Imams (‘a) were available that directed these reports to be judged against Qur’anic concepts or be compared to the accepted norms or assess the validity of the narrator. In this respect, most authentic narration was the one offered by Imran Ibn Hanzala from Imam Ja’far As-Sadiq (‘a). This being a detailed Hadith, and is presented below as a summary.

“Narrator: if a dispute is generated between two of your followers, can they approach an unjust ruler for mediation?

Imam: If someone approaches them on an issue that deals with fundamental concepts of the religion, then such a person has appointed Satan as his attorney. If the case is decided in his favour, when he was genuine, however, whatever he has gained from that litigation is haram (illicit)

Narrator: What they should do then?

Imam: They should search for a knowledgeable person among their creed, who is well versed with our Ahadith, and fully conversant with our penal judgements and other relevant religious affairs, and appoint him as a judge, then abide by his decision. If his decision is contested, then they have doubted our opinion, which is equivalent to denying God, and such a person is a mushrik.

Narrator: If the two protagonists appoint two judges and then differences arise in their judgement and that difference is caused by your Ahadith. Then what they should do?

Imam: The decision of that judge will prevail, whose sanctity, integrity, piety and abstinence is markedly high.

Narrator: May my parents be ransom to you, if the two judges are equally good at that level?

Imam: The verdict of that judge will prevail, whose decision is based upon the most recognised tradition of ours, among the intellectuals.

Narrator: If both of the narrations are authentic and their narrators are also reliable, then what should we do?

Imam: The narration, which is in accordance with the Book of God and the Sunnah of the Prophet and against the religion of the opposition, should be adopted.

Narrator: If both of the narrations are in harmony with the views of the opposition, then what should we do?

Imam: That tradition, which is favoured by the opposition’s judiciary, should be dropped and the other adopted.

Narrator: If both traditions are equally divided, then what shall we do?

Imam: If the situation is so grave then wait for the meeting with your Imam and seek his opinion, because waiting in a period of uncertainty is better than jumping in the pit of destruction.”

When Two Ahadith Are Equally Significant

If it happens that two Ahadith were equally preferable then what should the person do? Was he free to choose between the two or he should wait for further consultations?

There were a few opinions on this issue. Some reports suggested personal choice in these matters, while there are other statements proposing delay and adjournment. One can make several combinations of the two possibilities as well, such as:

The Judge could wait before announcing the judgement. However, at the moment of decision he could opt for either route. In the instance, where Imam was available and it was possible for him to seek his, audience, one should wait for the opportunity, thereby delaying judgement.

When the circumstances were different, as in present times, a judge would be able to choose. If the Ahadith related to worship and God’s rights then the Judge could exercise his personal discretion. However, in case of Huquq an-Nas (people’s rights), he should wait.

If he was forced to choose between one of the debated Ahadith then he had to apply his prudence, and if he was not under duress then he should wait. Discretion and choice were based to the rationale, but delay was related to rectitude. If a hadith followed a cautious route, then the judge must opt for that hadith.

On deeply studying different reports, we would find that the route of discretion or delaying a decision, had the same connotations, because exercise of choice or a delay in making the judgement was only possible during the occultation of the Imam, otherwise, the judge must refer to him for supporting the facts.