THE

AUTHORITY

OF

SUNNAH

Justice Muhammad Taqi Usmani

IDRATUL QURAN

WAL ULOOMIL ISLAMIA, KARACHI, PAKISTAN

CONTENTS

		Page
Foreword		1
Chapter 1
	Sunnah: the Second Source of Islamic law	2
	Definition of Sunnah	2
	The status of The Holy Prophet	2
	The obedience of the Messenger	4
	Ittiba’ (following) of the Prophet	10
	Two kinds of revelation	13
	The second kind of revelation proved by the Holy Qur’an	13
	The obedience of the Prophet as distinct from the obedience of a ruler	22
Chapter 2
	The scope of the Prophetic Authority	25
	The Prophet’s Authority to make laws	25
	The Holy Prophet’s Authority to interpret the Holy Qur’an	29
	Examples of Prophetic explanations of the Qur’an	30
	Does the Holy Qur’an need explanation?	32
	The time limit of the Prophetic authority	33
	The Prophetic Authority in worldly affairs	36
	The event of fecundation of the palm-trees	38
Chapter 3
	The authenticity of the “Sunnah”: its historical aspect	41
	The preservation of Sunnah	42
	The kinds of Ahadith	42
	The authenticity of the first two kinds	44
	Different ways of Ahadith preservation	46
	1. Memorization	46
	2. Discussions	49
	3. Practice	51
	4. Writing	51
	The compilations of the Hadith in the days of the Holy Prophet	55
	The dictations of the Holy Prophet	55
	The book of Sadaqah	55
	The script copy of Amr b. Hazm	56
	Written directives to other Governors	56
	Written directives to certain delegations	56
	The compilations of the Hadith by the companions of the Holy Prophet	59
	The scripts of Abu Hurairah	59
	The script of Abdullah ibn Amr	59
	The script of Anas	60
	The script of Ali	60
	Scripts of Jabir	61
	Scripts of Ibn ‘Abbas	62
	The compilations of the ahadith in the era after the companions	62
	The compilations of the first century	63
	The books of hadith written in the second century	64
	The criticism of ahadith	66
	1. Scrutiny of the narrators	67
	2. Constancy of the chain of narrators	69
	3. Comparison with other narrations	69
	4. General analysis of the tradition	70
	Conclusion	70

FOREWORD

In October 1989, I was invited to present a paper on the “Authority of the Sunnah” in an international conference held in Chicago by an international Islamic organization.

Since long, I felt the need of a brief English booklet containing the information on “The Sunnah of the Holy Prophet

“; it’s general features, the nature of its authority and the standard of its authenticity.

I took the opportunity to fulfill this need and wrote on the subject in a little more detail than was required in a conference of this type.

The present work is the result of the above endeavor.

This book is meant for the general reader who wants to know what the “Sunnah of the Holy Prophet

“ is, how does it have a binding authority over all the Muslims for all times to come, what status has the Holy Qur’an given to it and what measures has the Ummah adopted to preserve it for the coming generations.

I hope that this humble effort will provide brief, yet clear, answers to questions of similar nature and will help understanding the true status of the ‘Sunnah‘ as a source of Islamic Law and as a source of guidance for all Muslims in their practical lives. It will also assist, I hope, in removing certain doubts inculcated by few contemporary writers in respect of the authority of the Sunnah.

May Almighty Allah approve of this humble effort, adorn it with His pleasure and make it beneficial to the readers.

Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani

CHAPTER 1

Sunnah: The second source of Islamic law

The Sunnah of the Holy Prophet Muhammad

has been accepted as an important source of Islamic law, next in importance only to the Holy Qur’an. This status of the Sunnah has remained unchallenged and undisputed throughout the centuries. There have been many differences among Muslims in their juristic opinions, but the authority of the Holy Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet

was never denied by any jurist. Leaving aside some scattered individuals who separated themselves from the main stream of the Muslim population, nobody has ever refused to accept the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet

as a sacred source of the Islamic law.

The position is still the same, but some non-Muslim orientalists and some of their followers have tried, during the last century to cast some doubts in the authority or the veracity of Hadith and to develop a suspicious attitude towards the Sunnah. That is why some Muslims who are unable to study Islam through its original sources, when they read such books, often become a bit skeptical in the subject.

The present article intends, therefore, to provide an objective and simple account of the SUNNAH based on the original sources of Islamic learning. The purpose is not to indulge in a hot atmosphere of argumentation, which has no bounds or limits, but to narrate the truth as it stands.

DEFINITION OF SUNNAH

The Sunnah has been defined by the scholars of the science of ‘Hadith’ as follows:

“A word spoken or an act done or a confirmation given by the Holy Prophet Muhammad

.”

‘Confirmation’ in this definition is termed in Arabic as Taqrir. What is meant by this term is like somebody said something, or acted in a particular manner, and his saying or act came to the knowledge of the Holy Prophet

, and he either confirmed it in express words or remained silent without giving any indication of disapproval. Such silence, being an implied approval of the Holy Prophet

is also included in the term ‘Sunnah’. As the Sunnah, with all its three kinds (saying, act and confirmation), relates to the Holy Prophet

, its true status in the Islamic law cannot be ascertained without ascertaining the status of the Holy Prophet

himself.

The status of the Holy Prophet

So, the first pertinent question in the subject is: What status does a prophet occupy when he is sent to the people: Has he no higher a status than that of a message – carrier or a postman who, after delivering the letter, has no concern with it whatsoever? The answer is certainly in the negative. The prophets are not sent merely to deliver the word of Allah. They are also required to explain the divine Book, to interpret it, to expound it, to demonstrate the ways of its application and to present a practical example of its content. Their duty is not restricted to reciting the words of the Book, rather they are supposed to teach it and to train people to run their lives in accordance with their requirements. The Holy Qur’an leaves no doubt concerning this point by saying:

Allah has surely blessed the believers with His favor when He raised in their midst a Messenger from among themselves, who recites to them His verses and makes them pure and teaches them the Book and the wisdom, while they were, earlier, in an open error (3:164).

He (Allah) is the One who raised up, among the unlettered, a Messenger from among themselves who recites the verses of Allah, and makes them pure and teaches them the Book and the wisdom. (62:2).

The same functions were attributed to the Holy Prophet

in the prayer of Sayyidina Ibrahim

when, according to the Holy Qur’an, he prayed:

Our Lord, raise in their midst a messenger from among themselves who recites to them Your verses and teaches them the Book and the wisdom and purifies them. (2:129).

These are the terms of reference given to the Holy Prophet

which include four distinct functions and the Holy Prophet

has been entrusted with all of them:

(1) Recitation of the Verses of Allah.

(2) Teaching the Book of Allah.

(3) Teaching the Wisdom.

(4) Making the people pure.

Thus the Holy Qur’an leaves no ambiguities in the fact that the Holy Prophet

is not supposed to merely recite the verses and then leave it to the people to interpret and apply them in whatever manner they like. Instead, he is sent to ‘teach’ the Book. Then, since teaching the Book is not enough, he is also required to teach “Wisdom” which is something additional to the “Book”. Still, this is not enough, therefore the Holy Prophet

has also to ‘make the people pure’, meaning thereby that the theoretical teaching of the Book and the ‘Wisdom’ must be followed by a practical training to enable the people to apply the Book and the wisdom in the way Allah requires them to apply.

This verse of the Holy Qur’an describes the following functions of the Holy Prophet

(a) He is the authority in the way the Holy Qur’an has to be recited.

(b) He has the final word in the interpretation of the Book.

(d) He is entrusted with the practical training of the people to bring his teachings into practice.

These functions of the Holy Prophet

can never be carried out unless his teachings, both oral and practical, are held to be authoritative for his followers, and the Muslims who are given under his training are made bound to obey and follow him. The functions ‘b’ and ‘c’, namely, the teachings of the Book and Wisdom require that his ‘sayings’ should be binding on the followers, while the function ‘d’, the practical training, requires that his ‘acts’ should be an example for the Ummah, and the Ummah should be bound to follow it.

It is not merely a logical inference from the verse of the Holy Qur’an quoted above, but it is also mentioned in express terms by the Holy Qur’an in a large number of verses which give the Muslims a mandatory command to obey and follow him. While doing so, the Holy Qur’an has used two different terms namely, the ‘ita’ah’ (to obey) and the ‘ittiba’ (to follow). The first term refers to the orders and saying of the Holy Prophet

, while the second relates to his acts and practice. By ordering the Muslims to ‘obey’ and to ‘follow’ the Holy Prophet

, the Holy Qur’an has given an authority to both his sayings and acts.

The obedience of the Messenger

It is in this background that the Holy Qur’an insists repeatedly on ‘the obedience of the Prophet

so much so that it is mentioned side by side with, the obedience of Allah,

Say, ‘Obey Allah and the Messenger but if they turn their backs Allah loves not the disbelievers.’ (3:32)

And obey Allah and the messenger so that you may be blessed (3:132).

O those who believe obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. (4:59)

And obey Allah and obey the Messenger and beware (5:92).

So, fear Allah and set things right between you and obey Allah and His Messenger if you are believers. (8:1)

O those who believe obey Allah and His Messenger and do not turn away from him, while you are listening (8:20).

And obey Allah and His Messenger and do not quarrel with each other, and so lose heart (8:46)

Say, ‘Obey Allah and obey the Messenger; then, if you turn away, upon him rests what is laid on him, and upon you rests what is laid on you. If you obey him, you will be guided. (24:54).

O those who believe, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and do not make your deeds vain (47:33)

So, establish salah and pay zakah and obey Allah and His Messenger(58:13)

And obey Allah and obey the Messenger, but if you turn your backs, Our Messenger has only to deliver the manifest message (64:12)

In these verses ‘the obedience of the Messenger’ has been ordered as an obligatory command. There are other verses in which the results of the ‘obedience of the Messenger’ have been described. Here again the ‘obedience of the Messenger’ has been combined with ‘the obedience of Allah’:

And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, Allah shall admit him in the Gardens underneath which rivers flow (4:13)

The same words have been repeated in 48:17 also.

And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, they are in company of whom Allah has blessed (4:69)

All that the believers say, when they are called to Allah and His Messenger that he may judge between them, is that they say, ‘We hear, and we obey: ’it is these who are successful. Whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger and fears Allah and has awe of Him – it is these who are the winners. (24:52)

And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, he has won a great success. (33:71).

And the believers, men and women, are friends of each other, they bid the fair, forbid the unfair, they establish salah and pay zakah and they obey Allah and His Messenger. These are those upon whom Allah shall have mercy; Allah is All - Mighty, All Wise. (9:71)

If you obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not diminish you anything of your deeds. (49:14)

The Holy Qur’an has also made it clear that ‘the obedience of the prophet’ is not a new principle, nor is it limited to the Holy Prophet

. The same principle applied to all the former prophets who came before him:

And We sent no messenger, but that he should be obeyed by the leave of Allah. (4:64).

The Holy Qur’an also clarifies it that the prophets are spokesmen of Allah’s pleasure. Hence, the obedience of the Prophet

is actually the obedience of Allah himself.

And whoever obeys the Messenger, thereby obeys Allah. (4:80)

As the obedience of the Holy Prophet

has been stressed by the Holy Qur’an and has been combined with the ‘obedience of Allah’ in the same way his ‘disobedience’ has been warned against and is combined with the ‘disobedience of Allah’:

And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger and transgresses His limits, he shall admit him to Fire where he shall remain forever. (4:14)

And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has gone astray into manifest error. (33:36).

And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger, for him there is the fire of Jahannam. There they shall remain forever. (72:23)

And whoever makes a breach with Allah and His Messenger, then Allah is severe in punishment. (8:13)

Did they not come to know that whoever opposes Allah and His Messenger, for him there is the fire of Jahannam. (9:63)

Thus, both positive and negative aspects of the ‘obedience’ have been dealt with in the Holy Qur’an and the ‘obedience of the Holy Prophet

’ in each one of these verses has been mentioned separately, along with the obedience of Allah:

It is noteworthy that whenever the ‘obedience of Allah’ is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, it is always followed by the ‘obedience of the Prophet

‘, which has never been missed even in a single verse. There is no verse in the entire Book where the ‘obedience of Allah’ has been mentioned alone with no reference to the ‘Obedience of the Messenger’.

On the contrary, there are some verses where only the ‘obedience of the Messenger’ has been mentioned, and there is no reference to the ‘obedience of Allah’:

And establish salah and pay zakah and obey the Prophet

, so that you may be blessed. (24:56)

And if you obey him (the Prophet

), you shall find the right path. (24:54).

On the day those who disbelieved and disobeyed the Messenger will wish that the earth might be leveled with them. (4:42)

And whoever makes a breach with the Messenger after the right path has become clear to him, and follows a way other than that of the believers, We shall let him own what he chose and shall admit him in the Jahannam, and it is evil as a returning place. (4:115)

The reason for so much stress upon the ‘obedience of the Prophet’ is that the ‘obedience of Allah’ cannot be carried out except through the ‘obedience of the Prophet’. Allah does not address each and every individual to tell him what he requires from him, as the Holy Qur’an puts it:

And it is not possible for a human being that Allah should speak to him, except by revelation, or from behind a curtain, or that He should send a messenger and he reveal by His leave what he wills. (42:51)

Therefore Allah conveys His injunctions only through His prophets, and his obedience cannot be carried out except by the obedience of the messengers. So, when a prophet bids something or forbids something, he does not do it in his private capacity, rather, he does so in the capacity of a messenger of Allah. When Allah himself has given an express command ‘to obey the Messenger’, the obedience of the prophet is actually the ‘obedience of Allah’, though in an indirect manner. This point has been clearly established by the Holy Qur’an in the following words:

And whoever obeys the Messenger, thereby obeys Allah. (4:80)

So, whenever only the ‘obedience of the Messenger’ has been mentioned in the Holy Qur’an it includes, without saying, the ‘obedience of Allah’ because the Messenger does not say anything in the capacity of a Messenger unless he is guided by a revelation from Allah:

And he (the Prophet

) does not speak out of his own desire. It is not but a revelation revealed (to him) (53:3)

Looked at from this angle, the obedience of the Prophet

represents the obedience of Allah and the reference to the former always includes the latter. That is why the Holy Qur’an in some verses deemed it sufficient to refer to the obedience of the Messenger only, for the practical way to obey Allah is only to obey the prophet.

On the contrary, the Holy Qur’an did not deem it sufficient to refer to the ‘obedience of Allah’ without referring to the ‘obedience of the Messenger’, to remove even the remotest excuse for ignoring the ‘obedience of the prophet’ and to leave no doubt whatsoever in the fact that the ‘obedience of Allah’ is not complete unless the ‘obedience of the Prophet

’ is fully observed with all its implications.

Ittiba’ (following) of the Prophet .

The second term used by the Holy Qur’an in respect of the prophets is the ‘ittiba’, i.e. to follow:

Say, if you love Allah, follow me and Allah will love you and forgive you your sins (3:31)

Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet whom they find written down with them in the Torah and the Evangel … (7:157)

Believe, then, in Allah and His Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him so that you may be on the right path. (7:157)

Allah has surely relented towards the Prophet and the Emigrants and the Helpers who followed him in an hour of difficulty (9:117).

O Prophet, sufficient to you is Allah and those who followed you of the believers (8:64)

(The believers say:) Our Lord, we have come to believe in what You revealed, and followed the Messenger. So, write us among those who bear witness. (3:53)

Say, “This is my way, I call to Allah with sure knowledge, I and whoever follows me.” (12:108)

The closest of the people to Ibrahim are those who follow him (3:68)

And We set in the hearts of those who followed him (Jesus) tenderness and mercy (57:27)

And warn the people of the day when the punishment comes on them and those who did evil shall say, “Our Lord, defer us to a near term, and we shall respond to Your call and shall follow the messengers.” (14:44)

And We did not appoint the Qiblah on which you were earlier, but that We might know the people who follow the Messenger, as distinct from those who turn back on their heels (2:143)

He said, ‘My people, follow the messengers’. (36:20)

(Moses said:) and your Lord is the ‘Rahman’ (the All-Merciful). So, follow me and obey my command. (20:90)

So, they (the disbelievers) said, ‘Shall we follow a single human being from among us? Then, indeed we should be in error and insanity’. (54:24)

All these verses, with different styles and connotations, lay a strong emphasis on the necessity of ‘following the prophets’, and indicate that whoever believes in a prophet is bound to ‘follow’ him. The reason is obvious. The prophets are sent to the people to set a practical example of what they teach and preach. Their message is not confined to their oral teachings. Their acts are equally important in any effort to discover, learn and follow the right way of living. The Holy Qur’an is quite explicit on this point when it was said is Surah al-Ahzab:

There is surely a good example for you in the Messenger of Allah, for one who hopes (to meet) Allah and the Hereafter, and remembers Allah abundantly.” (33:21)

It is an established fact that mere theoretical education cannot be sufficient for reforming a people. The natural way of reformation is to set a practical example, which people may follow. Mere reading of books cannot make a person perfect in a science or art, unless he is simultaneously trained by a senior scholar or a skillful artist of that field. If somebody studies the books of medical science, but does not work under the supervision of an experienced doctor, he despite his thorough study, cannot claim to serve as a doctor nor can such a person be allowed to play with the lives of the patients.

If somebody studies books of law, he cannot claim to be a lawyer unless he acquires a practical training from a senior lawyer and remains for a considerable time under his juniorship.

Even a plain enthusiast who wants to cook a good meal cannot do so perfectly by merely studying the books written on the subject, although all the ingredients required for cooking the food are mentioned in the book and even the minute details of the process are fully described. But a person who has never cooked that meal before cannot prepare it just right and perfect with the sole help of a cook – book unless he is practically trained by some expert. The expert sets a practical example for him and he, by following the example, gradually learns how to cook that good meal.

It clearly shows that human beings are always in need of a practical example in order to learn an important subject. The same is true in the matter of religious teaching and training.

That is why Allah did not choose to send the divine books only. He always sent a messenger with the book. There are many prophets who came without a divine book. But there is no divine book sent without a prophet. The disbelievers of Makkah, too, demanded many times that the book should be revealed to them without the mediation of the Holy Prophet

. But the demand was rejected and the book was sent through the Holy Prophet

The reason is obvious. Humanity did not need a divine book only. It also needs a teacher who could teach them the contents of the Book. It also needs an instructor who could train them and could set a practical example for them without which they could not benefit from the Book in their practical life. It was for this reason that the Holy Prophet

was sent with a clear direction to all human beings that they are bound to obey and follow him and to learn the details of Allah’s pleasure through the practical example set before them by him.

It was also clarified in the foregoing verse of the Holy Book that the ‘obedience of the Messenger’ is actually the ‘obedience of Allah’ and the latter cannot be carried out except through the former, because whatever the Holy Prophet

says or does in the capacity of a prophet is based on the revelation received by him from Allah. Thus, his saying and his acts both, even though they are not contained in the Holy Qur’an, are inspired or confirmed by the divine revelation.

TWO KINDS OF REVELATION

It follows from the foregoing discussion that the revelation the Holy Prophet

receives from Allah is of two different kinds:

(i) The revelation of the Qur’an, the Holy Book, named in the Islamic terminology as al-wahy al-matluww (the recited revelation i.e., the revelation which can be recited in the prayers). This kind of revelation is confined to the verses of the Holy Qur’an and is written verbally in its folds.

(ii) The revelation received by the Holy Prophet

from time to time to let him know the pleasure of Allah in day-to-day affairs and the details of the principles laid down in the Holy Qur’an with their correct interpretation. This kind of revelation is called al-wahy ghair-al-matluww (the unrecited revelation). This kind of revelation is not conveyed to the people verbally. It has been demonstrated through the sayings and the acts of the Holy Prophet

THE SECOND KIND OF REVELATION PROVED BY THE HOLY QUR’AN.

This second kind of revelation is not contained in the Holy Qur’an, but the Holy Qur’an itself not only refers to it frequently but attributed its contents to Allah Almighty. Some verses of the Holy Book are reproduced below which clearly prove that the ‘revelation’ is not confined to the Holy Qur’an, but there is another kind of ‘wahy’ which does not form part of the “Holy Book”, yet it is the revelation from Allah Almighty:

The Holy Qur’an says:

And we did not appoint the Qiblah on which you were earlier but that we might know the people who follow the Messenger as distinct from those who turn back on their heels. (2:143)

In order to understand the verse, it is necessary to know the background in which it was revealed:

In early days of Madani life, after the Holy Prophet’s

migration to Madinah, the Muslims were ordered to direct their faces in prayer towards Bytul-Maqdis (Jerusalem), which had been appointed as Qiblah of the Muslims. Up to seventeen months, the Muslims had been observing the Bytul-Maqdis as their Qiblah. It was after seventeen months that the Holy Qur’an abrogated the earlier order and the Muslims were required to observe the Holy Mosque of Makkah as their Qiblah and turn their faces towards it while praying. The following verse was revealed to appoint the new Qiblah:

So, turn your face towards Al-Masjid-al-Haram (2:144)

Some disbelievers criticized this new order and they objected on it as to why the Bytul-Maqdis was appointed as Qiblah earlier. The above quoted verse (2:143) was revealed to answer the objection. The answer was that the appointment of the former Qiblah was in order to test the people whether or not they follow the Messenger. To quote the verse again:

2:143 “ And we did not appoint the Qiblah on which you were earlier (i.e. Bytul-Maqdis) but that We might know the people who follow the Messenger………….”

Here the appointment of the previous Qiblah has been attributed to Allah Almighty, which is a clear indication to the fact that the appointment of Bytul-Maqdis as Qiblah was done by the order of Allah Almighty Himself. But this order is nowhere in the Holy Qur’an, and there is no verse in the Holy Book which directs the turning of faces towards Bytul-Maqdis. The Holy Prophet gave this order to the Muslims

with no reference to any verse of the Holy Qur’an. Still this order was mentioned by the Holy Qur’an in the above quoted verse as the order of Allah: The words:

“We did not appoint the Qiblah” instead of the words:

“The Holy Prophet

did not” …………… are too clear on this point to need more explanation.

This statement of the Holy Qur’an, thus, evidently proves that the previous order given by the Holy Prophet

was based on a revelation, which did not form part of the Book. And this is exactly the ‘unrecited revelation’. The verse of the Holy Qur’an (2:143) quoted above proves the following facts:

(a) The Holy Prophet

used to receive some revelations, which are not contained in the Holy Qur’an.

(b) These revelations were from Allah Almighty, so much so that the orders based on such revelations were attributed to Allah Almighty.

(c) The orders based on such revelation were as binding on the believers as the orders of the first kind of revelations i.e., the verses of Holy Qur’an.

(d) These orders were sometimes given so as to test whether or not the Muslims follow the Messenger

irrespective of the question that his orders are contained in the Holy Qur’an or not.

2. In the beginning, one of the rules followed by the Muslims in respect of the fasts of Ramadan was that even a short nap after If tar (breaking of a fast) would nullify the permissibility of having sexual intercourse with ones wife. So, if someone would sleep for a short while after Iftar and wake up again, he would lose the opportunity of sleeping with his wife during the rest of the night despite that the fast was over. This rule was prescribed by the Holy Prophet

and was not contained in the Holy Qur’an. But some Muslims broke the rule by sleeping with their wives after having a post Iftar nap. Referring to these events, the Holy Qur’an first admonishes those people who did not follow the rule. Then, by abrogating the same allows the Muslims in future to sleep with their wives even when they had a nap after Iftar. In this context, the Holy Qur’an says:

It is made lawful for you, in the nights of fasts, to have sex with your women. They are a cover for you, and you are a cover for them. Allah knew that you were betraying yourselves; so, He relented towards you and pardoned you. So, now you can have sexual intimacy with them, and seek what Allah has destined for you, and eat and drink until the white thread of the dawn becomes distinct from the black thread; then complete the fasts up to the night (2:187)

The following points with respect to this verse are worth consideration:

(a) The verse confirms that having sex during the nights of ‘Ramadan’ was not lawful before.

(b) The people who had sex during the nights of Ramadan before this verse was revealed are admonished by describing their act as ‘betraying themselves’

(c) The words, ‘so He relented towards you and pardoned you’, indicates that their sexual act was a sin, because ‘relenting’ and ‘pardoning’ occur only after a person commits a sin.

(d) The words ‘so now you can have sexual intimacy with them’ denote that it is only now that the sexual act during the nights of Ramadan has been made lawful.

All these points confirm the fact that the earlier prohibition of having sexual intercourse during the nights of Ramadan was validly made by a competent authority, and the Muslims were bound to abide by it.

But there is no verse in the Holy Qur’an to convey this prohibition. Only the Holy Prophet enforced it

. Still, the Holy Qur’an not only confirms it, but also treats it as if it were in its own words. It is due to the fact that the Holy Prophet

did not enforce this prohibition by his own will, it was rather, based on a revelation of Allah Almighty which is not contained in the Holy Qur’an.

Looked at from this angle, this verse on the one hand proves that there is a revelation which does not form part of the Holy Qur’an, and on the other hand, it reaffirms the status of the Holy Prophet

as a law-giver, and that his injunctions, both orders and prohibitions, are binding on the Muslims.

3. On the occasion of the battle of Uhud, some Qur’anic verses were revealed to make the Muslims recall events of the battle of Badr: How Allah helped them and how He promised them to send the angels to their aid, and how He actually did so. These verses are as under:

Allah has certainly helped you at Badr while you were weak. So, fear Allah, so that you may be grateful. When you (O Prophet) were saying to the believers, “Shall it not suffice you that your Lord shall aid you with three thousand angels being sent down? Why not? If you observe patience and fear Allah and they come to you in this their heat, your Lord shall aid you with five thousand angels having distinct marks”. And Allah did not make it but a good news for you so that your hearts might be satisfied. And there is no help but from Allah, the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.” (3:123,126)

The italicized sentence of these verses attributes the good news of the aid of angels to Allah Almighty, meaning thereby that Allah Himself gave the good news of this aid. But this good news given at the time of Badr is nowhere available in the Holy Qur’an. In other words, there is no verse in the Holy Book revealed during the battle of Badr, which implies the good news of the aid of the angels. What is quoted above is only a reference of that news, made at the time of a later battle. And it is expressly mentioned in this verse that the Holy Prophet gave the good news

. Still, the news is attributed to Allah.

Thus, it is another example where the words of the Holy Prophet

are held to be the words of Allah. There is no reason for this expression other than that the words of the Holy Prophet

were inspired by a special revelation, not contained in the Holy Qur’an, and this is what is called the ‘unrecited revelation’.

4. Referring to the battle of Uhud at another occasion, the Holy Qur’an says,

And when Allah promised you that one of the two groups shall be for you (8:7)

One of the two parties referred to in this verse was the commercial caravan of Abu Sufyan, coming from Syria, and the other group was the army of the Makkan disbelievers, led by Abu Jahl. The above verse says that Allah had promised the believers that they would triumph over one of these groups. The Muslims, in fact, won the battle against the latter, namely, the army of Abu Jahl.

The point worth consideration here is that the promise of Allah to give the Muslims victory against any of the two groups is not there in the Holy Qur’an. The Holy Prophet conveyed this promise to the Muslims

without any reference to any verse of the Holy Qur’an. Still the verse quoted above attributes to the promise of Allah, and not to the Holy Prophet

The only conclusion derivable from this is that the promise was received by the Holy Prophet

through an ‘unrecited revelation’. Hence, it is attributed to Allah. Guided by this revelation, the Holy Prophet

conveyed the promise to his companions.

Thus, it is another proof of the existence of the kind of revelation, which is not contained in the Holy Qur’an and is called the ‘unrecited revelation’.

5. Once the Holy Prophet

told a secret to one of his wives. She disclosed the secret to some other person. When the Holy Prophet

came to know that his wife had disclosed the secret, he sought an explanation from her. She asked him as to who told him about the disclosure. The Holy Prophet

replied that Allah Almighty informed him about it.

This event has been mentioned by the Holy Qur’an in the following words:

“And when the Prophet

told one of his wives about a matter secretly: then, when she told about it, and Allah has disclosed it to him, he made known some part of it, and turned aside from some part; then, when he told her about it, she said, “Who told you this”? He said, ‘I was told by the All-Knowing, the All-Aware.”(66:3)

The italicized sentences of this verse are quite clear in that Allah has told the Holy Prophet

about the disclosure of the secret. This is also not mentioned anywhere in the Holy Qur’an. So, it is another concrete example where the Holy Prophet

received some revelation from Allah other than the one contained in the Holy Qur’an. This is exactly the ‘unrecited revelation’

6. During the siege of Banu Nadir, the famous tribe of the Jews in Madinah, some Muslims had cut down date –trees from around the fort to compel the enemy to surrender. After the war was over, some Jews objected to the cutting trees. The Holy Qur’an has answered the objection in the following words:

Whatever date-trees you cut down, or left standing upon their roots, that was by the leave of Allah (59:5)

It has been very directly mentioned in this verse that the Muslims cut down the trees with a leave from Allah. But nobody can point out to any verse in the Holy Qur’an to the effect that the cutting of trees during the war is allowed. The question is: from where did the Muslims acquire this leave from Allah? There is no answer to this question except that the Holy Prophet has conveyed the leave of Allah to them

and he received it through ‘unrecited revelation’.

7. It is well known that the Holy Prophet

had adopted Sayyidina Zaid b. Harithah as his son. He married Zainab daughter of Jahsh. After some time their relations began to be strained and, ultimately, he divorced her. In the days of Jahiliyyah an adopted son was treated as a real son in all respects, and for all purposes. The Holy Qur’an, on the other hand, declared that the adopted sons couldn’t be treated as the real ones.

To eradicate the Jahili concept of the adopted son, Allah Almighty ordered the Holy Prophet

that he should marry Zainab after her having been divorced by his adopted son, Zaid ibn Harithah. The Holy Prophet

was a bit reluctant in the beginning, for, according to the prevalent custom, it was treated a shameful act to marry the divorced wife of one’s adopted son. But when the Holy Prophet

received a concrete order from Allah, he married her.

This event has been mentioned in the Holy Qur’an in the following words:

When you were saying to the one whom Allah had blessed and whom you had blessed, (i.e. Zaid before he divorced Zainab), “Keep to you your wife and fear Allah,” and you were hiding in your heart what Allah was to disclose and you were fearing people, and Allah has more right to be feared by you. So, when Zaid finished with her, We made you marry her, so that there may remain no restriction on the believers in respect of the wives of their adopted sons when they have finished with them. And the order of Allah had to be done. (33:37)

Here the words, ‘you were hiding in your heart what Allah was to disclose’ refer to the fact that Allah had informed the Holy Prophet

that he will marry Zainab after she is divorced by Zaid. The Holy Prophet

knew that, ultimately, she is going to be divorced by Zaid, but, out of shame, he could not disclose it and when Zaid consulted him in the matter, he advised him to keep to his wife and not to divorce her.

From this it follows that the Holy Prophet

had been foretold by Allah that Zainab was going to be divorced by her husband. But this information is not contained in the Holy Qur’an. It was given to him through an unrecited revelation.

The second statement is more significant in the context, that is, “We made you marry her” Here Allah Almighty declares that the marriage between the Holy Prophet

and Sayyidah Zainab was contracted by an order of Allah. This order is nowhere mentioned in the Holy Qur’an. Still, the Holy Qur’an affirms it. This is another confirmation of an order conveyed to the Holy Prophet

through an ‘unrecited revelation’

8. The Holy Qur’an has repeatedly ordered the Muslims to establish salah (the prayer) and to be steadfast in it. In the following verse, after repeating the same order, the Holy Qur’an gives a special concession to the Muslims that in the state of war, when they fear an attack from their enemy, they can perform the prayer in whatever way they can, either riding on horses or camels on walking on their feet. But after the danger of the enemy is over, they are ordered to perform the prayer in its normal way. This principle has been laid down in the following words:

Take due care of all the prayers and the middle prayer, and stand before Allah in total devotion. But if you are in fear, then (pray) on foot or riding, but when you are in peace, then recite the name of Allah in the way He taught you. (2:238,239)

A number of points are worth consideration in these verses:

Firstly, the verse assumes that there are more than one prayer obligatory on the Muslims, but the exact number of the prayers has not been given, neither in this verse nor at any other place in the Holy Qur’an. That the number of obligatory prayers is five, is only mentioned by the Holy Prophet

. The Holy Qur’an by saying ‘Take due care of all the prayers’ confirms what the Holy Prophet

prescribed for the Muslims.

Secondly, the verse lays special emphasis on the “Middle Prayer”, but does not define it. The definition has been left to the Holy Prophet

Thirdly, the most important sentence in relation to our subject is,’ when you are in peace, then, recite the name of Allah in the way He taught you’. It goes without saying that the ‘recitation of the name of Allah’ means here ‘to perform the prayer’ as the context does not permit any other meaning.

Now, the Holy Qur’an directs the Muslims that in the state of peace they should perform the prayer in its normal way, which has been taught to them by Allah. It is an express indication that the normal way of performing the prayers has been taught to the Muslims by Allah Himself. But no such way has ever been mentioned in the Holy Qur’an. There is no verse in the Holy Book mentioning the detailed way of performing prayer. It is only the Holy Prophet

who educated the Muslims as to how they are to perform it. But the Holy Qur’an holds the teaching of the Holy Prophet

to be the teaching of Allah.

It means that Allah taught the way of prayer to the Holy Prophet

through some ‘unrecited revelation’ not contained in the Holy Qur’an and the Holy Prophet

taught it to the Muslims. Thus Allah has taught the Muslims through the teaching of the Holy Prophet

. However, the teaching of the Holy Prophet

is described in the Holy verse as the teaching of Allah, because it was based on the ‘unrecited revelation’.

9. Certain hypocrites had not accompanied the Holy Prophet

in the expedition of Hudaibiyah. After that, when the Muslims resolved to proceed to the battle of Khyber, the Holy Prophet

declared that only the participants of Hudaibiyah shall be entitled to accompany him on this journey.

The hypocrites who did not go to Hudaibiyah were now interested in their participation in the battle of Khyber, because, according to their anticipation, the Muslims were expected to gain from there sizeable spoils which the hypocrites wanted to share. But the Holy Prophet

, in spite of their requests, did not allow them to participate in the battle.

This event has been referred to the following verse of the Holy Qur’an:

“Those remaining behind will say, when you set forth after spoils to acquire them, ‘Let us follow you’ desiring to change the words of Allah. Say, ‘You shall not follow us; so Allah has said earlier.’(48:15)

The words in italics indicate that there was a previous word of Allah barring the participation of the hypocrites in the battle of Khyber, and confining the battle to the participants of Hudaibiyah. But no such word exists anywhere in the Holy Qur’an. It was only a prophetic order. Still, Allah Almighty describes it as His Own word. The reason is obvious. The Prophetic order was based on the order of Allah received by him through some ‘unrecited revelation’, which is not found in the Holy Qur’an. Yet, it was a revelation, as certain as any word of Allah.

10. In the early days of his Prophethood, when the Holy Prophet

received the verses of the Holy Qur’an revealed to him, he used to recite the same simultaneously, lest he should forget them. It was a strenuous exercise for him, because he felt it was much too difficult to listen to the revelation, to understand it correctly, and to learn it by heart, all at the same time. Allah Almighty relieved him from this burden when He revealed the following verses of the Holy Qur’an:

Move not your tongue with it in order to hasten it. It is on Us to gather it (in your heart) and to recite it. So, when We read it, follow its reading. Then it is on Us to explain it. (75:16,19)

In the last sentence, Allah Almighty has promised the Holy Prophet

to explain the verses of the Holy Qur’an to him. It is evident that this explanation is something separate from the Holy Qur’an itself. It is not the Holy Qur’an. It is its explanation or its exegesis. Therefore, it should necessarily be in some form, distinct from the words of the Holy Book. And this is exactly what is meant by the ‘unrecited revelation’. But the two kinds of revelation, though different in their form, are both revealed to the Holy Prophet

, both are from Allah, and both are to be believed and obeyed by the Muslims.

11. The Holy Qur’an says to the Holy Prophet

And Allah has revealed upon you the Book and the wisdom, and has taught you what you did not know, and the grace of Allah upon you has been great. (4:113).

In this verse the revelation of the Wisdom has been mentioned as separate from the revelation of the Book. It indicates that the wisdom referred to here is something additional to the Holy Qur’an, and it has also been revealed to the Holy Prophet

by Allah Almighty.

Then the Holy Qur’an proceeds to say:

“And (Allah) has taught you what you did not know”.

It means that Allah has not only revealed the Book, but has also revealed the Wisdom, and also taught the Holy Prophet

what he did not know before. The teaching includes all kinds of directions given by Him to his Prophet, either through the Holy Book or through some ‘unrecited revelation’ in the light of which the Holy Prophet

performed his functions as a messenger of Allah.

12. The Holy Qur’an has summarized the various kinds of revelation in the following words:

And it is not possible for a human being that Allah should speak to him, except by way of revelation, or from behind a curtain, or ‘that He should send a messenger and he reveals by His leave what He wills’. (42:51)

Now, out of these three modes, the revelation of the Holy Qur’an was carried out through the third one, namely, through an angel who is identified in the verse by the word, ‘messenger’. It is clearly settled by some other verses:

Say, whoever be an enemy to Jibril (Gabriel, the angel) – it is he who was brought it (the Qur’an) down upon your heart by the permission of Allah (2:97)

And, truly, it (the Qur’an) is the revelation of the Lord of the worlds, brought down by the Faithful Spirit upon your heart, that you may be one of the warners, in a clear Arabic tongue. (26:192,195)

These verses are quite explicit on the point that the Holy Qur’an has been revealed through an angel, named in the first verse as Jibril, and in the second one as the Faithful Spirit; but the verse (42:51) quoted above describes that there are two more ways of revelation. These two modes have also been used in the case of the Holy Prophet

. It means that the revelation sent down to the Holy Prophet

was not confined to the Holy Qur’an, but there were other revelations, too. These revelations are termed as ‘unrecited revelation’.

These are sixteen verses, which affirm not only the existence of the ‘unrecited revelation’ but also its reliability and authenticity, and its binding nature. It is not intended here to produce all the material available in the Holy Qur’an to establish this kind of revelation. The purpose was to give some examples only, which has, perhaps, been substantially served. But before proceeding further, it will be useful to recollect and summarize the conclusions that stand proved in the light of the Holy Qur’an as discussed above:

(1) The function of the Holy Prophet

like other prophets is not only to convey the divine Book. He is also to teach the Book, to teach the wisdom and to make people pure by training them practically.

(2) The ‘Obedience of the Holy Prophet’

, is as necessary as the Obedience of Allah; because the latter has always been mentioned in the Holy Qur’an combined with the former.

(3) The ‘Obedience of the Holy Prophet’

, in practical terms is ‘the obedience of Allah’; and the latter cannot be carried out except through the former.

(4) The Muslims are bound not only to obey the Holy Prophet

, but they are also under an obligation to follow him.

(5) Whatever the Holy Prophet

says or does in his capacity of a Messenger is always based on, or confirmed by, a revelation from Allah.

(6) This revelation is sometimes contained in the Holy Qur’an and called the recited revelation, and sometimes it is sent down in addition to the Holy Qur’an, and the same is termed as ‘unrecited revelation’.

The obedience of the Prophet

is distinct from the obedience of a ruler

From the above conclusions, which are based purely on the verses of the Holy Qur’an, another possibility, often overemphasized by some quarters while opposing the authority of the Sunnah, is completely ruled out. It is sometimes said that the Holy Qur’an, when it ordains the obedience of the Holy Prophet

, means his obedience in the capacity of a ruler or a head of the state, and not in the capacity of a prophet. Since the Holy Prophet

was also a ruler of the Muslims, they are ordered to ‘obey’ and ‘follow’ him. But after he passed away, his personal obedience is no more necessary. Now, whoever takes over the rule shall stand for the Holy Prophet

in the matter of obedience, and the Muslims should follow him.

The fallacy is based on the misconception that the Holy Prophet

was ordered to be obeyed in the capacity of a ruler, and not in the capacity of a prophet or a messenger.

But the verses already quoted leave no room for this misconception. The reasons are as under:

(1) Whenever the Holy Qur’an has directed toward the ‘obedience of the Holy Prophet

’ it has always referred to the ‘obedience of the Messenger’ and not to the ‘obedience of the ruler’ nor to the obedience of ‘Muhammad’

in his private capacity. It clearly indicates that he must be obeyed on account of his being a messenger.

When I say, to someone, ‘obey your father’, it means that his being father is the basic cause of his being obeyed. If I say, ‘obey your teacher’, it is evident that his being teacher is the cause of his obedience being due. Nobody can reasonably interpret these sentences conversely. So, when Allah Almighty says ‘Obey the Messenger’ how can it be reasonable to say that his messengership is not the cause of his obedience?

(2) At one occasion, at least, the Holy Qur’an has removed even the remotest possibility of this wrong interpretation, when it said:

O those who believe, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you (4:59)

Here, the obedience of the messenger has been separated and distinguished from that of the ruling authorities, which means that the ‘messenger’ and ‘those in authority’ both are to obeyed in their different capacities.

It is important to note that in case of the Holy Prophet

both the capacities were combined in him. He was a Messenger as well as a ruler. Therefore, if the Holy Qur’an intended to restrict the obedience of the Holy Prophet

to his lifetime only, it could easily be said, ‘Obey Muhammad

‘.

But by avoiding this expression, the Holy Qur’an explicitly differentiated between his two capacities, and mentioned each of them separately to remove even the slightest apprehension of this misconception, and thus left no room for confusing one capacity with the other.

Moreover, there is another point to note in this verse. The word ‘Messenger’ used here is in singular, while the phrase ‘those in authority’, is in plural. This is to signify that the Holy Prophet

is the last messenger after whom no prophet will come. So, his obedience as a prophet shall always be confined to himself alone. Nobody can share with him in this obedience in future. On the other hand, the ruling authorities shall be in a large number, coming one after the other. The kind of obedience is not restricted to the ruler present at the time of the revelation; it, rather, extends to all the ruling authorities coming after him.

(3) It has been established earlier that the obedience of the Holy Prophet

was based on the ‘unrecited revelation’ he used to receive from Allah. That was why the Holy Qur’an has held it to be the ‘Obedience of Allah’ Himself. On the other hand, no ruler or a head of a state can claim to receive any revelation of any kind.

It is for this reason that a ruler can enjoy an administrative authority over his subjects, but he cannot lay down the rules of Shari’ah. His orders are purely administrative orders, which are to be obeyed by the citizens in that capacity alone. He cannot override any rule of Shari’ah enshrined in the Holy Qur’an and Sunnah, nor can his orders be regarded as imperatives for all times to come, as those of Shari’ah, because they are not based on any revelation from Allah. They are effective only in a sphere where the Shari’ah has not given any definite rule, and left the matter on the discretion of a ruler.

The case of the Holy Prophet

is totally different. He, as a messenger, receives revelation from Allah, recited and unrecited both. His prophetic orders, therefore, are not just administrative orders based on his personal perception. They are based on the revelation, or, at least, are confirmed by it. Let me now explain both situations:

The orders of the Holy Prophet

are sometimes based on the revelation in the sense that the revelation ‘recited or unrecited’ is their original source. But for this revelation, he would not deliver such orders. There can be no doubt in their divine nature. Hence, they form part of the Shari’ah.

In some cases, however, the origin of the orders is not a revelation. They are based originally on the Holy Prophet’s

own analysis of the affairs. But they are confirmed by a revelation later on. This confirmation again is of two kinds: sometimes it occurs in explicit terms, whereby the decision of the Holy Prophet

is upheld by a revelation, and sometimes it happens to be an implied confirmation. If Allah Almighty does not object to a certain act of the Holy Prophet

, it necessarily implies that he has confirmed the act.

The reason is obvious. A prophet of Allah, being a spokesman of His pleasure, remains under a constant divine supervision. If he says something or does something, which is not in complete consonance with Allah’s pleasure, he is always warned about it.

In a number of verses, the Holy Qur’an has expressed Allah’s disapproval of some acts done or intended by the Holy Prophet

. Thus, no act of the Holy Prophet

has ever gone unchecked.

In this perspective, if the Holy Prophet

does something or issues an order, and no revelation, recited or unrecited, comes to disapprove the same, it necessarily implies that the act or order has been approved by Allah Almighty, because if the converse were true, the revelation would never remain silent; it would certainly come to correct the error, as it came in certain cases where disapproval was conveyed in direct terms to the Holy Prophet

Thus, whatever he says or does in his capacity of a messenger, and no revelation comes to the contrary, it is deemed to be an implied confirmation of his saying or act.

It is, therefore, true to say that all his orders and acts are either based on the revelation, or confirmed by it, explicitly or implicitly.

No such authority can be attributed to any ruler after him, because the revelation after him came to an end. This is why the Holy Qur’an highlights the obedience of the messenger as distinct from that of the ruling authorities.

On these three major grounds, there is no room for the misconception that the ‘obedience of the Messenger’ emphasized by the Holy Qur’an means the ‘obedience of the ruling authority.’ In fact, his obedience is necessary for the sole reason that he is a prophet, and his orders and acts, reflect the pleasure of Allah. Hence, the ‘Sunnah’, which is nothing but a record of his sayings and acts, enjoys a binding authority on all Muslims who believe in Allah and His Holy Book.

The Scope of the Prophetic Authority

The verses of the Qur’an quoted in the previous chapter, and the natural conclusions derived therefrom, are sufficient to prove the authority of the ‘Sunnah’ of the Holy Prophet

. It’s being a source of Islamic law stands proved on that score. Yet, the Holy Qur’an has not only stressed upon the ‘obedience of the Messenger’ as a general rule or principle; it has also highlighted the different shades of authority in order to explain the scope of his obedience, and the various spheres where it is to be applied.

Therefore, we propose in this chapter to deal with each of these spheres separately, and to explain what the Holy Qur’an requires of us in respect of each of them.

The Prophet’s Authority to make laws

A number of verses in the Holy Qur’an establish the authority of the Holy Prophet

as a legislator or a law - maker. Some of those are reproduced below:

And My mercy embraces all things. So, I shall prescribe it for those who fear Allah, and pay zakah (obligatory alms), and those who have faith in Our signs, those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet whom they find written down in the Torah and the Injil, and who bids them to the Fair and forbids them the Unfair, and makes lawful for them the good things, and makes unlawful for them the impure things, and relieves them of their burdens and of the shackles that were upon them. So, those who believe in him, and honor him, and help him, and follow the light that has been sent down with him – they are ones who acquire success” (7:157)

The italicized words in this verse signify that one of the functions of the Holy Prophet

, is “to make lawful the good things and make unlawful the impure things.” This function has been separated from ‘bidding the Fair and forbidding the Unfair’, because the latter relates to the preaching of what has already been established as Fair, and warning against what is established as Unfair, while the former embodies the making of lawful and unlawful, that is, the enforcing of new laws regarding the permissibility or prohibition of things.

This function of prescribing new religious laws and rules is attributed here not to the Holy Qur’an, but to the Holy Prophet

. It, therefore, cannot be argued that the ‘making of lawful or unlawful’ means the declaration of what is laid down in the Holy Qur’an only, because the declaration of a law is totally different from making it. Besides, the declaration of the established rules has been referred to in the earlier sentence separately, that is, ‘bids them to the Fair and forbids for them the Unfair.’ The reference in the next sentence, therefore, is only to ‘making’ new laws.

The verse also emphasizes ‘to believe’ in the Holy Prophet

. In the present context, it clearly means to believe in all his functions mentioned in the verse including to make something ‘lawful’ or ‘unlawful’. The verse moreover, directs to follow the light that has been sent down with him. Here again, instead o ‘following the Holy Qur’an’, ’following the light’ has been ordered, so as to include all the imperatives sent down to the Holy Prophet

, either through the Holy Book or through the unrecited revelation, reflecting in his own orders and acts.

Looked at from whatever angle, the verse is a clear proof of the fact that the Holy Prophet

had an authority based, of course, on the unrecited revelation, to make new laws in addition to those mentioned in the Holy Qur’an.

2. The Holy Qur’an says:

Fight those who do not believe in Allah and the Hereafter and do not hold lawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful (9:29)

The underlined words signify that it is necessary ‘to hold unlawful what Allah and His Messenger made unlawful’, and that the authority of making something ‘unlawful’ is not restricted to Allah Almighty. The Holy Prophet

can also, by the will of Allah, exercise this authority. The difference between the authority of Allah and that of the Messenger is, no doubt, significant. The former is wholly independent, intrinsic and self-existent, while the authority of the latter is derived from and dependant on the revelation from Allah. Yet, the fact remains that the Holy Prophet

has this authority and it is necessary for believers to submit to it along with their submission to the authority of Allah.

3. The Holy Qur’an says,

No believer, neither man nor woman, has a right, when Allah and His Messenger decide a matter, to have a choice in their matter in issue. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has gone astray into manifest error (33:36)

Here, the decisions of Allah and the Holy Prophet

both have been declared binding on the believers.

It is worth mentioning that the word ‘and’ occurring between ‘Allah’ and ‘His Messenger’ carries both conjunctive and disjunctive meanings. It cannot be held to give conjunctive sense only, because in that case it will exclude the decision of Allah unless it is combined with the decision of the messenger – a construction too fallacious to be imagined in the divine expression. The only reasonable construction, therefore, is to take the word ‘and’ in both conjunctive and disjunctive meanings. The sense is hat whenever Allah or His Messenger, any one or both of them, decide a matter, the believers have no choice except to submit to their decision.

It is clear that the Holy Prophet

has the legal authority to deliver decisions in the collective and individual affairs of the believers who are bound to surrender to those decisions.

4. The Holy Qur’an says,

Whatever the Messenger gives you, take it, and whatever he forbids you, refrain from it (59:7)

Although the context of this verse relates to the distribution of the spoils of war, yet it is the well known principle of the interpretation of the Holy Qur’an that, notwithstanding the particular event in which a verse is revealed, if the words used are general, they are to be considered in their general sense; they cannot be restricted to that particular event.

Keeping in view this principle, which s never disputed, the verse gives a general rule about the Holy Prophet

that whatever order he gives is binding on the believers and, whatever thing he forbids stands prohibited for them. The Holy Qur’an thus has conferred a legal authority to the Holy Prophet

to give orders, to make laws and enforce prohibitions.

It will be interesting here to cite a wise answer of Abdullah ibn Mas’ud, the blessed companion of the Holy Prophet

which he gave to a woman. A woman from the tribe of Asad came to Abdullah b. Mas’ud and said, ‘I have come to know that you hold such and such things as prohibited. I have gone through the whole Book of Allah, but never found any such prohibition in it.’

Abdullah b. Mas’ud replied, “Had you read the Book, you would have found it. Allah Almighty says:Ü

“Whatever the Messenger gives you, take it, and whatever he forbids you, refrain form it.”(59:7)

By this answer Abdullah b. Mas’ud pointed out that this verse is so comprehensive that it embodies all the orders and prohibitions of the Holy Prophet

and since the Holy Prophet

enforces the questioned prohibitions they form part of this verse, though indirectly.

5. The Holy Qur’an says.

But no, by your Lord, they shall not be (deemed to be) believers unless they accept you as judge in their disputes, and then find in their hearts no adverse feeling against what you decided, but surrender to it in complete submission. (4:65)

The authority of the Holy Prophet

established in this verse seems apparently to be an authority to adjudicate in the disputes brought before him. But after due consideration in the construction used here, this authority appears to be more than that of a judge. A judge, no doubt, has an authority to deliver his judgments and the parties concerned are bound to obey his judgments, but the submission to his judgments is not a condition for being a Muslim. If somebody does not accept the judgment of duly authorized judge, it can be a gross misconduct on his part, and a great sin, for which he may be punished, but he cannot be excluded from the pale of Islam on this score alone. He cannot be held as disbeliever.

On the contrary, the verse vehemently insists that the person who does not accept the verdicts of the Holy Prophet

cannot be held to be a believer. This forceful assertion indicates that the authority of the Holy Prophet

is not merely that of customary judge. The denial of his judgments amounts to disbelief. It implies that the verdicts of the Holy Prophet

referred to here are not the normal verdicts given in the process of a trial. They are laws laid down by him on the basis of the revelation, recited or unrecited, that he receives from Allah. So, the denial of these laws is, in fact, the denial of the divine orders, which excludes the denier from the pale of Islam.

Looked at from this point of view, this verse gives the Holy Prophet

not only the authority of a judge, but also confers upon him the authority to make laws, as binding on the Muslims as the divine laws.

6. The Holy Qur’an says:

They say, ‘we believe in Allah and the Messenger, and we obey.’ Then, after that, a group of them turn away. And they are not believers. And when they are called to Allah and His Messenger that he may judge between them, suddenly a group of them turn back.

But if they had a right, they come to him submissively! Is it that there is sickness in their hearts? Or are they in doubt? Or do they fear that Allah may be unjust towards them, and His Messenger? Nay, but they are the unjust. All that the believers say when they are called to Allah and His Messenger that he (the Messenger) may judge between them, is that they say, ‘We hear and we obey’. And they are those who acquire success. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger and fears Allah and observes His Awe, such are those who are the winners.” (24:47-52)

These verses, too, hold that, in order to be a Muslim, the condition is to surrender to the verdicts of the Holy Prophet

. Those who do not turn towards him in their disputes in spite of being called to him cannot, according to the Holy Qur’an, be treated as believers.

It carries the same principle as mentioned in the preceding verse: It is the basic ingredient of the belief in Allah and His Messenger that the authority of the Messenger should be accepted whole-heartedly. He must be consulted in disputes and obeyed. His verdicts must be followed in total submission, and the laws enunciated by him must be held as binding.

The Holy Prophet’s Authority to Interpret the Holy Qur’an.

The second type of authority given to the Holy Prophet

is the authority to interpret and explain the Holy Book. He is the final authority in the interpretation of the Holy Qur’an. The Holy Qur’an says:

And We sent down towards you the AdviceÜ (i.e. the Qur’an) so that you may explain to the people what has been sent down to them and, so that they may ponder (16:44)

It is unequivocally established here that the basic function of the Holy Prophet

is to explain the Holy Book and to interpret the revelation sent down to him. It is obvious that the Arabs of Makkah, who were directly addressed by the Holy Prophet

did not need any translation of the Qur’anic text. The Holy Qur’an was revealed in their own mother tongue. Despite that they were mostly illiterate, they had a command on their language and literature. Their beautiful poetry, their eloquent speeches and their impressive dialogues are the basic sources of richness in the Arabic literature. They needed no one to teach them the literal meaning of the Qur’anic text. That they understood the textual meaning is beyond any doubt.

It is obvious that the explanation entrusted to the Holy Prophet

was something more than the literal meaning of the Book. It was an explanation of what Allah Almighty intended, including all the implications involved and the details needed. These details are also received by the Holy Prophet

through the unrecited revelation. As discussed earlier, the Holy Qur’an has clearly said.

Then, it is on Us to explain it (75:19)

This verse is self-explanatory on the subject. Allah Almighty has Himself assured the Holy Prophet

that He shall explain the Book to him. So, whatever explanation the Holy Prophet

gives to the Book is based on the explanation of Allah Himself. So, his interpretation of the Holy Qur’an overrides all the possible interpretations. Hence, he is the final authority in the exegesis and interpretation of the Holy Qur’an. His word is the last word in this behalf.

Examples of Prophetic explanations of the Qur’an

To be more specific, I would give a few concrete instances of the explanations of the Holy Book given to us by the Holy Prophet

. These examples will also show the drastic amount of what we lose if we ignore the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet

1. The salah (prayer) is the well-known way of worship, which is undisputedly held as the first pillar of Islam after having faith. The Holy Qur’an has ordered more than 73 times to observe it. Despite the large number of verses giving direct command to observe the Salah, there is no verse in the entire Book to explain how to perform and observe it.

Some components of the salah, like ruku’ (bowing down) or sujud (Prostration) or Qiyam (Standing) are, no doubt, mentioned in the Holy Qur’an. But the complete way to perform salah as a composite whole has never been explained. It is only through the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet

that we learn the exact way to perform it. If the Sunnah is ignored, all these details about the correct way of observing salah are totally lost. Not only this, nobody can bring forth an alternate way to perform salah on the basis of the Holy Qur’an alone.

It is significant that the Holy Qur’an has repeated the command of observing salah as many as 73 times, yet, it has elected not to describe the way it had to be performed. This is not without some wisdom behind it. The point that seems to have been made deliberately is one of the significance of the Sunnah.

By avoiding the details about no less a pillar of Islam than salah, it is pointed out that the Holy Qur’an is meant for giving the fundamental principles only. The details are left to the explanations of the Holy Prophet

2. Moreover, it is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an that the ‘salah’ is tied up with some prescribed times. Allah Almighty says:

Surely, the salah is a timed obligation for the believers.(4:103)

It is clear from this verse that there are some particular times in which the salah should be performed. But what are those times is nowhere mentioned in the Holy Qur’an. Even that the holy obligatory prayers are five in number is never disclosed in the Holy Book. It is only through the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet

that we have learnt the exact number and the specific times of the obligatory prayers.

3. The same is the position of the number of Rak’at to be performed in each prayer. It is not mentioned anywhere in the Holy Qur’an that the number of Rak’at is two in Fajr, four in Zuhr, Asr and Isha; It is only in the Sunnah that these matters are mentioned.

If the Sunnah is not believed, all these necessary details even about the first pillar of Islam remain totally unknown, so as to render the Salah too vague an obligation to be carried out in practice.

4. The same is the case of the Zakah (alms giving), the second pillar of Islam, which is in most cases combined with the Salah in the Holy Qur’an. The order to ‘pay zakah’ is found in the Holy Book in more than thirty places. But who is liable to pay it? On what rate should it be paid? What assets are liable to the obligation of Zakah? What assets are exempted from it? All these questions remain unanswered if the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet

is ignored. It is the Holy Prophet

who explained all these details about zakah.

5. Fasts of Ramadan are held to be the third pillar of Islam. Here again only the fundamental principles are found in the Holy Qur’an. Most of the necessary details have been left to the explanation of the Holy Prophet

, which he disclosed through his sayings and acts. What acts, other than eating, drinking and having sex, are prohibited or permitted during the fast? Under what conditions can one break the fast during the day? What kind of treatment can be undertaken in the state of fasting? All these and similar other details are mentioned by the Holy Prophet

6. The Holy Qur’an has said after mentioning how to perform wudu, (ablution):

And if you are junub (defiled) well-purify yourself (5:6)

It is also clarified in the Holy Qur’an that while being junub (defiled) one should not perform prayers (4:43). But the definition of junub (defiled) is nowhere given in the Holy Qur’an nor is it mentioned how should a defiled person ‘well-purify’ himself. It is the Holy Prophet

who has explained all these questions and laid down the detailed injunctions on the subject.

7. The command of the Holy Qur’an concerning Hajj, the fourth pillar of Islam, is in the following words:

And as a right of Allah, it is obligatory on people to perform the Hajj of the House – whoever has the ability to manage his way to it. (3:97)

It is just not disclosed here as to how many times the Hajj (pilgrimage to Makkah) is obligatory? The Holy Prophet

explained that the obligation is discharged by performing Hajj only once in a lifetime.

8. The Holy Qur’an says:

Those who accumulate gold and silver and do not spend them in the way of Allah, give them the good news of a painful punishment (9:34)

Here, ‘accumulation’ is prohibited and ‘spending’ is enjoyed. But the quantum of none of the two is explained. Up to what limit can one save his money, and how much spending is obligatory? Both the questions are left to the explanation of the Holy Prophet

who has laid down the detailed roles in this respect.

9. The Holy Qur’an, while describing the list of the women of the prohibited degree, with whom one cannot marry, has extended the prohibition of marrying two sisters in one time:

And (it is also prohibited) to combine two sisters together (4:23)

The Holy Prophet

while explaining this verse, clarified that the prohibition is not restricted to two sisters only. The verse, has, instead, laid down a principle, which includes a prohibition of combining an aunt and her niece, paternal or maternal as well.

10. The Holy Qur’an says:

Today the good things have been permitted to you. (5:5)

Here ‘the good things’ are not explained. The detailed list of the lawful ‘good things’ has only been given by the Holy Prophet

who has described the different kinds of food being not lawful for the Muslims and not falling in the category of the ‘good things’. Had there been no such explanation given by the Holy Prophet

everybody would interpret the ‘good things’ according to his own personal desires, and the very purpose of the revelation, namely, to draw a clear distinction between good and bad, would have been disturbed. If everybody was free to determine what is good and what is bad, neither any revelation nor a messenger was called for. It was through both the Holy Book and the Messenger

that the need was fulfilled.

Numerous other examples of this nature may be cited. But a few examples given above are, perhaps, quite sufficient, to show the nature of the explanations given by the Holy Prophet

as well as to establish their necessity in the framework of an Islamic life ordained by the Holy Qur’an for its followers.

Does the Holy Qur’an need explanation?

Before concluding this discussion, it is pertinent to answer a question often raised with reference to the explanation of the Holy Qur’an. The question is whether the Holy Qur’an needs any one to explain its contents? The Holy Qur’an in certain places seems to claim that its verses are self-explanatory, easy to understand and clear in their meanings. So, any external explanation should be uncalled for. Why, then, the prophetic explanation is so much stressed upon?

The answer to this question is found in the Holy Qur’an itself. A combined study of the relevant verses reveals that the Holy Qur’an deals with two different types of subjects. One is concerned with the general statements about the simple realities, and it includes the historic events relating to the former prophets and their nations, the statement of Allah’s bounties on mankind, the creation of the heavens and the earth, the cosmological signs of the divine power and wisdom, the pleasures of the Paradise and the torture of the Hell, and subjects of similar nature.

The other types of subjects consist of the imperatives of Shari’ah, the provisions of Islamic law, the details of doctrinal issues, the wisdom of certain injunctions, and other academic subjects.

The first type of subject, which is termed in the Holy Qur’an as Zikr (the lesson, the sermon, the advice) is, no doubt, so easy to understand that even an illiterate rustic can benefit from it without having recourse to anyone else. It is in this type of subjects that the Holy Qur’an says:

And surely we have made the Qur’an easy for Zikr (getting a lesson) so, is there anyone to get a lesson? (54:22)

The words ‘for Zikr’ (getting a lesson) signify that the easiness of the Holy Qur’an relates to the subjects of the first nature. The basic thrust of the verse is on getting lesson from the Qur’an and it’s being easy for the purpose only. But by no means can the proposition be extended to the inference of legal rules and the interpretation of the legal and doctrinal provisions contained in the Book. Had the interpretation of even this type of subjects been open to everybody irrespective of the volume of his learning, the Holy Qur’an would have not entrusted the Holy Prophet

with the function of ‘teaching’ and ‘explaining’ the Book. The verses quoted earlier, which introduce the Holy Prophet

as the one who ‘teaches’ and ‘explains’ the Holy Qur’an, are explicit on the point that the Book needs some messenger to teach and interpret it. Regarding the type of verses which require explanation, the Holy Qur’an itself says,

And these similitudes We mention before the people. And nobody understands them except the learned (29:43)

Thus, the ‘easiness’ of the subjects of the first type does not exclude the necessity of a prophet who can explain all the legal and practical implications of the imperatives contained in the Holy Qur’an.

The Time Limit of the Prophetic authority

We have so far studied the two types of Prophetic authority, first being the authority to make new laws in addition to those contained in the Holy Qur’an, and the second being the authority to explain, interpret and expound the Qur’anic injunctions.

But before proceeding to the other aspects of the Prophetic authority, another issue should be resolved just here.

It is sometimes argued by those who hesitate to accept the full authority of the Sunnah, that whenever the Holy Qur’an has conferred on the Holy Prophet

an authority to make laws or to explain and interpret the Book, it meant this authority to be binding on the people of the Prophet’s time only. They were under the direct control and the instant supervision of the Holy Prophet

and were addressed by him face to face. Therefore, the Prophetic authority was limited to them only. It cannot be extended to all the generations for all times to come.

This contention leads us to the discovery of the time limits of the Prophetic authority. The question is whether the authority of the Holy Prophet

was confined to his own time, or it is an everlasting authority which holds good for all times to come.

The basic question underlying this issue has already been answered in detail; and that is the question of the nature of this authority. It has been established through a number of arguments that the obedience of the Holy Prophet

was not enjoined upon the Muslims in his capacity of a ruler. It has been enjoined in his capacity of a prophet. Had it been the authority of a ruler only, which the Holy Prophet

exercised, it would logically be inferred that the authority is tied up with his rule, and as soon as his administrative rule is over, his authority simultaneously ceases to have effect.

But if the authority is a ‘Prophetic’ authority, and not merely a ‘ruling authority’, then, it is obvious that it shall continue with the continuance of the Prophethood, and shall not disappear until the Holy Prophet

no longer remains a prophet.

Now, the only question is whether the Holy Prophet

was a prophet of a particular nation or a particular time, or his Prophethood extended to the whole mankind for all times. Let us seek the answer from the Holy Qur’an itself. The Holy Qur’an says:

Say, ‘O mankind, I am the Messenger of Allah to you all’ (7:158)

And We did not send you (O Prophet) except to the entire mankind, bearing good news, and warning (34:28)

And We did not send you, save as a mercy unto all the worlds. (21:107)

Blessed be He Who has sent down the Qur’an on His servant so that he may be a warner to all the worlds. (25:1)

And We have sent you (O Prophet) for mankind as a Messenger. And Allah suffices to be a witness (4:79)

And the whole mankind is addressed when it is said:

O mankind, the Messenger has come to you with the truth from your Lord, so believe; it is better for you. And if you disbelieve, to Allah belongs what is in the heavens and in the earth. And Allah is All – Knowing, All – Wise (4:170).

The first five verses need no elaboration. They are self-explanatory on the point that the Holy Prophet

was sent to the whole mankind and not to a particular people; his Prophethood was not limited either in time or in place.

The fifth verse addresses the whole mankind and enjoins upon all of them to believe in the Holy Prophet

. Nobody can say that the belief of the Holy Prophet

was restricted to his own time. It is, according to this verse, incumbent upon all of the peoples, of whatever age, to believe in his Prophethood.

It is also mentioned in the Holy Qur’an that the Holy Prophet

is the last Messenger after whom no prophet is to come:

Muhammad is not the father of anyone or your men, but the Messenger of Allah and the last of the prophets. And Allah is All-Knowing in respect of everything (33:40)

This verse made it clear that the Holy Prophet

is the last one in the chain of prophets. The earlier prophets were often sent to a particular nation for a particular time, because other prophets succeeded them. But no prophet is to come after Muhammad

. Hence, his Prophethood extends to all the nations and all the times. This is what the Holy Prophet

himself explained in the following words:

“The Israelites were led by the prophets. Whenever a prophet would pass away, another prophet would succeed him. But there is no prophet after me. However, there shall be successors., and shall be in large numbers.Ü

If the realm of his Prophethood would not reach out to the next generations, the people of those generations would be left devoid of the prophetic guidance, while Allah does not leave any people without prophetic guidance.

In the light of the verses quoted above, there remains no doubt in the fact that the Holy Prophet

is the messenger for all the nations for all times to come.

If his Prophethood extends to all times, there remains no room for the suggestion that his prophetic authority does no longer hold good, and the present day Muslims are not bound to obey and follow him.

There is another point in the subject worth attention:

It is established through a large number of arguments in the first chapter that Allah Almighty sent no divine book without a messenger. It is also clarified by Allah that the messengers are sent to teach the Book and to explain it. It is also proved earlier that, but for the detailed explanations of the Holy Prophet

, nobody might know even the way of the obligatory prayers.

The question now is that whether all these prophetic explanations were needed only by the Arabs of the Prophetic age. The Arabs of Makkah were more aware of the Prophetic language than we are. They were more familiar to the Qur’anic style. They were physically present at the time of revelation and observed personally all the surrounding circumstances in which the Holy Book was revealed. They received the verses of the Holy Qur’an from the mouth of the Holy Prophet

, and were fully aware of all the factors, which help, in the correct understanding of a text. Still, they needed the explanations of the Holy Prophet

, which were binding on them.

Then, how can a man of ordinary perception presume that the people of this age, who lack all these advantages, do not need the explanations of a prophet? We have neither that command on the Arabic language as they had, nor are we so familiar with the Qur’anic style as they were, nor have we seen the circumstances in which the Holy Qur’an was revealed, as they have seen. If they needed the guidance of the Holy Prophet

in interpreting the Holy Qur’an, we should certainly need it all the more.

If the authority of the Holy Qur’an has no time-limit, if the text of the Qur’an is binding on all the generations, for all times to come, then, the authority of the Messenger which is included in the very Qur’an without being limited to any time bond, shall remain as effective as the Holy Qur’an itself. While ordaining for the ‘obedience of the messengers’ the Holy Qur’an addressed not only the Arabs of Makkah or Madinah. It has addressed all the believers when it was said:

O those who believe, obey Allah and obey the Messenger (4:59)

If the ‘obedience of Allah’ has always been combined with the ‘obedience of the Messenger’ as we have seen earlier, there is no room for separating any one from the other. If one is meant for all times, the other cannot be meant for a particular period. The Holy Qur’an at another place has also warned against such separation between Allah and His Messenger:

4:150,151 Those who disbelieve in Allah and His Messengers, and desire to make separation between Allah and His Messengers, and say, ‘we believe in some and disbelieve in some’ desiring to adopt a way in between this and that – those are the unbelievers in truth, and We have prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating punishment

Therefore, the submission to the authority of the Holy Prophet

is a basic ingredient of having belief in his Prophethood, which can never be separated from him. Thus, to accept the prophetic authority in the early days of Islam, and to deny it in the later days, is so fallacious a proposition that cannot find support from any source of Islamic learning, nor can it be accepted from any touchstone of logic and reason.

The Prophetic Authority in Worldly Affairs

Another point of view often presented by some westernized circles is that the authority of the Holy Prophet

is, no doubt, established by the Holy Qur’an even for all the generations for all times to come. But the scope of this authority is limited only to the doctrinal affairs and the matters of worship. The function of a prophet, according to them, is restricted to correct the doctrinal beliefs of the Ummah and to teach them how to worship Allah. As far as the worldly affairs are concerned, the prophetic authority does not govern them. The worldly affairs include, in their view, all the economic, social and political affairs, which should be settled according to the expediency at each relevant time, and the Prophetic authority has no concern with them. Even if the Holy Prophet

gives some directions in these fields, he does so in his private capacity, and not as a Messenger. So, it is not necessary for the Ummah to comply with such directions.

To substantiate this proposition, a particular tradition of the Holy Prophet

is often quoted, though out of context, Ü in which he said to his companions.

You know more about your worldly affairs.

Before I quote this tradition in its full context, the very concept upon which this proposition is based needs examination.

In fact, this view is based on a series of misconceptions about the whole structure of Islamic order.

The misconception is that Islam, like some other religions, is restricted to some doctrines and some rituals. It has no concern with the day-to-day affairs of the human life. After observing the prescribed doctrines and rituals, everybody is free to run his life in whatever way he likes, not hindered in any manner by the divine imperatives. That is why the advocates of this view confine the Prophetic authority to some doctrines and rituals only.

But the misconception, however fashionable it may seem to be, is a misconception. It is an established fact that Islam, unlike some other religions, which can coincide and co-exist with the secular concept of life, is not merely a set of doctrines and rituals. It is complete way of life, which deals with the political, economic and social problems as well as with theological issues. The Holy Qur’an says,

O those who believe, respond to the call of Allah and His Messenger when he calls you for what gives you life (8:24)

It means that Allah and His Messenger call people towards life. How is it imagined that the affairs of life are totally out of the jurisdiction of Allah and His Messenger? Nobody who has studied the Holy Qur’an can endorse that its teachings are limited to worship and rituals. There are specific injunctions in the Holy Qur’an about sale, purchase loans, mortgage, partnership, penal laws, inheritance, matrimonial relations, political affairs, problems of war and peace and other aspects of international relations. If the Islamic teachings were limited to the doctrinal and ritual matters, there is no reason why such injunctions are mentioned in the Holy Qur’an.

Likewise the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet

deals with the economic, social, political and legal problems in such detail that voluminous books have been written to compile them. How can it be envisaged that the Holy Prophet

entered this field in such detailed manner without having any authority or jurisdiction? The injunctions of the Holy Qur’an and Sunnah in this field are so absolute, imperative, and of mandatory nature that they cannot be imagined to be personal advice lacking any legal force.

We have already quoted a large number of verses from the Holy Qur’an, which enjoin the obedience of Allah and the Messenger upon the believers. This ‘obedience’ has nowhere been limited to some particular field. It is an all-embracing obedience, which requires total submission from the believers, having no exception whatsoever.

It is true that in this field, which is termed in the Islamic law as ‘mu’amalat’ , the Holy Qur’an and Sunnah have mostly given some broad principles, and left most of the details open to be settled according to the ever-changing needs, but in strict conformity with the principles laid down by them. Thus the field not occupied by the Qur’an and Sunnah is a wider field where the requirements of expediency can well play their role. But it does not mean that the Qur’an and Sunnah have no concern with this vital branch of human life which has always been the basic cause of unrest in the history of humanity, and which the so called ‘rational views’ mostly conflicting with each other, have always fallen prey to satanic desires, leading the world to disaster.

Anyhow, the fallacy of this narrow viewpoint about Islam which excludes all the practical spheres of life from its pale, rather, to be more correct, makes them devoid of its guidance, cannot sustain before the overwhelming arguments which stand to rule it out totally.

The event of fecundation (manual pollination) of the palm-trees.

Let me now turn to the tradition, which is often quoted to support this fallacious view. The details of the tradition are follows:

The Arabs of Madinah used to fecundate their palm-trees in order to make them more fruitful. The operation was called Ta’bir which is explained by E.W. Lane as below:

“He fecundated a palm-tree by means of the spadix of the male tree, which is bruised, or brayed, and sprinkled upon the spadix of the female; or by inserting a stalk of a raceme of the male tree in to the spathe of the female, after shaking off the pollen of the former upon the spadix of the female” Ü

Keeping this in view, read the following tradition, as mentioned by Imam Muslim in his Sahih:ÝÝ

The blessed companion Talha says:

‘I passed along with the Holy Prophet

across some people who were on the tops of the palm-trees. The Holy Prophet

asked, ‘What are they doing?’

Some people said, "They are fecundating the tree. They insert the male into the female and the tree stands fecundated.’ The Holy Prophet

said ,’I do not think it will be of any use’. The people (who were fecundating the trees) were informed about what the Holy Prophet

said. So, they stopped this operation. Then the Holy Prophet

was informed about their withdrawal. On this, the Holy Prophet

said, ‘If it is in fact useful for them, let them do it, because I had only made a guess. So, do not cling to me in my guess. But when I tell you something on behalf of Allah, take it firm, because I shall never tell a lie on behalf of Allah.”

According to the blessed Companion Anas, the Holy Prophet

has also said on this occasion.

You know more about your worldly affairs.

The words of this tradition, when looked at in its full context, would clearly reveal that the Holy Prophet

in this case did not deliver an absolute prohibition against the fecundation of the palm trees. There was no question of its being lawful or unlawful. What the Holy Prophet

did was neither a command, nor a legal or religious prohibition, nor a moral condemnation. It was not even a serious observation. It was only a remark passed by him by the way in the form of an instant and general guess, as he himself clarified later. ‘I do not think it will be of any use.’ Nobody can take this sentence as a legal or religious observation. That is why the Holy Prophet

did not address with it the persons involved in the operation, nor did he order to convey his message to them. It was through some other persons that they learned about the remark of the Holy Prophet

Although the remark was not in the form of an imperative, but the blessed companions of the Holy Prophet

used to obey and follow him in everything, not only on the basis of his legal or religious authority, but also out of their profound love towards him. They, therefore, gave up the operation altogether. When the Holy Prophet

came to know about their having abstained from the operation on the basis of what he remarked, he clarified the position to avoid any misunderstanding.

The substance of this clarification is that only the absolute statements of the Holy Prophet

are binding, because they are given in his capacity of a prophet on behalf of Allah Almighty. As for a word spoken by him as a personal guess, and not as an absolute statement, it should be duly honored, but it should not be taken as a part of Shari’ah.

As I have mentioned earlier, there is a vast field in the day-to-day worldly affairs, which is not occupied by the Shari’ah, where the people have been allowed to proceed according to their needs and expedience and on the basis of their knowledge and experience. What instruments should be used to fertilize a barren land? How the plants should be nourished? What weapons are more useful for the purpose of defense? What kind of horses are more suitable to ride? What medicine is useful in a certain disease? The questions of this type relate to the field where the Shari’ah has not supplied any particular answer. All these and similar other matters are left to the human curiosity which can solve these problems through its efforts.

It is this unoccupied field of mubahat about which the Holy Prophet

observed:

You know best about your worldly affairs

But it does not include those worldly affairs in which the Holy Qur’an or the Sunnah have laid down some specific rules or given a positive command. That is why the Holy Prophet

, while declaring the matter of palm-trees to be in the unoccupied field, has simultaneously observed, “But when I tell you something on behalf of Allah, take it firm.”

The upshot of the foregoing discussion is that the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet

is the second source of Islamic law. Whatever the Holy Prophet

said or did in his capacity of a Messenger is binding on the Ummah. This authority of the Sunnah is based on the revelation he received from Allah. Hence, the obedience of the Holy Prophet

is another form of obedience of Allah. This prophetic authority, which is established through a large number of Qur’anic verses, cannot be curtailed, neither by limiting its tenure, nor by exempting the worldly affairs from its scope.
CHAPTER 3

The Authenticity of the “Sunnah”: its historical aspect

Faced with the overwhelming arguments in favor of the authority of Sunnah some people resort to another way of suspecting its credibility, that is, to suspect its historical authenticity.

According to them, the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet

through having a binding authority for all times to come, has not been preserved in a trustworthy manner. Unlike the Holy Qur’an, they say, there is no single book containing reliable reports about the Sunnah. There are too many works having a large number of traditions sometimes conflicting with each other. And those books, too, were compiled in the third century of Hijrah. So, we cannot place our trust in the reports, which have not even been reduced to writing during the first three centuries.

This argument is based on a number of misstatements and misconceptions. As we shall see in this chapter, Inshallah, it is totally wrong to claim that the traditions of the Sunnah have been compiled in the third century. But, before approaching this historical aspect of the Sunnah, let us examine the argument in its logical perspective.

The argument accepts that the Holy Prophet

has a prophetic authority for all times to come, and that his obedience is mandatory for all Muslims of whatever age, but in the same breath it claims that the reports of the Sunnah being unreliable, we cannot carry out this obedience. Does it not logically conclude that Allah has enjoined upon us to obey the Messenger, but did not make this obedience practicable. The question is whether Allah Almighty may give us a positive command to do something, which is beyond our ability and means. The answer is certainly “no”. The Holy Qur’an itself says,

2: 286 On no soul doth Allah place a burden greater than it can bear.

It cannot be envisaged that Allah will bind all the people with something, which does not exist or cannot be ascertained. Accepted that, Allah has enjoined upon us to follow the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet

, it certainly implies that the Sunnah is not undiscoverable. If Allah has made it obligatory to follow the Sunnah, He has certainly preserved it for us, in a reliable form.

The following aspect also merits consideration. Allah Almighty has given us a promise in the Holy Qur’an:

Indeed We have revealed the Zikr (i.e. the Qur’an) and surely We will preserve it (15:9).

In this verse, Almighty Allah, has assured the preservation of the Holy Qur’an. This implies that the Qur’an will remain uninterpolated and that it shall always be transferred from one generation to other in its real and original form, undistorted by any foreign element. The question now is whether this divine protection is restricted only to the words of the Holy Qur’an or does it extend to its real meaning as well. If prophetic explanation is necessary to understand the Holy Qur’an correctly, as proved in the first chapter, then the preservation of Qur’anic words alone cannot serve the purpose unless the prophetic explanation are also preserved. As quoted earlier, the Holy Book says:

We have revealed to you the Zikr (the Qur’an) so that you may explain to the people what has been sent down for them.

The word ‘Zikr’ has been used here for the Holy Qur’an as has been used in the verse 15:9 and it has been made clear that the ‘people’ can only benefit from its guidance when they are led by the explanation of the Holy Prophet

Again the words ‘for the people’ indicate (especially in the original Arabic context), that the Holy Prophet’s

explanation is always needed by ‘everyone’.

Now, if everyone, in every age is in need of prophetic explanation, without which they cannot fully benefit from the Holy Book, how would it be useful for them to preserve the Qur’anic text and leave its prophetic explanation at the mercy of distorters, extending to it no type of protection what so ever.

Therefore, once the necessity of the prophetic explanation of the Holy Qur’an is accepted, it will be self-contradictory to claim that these explanations are unavailable today. It will amount to negating the divine wisdom, because it is in no way a wise policy to establish the necessity of the Sunnah on the one hand, and to make its discovery impossible on the other. Such a policy cannot be attributed to Allah, the All Mighty, and the All Wise.

This deductive argument is, in my view, sufficient to establish that comprehending the ‘Sunnah’ of the Holy Prophet

, which is necessary for the correct understanding of the divine guidance shall as a whole, remain available in a reliable manner forever. All objections raised against the authenticity of the Sunnah as a whole, can be repudiated on this score alone.

But in order to study the actual facts, we are giving here, the brief account of the measures taken by Ummah to preserve the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet

. It is brief and an inductive study of the subject for which the comprehensive and voluminous books are available in Arabic and the other languages. The brief account we intend to give here is comprehensive. The only purpose is to highlight some basic facts, which if studied objectively, are well enough to support the deductive inference about the authenticity of the Sunnah.

The Preservation of Sunnah

It is totally wrong to say that the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet

was compiled for the first time in the third century. In fact, the compilation had begun in the very days of the Holy Prophet

as we shall see later, though the compilations in a written form were not the sole measures adopted for the preservation of the Sunnah. There were many other reliable sources of preservation also. In order to understand the point correctly we will have to know the different kinds of the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet

Three kinds of Ahadith

An individual tradition, which narrates a ‘Sunnah’ of the Holy Prophet,

is termed in the relevant sciences as ‘Hadith’ (Pl. Ahadith). The ‘Ahadith’, with regard to the frequency of their sources are divided into three major kinds:

1. Mutawatir: It is a hadith narrated in each era, from the days of the Holy Prophet

up to this day by such a large number of narrators that it is impossible to reasonably accept that all of them have colluded to tell a lie.

This kind is further classified into two subdivisions:

a. Mutawatir in words: It is a hadith whose words are narrated by such a large number as is required for a mutawatir, in a manner that all the narrators are unanimous in reporting it with the same words without any substantial discrepancy.

b. Mutawatir in meaning : It is a Mutawatir hadith, which is not reported by the narrators in the same words. The words of the narrators are different. Sometimes even the reported events are not the same. But all the narrators are unanimous in reporting a basic concept, which is common in all the reports. This common concept is also ranked as a Mutawatir concept.

For example, there is a saying of the Holy Prophet

ﺮﺎﻧﻠﺍ ﻦﻤ ﻩﺪﻌﻗﻣ ﺍﻭﺑﺗﻳﻠﻓ ﺍﺪﻣﻌﺗﻣ ﻲﻟﻋ ﺏﺫﻜ ﻥﻤ

Whoever intentionally attributes a lie against me, should prepare his seat in the Fire.

This is a mutawatir hadith of the first kind, because it has a minimum of seventy-four narrators. In other words, seventy-four companions of the Holy Prophet

have reported this Hadith at different occasions, all with the same words.

The number of those who received this hadith from these companions is many times greater because, each of the seventy-four companions has conveyed it to a number of his pupils. Thus, the total number of narrators of this hadith has been increasing in each successive generation, and has never been less than seventy-four. All these narrators who are now hundreds in number, report it in the same words without even a minor change. This hadith is, therefore, mutawatir by words, because it cannot be imagined reasonably that such a large number of people have colluded to coin a fallacious sentence in order to attribute to the Holy Prophet

On the other hand, it is also reported by such a large number of narrators that the Holy Prophet

has enjoined us to perform Rak’at in Fajr, four Rak’at in Zuhr, ’Asr and Isha, and three Rak’at in Maghrib Prayer, yet the narration of all the reporters who reported the number of Rak’at are not in the same words. Their words are different. Even the events reported by them are different. But the common feature of all the reports is the same. This common feature, namely, the exact number of Rak’at is said to be mutawatir in meaning.

2. The second kind of Hadith is Mashhoor. This term is defined by the scholars of the Hadith as follows:

‘A hadith which is not mutawatir but its narrators are not less than three in any generation’(1)

The scholars of Fiqh also use the same term, but their definition is slightly different. They say:

‘A Mashhoor Hadith is one which was not mutawatir in the generation of the Holy Companions, but became mutawatir immediately after them.(2)

The Mashhoor hadith according to each definition falls in the second category following the mutawatir.

3. Khabarul wahid. It is a hadith whose narrators are less than three in any given generation.

Let us now examine each kind separately:

The Authenticity of the first two kinds

As for the mutawatir nobody can question its authenticity. The fact narrated by a mutawatir chain is always accepted as an absolute truth even if pertaining to our daily life. Everyone without any hesitation must accept any statement based on a Mutawatir narration. I have never seen the city of Moscow, but the fact that Moscow is a large city and is the capital of USSR is an absolute truth, which cannot be denied.

This fact is proved, to me, by a large number of narrators who have seen the city. This is a continuously narrated or a mutawatir fact, which cannot be denied or questioned.

I have not seen the events of the First and the Second World War. But the fact that these two wars occurred, stands proved, without a shadow of doubt on the basis of the mutawatir reports about them.

Nobody with a sound sense can claim that all those who reported the occurrence of these two wars have colluded to coin a fallacious report and that no war took place at all. This strong belief in the factor of war is based on the mutawatir reports of the events.

In the same way, the mutawatir reports about the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet

are to be held as absolutely true without any iota of doubt in their authenticity. The authenticity of the Holy Qur’an being the same Book as that revealed to the Holy Prophet

is of the same nature.

Thus, the mutawatir ahadith, whether they be mutawatir in words or in the meaning, are as authentic as the Holy Qur’an, and there is no difference between the two in as far as their reliability of their source of narration is concerned.

Although the ahadith falling under the first category of the mutawatir, i.e. the mutawatir in words, are very few in number, yet the ahadith relating to the second kind, namely, the mutawatir in meaning, are available in large numbers. Thus, a very sizeable portion of the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet

falls in this kind of mutawatir, the authenticity of which cannot be doubted in any manner.

As for the second kind, i.e. the Mashhoor, its standard of authenticity is lower than that of mutawatir; yet, it is sufficient to provide satisfaction about the correctness of the narration because its narrators have been more than three trustworthy persons in every generation.

The third kind is Khabarul wahid. The authenticity of this kind depends on the veracity of the narrators. If the narrator is trustworthy in all respects, the report given by him can be accepted, but if the single reporter is believed to be doubtful, the entire report subsequently remains doubtful. The principle is followed in every sphere of life. Why should it not be applied to the reports about the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet

? Rather, in case of ‘Ahadith’, this principle is more applicable, because the reporters of ahadith were fully cognizant of the delicate nature of what they narrate. It was not simple news of an ordinary event having no legal or religious effect. It was the narration of a fact, which has a far-reaching effect on the lives of millions of people. The reporters of Ahadith knew well that it is not a play to ascribe a word or act to the Holy Prophet

. Any deliberate error in this narration, or any negligence in this respect would lead them to the wrath of Allah and render them liable to be punished in hell. Every reporter of hadith was aware of the following well-known mutawatir hadith.

ﺮﺎﻧﻠﺍ ﻦﻤ ﻩﺪﻌﻗﻣ ﺍﻭﺑﺗﻳﻠﻓ ﺍﺪﻣﻌﺗﻣ ﻲﻟﻋ ﺏﺫﻜ ﻥﻤ

Whoever attributes a lie to me, he should prepare his seat in the fire.

This hadith had created such a strong sense of responsibility in the hearts of the narrators of ahadith that while reporting any thing about the Holy Prophet

, they often turned pale out of fear, lest some error should creep into their narration.

This was the basic reason for which the responsible narrators of ahadith showed the maximum precaution in preserving and reporting a hadith. This standard of precaution cannot be found in any other reports of historical events. So, the principle that the veracity of a report depends on the nature of its reporter is far more validly applicable to the reports of ahadith then it is applicable to the general reports of ordinary nature.

Let us now examine the various ways adopted by the Ummah to preserve the ahadith in their original form:

Different ways of Ahadith Preservation

As we shall later see, the companions of the Holy Prophet

reduced a large number of ahadith in writing. Yet, writing was not the sole means of their preservation. There were many other ways.

1. Memorization

First of all, the companions of the Holy Prophet

used to learn ahadith by heart. The Holy Prophet

has said:

May Allah bestow rewards to a person who hears my saying and learns it by heart, then conveys it to others exactly as he hears it.

The companions of the Holy Prophet

were eager to follow this hadith and used to devote considerable time for committing ahadith to their memories.

A large number of them left their homes and began to live in the Mosque of the Holy Prophet

so that they may hear the ahadith directly from the mouth of the Holy Prophet

. They spent all their time exclusively in securing the ahadith in their hearts. They are called Ashab al-suffah.

The Arabs had such strong memories that they would easily memorize hundreds of verses of their poetry. Nearly all of them knew by heart detailed pedigrees of not only themselves, but also of their horses and camels. Even their children had enough knowledge of the pedigrees of different tribes. Hammad is a famous narrator of the Arab Poetry. It is reported that he knew by heart one hundred long poems for each letter from the alphabet, meaning thereby that he knew three thousand and thirty eight long poems.(1)

The Arabs were so proud of their memory power that they placed more of their confidence on it than on writing. Some poets deemed it a blemish to preserve their poetry in writing. They believed that writings on papers could be tampered with, while the memory cannot be distorted by anyone. If any poets have written some of their poems, they did not like to disclose this fact, because it would be indicative of a defect in their memory.(2)

The companions of the Holy Prophet

utilized this memory for preserving ahadith, which they deemed to be the only source of guidance after the Holy Qur’an. It is obvious that their enthusiasm towards the preservation of ahadith far exceeded their zeal for preserving their poetry and literature. They therefore, used their memory in respect of ahadith with more vigor and more precaution.

Sayyidina Abu Hurairah, the famous companion of the Holy Prophet

who has reported 5374 ahadith, says,

I have divided my nights into three parts. In one third of the night I perform salah, in one third I sleep, and in one third I memorize the ahadith of the Holy Prophet

(3)

Sayyidina Abu Hurairah , after embracing Islam, devoted his life exclusively for learning the ahadith. He has reported more ahadith than any other companion of the Holy Prophet

Once Marwan, the governor of Madinah, tried to test his memory. He invited him to his house where he asked him to narrate some ahadith . Marwan simultaneously ordered his scribe Abu Zu’aizi’ah to sit behind a curtain and write the ahadith reported by Abu Hurairah ﻪﻧﻋ ﷲﺍ ﻰﻀﺭ .

The scribe noted the ahadith. After a year he invited Abu Hurairah again and requested him to repeat what he narrated last year, and likewise ordered Abu Zu’aizi’ah to sit behind a curtain and compare the present words of Abu Hurairah with the ahadith he had already written previously. Sayyidina Abu Hurairah began to repeat the ahadith while Abu Zu’aizi’ah compared them. He found that Abu Hurairah did not leave a single word, nor did he change any word from his earlier narrations.(1)

Numerous other examples of this type are available in the history of the science of hadith, which clearly show that the ahadith reporters have used their extra-ordinary memory power given to them by Allah Almighty for preserving the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet

as promised by Him in the Holy Qur’an.

As we shall later see, scholars of the science of hadith developed the science of Asma’ur-rijal by which they have deduced reliable means to test the memory power of each narrator of ahadith. They never accepted any hadith as reliable unless all of its narrators were proved to have high memory standards.

Thus, ‘memory-power’ in the science of hadith is not a vague term of general nature. It is a technical term having specified criteria to test the veracity of narrators. A great number of scholars of the sciences of ‘Asma’ur-rijal’ and ‘Jarh and Ta’dil’ have devoted their lives to examine the reporters of hadith on those criteria. Their task was to judge the memory power of each narrator and to record objective opinions about them.

Memories of the ahadith reporters cannot be compared with the memory of a layman today who witnesses an event or hears some news and conveys it to others in a careless manner seldom paying due attention to the correctness of his narration. The following points in this respect are worth mentioning:

1. The reporters of ahadith were fully cognizant of the great importance and the delicate nature of what they intended to report. They whole-heartedly believed that any misstatement or negligent reporting in this field would cause them to be condemned both in this world and in the Hereafter. This belief equipped them with the very strong sense of responsibility. It is evident that such a strong sense of responsibility makes a reporter more accurate in his reports. A newsman reporting an accident of a common nature in which common people are involved, can report its details with less accuracy. But if the accident involves the President or the Prime Minister of his country, he will certainly show more diligence, precaution and shall employ his best ability to report the incident as accurately as possible. The reporter is the same, but in the second case he is more accurate in his repot than he was in the first case, because the nature of the incident has made him more responsible, hence more cautious.

It cannot be denied that the companions of the Holy Prophet

, their pupils and other reliable narrators of ahadith believed with their heart and soul that the importance of a hadith attributed to the Holy Prophet

exceeds the importance of any other report whatsoever. They believed that it is source of Islamic law, which will govern the Ummah for all timers to come. They believed that any negligence in this respect would lead them to the severe punishment of hell. So, their sense of responsibility while reporting ahadith was far higher than that of a newsman reporting an important incident about the head of his country.

2. The interest of the reporter in the reported events and his ability to understand them correctly is another important factor, which affects the accuracy of his report. If the reporter is indifferent or negligent about what he reports, little reliability can be placed on his memory or on any subsequent report based on it. But if the reporter is not only honest, serious ands intelligent but also interested and involved in the event, his report can easily be relied upon.

Is some proceedings are going on in a court of law, the reports of these proceedings can be of different kinds. One report was given by a layman from the audience who was incidentally present at the court. He had neither any interest in the proceedings nor had due knowledge and understanding of the legal issues involved.

He gathered a sketchy picture of the proceedings and reported it to a third person. Such a report can neither be relied upon nor taken as an authentic version of the proceedings. This report may be full of errors because the reporter lacks the ability to understand the matter correctly and the responsible attitude to report it accurately. Such a reporter may not only err in his reporting, but may after some time also forget the proceedings altogether.

Suppose, there are some newsmen also who have witnessed the proceedings for the purpose of reporting them in their newspaper. They have more knowledge and understanding than a layman of the first kind. Their report shall be more correct than that of the former. But despite their interest and intelligence, they are not fully aware of the technical and legal questions involved in the proceedings.

Their report will thus, remain deficient in the legal aspect of the proceedings and cannot be relied upon to that extent because despite their good memory, they cannot grasp the legal issues completely.

They were also lawyers who were directly involved in the proceedings. They participated in the debate at the bar. They have argued the case. They were fully aware of the delicate legal issues involved. They understood each and every sentence expressed by other lawyers and the judge. It is obvious that the report of the proceedings given by these lawyers shall be the most authentic one. Having full knowledge and the understanding of the case they can neither forget nor err while reporting the substantial and material parts of the proceedings.

Suppose, all the three categories had the same standard of memory power. Yet, the facts narrated by them have different levels of correctness. It shows that the interest of the reporter in the reported event and his understanding of the facts involved plays an important role in making his memory more effective and accurate.

The deep interest of the companions of the Holy Prophet

in his sayings and acts, rather even in his gesture is beyond any doubt. Their understanding of what he said, and their close knowledge and observation of the background and environment under which he spoke or acted cannot be questioned. Thus, all the basic factors, which help mobilize one’s memory, were present in them.

3. The standard of the memory power required for the authenticity of a report is not, as mentioned earlier, a vague concept for which no specific criteria exist. The scholars of the science of hadith have laid down hard and fast rules to ascertain the memory standard of each reporter. Unless a reporter of a hadith has specific standards of memory, his reports are not accepted as reliable.

4. There is a big difference between memorizing a fact which incidentally came to the knowledge of someone who never cared to remember it any more, and memorizing of a fact which is learned by someone with eagerness, with an objective purpose to remember it and with a constant effort to keep it in memory.

While I studied Arabic, my teacher told me many things, which I do not remember today. But the vocabulary I learnt from my teacher is secured in my mind. The reason is obvious. I never cared to keep the former remembered, while I was very much eager to learn the latter by heart and to store it in my memory.

The companions of the Holy Prophet

did not listen to him incidentally nor were they careless in remembering what they heard. Instead, they daily spared specific times for learning the ahadith by heart. The example of Abu Hurairah ﻪﻧﻋ ﷲﺍ ﻰﻀﺭ has already been cited. He used to spare one third of every night in repeating the ahadith he learnt from the Holy Prophet

Thus, memorization was not a weaker source of preservation of ahadith, as sometimes is presumed by those who have no proper knowledge of the science of hadith. Looked at in its true perspective, the memories of the reliable reporters of the ahadith were no less reliable a source of preservation than compiling the ahadith in book form.

2. Discussions

The second source of preservation of ahadith was by mutual discussions held by the companions of the Holy Prophet

. Whenever they came to know of a new Sunnah, they used to narrate it to others. Thus all the companions would tell each other what they learnt from the Holy Prophet

. This was to comply with the specific directions given by the Holy Prophet

in this respect. Here are some ahadith to this effect:

Those present should convey (my Sunnah) to those absent.(1)

Convey to others on my behalf, even though it be a single verse.(2)

May Allah grant vigor to a person who listens to my saying and learns it by heart until he conveys it to others. (3)

You hear (my sayings) and others will hear from you, then others will hear from them.(4)

A Muslim cannot offer his brother a better benefit than transmitting to him a good hadith which has reached him (5)

These directions given by the Holy Prophet

were more than sufficient to induce his companions towards acquiring the knowledge of ahadith and to convey them to others.

The Holy Prophet

also motivated his companions to study the ahadith in their meetings. The word used for this study is Tadarus, which means ‘to teach each other’. One person would narrate a particular hadith to the other, in turn, would repeat it to the first, and so on. The purpose was to learn it correctly. Each one would listen to the other’s version and correct his mistake, if any. The result of this Tadarus (discussion) was to remember the ahadith as firmly as possible. The Holy Prophet

has held this described process of Tadarus to be more meritorious with Allah than the individual worship throughout the night. He has said,

Tadarus of knowledge (1) for any period of time in the night, is better than spending the entire night in worship.(2)

Moreover, the Holy Prophet

has also warned, that it is a major sin to hide a word of ‘knowledge’ whenever it is asked for:

Whoever is questioned pertaining to such knowledge that he has and thereafter conceals it, will be bridled by a rein of fire (3)

At another occasion, the Holy Prophet

disclosed that concealment of ‘knowledge’ is in itself a major sin, even though the person having the knowledge is not asked about it. He said:

Whoever conceals knowledge which can be benefited from, will come on Doomsday bridled with a bridle of fire. (4)

The hadith makes it clear that the disclosure of knowledge is an inherent obligation on each knowledgeable person, no matter whether he is asked about it or not.

As the knowledge of the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet

was the highest branch of knowledge in the eyes of his companions, they deemed it an indispensable, obligation on their shoulders to convey to others what they knew of the Sunnah. Thus, it was the most favorite hobby of the companions of the Holy Prophet

whenever they sat together, instead of being involved in useless talks, to discuss his sayings and acts. Each of them would mention what he knew while the others would listen and try to learn it by heart.

These frequent discussions have played an important role in the preservation of the Sunnah. It was by the virtue of these discussions that the ahadith known only by some individuals were conveyed to others, and the circle of narrators was gradually enlarged.

Since these discussions were carried out at a time when the Holy Prophet

was himself present among them, they had the full opportunity to confirm the veracity of what has been conveyed to them in this process, and some of them actually did so. The result was that the knowledge of ahadith acquired a wide range among the companions, which not only helped in spreading the knowledge of Sunnah but also provided a check on the mistakes of narrations, because if someone forgets some part of a hadith, the others were present to fill in the gap and to correct the error.

3. Practice

The third way of preservation of the Sunnah was to bring it into practice.

The knowledge of Sunnah was not merely a theoretical knowledge, nor were the teachings of the Holy Prophet

merely philosophical. They related to practical life. The Holy Prophet

did not confine himself to giving lessons and sermons only, he also trained his companions practically. Whatever they learnt from the Holy Prophet

they spared no effort to bring it into actual practice. Each companion was so enthusiastic in practicing the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet

, that he tried his best to imitate even his personal habits.

Thus, the whole atmosphere was one of following the Sunnah. The Sunnah was not a verbal report only, it was a living practice, a widespread behavior and a current fashion demonstrating itself everywhere in the society, in all the affairs of their daily life. If a student of Mathematics confines himself with remembering the formulas orally, he is likely to forget them after a lapse of time, but if he brings them in practice, ten times a day, he shall never forget them.

Likewise, the Sunnah was not an oral service carried out by the companions. They brought it into their daily practice. The Sunnah was the center of gravity for all their activities. How could they forget the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet

around which they built the structure of their whole lives? Thus, constant practice in accordance with the dictates of the Sunnah was another major factor, which advanced the practice of preserving the Sunnah, and protected it from the foreign elements aiming at its distortion.

4. Writing

The fourth way of preserving of ahadith was writing. Quite a large number of companions of the Holy Prophet

reduced the ahadith in writing after hearing them from the Holy Prophet

. It is true that in the beginning, the Holy Prophet

had forbidden some of his companions from writing anything other than the verses of the Holy Qur’an. However, this prohibition was not because the ahadith had no authoritative value, but because the Holy Prophet

had in the same breath ordered them to narrate his ahadith orally. The full text of the relevant hadith is as follows:

Do not write (what you hear) from me, and whoever has written something (he heard) from me he should rub it. Narrate to others (what you hear) from me; and whoever deliberately attributes a lie to me, he should prepare his seat in the Fire. (1)

The underlined phrase of the hadith clarifies that prohibition for writing hadith was not on account of negating its authority. The actual reason was that in the beginning of the revelation of the Holy Qur’an, the companions of the Holy Prophet

were not fully familiar with the Qur’anic style, nor was the Holy Qur’an compiled in a separate book form. In those days some companions began to write the ahadith along with the Qur’anic text. Some explanations of the Holy Qur’an given by the Holy Prophet

were written by some of them mixed with the Qur’an verses without any distinction between the two. It was therefore feared that it would lead to confuse the Qur’anic text with the ahadith.

It was in this background that the Holy Prophet

stopped this practice and ordered that anything written other than the Holy Qur’an should be rubbed or omitted. It should be kept in mind that in those days there was a great shortage of writing paper.

Even the verses of the Holy Qur’an used to be written on pieces of leather, on planks of wood, on animal bones and sometimes on stones. It was much difficult to compile all those things in a book form, and if the ahadith were also written in the like manner, it would be more difficult to distinguish between the writings of the Holy Qur’an and those of the ahadith. The lack of familiarity with the Qur’anic style would also help creating confusion.

For these reasons, the Holy Prophet

directed his companions to abstain from writing the ahadith and to confine their preservation to the first three ways, which were equally reliable as discussed earlier.

But all this was in the earlier period of his Prophethood. When the companions became fully conversant of the style of the Holy Qur’an, and writing paper become available, this transitory measure of precaution was taken back because the danger of confusion between the Qur’an and the hadith no longer existed.

At this stage, the Holy Prophet

himself directed his companions to write down the ahadith. Some of his instructions in this respect are quoted below:

1. One companion from the Ansar complained to the Holy Prophet

that he hears from him some ahadith, but he sometimes forgets them. The Holy Prophet

said:

“Seek help from your right hand and pointed out to a writing. (1)

2. Raf’ ibn Khadij ﻪﻧﻋ ﷲﺍ ﻰﻀﺭ the famous companion of the Holy Prophet

says:

“I said to the Holy Prophet

we hear from you many things, should we write them down?”

He replied:

You may write. There is no harm (2)

3. Sayyidina Anas ﻪﻧﻋ ﷲﺍ ﻰﻀﺭ reports that the Holy Prophet

has said:

“Preserve knowledge by writing” (3)

4. Sayyidina Abu Rafe sought permission from the Holy Prophet

to write ahadith. The Holy Prophet

permitted him to do so. (4)

It is reported that other companions copied the ahadith written by Abu Rafe ﻪﻧﻋ ﷲﺍ ﻰﻀﺭ, too. Salma, a pupil of Ibn Abbas says:

I saw some small wooden boards with Abdullah Ibn Abbas. He was writing on them some reports of the acts of the Holy Prophet

which he acquired from Abu Rafe .(1)

5. Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas reports that the Holy Prophet

said to him:

Preserve knowledge.

He asked “and how should it be preserved?” The Holy Prophet

replied “writing it”.(2)

In other reports he says ,

“I came to the Holy Prophet

and told him “I want to narrate your ahadith. So, I want to take assistance of my handwriting beside my heart.

Do you deem it fit for me?” the Holy Prophet

replied, “If it is my ahadith you may seek help from your hand besides your heart.” (3)

6. It was for this reason that he used to write ahadith frequently. He himself says,

I used to write whatever I heard from the Holy Prophet

and wanted to learn it by heart. Some people of the Quraish dissuaded me and said, “Do you write everything you hear from the Holy Prophet

, while he is a human being and sometimes he may be in anger as any other human beings may be ?” (4)

They meant that the Holy Prophet

might say something in a state of anger, which he did not seriously intend. So, one should be selective in writing his ahadith.“ Abdullah ibn Amr conveyed their opinion to the Holy Prophet

. In reply, the Holy Prophet

pointed to his lips and said,

I swear by the one in whose hands is the soul of Muhammad, nothing comes out from these two (lips) except truth. So, do write. (1)

It was a clear and absolute order given by the Holy Prophet

to write each and a very saying of him without any hesitation or doubt about its authoritative nature.

In compliance to his order, ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Amr wrote a large number of ahadith and compiled them in a book form, which he named ‘al Sahifah al Sadiqah’. Some details about this book shall be discussed later on inshallah.

7. During the conquest of Makkah (8 A.H.) the Holy Prophet

delivered a detailed sermon containing a number of Shari’ah imperatives, including human rights. One eminent person from the gathering, namely, Abu Shah requested the Holy Prophet

to provide him the sermon in a written form. The Holy Prophet

thereafter ordered his companions as follows:-

Write it down for Abu Shah.(2)

These seven examples are more than sufficient to prove that writing of ahadith was not only permitted but also ordered by the Holy Prophet

and that the earlier bar against writing was only for a transitory period to avoid any possible confusion between the verses of the Holy Qur’an and the ahadith. After this transitory period the fear of confusion ended, the bar was lifted and the companions were persuaded to preserve ahadith in a written form.

THE COMPILATION OF HADITH IN THE DAYS OF THE HOLY PROPHET

We have discussed the different methods undertaken by the companions of the Holy Prophet

to preserve the ahadith. An objective study of these methods would prove that although ‘writing’ was not the sole method of their preservation, yet it was never neglected in this process. Inspired by the Holy Prophet

himself, a large number of companions used to secure the ahadith in written form.

When we study individual efforts of the companions for compiling ahadith, we find that thousands of ahadith were written in the very days of the Holy Prophet

and their Four Caliphs. It is not possible to give an exhaustive survey of these efforts, for it will require a separate voluminous book on the subject which is not intended here. Nevertheless, we propose to give a brief account of some outstanding compilations of ahadith in that early period. It will, at least, refute the misconception that the ahadith were not compiled during the first three centuries.

THE DICTATIONS OF THE HOLY PROPHET

To begin with, we would refer to the fact that a considerable number of ahadith were dictated and directed to be secured in written form by the Holy Prophet

himself. Here are some examples:

THE BOOK OF SADAQAH

1. The Holy Prophet

has dictated detailed documents containing rules of Shari’ah about the levy of zakah, and specifying the quantum and the rate of Zakah in respect of different zakatable assets. The document was named “Kitab al Sadaqah” (The Book of Sadaqah). Abdullah ibn ‘Omar says:

The Holy Prophet

dictated the Book of Sadaqah and was yet to send it to his governors when he passed away. He had attached it to his sword. When he passed away, Abu-Bakr acted according to it till he passed away, then Omar acted according to it till he passed away. It was mentioned in his book that one goat is leviable on five camels…………………………..” (1)

The text of this document is available in several books of ahadith like the Sunan of Abu Dawood. Imam Zuhri, the renowned scholar of hadith used to teach this document to his pupils. He used to say:

“This is the text of the document dictated by the Holy Prophet

about the rules of Sadaqah (Zakah). Its original manuscript is with the children of Sayyidina Omar. Salim, the grandson of Omar, had taught it to me. I had learnt it by heart. Omar ibn ‘Abd-ul-‘Aziz had procured a copy of this text from Salim and ‘Abdullah, the grandsons of Omar. I have the same copy with me. (1)

The Script of Amr b. Hazm

In 10 A.H. when Najran was conquered by the Muslims, the Holy Prophet

appointed his companion ‘Amr ibn Hazm as governor of the province of Yemen. At this time, the Holy Prophet

dictated a detailed book to Ubayy ibn Ka’b and handed it over to ‘Amr ibn Hazm.

This book, besides some general advices, contained the rules of Shari’ah about purification, Salah, Zakah, Ushr, Hajj, Umrah, Jihad (battle), spoils, taxes, Diyah (blood money), administration, education etc.

Sayyidina Amr ibn Hazm performed his functions as governor of Yemen in the light of this book. After his demise, this document remained with his grandson, Abu Bakr, Imam Zuhri learned and copied it from him. He used to teach it to his pupils (2).

WRITTEN DIRECTIVES TO OTHER GOVERNORS

Similarly, when the Holy Prophet

appointed some of his companions as governors of different provinces he used to dictate to them similar documents as his directives, which they could follow in performing their duties as rulers or as judges. And he appointed Abu Hurairah and Ala ’ibn al Hazrami as his envoy to the Zoroastrians of Hajar, he dictated to them a directive containing certain rules of Shari’ah about Zakah and Ushr (3)

Likewise, when he sent Mu’adh ibn Jabal and Malik ibn Murarah to Yemen, he gave them a document dictated by him which contained certain rules of Shari’ah.(4)

WRITTEN DIRECTIVES FOR CERTAIN DELEGATIONS

Certain Arab tribes who lived in remote areas far from Madinah, embracing Islam used to send their delegations to the Holy Prophet

. These delegations used to stay at Madinah for a considerable period during which they would learn the teachings of Islam, read the Holy Qur’an and listen to the sayings of the Holy Prophet

. When they returned to their homes, some of them requested the Holy Prophet

to dictate some instructions for them and for their tribes. The Holy Prophet

used to accept this request and would dictate some directives containing such rules of Shari’ah as they most needed.

1. Sayyidina Wa’il ibn Hujr came from Yemen and before leaving for home, requested the Holy Prophet

Write me a book addressed to my tribe.

The Holy Prophet

dictated three documents to Sayyidina Mu’awiyah. One of these documents pertained to personal problems of Wail ibn Hujr, while the other two consisted of certain general precepts of Shari’ah concerning Salah, Zakah, prohibition of liquor, usury and certain other matters. (1)

2. Munqiz ibn Hayyan, a member of the tribe of Abdulqais came to the Holy Prophet

and embraced Islam, while returning home he was given a written document by the Holy Prophet

which he carried to his tribe but initially he did not disclose it to anyone. When, due to his efforts, his father-in-law embraced Islam, he handed over the document to him who in turn read it before his tribe, which subsequently embraced Islam.

It was after this, the famous delegation of Abdulqais came to the Holy Prophet

. The detailed narration is found in the books of Bukhari and Muslim. (2)

3. The delegation of the tribe of Ghamid came to the Holy Prophet

and embraced Islam. The Holy Prophet

sent them to Sayyidina Ubayy ibn Ka’ab who taught them the Holy Qur’an and:

ﻡﻼﺳﻹﺍ ﻊﺌﺍﺮﺷ ﻪﻴﻔ ﺎﺑﺎﺘﮐ

ﷲﺍ ﻞﻮﺴﺭ ﻢﻬﻠ ﺏﺘﮐﻮ

The Holy Prophet

dictated for them a book containing injunctions of Islam (3)

4. The delegation of the tribe of Khath’am came to the Holy Prophet

. While discussing their arrival ibn Sa’ad reports on the authority of different reliable narrators:

ﺐﺗﮐﺎﻔ ﷲﺍ ﺪﻧﻋ ﻥﻣ ﺀﺎﺠ ﺎﻣﻮ ﻪﻠﻮﺴﺭﻮ ﷲﺎﺑ ﺎﻧﻤﺁ ﺍﻭﻠﺎﻗﻔ

ﺮﻴﺮﺟ ﻪﻳﻔ ﺩﻬﺸ ﺎﺑﺎﺗﮐ ﻡﻬﻟ ﺏﺘﮐﻓ ‘ﻪﻳﻓ ﺎﻣ ﻊﺑﺘﻧ ﺎﺑﺎﺗﮐ ﺎﻧﻠ

ﺭﻀﺤ ﻥﻣﻮ ﷲﺍ ﺪﺒﻋ ﻦﺒ

They said, “We believe in Allah, His Messenger and in whatever has come from Allah. So, write for us a document that we may follow.” The Holy Prophet

wrote for them a document. Jarir ibn Abdullah and those present stood as witnesses to that document. (4)

5. The delegation of the tribes of Sulamah and Huddan came after the conquest of Makkah. They embraced Islam. The Holy Prophet

dictated for them a document containing Islamic injunctions about Zakah. Sayyidina Sabit ibn Qais had written the document and Sa’d ibn Ubadah and Muhammad ibn Maslamah stood as witnesses. (5)

6. The same Sabit ibn Qais also wrote a document dictated by the Holy Prophet

for the delegation of the tribe of Aslam. The witnesses were Abu Ubaidah ibn Jarrah and Omar ibn Khattab.

These are only a few examples, which are neither comprehensive nor exhaustive. Many other instances of the same nature are found in only one book, namely, the Tabaqat of Ibn Sa’d. A thorough research in all the relevant books would certainly expose a large number of like events for which a more detailed book is required.

All these examples refer to those events only where the Holy Prophet

dictated documents containing general Islamic injunctions. He has also dictated numerous official documents in individual cases. The large number of such documents prevents us from providing even a short reference to all of them in this brief study. All these documents also form part of the Sunnah and a large number of Islamic injunctions are inferred from them. In brevity, we instead would only refer to a work of Dr. Muhammad Hameedullah, namely, Al-Wasaiq al Siyasiyyah in which he has compiled a considerable number of such documents. Those who desire further study may pursue the same.

THE COMPILATIONS OF HADITH BY THE COMPANIONS OF THE HOLY PROPHET

As discussed earlier, the Holy Prophet

has not only permitted but also persuaded his companions to write down his ahadith. In pursuance of this direction, the blessed companions of the Holy Prophet

used to write ahadith, and a considerable number of them have compiled these writings in book form. Some examples are given below.

THE SCRIPTS OF ABU HURAIRAH ﻪﻧﻋ ﷲﺍ ﻰﻀﺭ

It is well known that Abu Hurairah ﻪﻧﻋ ﷲﺍ ﻰﻀﺭ has narrated more ahadith than any other companion of the Holy Prophet

. The number of ahadith reported by him is said to be 5374. The reason was that he, after embracing Islam, devoted his full life for the sole purpose of bearing and preserving the ahadith of the Holy Prophet

. Unlike the other famous companions, he did not employ himself in any economic activity. He used to remain in the Mosque of the Holy Prophet

to hear what he said and to witness each event around him. He remained hungry, faced starvations and hardships. Yet, he did not leave the function he had undertaken.

There is concrete evidence that he had preserved the ahadith in written form. One of his pupils, Hasan ibn ‘Amr reports that once:

Abu Hurairah ﻪﻧﻋ ﷲﺍ ﻰﻀﺭ took him to his home and showed him ‘many books’ containing the ahadith of the Holy Prophet

(1)

It shows that Abu Hurairah had many scripts of ahadith with him. It is also established that a number of his pupils had prepared several scripts of his narrations.

The Script Of Abdullah ibn Amr

It has been stated earlier that Abdullah Ibn ‘Amr was specifically instructed by the Holy Prophet

to write ahadith. He therefore conmpiled a big script and named it ‘Al sahifah al Sadiqah’ (The script of Truth). Abdullah ibn ‘Amr was very precautious in preserving this script. Mujahid, one of his favorite pupils says, “I went to Abdullah ibn ‘Amr and took in hand a script placed beneath his cushion”. He stopped me. I said, “you never save anything from me.” He replied,

“This is the “Sadiqah” (the Script of Truth). It is what I heard from the Holy Prophet

. No other narrator intervenes between him and myself. If this script, the Book of Allah and Wahaz (his agricultural land) are secured for me, I would never care about the rest of the world.” (2)

This Script remained with his children. His grandson, Amr ibn Shuaib used to teach the ahadith contained in it. Yahya ibn Ma’in and Ali ibn al Madini have said that every tradition reported by Amr ibn Shuaib in any book of hadith has been taken from this script. (1)

Ibn al Asir says that this script contained one thousand ahadith. (2)

The Script Of Anas

Sayyidina Anas ibn Malik was one of those companions of the Holy Prophet

who knew writing. His mother had brought him to the Holy Prophet

when he was ten years old. He remained in the service of the Holy Prophet

for ten years during which he heard a large number of ahadith and wrote them down. Said ibn Hilal, one of his pupils says:

“When we insisted upon Anas he would bring to us some notebooks and say, “These are what I have heard and written from the Holy Prophet

, after which I have presented them to the Holy Prophet

for confirmation.” (3)

It shows that Sayyidina Anas ﻪﻧﻋ ﷲﺍ ﻰﻀﺭ had not only written a large number of ahadith in several notebooks, but had also showed them to the Holy Prophet

who had confirmed them.

The Script Of Ali ibn Abu Talib

It is well known that Sayyidina ‘Ali ﻪﻧﻋ ﷲﺍ ﻰﻀﺭ had a script of ahadith with him. He says,

“I have not written anything from the Holy Prophet

except the Holy Qur’an and what is contained in this script.” (4)

Imam Bukhari has mentioned this script at six different places of his Sahih. A combined study of all those places reveals that this script was substantially large and it consisted of ahadith about Qisas (retaliation), Diyah (blood money), Fidyah (ransom), rights of the non-Muslim citizens of an Islamic state, some specific kinds of inheritance, Zakah rules pertaining to camels of different ages, and some rules about the sanctity of the city of Madinah.

The script was written by Sayyidina Ali ﻪﻧﻋ ﷲﺍ ﻰﻀﺭ in the days of the Holy Prophet

. Then, in the days of his khilafah (rule), he felt that the ahadith of the Holy Prophet

should be spread among the people to widen the range of Islamic knowledge and to refute certain misguided ideas prevalent in those days.

It is reported by the famous historian Ibn Sa’ad that he stood in the mosque and delivered a lecture. Then he asked the people,

Who will purchase ‘knowledge’ for one Dirham only?

He meant that whoever wanted to learn ahadith, should buy writing paper for one Dirham and come to him, for dictation of the ahadith of the Holy Prophet

It is reported that Haritah al A’war bought some paper and came to him:

So, Ali wrote for him a lot of knowledge. (1)

It should be kept in mind that the word ‘knowledge’ in the early centuries of Islamic history was used for the knowledge of ahadith only. (2)

Scripts of Jabir

Jabir ibn Abdullah is one of the famous companions of the Holy Prophet

who has narrated a large number of ahadith. It is established that he had compiled the ahadith in two scripts. One of them contained a detailed account of the last Hajj performed by the Holy Prophet

. The full text of this script is found in the Sahih of Muslim wherein he has described even the minute details of the last Hajj. (3)

His second script contained other ahadith relating to different subjects.

Qatadah the famous pupil of Jabir says :

I remember the script of Jabir more than I remember Surah Al-Baqarah of the Holy Qur’an. (4)

Reference to this script is also found in the Musannaf of Abdurrazzaq where some ahadith of this script are reported. (5)

Script Of Ibn ‘Abbas

Abdullah ibn ’Abbas was the cousin of the Holy Prophet

. When the Holy Prophet

passed away, he was yet very young. In order to preserve ahadith, he began to compile what he himself heard from the Holy Prophet

as well as those narrated by other companions. Whenever he came to know of any companion having some ahadith he would travel to him to hear them. He compiled all such ahadith in several scripts. These scripts numbered so many that they could be loaded on a camel. These scripts remained with his pupil Kuraib. Musa Ibn ‘Uqbah, the famous historian says:

Kuraib left with us a camel load of Ibn Abbas’s books. When Ali ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Abbas would need any book from them, he wrote to Kuraib, “Send to me such and such books”. He would then transcribe the book and send to him one of the two copies. (1)

The pupils of Ibn ‘Abbas would copy these scripts and read them over to him to confirm the correctness of the copies. (2)

Sometimes Ibn ‘Abbas would narrate the ahadith to his pupils while they would record them.(3)

These are only a few examples of efforts made the companions of the Holy Prophet

for the compilation of ahadith. We do not intend here to present an exhaustive survey of such efforts. Detailed books can be consulted for this purpose. Our purpose here was to give only some examples. These concrete examples are more than sufficient to refute the fallacious assumption that the ahadith were never written in the days of the Holy Prophet

and his companions.

THE COMPILATION OF AHADITH IN THE ERA AFTER THE COMPANIONS

The history of the compilation of ahadith after the companions is even more vast and detailed. Each companion who narrated the ahadith had a large number of pupils who compiled what they heard from him. The pupils of the companions are called ‘Tabi’in’.

The compilations of Tabi’in were generally not arranged subject wise though some of them have arranged the ahadith under subjective headings. The first known book of hadith which is so arranged is ‘Al-abwab of Imam Sha’bi (b.19 A.H.D.103 A.H) This book was divided into various chapters. Each chapter contained the ahadith relating to the same subject like salah, zakah etc. (4)

This proves that the first book of ahadith arranged in a regular manner appeared in the very first century. Another book was written by Hasan Al Basri (d.110) in which he compiled ahadith containing any explanations or commentaries of the Holy Qur’an. (5) This was also a regular book written on a particular subject, which appeared in the first century.

In the era of Tabi’in the compilation of the ahadith was undertaken officially by the famous Khalifa, ‘Omar ibn Abdul Aziz (99-101 A.H). He issued an official order to all governors under his domain that they should gather the knowledgeable persons from among the companions of the Holy Prophet

and their pupils and write down the ahadith found with them. (6)

The result of this official decree was that several books of ahadith were prepared and spread all over the country. Ibn Shihab Al Zuhri was one of the pioneers of the compilation of hadith in this period. He has written a number of books.

All these books and scripts written in this period were afterwards included in the larger books of hadith written later on, as is usual in the evolution of every science. The separate entity of these books and scripts, being uncalled for, was not much attended to. Thus, the larger books written in the second and third centuries gradually took their place, and being more comprehensive, detailed and sufficient, they were so widely spread and studied that the books of the Tabi’in no longer remained on the scene.

However, some manuscripts of these books were preserved. Later books were compared and confirmed by such preserved manuscripts.

One of the books written in the days of the Tabi’in was the script of Hammam ibn Munabbih, a pupil of Abu Hurairah who prepared a book containing ahadith he heard from Abu Hurairah ﻪﻧﻋ ﷲﺍ ﻰﻀﺭ. This book is also known as ‘Al-Sahifah al Sahihah’. All the ahadith of this book were included in later compilations. The full text of it is also found in the Musnad of Imam Ahmed. The original script of this book was thus not attended to and was lost for a considerable time.

In 1373 A.H. (i.e. 1954 A.D) two manuscripts of this book were discovered in the libraries of Berlin and Damascus, and were published by Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah with a detailed introduction.

Dr. Muhammad Hamidullah edited these manuscripts, which were written centuries ago. He has also compared their text with the one narrated in the Musnad of Imam Ahmed. He could find any material difference between the two texts.

There are few very minor differences of negligible words, which always exist between two manuscripts of the same book.

It proves that the books of the Tabi’in were included and were thus made part of the later books of hadith, with all necessary precautions by which they can safely be relied upon.

THE COMPILATIONS OF THE FIRST CENTURY

We present here a list of hadith works written by the Tabi’in in the first and second centuries. In the first century the following books of hadith were compiled by the Tabi’in

1. Book of Khalid ibn Ma’dan (d.104)

2. Books of Abu Qilabah (d.104). He bequeathed his books to his pupil, Ayyub Saktiyani (68-131 A.H.), who paid more than ten Dirham as a fare for them being loaded on a camel.

3. The script of Hammam ibn Munabbih, already referred to.

4. Books of Hasan al Basri (21-110 A.H.)

5. Books of Muhammad al Baqir (56-114 A.H.)

6. Books of Makhul from Syria

7. Books of Hakam ibn ‘Utaibah

8. Books of Bukair ibn ‘Abdullah ibn al Ashajj (d.117)

9. Books of Qais ibn Sa’ad (d.117). This book later belonged to Hammad ibn Salamah

10. Books of Sulaiman al Yashkuri

11. Al Abwab of Sha’bi, already referred to.

12. Books of Ibn Shihab al Zuhri

13. Books of Abul-‘Aliyah

14. Books of Said ibn Jubair (d.95 A.H.)

15. Books of Omar ibn Abdullah Aziz (61-101 A.H.)

16. Books of Mujahid ibn Jabir (d 103 A.H.)

17. Book of Raja ibn Hywah (d.112 A.H.)

18. Book of Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Haq

19. Book of Bashir ibn Nahik.

THE BOOKS OF HADITH WRITTEN IN THE SECOND CENTURY

The basic characteristic of the books written in the second century is that a large number of them arranged subject wise, while the books of the first century were not. However, compilations without due arrangement contained in this century too. The list of the books compiled in his period is very long. Few prominent books are referred to here

1. Book of Abdulmalik ibn Juraij (d.150 A.H.)

2. Muwatta, of Malik ibn Anas (93-179 A.H.)

3. Muwatta, of Ibn Abi Zi’b (80-158 A.H.)

4. Maghazi of Muhammad ibn Ishaq (d.151 A.H.)

5. Musnad of Rabi’ ibn Sabih (d.160 A.H.)

6. Book of Sa’id ibn Abi ‘Arubah (d.156 A.H.)

7. Book of Hammad ibn Salmah (d.167 A.H.)

8. Jame’ Sufyan al Thauri (97-161 A.H.)

9. Jame’ Ma’mar ibn Rashid (95-153 A.H.)

10. Book of Abdurrahman al Awza’i (88-157 A.H.)

11. Kitab al zuhd by Abdullah ibn al Mubarak (118-181)

12. Book of Hushaim ibn Bashir (104-183 A.H.)

13. Book of Jarir ibn Abdulhamid (110-188 A.H.)

14. Book of Abdullah ibn Wahb (125-197 A.H.)

15. Book of Yahya ibn Abi Kathir (d.129 A.H.)

16. Book of Muhammad ibn Suqah(d.135 A.H.)

17. Tafsir of Zaid ibn Aslam (d.136 A.H.)

18. Book of Musa ibn ‘Uqbah (d.141 A.H.)

19. Book of Ash’ath ibn ‘Abdulmalik (d.142)

20. Book of Aqil ibn Kahalid (d.142 A.H.)

21. Book of Yahya ibn Sa’id Ansari (d.143)

22. Book of Awj ibn Abi Jamilah (d.146)

23. Book of Jafar ibn Muhammad al Sadiq (d.148)

24. Book of Yunus ibn Yazid (d.152 A.H.)

25. Books of Abdurrahman almas’udi (d.160)

26. Books of Zaidah ibn Qudamah (d.161)

27. Books of Ibrahim al Tahman (d.163)

28. Books of Abu Hamzah al Sukri (d.167)

29. Algharaib by Shu’bah ibn al hajjaj (d.160)

30. Books of ‘Abdul Aziz ibn ‘Abdullah al Majishun (d.164 A.H.)

31. Books of Abdullah ibn Abdullah ibn Abi Uwais (d.169)

32. Books of Sulaiman ibn Bilal (d.172)

33. Books of ‘Abdullah ibn Lahi’ah (d.147)

34. Jame’Sufyan ibn ‘Uyainah (d.198)

35. Kitabul – Athar by Imam Abu Hanifah (d.150)

36. Maghazi of Mu’tamir ibn Sulaiman (d.187)

37. Musannaf of Waki ‘ibn-Jarrah (d.196 A.H.)

38. Musannaf of Abdurrazzak ibn Hammam (136-221)

39. Musnad of Zaid ibn ‘Ali (76-122)

40. Books of Imam Shafi’i (15-204)

The following books written in this age are still available in a printed form:

1. Almuwatta, by Imam Malik.

2. Kitabul – Athar by Imam Abu Hanifah.

3. Musannaf by ’Abdurrazzaq.

This book has been published in eleven big volumes.

4. As-sirah by Muhammad ibn Ishaq.

5. Kitab - al - Zuhd by ‘Abdullah ibn al – Mubarak.

6. Kitab - al - Zuhd by Waki ’ibn Jarrah (3 volumes).

7. Almusnad by Zaid ibn ‘Ali. (76-122)

8. Sunan of Shafi’i (150-204)

9. Musnad of Shafi’i.

10. Siyar of Awza’i (88-157)

11. Musnad of ‘Abdullah ibn al Mubarak (d.181)

12. Musnad of Abu Dawood Tayalisi (d.204)

13. Al-Radd ‘Ala Siyaril - Awza’i by Imam Abu Yusuf.

14. Al-Hujjah ‘ala Ahlil Madinah by Imam Muhammad ibn Hasan Shaibani.

15. Kitabul - Umm by Imam Shafi’i.

16. Al-Maghazi by Waqidi (130-206) (4 volumes).

This list is by no means exhaustive. But a careful study of these books only which are available today in printed forms, would clearly reveal that their style is much developed and they definitely do not seem to be the first books on their subjects. Some of them are in more than ten volumes, and their arrangements shows that the compilation of hadith in those days reached a developed state.

All these valuable efforts of compiling the ahadith belonged to the first and second centuries. Hence, one can easily see how false is the assumption that the compilation of ahadith did not take place before the third century.

What we have cited above is more than sufficient to prove that the compilation of ahadith has begun in the very days of the Holy Prophet

and has continued in each point of time thereafter. This process has, no doubt, passed through certain stages as is usual in every new science or branch of knowledge. But the assumption that the process could not begin before the third century cannot be substantiated on any ground whatsoever.

THE CRITICISM OF AHADITH

Although the task of preserving of ahadith through all the four ways mentioned earlier including compilations in written form, has been performed with due diligence throughout the first four centuries of Islamic history, yet it does not mean that all the traditions narrated or compiled in this period have been held as true and reliable.

In fact, in the same period in which the work of the compilation of ahadith was going on, a very systematic science of criticism was developed by the scholars of hadith in which numerous tests were suggested to verify the correctness of a narration. All these tests were applied to each and every tradition and report before holding it reliable. The different branches of knowledge, which have been introduced by the scholars of the science of hadith, have no parallel in the art of historical criticism throughout world history. It is not possible for us to herein present even a brief introduction of these different branches and the valuable works produced in this respect. It may be said without any fear of exaggeration that thousands of books have been written on these different branches of knowledge regarding the science of hadith.

It will be pertinent, however, to give a brief example of the nature of the criticism of ahadith carried on by scholars and the different tests applied by them to ascertain the veracity of a hadith.

The traditions viewed from different angles have been classified into hundreds of kinds. Relative to their standards of authenticity, the traditions are ultimately classified into four major categories.

(a) Sahih (correct).

(b) Hasan (good enough)

(d) Maudu’ (fabricated, coined, false)

Only the first two kinds are held to be reliable. Precepts of the Shari’ah can be based on and inferred from only these two kinds. Hence, only the ahadith of these two categories are held to be the source of Islamic law. The other two kinds have little or no value especially in the legal or doctrinal matters.

Before declaring a hadith as Sahih or Hasan, the following tests are applied:

(a) Scrutiny of its narrators.

(b) Scrutiny of the constancy of the chain of narrators

(d) Examination of the chain and the text of the hadith in the light of other material available on the subject, and to ensure that there is no defect in the chain or in the text.

We will try to give a brief explanation of these four tests as they are applied by the scholars of hadith to scrutinize the veracity of a tradition.

1. Scrutiny of the narrators

The first and foremost test of the correctness of a hadith relates to the credibility of its narrators. This scrutiny is carried out on two scores: Firstly, examination of the integrity and honesty of a narrator, and secondly, examination of his memory power.

To carry out this scrutiny, a separate complete science has been introduced which is called ‘Ilmur-Rijal (The knowledge of men). The scholars of the science devoted their lives for the thorough enquiry about each person who has reported a hadith. For this, they used to go to his place, and enquire about him from his neighbors, pupils and friends so that no scholar would be impressed by his personal relationship with a narrator.

Ali ibn al-Madini, the famous scholar of Ilm ur Rijal when asked about his father, first tried to avoid the question and replied ‘Ask some other scholar about him’. But when the question was repeated with a request for his own opinion, he said

ﻑﻴﻌﻀ ﻪﻧﺇ ‘ﻥﻴﺩﻠﺍﻮﻫ

It is the matter of Faith, (I, therefore, reply). He is a weak narrator.

Waki’ ibn Jarrah, the well-known Imam of hadith held his father as ‘weak’ in hadith, and did not rely on his reports unless some reliable narrator confirms them.

Imam Abu Dawood , the author of one of the Six Books, has opined about his son.(1) ‘Abdullah, that he was a great liar.’

Zaid ibn Unaisah has said about his brother Yahyah, “do not accept the traditions of my brother Yahya , because he is reputed in lying. (2)

Similar opinions are recorded in the books of the ‘Ilmur-Rijal. Hundreds of books have been written on the subject. Here are only a few examples.

1. Tahzibuttahzib by Hafiz Ibn Hajar:

Printed in twelve volumes, this book has been designed to give a brief account of all the narrators whose narration is found in the famous Six Books of hadith only. It contains the life accounts of 12455 narrators (3), arranged in alphabetical order.

You can pick up any name from any chain of any hadith in any books from the six books. This name will certainly be found in the Tahzibuttahzib recorded in its place in alphabetical scheme. There you can find his dates of birth and death, the list of his teachers, the list of his pupils, important events of his life and the opinions of the scholars about his credibility.

There are several other books meant for narrators of the Six Books exclusively, and after consulting them one can easily reach a definite conclusion about the veracity of a narrator.

2. Lisanul-Mizan by Hafiz Ibn Hajar

This book is meant exclusively for those narrators whose names do not appear in any chain contained in any of the Six Books. It means that the traditions reported by them are found only in some books other than the Six Books.

This book consists of seven volumes and has the introductions of 5991 narrators.

3. Ta’jilul-Manfa’ah by Hafiz Ibn Hajr

This book is confined to the introductions of the narrators whose traditions are found in the books of the four Imams: Malik, Abu Hanifah, Shafi’i and Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and are not among the narrators of the Six Books. Thus, it contains the introduction of 732 narrators.

All these three books are written and compiled by the same person, namely, the Hafiz ibn Hajar. It means that he has compiled the introduction of more than seventeen thousand narrators of the hadith.

This is the effort of only a single scholar. Many other books are available on the same subject. The following table will show the large number of narrators introduced in few famous books of rijal which are frequently referred to.

	Name of the Book	Author	Volumes	Number of narrators
1.	Al-tarikh al Kabir	Imam Bukhari	9	13781
2.	Al-Jarh wat-ta’dil	Ibn Abi Hatim	9	18050
3.	Tahzibuttahzib	Hafiz Ibn Hajar	12	12455
4.	Mizanul I’tidal	Zahabi	4	11053
5.	Lisanul mizan	Hafiz Ibn Hajar	7
6.	As-siqat	‘Ijli	1	2116
7.	Almughni fid du’afa	Zahabi	2	7854

The last book of this table has introduced only those narrators who have been held as ‘weak’ narrators. Similar books are written by Ibn Abi Hatim, Darqutni etc. On the contrary, there are books, which deal with reliable narrators only like ‘Thiqat of Ibn Hibban’ in eleven volumes.

Anyhow, if a narrator is found to be dishonest, has very weak memory, or he is unknown, no trust is placed on his narrations. A large number of traditions have been repudiated on this score alone.

2. Constancy of the chain of narrators

It is well known that no report , in the science of hadith is accepted unless it gives the full chain of narrators up to the Holy Prophet

. Each narrator from this chain is first scrutinized on the touchstone of his credibility as discussed above. But even if all the narrators of a chain are found to be reliable, it is not enough to hold the tradition as authentic. It must be proved that the chain is constant and no narrator has been missed in between. If it is found that some narrator has been missed at any stage, the tradition is held to be unreliable. To ensure the constancy of the chain, it is necessary to know about each narrator whether it is possible for him historically to meet the person from whom he claims to hear the tradition.

This scrutiny is indeed very difficult and delicate. But the scholars of the hadith have undertaken this task in such an accurate manner that one cannot but wonder.

While holding an enquiry about each narrator, the scholars, besides ascertaining his integrity and memory, would also survey his teachers and pupils. Thus, a detailed list of both his teachers and pupils is available in each detailed book of Rijal. So, when deciding about the constancy of hadith the scholars do not only make themselves sure about the dates of birth and death of each narrator, but also examine the list of his teachers and pupils.

Not only this, they often tried to fix the time span in which a narrator had opportunities to meet a particular teacher and that in which he did actually hear ahadith from him. On the basis of this information, they derived certain important conclusions about the credibility of a narrator.

For example, ‘Abdullah ibn Lahi’ah ‘ is a well-known Egyptian narrator of hadith. It is established that his memory was weak and he used to narrate those traditions, which he wrote. At a particular time, his house was burnt by fire and all his books were also burnt. After this occurrence he sometimes used too report ahadith from his memory. Therefore, some scholars have decided that his narrations before the accident were reliable while those narrated after it are not worthy of trust. Now, the pupils who have heard ahadith from him in the early period, their narrations may be accepted, while the reports of those who have heard from him in the later period cannot be relied upon.

The scholars have scrutinized the list of his pupils and have specified the names of his early pupils like ‘Abdullah ibn Wahb etc. and have declared that all the rest should be treated as his later pupils, and no trust might be placed on their narrations.

In short, the second type of scrutiny, which is very essential in the criticism of traditions, relates to the constancy and perpetuity of the chain of narrators. If it is found that a narrator has not heard the hadith directly from the one to whom he is ascribing it the tradition is said to be Munqati (broken) , which cannot be treated as reliable.

3. Comparison with other narrations

The third test applied to a tradition relates to its comparison with what is narrated by other pupils of the same teacher.

Sometimes several narrators report a tradition. All these reports about the same saying or event are said to be the ‘turuq’ (different ways) of that tradition. While scrutinizing a tradition, the scholars undertake a combined study of all its ‘ways’. If it is found that the majority of the reliable reporters narrate the hadith in a particular way, but one of them reports it in a version substantially different from that of the others, his report is held to be a ‘Shadh’ (rare) version. In such case, despite the reliability of the reporter, his version is not accepted as a ‘Sahih’ (correct) one, and no trust is placed on it unless it is confirmed and supported by any internal or external evidence.

4. General analysis of the tradition

The last, and very important, scrutiny is accompanied by the general analysis of a tradition. In this scrutiny the tradition is analyzed in the light of other relevant material available on the subject. The tradition is examined from different angles: whether the reported saying or event is at all possible; whether the reported event conforms to the established historical events; whether its text can be held as truly attributed to the Holy Prophet

; whether the chain of narrators is genuine etc.

This is a very difficult and delicate scrutiny which cannot be undertaken successfully unless the scholar has full command over all the relevant subjects, occupies complete knowledge of hadith and has a great skill in the science of criticism of hadith.

If, after this scrutiny, a string doubt appears to a scholar about the authenticity of a hadith he points out that there is a ‘defect’ (Illah) in the chain or in the text of the hadith, and a tradition having this kind of ‘Illah’ or ‘defect’ is not held as ‘Sahih’.

Thus a ‘Sahih’ (correct hadith) has been defined by the scholars as follows:

“What is reported, by a reporter who is honest and of good memory power, without any break in the chain of narrators, without any shudhudh (rareness) and without any ‘Illah’ (defects)”

Conclusion

It is not possible for us to give all the details of the critical sciences developed by the scholars of hadith. What we have stated in this chapter is only a simple example of the works undertaken by them. It can, however, help one to imagine the altitude of their academic and scientific efforts and to satisfy oneself that the task of preservation of hadith has been performed by his Ummah with such diligence, precaution and sense of responsibility that one cannot find its parallel in the history of any other community. It was through these efforts that the divine promise of the preservation of the Holy Qur’an with all its letters and meanings, was duly fulfilled.

Ü Reported by Ibn Majah V.1.Ch.10:52P.367 Hadith 1998

Ü The original Arabic word is dhikr which refers here undisputedly to the Holy Qur’an

Ü Sahih al Bukhari, Ch.50 Anbiya, Hadeeth 3455.

Ü The full context of the tradition is coming shortly

Ü Lane, E.W. Arabic. English lexicon

ÝÝ Sahih of Muslim, 2P.264, Kitabul Fazail

(1) Tadreeburrawi, by Suyuti P. 181 V.2, Karachi 1972.

(2) ﻲﺴﺧ ﺭﺴﻟﺍ ﻞﻭﺻﺃ

(1) Al-a’lam by zrikli 2:131

(2) See Al-aghani V.61 P.611

(3) ٠ ١٨٠ ص بﻳﻄﺨﻟﻟ ﻱﻮﺍﺭﻠﺍ ﻕﻼﺧﻷ ﻊﻣﺎﺟﻠﺍﻮ ۸۲ ص ا ج ﻲﻣﺮﺍﺪﻠﺍ ﻥﻐﻧﺼ

(1) ٠٣ ج ١٣١ ص ﻲﺒﻫﺬﻠﻠ ﺀﻼﺑﻧﻟﺍ ﻡﻼﺣﺃ ﺭﻴﺻﻮ ۸ ج ١٠٦ ص ﺔﻳﺎﻬﻧﻠﺍﻮ ﺔﻴﺍﺪﺑﻠﺍ

(1) ۰ﻰﻧﻣ ﻡﺎﻳﺃ ﺔﺒﻃﺧﻠﺍ ﺏﺎﺑ ﻚﻣﺎﻧﻣﻠﺍ ﺏﺎﺗﮐ ﻱﺭﺎﻗﺑﻟﺍ ﺢﻴﺣﺼ

(2) ﻞﻴﺑﺍﺭﺴﺃ ﻲﻧﺒ ﻥﻣ ﺭﮐﺬ ﺎﻣ ﺏﺎﺑ ﻚﻣﺎﻧﻣﻠﺍ ﺏﺎﺗﮐ ﻱﺭﺎﻗﺑﻟﺍ ﺢﻴﺣﺼ

(3) ٠٣٦٦٠ ﺚﻳﺪﺤ ﺩﻮﺍﺩ ﻲﺑﺃ ﻕﺼﻮ ٢٦٠٨ ﺚﻴﺪﺤ ﻡﻠﻌﻠﺍ ﺐﺎﺘﻜ ﻱﺬﻣﺮﺘﻠﺍ ﻊﻣﺎﺟ

(4) ٠ ٣٦٠٩ ﺚﻳﺪﺤ ﻡﻠﻌﻠﺍ ﺮﺷﻧ ﻞﺿﻔ ﺐﺎﺑ ﻢﻠﻌﻠﺍ ﺐﺎﺗﻜ ﺪﻮﺍﺪ ﻲﺑﺍ ﻕﺼ

(5) ٠ ﺝ ٤٣ ﺺ ﺭﺑﻟﺍ ﺪﺑﻣ ﻥﺒﻻ ﻢﻠﻌﻠﺍ ﻥﺎﻴﺒ ﻊﻣﺎﺠ

(1) The word ‘knowledge’ in the era of Nabi was used to connote knowledge relative to the Holy Qur’an and the Hadith

(2) ﺮﺒﻠﺍ ﺪﺑﻋ ﻥﺒﻻ ﻡﻠﻌﻠﺍ ﻥﺎﻴﺑ ﻊﻣﺎﺠ

(3) ۰٢٦٠١ ﺚﻴﺪﺣ ﻡﻠﻌﻠﺍ ﺏﺎﺗﮐ ﻱﺭﺎﻗﺑﻟﺍ ﻊﻣﺎﺠ

(4) ﺮﺒﻠﺍ ﺪﺑﻋ ﻥﺒﻻ ﻡﻠﻌﻠﺍ ﻥﺎﻴﺑ ﻊﻣﺎﺠ

(1) See Sahih of Muslim V.2.P 414.

(1) ٠٢ ﺝ ١٠٧ ص ﻱﺬﻣﺮﺘﻠﺍ ﻊﻣﺎﺟ

(2) ٠٣٦٩ ص ﻞﺼﺎﻔﻠﺍ ﺚﺪﻬﻠﺍﻮ ٢٨٦ ص ﻱﻮﺍﺮﻠﺍ ﺏﺭﺪﻗ

(3) ٠٣٦٨ ص ﻞﺼﺎﻔﻠﺍ ﺚﺪﻬﻠﺍﻮ ١ ﺝ ٧٢ص ﺮﺒﻠﺍ ﺪﺑﻋ ﻥﺒﻻ ﻡﻠﻌﻠﺍ ﻥﺎﻴﺑ ﻊﻣﺎﺠ

(4) ٠٢ ﺝ ١٠٧ ص ﻱﺬﻣﺮﺘﻠﺍ ﻊﻣﺎﺟ

(1) ٠٢ ج ٣٧١ ص ﺪﻌﺻ ﻦﺑﺍ ﺕﺎﻗﺑﻄ

(2) ٠١ ج ٧٣ ص ﻡﻠﻌﻠﺍ ﻥﺎﻴﺑ ﻊﻣﺎﺠ ﻭ١ ج ١٠٦ ص ﻡﮐﺎﺣﻠﺍ ﻚﺭﺪﺘﺴﻣ ﴿ ﻪﺘﺑﺎﺘﮐ :ﻞﺎﻗ ﻩﺪﻴﻘﺘ ﺎﻣﻮ :ﺕﻠﻗ

(3) ٠١ ج ١٠٤ ص ﺏﺎﺑ ‘ﻲﻣﺮﺍﺪﻠﺍ ﻕﺼ

(4) ٠٢ ج ١٥٧ ׃ ١٥٦ ص ﻢﻠﻌﻠﺍ ﺐﺎﺗﻜ ﺪﻮﺍﺪ ﻲﺑﺍ ﻕﺼ

(1) ١٠٦ ﻮ ١٠٥ ص ١ج مﻜﺎﺤﺍ ﻚﺭﺪﺗﺴﻣﻮ ٢٦٢ ص ١ ج ﺪﻌﻣ ﻦﺑﺍ ﺖﺎﻓﺑﻄﻮ ٥١٣ ص ٢ ج ﺪﻮﺍﺪ ﻲﺑﺍ ﻕﺼ

٠٣٦٦־٣٦٤ ص ﻞﺼﺎﻓﻠﺍ ﺚﺪﻫﺍﻮ

(2) ٠١ ج ٢٢ ص ﻢﻠﻌﻠﺍ ﻪﺑ ﺎﺗﮐ ﺏﺎﺑ ‘ﻢﻠﻌﻠﺍ ﺏﺎﺗﮐ ﻱﺭﺎﺨﺑﻟﺍ ﺢﻴﺣﺼ

(1)

(1) ٠١ ج ٢٢٠ - ٢١٨ ص ﺓﻮﮐﺯﻟﺍﺐﺎﺗﻜ ‘ﺪﻮﺍﺪ ﻲﺑﺍ ﻕﺼ

(2) Certain extracts of this book are found in the works of Hadith.

For the full text see ﺮﻮﺘﮐﺪﻠﻟ ﻡﻼﻣﻻﺍ ﻰﻔ ﺔﻴﻣﺎﻴﺴﻠﺍ ﻖﻧﺎﺛﻮﻠﺍ

٠١٠٩ - ١٠٤ ص ﷲﺍﺪﻳﺴﺤ

(3) ٠٢٦٣ ﺺ ﺍ ﺝ ﺪﻌﻣ ﻥﺑﺍ ﺕﺎﻗﺑﻄ

(4) ٠٢٦٥ ﺺ ﺍ ﺝ ﺪﻌﻣ ﻥﺑﺍ ﺕﺎﻗﺑﻄ

(1) ٠١٣٠ - ١٢٦ ص ١٣١ ﻡﻗﺮ ﺔﻳﺴﺎﻳﺴﻠﺍ ﻖﺗﺎﺛﻭﻟﺍﻭ ﺍ ﺝ ٢٨ ‘ﺺﺪﻌﻣ ﻥﺑﺍ ﺕﺎﻗﺑﻄ

(2) ٠ﺍ ﺝ ٣٣ ص ﻱﺭﻮﻧﻠﺍ ﺡﺭﺷﻮ ‘ﺍﺝ ٨٨ ص ﺓﻮﮐﺷﻣﻠﺍ ﺡﺭﺸ ﺓﺎﻗ ﺭﻣﻠﺍ

(3) ٠١ ج ٣٤٠ ص ﺪﻌﺻ ﻥﺑﺍ ﺕﺎﻗﺑﻄ

(4) ٠١ ج ٣٤٨ ص ﺪﻌﺻ ﻥﺑﺍ ﺕﺎﻗﺑﻄ

(5) ٠١ ج ٣٥٣ ص ﺪﻌﺻ ﻥﺑﺍ ﺕﺎﻗﺑﻄ

(1) ٠١ج ١٨٤ ص ﻱﺭﺎﺑﻠﺍ ﻊﻣﺗﻓ ﺝ ١٧٤ ص ﻡﻠﻌﻠﺍ ﻥﺎﻴﺑ ﻊﻣﺎﺠ

(2) ٠٢٣٤ و ٢٣٣ ص ٣ ج ﺔﺑﺎﻐﻠﺍ ﺪﺻﺃﻮ ٧٢ ص ١ ج ﻡﻠﻌﻠﺍ ﻥﺎﻴﺑ ﻊﻣﺎﺠ

(1) ٠٨ ج ٥٣ و ٤٩ ص ﺐﻴﺬﻬﺘﻠﺍ ﺐﻴﺬﻬﺘ

(2) ٠٢٣٣ ص ٣ ج ﺔﺑﺎﻐﻠﺍ ﺪﺼﺃ

(3) ٠٣ ج ٥٧٤ و ٥٧٣ ص ﻪﻧﻋ ﷲﺍ ﻲﺿﺭ ﺲﻧﺃ ﺮﮐﺬ ‘ﻡﮐﺣﻠﺍ ﻚﺮﺩﺗﺴﻣ

(4) ٠١ج ٤٥١ ص ردﻏ ﻢﺜ ﺫﻫﺎﻋ ﻥﻤ ﻡﺛﺇ ﺏﺎﺑ ‘ﺩﺎﻬﺠﻠﺍ ﺏﺎﺗﮐ ﻱﺭﺎﻗﺑﻟﺍ ﺢﻴﺣﺼ

(1) ٠٦ ج ١٦٨ ص ﺪﻌﺻ ﻥﺑﺍ ﺕﺎﻗﺑﻄ

(2) ٠٥ ج ٤٦٩ ص ﺪﻌﺻ ﻥﺑﺍ ﺕﺎﻗﺑﻄ

(3)٤٠٠ ـ ٣٩٤ ص ﺞﺣﻟﺍ ﺐﺎﺗﮐ ﻡﻠﺴﻣ ﺢﻴﺣﺼ Zahabi says that this is a replica of Jabir’s script

(٤١:١ ﻲﺑﻫﺬﻠﻠ ﻆﺎﻔﺤﻠﺍ ﺓﺭﮐﺬﺘ)

(4) ٣٥٣:٨ ﺐﻴﺬﻬﺘﻠﺍ ﺐﻴﺬﻬﺘ

(5) ٠١١ ج ٢٠٢٧٧ ﺚﻳﺩﺣ ﻖﺍﺯﺮﻠﺍ ﺩﺑﻋ ﻒﻧﺻﻣ

(1)٠٥ ج ٤٩٣ ص ﺪﻌﺻ ﻥﺑﺍ ﺕﺎﻗﺑﻄ

(2)٠١ ج ٢٦١ ص ﻝﻠﻌﻠﺍ ﺏﺎﺗﮐ ﻱﺭﺎﻗﺑﻟﺍ ﻊﻣﺎﺠ

(3)٠٥٠٥ ﺚﻳﺪﺤ ١ج ١٠٥ صد ٥١٠ ﺚﻳﺪﺤ ١ج ١٠٦ ص ﻲﻣﺭﺍﺪﻠﺍ ﻕﺼ

(4)٠٤٠ ص ﻱﻮﺍﺭﻠﺍ ﺏﻳﺭﺪﺘ

(5)٠٣٣٨ ص ﺏﻴﻄﺨﻠﺍ ﺝﺎﺠﻫ ‘ﻦﻳﻮﺪﺘﻠﺍ ﻞﺑﻘ ﺔﻧﺴﻟﺍ

(6)٠١ ج ١٧٤ ص ﻱﺭﺎﺑﻠﺍ ﺢﺘﻔ

(1) This is the same ‘Abdullah whose work ‘Kitabul Masalif’ has been published by some orientalists.

(2)٠٦٦ ص ﻱﻮﺎﺠﺴﻠﻠ ‘ﺦﻳﺮﺎﺘﻠﺍ ﻡﻔ ﻥﻤﻠ ﺦﻴﻮﺘﻠﺎﺑ ﻥﻼﻋ ﻹﺍ

(3) This is the total of the members given in each volume separately. Sometimes, the same narrator has been mentioned in different places with different names. So, the actual number of the narrators maybe less, but not less than 10,000.

the islamic books

mardi 12 mars 2013

THE AUTHORITY OF SUNNAH

AUTHORITY

OF

SUNNAH

Justice Muhammad Taqi Usmani

WAL ULOOMIL ISLAMIA, KARACHI, PAKISTAN

Page

Foreword

1

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

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