Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Authentication of HADITH
REDEFINING THE CRITERIA
AUTHENTICATION
of Hadith R E D E F I N I N G
THE CRITERIA
978-1-56564-590-5
Books-in-Brief
Cover image of unabridged edition: Mosque Sepulcrale de Soultan Barqouq, 1877.
London, British Library 2009. Photo Scala Florence/HIP
AUTHENTICATION
of HADI TH
REDEFINING
the CRITERIA
Israr Ahmad Khan
Abridged by Alison Lake
Series Editors
Dr. Anas S. al-Shaikh-Ali
Shiraz Khan
INTRODUCTION
The Quran and Hadith govern all aspects of Islams belief system
and its manifestation in human life. The Quran represents the precisely
revealed words of Allah (SWT)* and the Hadith constitute the practical
and methodological dimensions of the Quranic commands and
instructions. Allah tasked the Prophet Muhammad (AAS)** to do the
following: rehearse the Qurans messages to people; unfold the truth
revealed in the Quran; and teach his followers. The bayn of the
Quran is known as the Hadith and Sunnah.
To that end, the following aspects are true and stated in the Quran:
Allahs blessings will cover those who obey Him and His Prophet;1
obedience is required2 and deliberate indifference is a serious offense;3
the Prophet is a judge in all disputes of life;4 and avoiding and
disregarding the instructions of Allah and the Prophet leads ultimately
to failure in life5 and causes mans deeds to lose all meaning.6
In contemporary times, Muslims comprise four categories in their
approach to Hadith: those who totally reject its relevance in Muslim
life; those who blindly accept all apparent a^dth regardless of their
authenticity; those who indiscriminately select Hadith for practical
purposes; and those who believe in the sanctity of Prophetic traditions
but who carefully approach them regarding their logical and practical
relevance to Islamic life and civilization.
Today, Muslims suffer less from rigid adherence to old traditions of
the Prophet than from having strayed far from the Quran and the
*(SWT) Sub^nahu wa Tal: May He be praised and may His transcendence be affirmed.
Chapter One
Fabrication in Prophetic Traditions:
Causal Factors and Remedial Measures
In the established approach to Hadith, if the chain of narrators (sanad)
is authentic, the hadith is considered authentic regardless of the problem(s) its text may contain. Any apparent discrepancies in the texts of
traditions can be interpreted but to declare any report from these two
sources as unreliable is considered an almost unacceptable stance and
a virtual offense.
Literal and technical fabrication in Prophetic traditions signifies false
attribution of a statement or practice to the Prophet, with or without
intention. This chapter focuses on fabrication in the Prophetic
traditions from a historical perspective, tracing factors that led to this
and the remedial measures taken by distinguished Muslim authorities.
Hadith scholars have identified various statements used in the traditions
that are apocryphal, some of which indicate fabrication. When authorities refer to some transmitters in a sanad who used superlative or
exaggerated expressions or single-degree adjectives, these constitute
obvious terms signaling fabrication. Hadith authorities use several
terms (in Arabic) to declare a tradition unacceptable, including
fabricated, false, and baseless.
Chapter Two
The Contribution of Muslim Scholars
to the Authentication of Hadith
This chapter identifies the contributions of scholars from two
perspectives: the chain of narrators and the text. Each hadith is
composed of a chain of narrators (sanad) and content/text (matn). The
sanad, long or short, refers to the names of the sources through whom
the sayings or practices of the Prophet were reported. The matn is the
words of the report, which communicate what the Prophet said or did.
During the Prophets time and three decades after, the chain of
narrators was not questioned. During this period the entire focus was
placed on the Hadith text.
Hadith verification can be traced to the time of the first Muslim Caliph,
Ab Bakr. As a way to safeguard against errors, he refused to accept
any hadith narrated by one single Companion unless another
Companion confirmed it. Scholars from the generation of the Companions hesitated in accepting a hadith without further verification.13
Scholars from later generations categorized a hadith as authentic only
when they had established that all its narrators were highly authentic.14
From the second half of the first century of Islam the chain of narrators
and their associated biographic dictionaries assumed a significant place
in Hadith authentication. This knowledge of Hadith narrators was then
extensively used to check the authenticity of a chain. If a chain was
found reliable then the text reported through that chain was identified
as authentic. Any problem in the chain would lead to the classification
of the report as weak or unreliable.
Hadith authentication remained in verbal form for around the first
century and a half of Islam. By the era of al-Bukhr, numerous written
compilations existed but these works were full of problems. AlBukhrs mammoth task was to produce a work comprising the most
authentic a^dth available. In doing so he had to select traditions from
600,000 a^dth.15 Muslim selected a^dth from around 300,000
reports.16 These and other Hadith works that followed were authenticated through their chain of reporters. However, one cannot identify
any work of Hadith in which reports have been recorded based on both
verification of text and chain authentication. Scattered comments and
observations on certain a^dth, from a textual perspective, can be
attributed to some scholars, but serious efforts are missing from the
scholastic legacy.
Hadith experts developed five universally acceptable criteria to
determine the credibility and authenticity of Hadith: chain continuity;17
integrity of narrators character;18 report precision;19 non-deficiency;20
and non-aberrance.21 If a hadith fulfills all these five criteria, it is
declared authentic. A weak hadith is short of fulfilling the conditions
of the authentic one.22 The chain of transmitters must be unbroken for
the hadith to be acceptable; none of the transmitters can be missing
from the chain of narrators. Each transmitter must have heard the
hadith directly from the transmitter before him. Each chain must link
directly back to the Prophet or any of his Companions. The narrator
in a chain must be a believer in Islam and of sound character. He would
be disqualified by disbelief, hypocrisy, insanity, or biological immaturity. Finally, the narrator should have a strong and sound memory.
Al-Bukhr and Muslim are ranked as the most eminent and respected
Hadith scholars of all time. Their method of classification and
examination, based on well-defined criteria, laid the foundation of
Hadith authentication and methodology known today. They hold the
status of teachers and pioneers in the field of Hadith authentication.
Imam Al-Bukhr, native to todays Uzbekistan, subjected every Prophetic tradition to strict scrutiny in terms of its chain of narrators before
including it in his work, considered the most authentic compilation.
Imam Muslim, of Iran, followed the same methodology as al-Bukhr,
who, however, believed Muslims chains of narration were problematic.
The beauty of Muslims work lies in its particular arrangement of
traditions, recording all authentic reports on the same subject in the
same place, and not scattering them as al-Bukhr did.
Hadith authorities did not examine a^dth against universal criteria.
Al-Bukhr and Muslim were convinced that establishing the authenticity of a hadiths chain of narrators ensured authenticity of its text,
and therefore rigorously examined the chain of narrators. Even when
they criticized Hadith works, particularly those believed authentic, it
was from the perspective and analysis of the chain only. A few other
scholars made serious contributions to the authentication of Hadith
through examination of text and attempted to establish criteria for
doing so.
Scholar Misfir Gurm Allah al-Dumayni advanced concrete examples
to illustrate the Companions practice of examining Hadith with
reference to the Quran. He arrived at these examples by tracing the
method used by other Hadith scholars to identify any problems in
a^dth, noting that traditions were verified by the Quran, and by
comparison among solitary traditions, relatively authentic traditions,
established history, freedom from unsound words and meanings,
fundamental rules and principles of Islamic law, and freedom from
abomination and impossibility.
When exploring the approach of Muslim jurists to Hadith texts, alDumayni identified as criteria the Quran, the Sunnah, consensus of
the Ummah, practice of the Companions, logical analogy, general
principles, and the impact of solitary tradition. Overall, since the time
of the Companions, Muslim scholars have paid special attention to the
preservation and authentication of the Prophets traditions. A^dth
were first examined from both the angles of their chain of narrators
and the Hadith text. In the 2nd and 3rd centuries when great Hadith
works were compiled, scholars developed some criteria wherein chain
examination was the focal point. Scholars of ulm al-hadth spoke in
principle about textual examination of Hadith. The most prominent
such works are those of Ibn al-Jawz, Ibn al-Qayyim, and al-Dumayni.
Chapter Three
The Quran and Authentication of Hadith
This chapter examines the Hadith in light of the Quranic principles
and instructions. Muslim scholars are unanimous concerning the
position of the Quran in relation to the Hadith, stating that in an
uncompromising conflict between a recorded Prophetic tradition and
the Quran, the tradition is to be rejected as unacceptable. Thus, as the
Prophets utterances and practice symbolize the bayn, both the Quran
and bayn should complement each other.
Srah al-Nis 59 exhorts believers to make Allah and His Prophet the
judge in any dispute. Muslims frequently consulted the Prophets wife
Aishah, on Quranic revelations, the statements and practices of the
Prophet, and Islamic law. Her approach to Hadith in relation to the
Quran was that it should not contradict the Quran or contradict what
the Prophet had said, though she is reported to have rejected fabricated
traditions attributed to the Prophet. Many examples of fabrication
focus on statements made by the Prophet, as well as statements attributed to prophet Abraham and statements regarding: predetermination
of human destiny; mans deeds being irrelevant for entry into Paradise;
coercion in conversion to Islam; Moses power to delay his death; reference to Eve as the root cause of womens infidelity to their husbands,
and others.
Chapter Four
Authentication of Hadith Through
Rationally Authentic Traditions
This chapter is devoted to a textual Hadith examination using highly
authentic traditions of the Prophet. The position of the Prophet for
believers is that of a judge (4:65) whose verdicts are final (33:36). The
Prophet carried out his mission for over two decades before its eventual
accomplishment, by explaining the Quran, translating Allahs
commands into daily life, helping and judging his followers, and living
his life according to Islamic principles. This Islamic legacy was meant
to continue after his death but was betrayed by those who sought only
personal gain. Consequently, peoples own desires and whims began
to circulate in the name of the Prophet. In this situation, the Quran,
Chapter Five
Authentication of Hadith Through
Sound Reasoning
Reason plays a vital role in mans existence.25 This power elevates
mankind to the highest position on earth and through proper application helps maintain his humanity.26 The Quran lays great emphasis
on the intellectual power of man, such that true faith and good deeds
seem impossible without the guidance of reason. Every one of Gods
prophets invited his respective people to the divine message, appealing
to their faculty of reason. If intellectual reasoning is a means to understand the Quran, it should also be an apparatus to understand the
substance of Hadith literature.
In this context, the criterion of reason cannot be defined as simple
Chapter Six
Authentication of Hadith Through
Established History
In this chapter the criterion of established history has been highlighted
to authenticate the historical dimensions available in Hadith texts. The
study of history is essential and one of its more primary purposes is
educative. History should ideally be a guide to help humanity correct
earlier mistakes and to draw inspiration from the very best it may have
achieved. The Quran presents history in the guise of a teacher. Hadith
literature contains many historical accounts including subject matter
that often deals with history. The reports at times corroborate history
or contradict it. Where a report contradicts established history, the
tradition, regardless of its authenticity in terms of the chain, is to be
considered dubious.
To check for historical authenticity, traditions can be compared with
established history pertaining to famous battles, historical records,
dates of birth and death, time consistency, and so forth. Conversely,
authentic Hadiths can be approached as valid sources of historical
information to, in turn, correct established history. Authentic a^dth
are often sources of historical record.
For example, Muslim recorded two different traditions each of which
stated a different age of the Prophet at his death (6527 and 6328 years
old). His decision appears based on the apparent authenticity of the
chain of narrators in these traditions. If he had checked the text against
well-known historical facts, however, he would have certainly quoted
only one of them in his work. Other scholars consider 63 years to be
the most authentic age of the Prophet at his death.29
In another example, Muslim recorded that the Prophet stayed in
Makkah 15 years after his prophethood, and 10 years in Madinah after
hijrah.30 Muslim records another version of this report wherein the
Prophet stayed in Makkah for 13 years and in Madinah for 10 years.31
Muslims report counters established history while that of al-Bukhr
does not. In fact, the Prophet lived 13 years in Makkah after he was
appointed Gods Messenger, and 10 years in Madinah after hijrah.32
Chapter Seven
Moderation in Relation to
Authentication of Hadith
This chapter traces the acceptability of Hadith in line with another
criterion: moderation. Islam was revealed as a balanced way of life. Its
rules and regulations therefore reflect the principle of balance in all
things, wherein anything attributed to Islam that appears exaggerated
or extreme is not an original part of the faith. Followers of the Prophet
are expected to abandon excessive materialism and excessive spiritual
deprivation. Imbalance in one aspect of life will cause a resulting
extremity in another.
The Quran invites man to take the middle path in every situation, The
Prophet avoided extremism and advised his followers to be just and
balanced in life. All his teachings, actions, and sayings represent
moderation.33 For this reason, any extreme behavior or saying
attributed to the Prophet should be rejected as false or fabricated.
For example, the Prophet taught a very balanced method of praying
the obligatory and supererogatory prayers (salah) in terms of time and
energy involved. Therefore, traditions that require more time and
energy from the performer would then be suspect, and the ones noted
here in this book are weak in their narration chains. Overall, the
traditions would be rejected based on the disproportionate nature of
their content.
Like the Quran, a^dth also teach man about the rewards for doing
good deeds and the punishment for doing evil. The Quran provides
such information in a general manner, stating that denial of truth will
lead to grievous suffering and humiliation, and obedience to Allah will
be rewarded graciously on the Day of Judgment. Hadith literature, on
the other hand, contains minute details about reward and punishment,
some of them in exaggeration. For example, Hadith scholars have
determined the following traditions to be fabricated, based on text
alone: He who reads a particular du before bed will be glorified by
700,000 angels; He who reads words of praise for Allah before bed
will become as innocent as on the day of his birth; One hour pondering
is better than 60 years of devotion; and so forth. All these examples
demonstrate that exaggerations are not in line with the Prophets
teachings.
Chapter Eight
Al-Bukharis Chapter on Predetermination:
An Evaluation and Interpretation
This chapter is based on discussion and reinterpretation of a particular
chapter of al-Bukhr, Kitb al-Qadar (Chapter on Predestination/
Predetermination). These 27 traditions cannot be easily evaluated under
certain particular criteria only, and need to be treated separately from
several angles and psychological perspectives due to the chapters
subject and its deep impact on Muslims psyche.
Al-Bukhrs work al-Jmi al-a^^ is considered the most famous and
respected collection of a^dth, and is considered by many as the most
authentic book after the Quran.34 This book has exerted great
influence on the Muslim mind, and is widely read and referenced
throughout the Muslim world as a source of Islamic law. Its chapter
on predestination concerns the concept of a fore-written destiny for
man, wherein human life, including mans final destination, has been
predetermined, even before a person is born. These traditions are very
significant for Muslim understanding of human responsibility, and
need careful examination. Following is a sampling.
Debate over a fore-written destiny has existed in the Muslim world
since the first Islamic century. The main arguments advanced in favor
of the theory are based on certain Quranic ayt as well as certain
traditions, particularly those recorded by al-Bukhr in Kitb al-Qadar.
He is believed to have been scrupulous in determining the reliability of
the sanad of his selected traditions. According to this criterion, the
traditions mentioned in Kitb al-Qadar are conceivably sound. However, there is cause for questioning the 27 traditions from the standpoint
of textual content.
Generally, five methodological components are available in Hadith
commentaries: chain of narrators; the message of the tradition; reports
from other sources to develop a complete picture of the tradition; the
hadiths particular background; and the scholars own view either
favoring or rejecting the views of others.
Scholars define the subject of this chapter al-qadar in various ways,
including: power; mans ability; Allahs infinite power; Allahs
command; determination; and divine judgment. Scholar Hamzah
When Allah sent down the Quran, He already provided the whole of
humanity with what it needed for guidance. Mans role then and now
has been to read, understand, and apply it, for indeed Allah has
equipped humanity with the capacity, ability, and prowess to do so.
The Author
ISRAR KHAN has a PhD in Theology from Aligarh Muslim University, India. He is
currently Associate Professor in the Department of Quran and Sunnah Studies,
International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). His main fields of study, teaching,
and research are Quranic Studies and Hadith Studies. He has translated several
Islamic Studies titles from Arabic into Urdu, English, and Hindi and has authored
several works in English: Quranic Studies: An Introduction (2000), The Theory of
Abrogation: A Critical Evaluation (2006), and Understanding the Quran: A
Reflection (2006).
On the Editorial Board of several international academic journals, including
Intellectual Discourse (by IIUM), he has also published a number of articles in international refereed journals and presented many papers at international conferences and
seminars.
Notes
1
Quran 3:132.
Quran 4:59.
3
Quran 8:1225.
4
Quran 4:65.
5
Quran 8:46.
6
Quran 47:33.
7
Ibn al-Jawz, Abd al-Ra^mn ibn Al, Kitb al-Maw\t (Beirut: Dr alKutub al-Ilmiyyah, 1995), vol.1, p.325.
8
Ibid., vol.2, p.290.
9
Ibid., p.15.
10
Ibid., vol.2, p.22.
11
Muslim, Ibn al-ajjj al-Qushayr, a^^ (Beirut: Dr I^y al-Turth alArab, 2000), Muqaddimah, report no. 14, p.51.
12
Ibid.
13
Fallatah, Umar ibn Hasan Uthman, Al-Wa\ f al-adth (Damascus:
Maktabah al-Ghazly, 1981), vol.1, p.180.
14
Ibid.
15
Kamil Muhammad, Muhammad Uwaydah, Alm al-Fuqah wa al-Mu^addithn: Al-Imm al-Bukhr (Beirut: Dr al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, 1992), p.9.
16
Kamil Muhammad, Alm al-Fuqah wa al-Mu^addithn: Muslim ibn alajjj (Beirut: Dr al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, 1995), p.14.
17
Ibn Kathr, Ab al-Fid Isml, Al-Bith al-athth, 4th edn. Ahmad
Muhammad Shakir, ed. (Beirut: Dr al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, 1994), p.20.
18
Tahan, Mahmud, Taysr Mu|~ala^ al-adth (Kuwait: Maktabah Dr alTurth, 1984), p.146.
19
Ibid.
20
Al-Suy~, Jall al-Dn, Tadrb al-Rwi (Beirut: Dr al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah,
1989), vol.1, p.252. Al-Khair Abadi, Muhammad Abul Laith, Takhrj al-adth:
Nashatuhu wa Manhajuhu (Kuala Lumpur: Dr al-Shkir, 1999), pp.268274.
21
Ibn Kathr, Ab al-Fid Isml, Al-Bith al-athth, 4th edn. Ahmad
Muhammad Shakir, ed. (Beirut: Dr al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, 1994), p.19.
22
Ibid., p.42.
23
Al-Bukhr, Mu^ammad ibn Isml, a^^ (Beirut: Dr I^y al-Turth alArab, 1400 ah), vol.4, Kitb al-Iti|m bi al-Sunnah, Bb no. 20.
24
Muslim, vol.8, Kitb Fa\il al-a^bah, hadith nos. 63226326; alBukhr, vol.4, Kitb al-Daawt, hadith no. 6344.
2
25
Quran 2:170.
Quran 2:3038, 21:10.
27
Muslim, vol.8, Kitb al-Fa\il, hadith no. 6055.
28
Ibid., hadith nos. 60496052.
29
Al-Nawaw, Mu^y al-Dn, Al-Minhj: Shar^ a^^ Muslim (Beirut: Dr alMarifah, 1997), vol.8, p.102. Ibn Sad, Al->abaqt al-Kubr (Beirut: Dr I^y
al-Turth al-Arab, 1996), vol.2, part 2, p.404.
30
Muslim, vol.8, Kitb al-Fa\il, hadith no. 6053.
31
Ibid., hadith no. 6050.
32
Ibn Abd al-Barr, Ysuf ibn Abd Allah, Al-Istb f Marifat al-A|^b (Beirut:
Dr al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, 1995), vol.1, p.143, 147.
33
Quran 25:6374.
34
Ibn ajar, Hadiyy al-Sr (Riyadh: Dr al-Salm, n.d.), pp.1214.
35
Hamzah Muhammad Qasim, Manr al-Qr (Damascus: Maktabah Dr alBayn, 1990), part 5, p.307.
36
Ibid.
37
Ibn ajar, Fat^ al-Br (Riyadh: Dr al-Salm, 2000), vol.11, p.582.
38
Al-Bukhr, a^^ al-Bukhr, vol.4, Book 55, hadith no. 549.
39
Muslim ibn al-ajjj, a^^ (Beirut: with al-Nawaws commentary, Dr alMarifah, 1997), vol.8, Kitb al-Qadar, p.409, hadith no. 6668.
40
Al-Bukhr, a^^, vol.4, Kitb al-Qadar, p.209, hadith no. 6601.
41
Al-Bukhr, a^^, vol.1, Kitb al-Janiz, p.396, hadith no. 1284; vol.4,
Kitb al-Mar\, p.26, hadith no. 5655; vol.4, Kitb al-Aymn wa alNudhr, p.220, hadith no. 6655; vol.4, Kitb al-Taw^d, p.379, hadith no.
7377, and p.394, hadith no. 7448.
42
Al-Bukhr, a^^, Kitb al-Qadar, p.210, hadith no. 6604.
43
Ibn ajar, Tahdhb al-Tahdhb, vol.5, pp.561562.
44
Al-Bukhr, a^^, vol.4, Kitb al-Qadar, p.212, hadith no. 6614.
45
Ibid., p.212, hadith no. 6615.
46
Ibid., p.213, hadith no.6619.
47
Ibn ajar, Fat^ al-Br, vol.11, p.640. Vol.4, Kitb al-Qadar, p.213, hadith
no. 6620.
26
Authentication of HADITH
REDEFINING THE CRITERIA
AUTHENTICATION
of Hadith R E D E F I N I N G
THE CRITERIA
978-1-56564-590-5
Books-in-Brief
Cover image of unabridged edition: Mosque Sepulcrale de Soultan Barqouq, 1877.
London, British Library 2009. Photo Scala Florence/HIP