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APRIL

4, 2010

HADITHS REPORTED BY
SUFIS

By Mawlana Yunus Jaunpuri

Translated by Muhammad Habib
[Shaykh al-Hadith Mawlana Muhammad Yunus Jaunpuri was
asked why the scholars of hadith did not generally give credence
to the hadiths reported by Su s, despite their closeness to Allah

and lofty rank. He answered:]

Scholars have not given credence to the [hadith] reports of Su s,
as these respected people, due to their preoccupation with acts
of devotion (ibadat), are unable to fully dedicate themselves to
[the seeking of ] knowledge. This is why their reports are littered
with errors and confusions. Likewise, their husn al-zann (good
opinions regarding others) is to such a degree that they do not
even make critical analysis and, consequently, accept any
spoken word without investigation. This is why their reports
contain weak, rejected and fabricated hadiths in abundance.
This becomes evident after seeing Abu Talib Makkis Qut al-

Qulub and the works of Imam al-Ghazali, Abu Abd al-Rahman

al-Sulami and others.
Allamah Taj al-Din al-Subki has compiled all those countless
reports which Imam al-Ghazali has mentioned in Ihya al-Ulum,
but are not found elsewhere. There are, however, many reports
which do exist either in wording or meaning.
The truth is that every art has its connoisseurs. We gladly accept
that the Su s are worthy of veneration. However, that does not
mean we also accept their word in those sciences in which they
do not specialise.
Yahya al-Qattan says: We have not seen the pious (Su s) more
imprecise in anything as they are in hadith. Another variation
reads, We have not seen the people of good (Su s) more
imprecise in anything as they are in hadith.

Explaining this, Imam Muslim (pg. 14) writes: Imprecision

nds its way on to their tongues but they do not intend it.
Imam al-Nawawi elaborates: This is so because of their nonpossession of the skills employed by the people of hadith, and
hence, error creeps into their reports without their knowledge
and they tend to relate inaccurate reports not suspecting them
to be false.

However, no one has rejected the reports of those Su s who

have gained pro ciency in this science. For example, Imam Abu
Ismail al-Ansari al-Harawi (d. 481 AH), the author of Manazil

al-Sairin, was a Su as well as a hadith scholar. His work,

Manazil al-Sairin, is a renowned work of tasawwuf, of which alHa z Ibn al-Qayyim wrote an extremely detailed commentary,
entitled Madarij al-Salikin.
Similarly, the student of Imam Muslim, Ibrahim ibn Muhammad
ibn Sufyan and his student Abu Ahmad al-Jaludi and others were
all from amongst the ascetic Su s, and people (hadith scholars)
have accepted their reports.
The hadith scholar, Abu Abd Allah Yunini, is from amongst the
great Su s. He attained the mantle of tasawwuf from the
respected Shaykh Abd Allah al-Bataihi, who is from the
companions of Shaykh Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani. [Abu Abd Allah]
Yunini is also a renowned ha z of hadith. Al-Ha z al-Dhahabi

has speci cally mentioned him in Tadhkirat al-Huffaz (Vol. 4, p.

223).
Similarly Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad al-Dawudi (d. 467 AH)
is a renowned Su . Al-Ha z al-Samani relates in Al-Ansab: He
was a master in tasawwuf, and he is from amongst the
transmitters of [Sahih] al-Bukhari.
The likes of Allamah Ibn Daqiq al-Id and Ibn al-Humam and
others being Su s is a known fact.
[Finally], all praise is due to Allah, most of our shaykhs of the
Wali Allahi tradition were Su s as well as imams of hadith.

That is the bounty of Allah, He grants to whom He wills.

Only Allah knows best.
The servant
Muhammad Yunus
(may Allah forgive him)
Monday 11th Rabi al-Thani 1391 AH.

(Al-Yawaqit al-Ghaliyah

Tahqiq wa Takhrij al-Ahadith

al-Aliyah, Volume 1, 1st edition (UK: Majlis Dawat al-Haqq, p.

128-129), collated by Mawlana Muhammad Ayyub Surti.)