With the help of all of Allaah's Names; [including] the Entirely Merciful, the

Especially Merciful.

Certainly, all praise and thanks is due to Allaah. We praise and thank Him,
we seek His help and assistance, and we seek His forgiveness. We take refuge
with Allaah from the evil which is within our very souls, and from the sinfulness of
our actions. Whomever it is that Allaah guides, no one can mislead him after that,
and whomever it is that Allaah sends astray, no one can guide him after that. I
bear witness (without any hesitation) that there is absolutely nothing that
deserves to be worshipped and adored, except for Allaah; He is One, without
partners. I also bear witness that Muhammad bin 'Abdullaah (Allaah's prayers and
peace be upon him) is His slave, worshipper, and messenger.

َ‫يَاأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُون‬

Allaah says what means, "O you who have believed, fear Allaah as He
should be feared and do not die except as Muslims [in submission to Him]." 1

‫يَاأَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ مِنْ نَفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ وَخَلَقَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا وَبَثَّ مِنْهُمَا‬
‫رِجَالًا كَثِيرًا وَنِسَاءً وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ الَّذِي تَسَاءَلُونَ بِهِ وَالْأَرْحَامَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ عَلَيْكُمْ رَقِيبًا‬

Allaah says what means, "O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from
one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men
and women. And fear Allaah, through whom you ask one another, and the
wombs. Indeed Allaah is ever, over you, an Observer."2

ْ‫يَاأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَقُولُوا قَوْلًا سَدِيدًا يُصْلِحْ لَكُمْ أَعْمَالَكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُم‬
‫وَمَنْ يُطِعِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَقَ ْد فَازَ َفوْزًا عَظِيمًا‬
Allaah says what means, "O you, who have believed, fear Allaah and speak
words of appropriate justice. He will [then] amend for you your deeds and forgive

1
[Aal 'Imraan 3: 102]

2
[An-Nisaa' 4: 1]
you your sins. And whoever obeys Allaah and His Messenger has certainly
attained a great attainment."3

Thereafter: certainly the truest speech is the Book of Allaah. The best
guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (Allaah's prayers and peace be upon
him). The worst matters are those newly invented and introduced into this
religion; and every matter which is newly invented and introduced in this religion
is an innovation. All innovation is misguidance, and all misguidance is in the Fire.

Amongst the attacks laid against the Sunnah by the Qur'aaniyoon are
the doubts they raise against the Aahaad Ahaadeeth. A Hadeeth which is Ahad "is
a hadeeth whose narrators are less than three in any given generation."4 There
are various doubts raised by these people to bring this large amount of the
Sunnah (being amongst the vast majority of the Ahaadeeth) into question. Some
of these doubts are as follows: Aahaad cannot be accepted in matters of
'Aqeedah, Qiyaas is preferred to Aahaad, and the way of the People of Madeenah
takes precedence over Aahaad.5 I propose to examine each of these and show
how they've been proven to be false. Wa-Billaahi Tawfeeq!

At the heart of the rejection of Aahaad in matters of 'Aqeedah is a belief

that Aahaad convey only assumptive knowledge (i.e., ‫ ;)الظن‬which they argue is
acceptable in matters of Laws, but not in 'Aqeedah. This is correctly defined as: "a
doubt that arises in you, and then you take it as a certainty and refer to it for
judgment."6 Therefore, it is not 'doubt' based on knowledge, but 'doubt' based on
guess work and conjecture. The strong evidence I found for the falsity of this
claim is the following Ayah from the Words of Allaah:

3
[Al-Ahzaab 33: 70 & 71]

4
The Authority of Sunnah, Justice Muhammad Taqi Usmani; page 76

5
See The Hadith Is Proof Itself in Belief & Laws, Shaykh Nasir A-Deen Al-Albaanee; page 13

6
See Al-Lisaan & an-Nihaayah
 َ ِ‫سَيَقُولُ الَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا لَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مَا أَشْرَكْنَا وَلَا ءَابَاؤُنَا وَلَا حَرَّمْنَا مِنْ شَيْءٍ كَذَل‬
‫ك‬
َّ‫كَذَّبَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ حَتَّى ذَاقُوا بَأْسَنَا قُلْ هَلْ عِنْدَكُمْ مِنْ عِلْمٍ فَتُخْرِجُوهُ لَنَا إِنْ تَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا الظَّن‬
َ‫وَإِنْ أَنْتُمْ إِلَّا تَخْرُصُون‬

This means, "Those who associated with Allaah will say, 'If Allaah had
willed, we would not have associated [anything] and neither would our fathers,
nor would we have prohibited anything.' Likewise did those before deny until
they tasted Our punishment. Say, 'Do you have any knowledge that you can
produce for us? You follow not except assumption, and you are not but
falsifying.'"7
So, this 'doubt' that the disbelievers are criticized for includes both beliefs
(i.e., Shirk) and actions (i.e., Tahreem); 'Aqeedah & Laws. Therefore, this
distinction between the two is not found in the Words of Allaah (or His
Messenger, peace be upon him). It is summarized by al-Albaanee (may Allaah
show him mercy) in a very succinct statement; "The rejected ‫ الظن‬is that which
(linguistically) means doubts, guessing, conjecture, and sayings that aren't based
on knowledge … This kind of ‫ الظن‬is rejected in matters of Belief and Laws, no
difference between them."8
It should be made clear that this kind of doubt is NOT the 'doubt'
associated with Aahaad Ahaadeeth. These narrations are knowledge which the
veracity of its narration isn't definitively defined. Hence, it's not a lack of
knowledge, but merely a lack of unequivocal verification.
The matter of Qiyaas taking precedence to Aahaad Ahaadeeth, as they
claim, is one of human reasoning being placed before the revealed texts of this
Noble Religion. Among the most convincing proofs that this is impermissible are
the following Aayaat:

ْ‫وَمَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍ وَلَا مُؤْمِنَةٍ إِذَا قَضَى اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَمْرًا أَنْ يَكُونَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ مِنْ أَمْرِهِم‬
‫وَمَنْ يَعْصِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَالًا مُبِينًا‬

7
[Al-An'aam 6: 148]

8
The Hadith Is Proof Itself in Beliefs & Laws, Shaykh Nasir A-Deen Al-Albaanee; page 27.
 Allaah says, what means, "It is not for a believing man or a believing
woman, when Allaah and His Messenger have decided a matter, that they should
[thereafter] have any choice about their affair. And whoever disobeys Allaah and
His Messenger has certainly strayed into clear error."9

This verse necessitates that we should be obedient to the commands of

Allaah and His Messenger in preference to our own desires and reasoning. The
matter is further emphasized by another Ayah from Allaah (The Exalted):

َ‫فَلَا وَرَبِّكَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ حَتَّى يُحَكِّمُوكَ فِيمَا شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ ثُمَّ لَا يَجِدُوا فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ حَرَجًا مِمَّا قَضَيْت‬
‫وَيُسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا‬

Which means, "But no, by your Lord, they will not [truly] believe until they
make you, [O Muhammad], judge concerning that over which they dispute among
themselves and then find within themselves no discomfort from what you have
judged and submit in [full, willing] submission."10

"Qiyaas is based on personal opinions and Ijtihaad, which aren't immune

from error."11 This stresses the important fact of the fallibility of Qiyaas, which
should be a far greater doubt than that entertained about Aahaad Ahaadeeth.
There are a couple of statements which should seal the matter for all interested
parties; Ash-Shaafi'ee said that "Qiyaas is impermissible when there is a Khabar
(i.e., Hadeeth), and As-Subkee said, "The best course of action, to me, is to follow
the Hadeeth. Let one imagine himself standing between the hands of the Prophet
(Allaah's prayers and peace be upon him), and he hears him saying the Hadeeth,
can he delay implementing it? No, By Allaah. Each is obligated to practice the
religion according to his comprehension."12

9
[Al-Ahzaab 33: 36]

10
[An-Nisaa' 4: 65]

11
The Hadith Is Proof Itself in Beliefs & Laws, Shaykh Nasir A-Deen Al-Albaanee; page 15.

12
For both quotes see previous footnote, #11.
 As for the matter of following the practice of the people of Madeenah, then
its refutation is similar to what has preceded. Nothing can be preferred in the
presence of an authentic Hadeeth; regardless of whether it's Ahad or not. The
matter, hopefully, is becoming clear.
In summary, the evidence against these doubts is vast and extensive. To
recount everything which could be said in opposition to these 'doubts' which are
raised could fill a book (and in fact has). The argument that ‫ الظن‬is the reason for
rejecting Aahaad in 'Aqeedah is spurious. The Aayaat clearly show that ‫ الظن‬which
is dispraised is that which is NOT based on knowledge. The Aahaad are
themselves knowledge and the 'doubts' about their authenticity and veracity are
not based on an absence of information. The science of Hadeeth is a well-
developed one, but this isn't the place to go into that here. As for Qiyaas and the
practice of the people of Madeenah; hopefully, we have shown that there is
sufficient evidence in the Words of Allaah (the Exalted) to clearly show that the
Guidance we received from Allaah and His Prophet (peace be upon him) must
always take precedence to our desires and reasoning. As Allaah said, what means,
"submit in [full, willing] submission."13 For me, this has been an exercise in the
obvious, not just due to the knowledge gained from this class, but as a student of
knowledge who chooses to walk the path of the Hanaabilah when the details of a
matter are obscure to him, this position is relatively self-evident due to the
position of the Mathhab; and Allaah knows best.

Freed from all imperfections are You, O Allaah, and You are praised! I bear
witness that nothing deserves to be worshipped or adored except for You. I seek
Your Forgiveness and turn in repentance to You. The last of my prayers is all
praise and thanks are due to Allaah, Creator and Sustainer of all creation.
Aameen.

13
[An-Nisaa' 4: 65]