Usool ul Hadith (Fundementals of Hadith) Part 1

There are several major proofs, that make it mandatory for us to follow the Sunnah.

The first proof of the importance of the Sunnah, the Prophets all of them, were infallible.  All Prophets were infallible when it came to spreading the religion of Allah.

“ O Messenger (Muhammad)! proclaim (the Message) which has been sent down to You from Your Lord. and if You do not, Then You have not conveyed his Message. Allâh will protect You from mankind. Verily, Allâh guides not the people who disbelieve.”

This is evidence that what the Prophet said, was not against the Message of Islam.

“That This is Verily the word of an honoured Messenger (Muhammad Sal-Allaahu ‘alayhe Wa Sallam). It is not the word of a poet, little is that You believe! Nor is it the word of a soothsayer (or a foreteller), little is that You remember!  This is the Revelation sent down from the Lord of the ‘Alamin (mankind, jinns and All that exists).  And if He (Muhammad Sal-Allaahu ‘alayhe Wa Sallam) had forged a false saying concerning us (Allâh), we surely should have seized Him by his Right Hand (or with power and might),

and Then certainly should have cut off his life artery (Aorta) and none of You could withhold us from (punishing) Him.”

This is evidence that if the Prophet ever said anything against Islam, Allah would have cut off his artery (meaning killing him).  This is evidence that anything that comes out of the Prophets mouth is from Allah.

The second proof for Ahadith is, this is the purpose of the Messenger.  If Allah had just wanted a book, then the book would have been sent without a messenger.  Something, which has never happened.  Allah has never spoken to mankind directly, always through a messenger.  Allah has always spoken through Prophets and Messengers.

“ we sent no Messenger, but to be obeyed by Allâh’s Leave. if they (hypocrites), when they had been unjust to themselves, had come to You (Muhammad) and begged Allâh’s Forgiveness, and the Messenger had begged Forgiveness for them: indeed, they would have found Allâh All-Forgiving (one who accepts repentance), Most Merciful.”

This is clear proof, that the Messengers have been sent to be obeyed.  Prophets of the past have said the same thing:

Prophet Nuh said:

“So fear Allâh, keep Your duty to him, and obey Me.”

Prophet Hud said

“So fear Allâh, keep Your duty to him, and obey Me.”

Prophet Salih said:

“So fear Allâh, keep Your duty to him, and obey Me.”

Prophet Lut said:

“So fear Allâh, keep Your duty to him, and obey Me.”

Prophet Suhaib said:

“So fear Allâh, keep Your duty to him, and obey Me.”

There are about 15 Prophets in the Qur’an saying the very same statement; I just took some of the sayings found in Surah Ash Shuaira.

Another simple proof for the importance following the Sunnah is that the companions of Prophet Muhammad PBUH would follow his Sunnah, and would follow his orders. And Allah would praise them (the companions) in the Qur’an, and he never once reprimanded the companions for following his Sunnah.  Yet Allah still reprimanded them in the Qur’an for disobeying the Prophet, but never reprimanded them for obeying him.  If they made mistakes, the Qur’an was revealed to guide them, that is why the Sunnah is not misguided.

The fourth proof, are the verses of the Qur’an that prove this point.  There are 40+ verses regarding this.  I will not be able to quote all of them but I will categorize them.

The first category of verses, are the verses that tell the Muslims to believe in the Messenger of Allah.  Very general verses. “Allâh will not leave the believers In the state In which You are now, until He distinguishes the wicked from the good. nor will Allâh disclose to You the secrets of the Ghaib (unseen), but Allâh chooses of his Messengers whom He pleases. so believe In Allâh and his Messengers. and if You believe and fear Allâh, Then for You there is a great reward.”

This is part of Iman(belief), to believe in Prophet Muhammad.

The second categories of verses are the ones that say Prophet Muhammad is the explainer of the Qur’an.  Allah sent Prophet Muhammad to explain the Qur’an.  If we don’t obey his explanation of the Qur’an, then we are rejecting the Qur’an.

“ with clear signs and Books (We sent the Messengers). and we have also sent down unto You (O Muhammad ) the Reminder and the advice (the Qur’ân), that You may explain clearly to men what is sent down to them, and that they may give thought.”

One of the primary goals of Prophet Muhammad was to explain the Qur’an.

InshAllah Tomorrow or the day after, I will be writing Part 2 of this discussion.

Introduction to Usool ul Hadith (Fundementals of Hadith)

A recent phenomenon in the west has begun where; “Muslims” will examine their religion.  They will speak on Fiqh (law), Aqeedah(theology), and other issues, and they will leave out the Sunnah.  For the most part this new phenomenon is called “modernism”.

No “Muslim” would ever say that I don’t believe in Prophet Muhammad PBUH, or I would not obey him if he told me something.  But now they try to find ways around this.  Some of these excuses are “well hadith weren’t really preserved” or “Imam Bukhari died 200 years after the Prophet”.  “I don’t know what Prophet Muhammad actually said” is the same as saying “we don’t care what Prophet Muhammad PBUH said”.  If you deny that the Sunnah has been preserved, the end result is denying the Sunnah itself.

Let’s first start off with some simple definitions.  The meaning of the word “Sunnah” linguistically means path, a way.  “Sunnah” is a simple path, or a road.  The Sharia(Islamic Rulings) definition of “Sunnah” depends on who uses it, and what context.  The scholars of Fiqh(law) define “Sunnah” to be “that which is not obligatory to do, but if a person does it he is rewarded.”  This is the most commonly known meaning of “Sunnah”.  According to the Scholars of hadith, “Sunnah” is defined as “All of the actions, the statements, the tacit approvals, and the physical characteristics of the Prophet.”  According to the Scholars of Aqeedah, the “Sunnah” is defined as what the Muslims believe.  The Theology of the Muslims is called the Sunnah.  That is why Ahlus-Sunnah wa al Jamaah, take the name that they do.  They are the people of the Sunnah, meaning they follow the theology of Prophet Muhammad PBUH.  For example when Imam Ahmad Raheemullah wrote a book about Aqeedah (theology) he titled it Usool ul Sunnah(Fundamentals of the Sunnah).  Now lets define the word “Hadith.”  Linguistically “hadith” is the opposite of “khadeem”, “Hadith” it means “something that is new”.  A person’s statements are called “hadith” because he said something new that he didn’t say before.  From a Sharia point of view, “Hadith” is a statement of Prophet Muhammad PBUH.

What is the difference of Sunnah and the Hadith?  Hadith is something that is tangible.  You can open up Sahih Bukhari, and read what the Prophet said.  The Sunnah is something that is Abstract, it can be found in Hadith, but it is an action so it is not tangible.  Sunnah is something that he did, so there is no such thing as a Sahih(authentic) Sunnah or a Daef(weak) Sunnah, but there are Sahih Hadith and Daef Hadith.  When we are talking about the Sunnah, we are talking about a methodology, when we are speaking of Hadith, we are speaking of a specific statement, specific chain of narration, it may be authentic or weak.  Hadith is what preserved the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad PBUH.

What is the status of Sunnah in Islam?  The scholars of Islam have three very similar opinions.  The first opinion is that the Sunnah is second only to the Qur’an.  We find an Ayah and Hadith about something, we accept the hadith first and then also accept the hadith.  The second opinion, which is the majority opinion, is that the Qur’an and the Sunnah are equivalent in weight.  This does not mean that Qur’an and Sunnah are equivalent in blessing, no doubt the Qur’an is the most blessed book and the holiest book, but this means they are equivalent in a Fiqh (legal) point of view.   The third opinion, which no scholar actually had this opinion, is that the Sunnah is stronger than the Qur’an, but this opinion has been referred too.  The reason for this was that the Qur’an needs the Sunnah to be understood, but the Sunnah does not need the Qur’an to be understood.  One should note that the no scholar has the third opinion.  The strongest opinion is the second opinion.  One should always remember that this is regarding Fiqh (law) and not Barakah (blessing).

InshAllah, in the next post I will be jumping into daleel, for following the Sunnah.  The next post should be up on Monday InshAllah, and it will be a shorter version of an Authority of Sunnah course.

In Depth Explenation of What Islam Is.

Earlier, I made a post which explains the basic beliefs of Islam.  In that Post I used a saying of Prophet Muhammad(Peace be upon him):

“Islam is that you should testify that there is no deity save Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger, that you should perform salah (ritual prayer), pay the zakah(charity), fast during Ramadan, and perform Hajj (pilgrimage) to the House (the Ka’bah at Makkah), if you can find a way to it (or find the means for making the journey to it).”

In that post I explained, the parts of the speech.  In this post I will try to simplify what I said.

One of the greatest Scholars in Islam, is a man named Nawawi, or as the Muslims call him, Imam Nawawi.  He has authored many books, most famously the 40 Hadith of Nawawi.  His 40 Hadith of Nawawi, are the 40 most important Hadith in Islam.  He died in the year 1277 CE.

Imam Nawawi wrote:

The sheikh and Imam Ibn Salah said: “Being a Muslim is outwardly established by one’s saying the two Testifications(Sheykh Nuh Ha Meem Keller, a moder American-Islamic scholar noted that these testifications do not need to be done in Arabic).  The Prophet only added the prayer, zakat, the pilgrimage, and the fast because they are the most patent and greatest of Islamic observances.  One’s submission(istislam) is perfected through performing them, and neglecting them suggests that one has dissolved or vitiated the terms of one’s compliance.  Moreover the term faith(iman) ecompasses all of the things by which Islam is explained in this hadith, and indeed, all acts of obedience, for they are fruits of the inner conviction that is underlying basis of faith, and are what strenghen, and complete and preserve it.”

He Came To Teach You Your Religion

People Ask the simple Question, What is Islam?  Well Islam was amazingly described by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), when Angel Gabriel (peace be upon him) came and taught the companions of Muhammad the Religion.  Later on I will break this ahadith(speech atributed to Prohet Muhammad) into simple parts and explain them.

Translation:

Also on the authority of ‘Umar(may Allah be pleased with him), who said:

“While we were one day sitting with the Messenger of Allah(peace be upon him), there appeared before us a man dressed in extremely white clothes and with very black hair. No traces of journeying were visible on him, and none of us knew him.

He sat down close by the Prophet(peace be upon him), rested his knee against his thighs, and said, O Muhammad! Inform me about Islam.” Said the Messenger of Allah(peace be upon him), “Islam is that you should testify that there is no deity save Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger, that you should perform salah (ritual prayer), pay the zakah(charity), fast during Ramadan, and perform Hajj (pilgrimage) to the House (the Ka’bah at Makkah), if you can find a way to it (or find the means for making the journey to it).” Said he (the man), “You have spoken truly.”

We were astonished at his thus questioning him and telling him that he was right, but he went on to say, “Inform me about iman (faith).” He (the Messenger of Allah) answered, “It is that you believe in Allah and His angels and His Books and His Messengers and in the Last Day, and in fate (qadar), both in its good and in its evil aspects.” He said, “You have spoken truly.”

Then he (the man) said, “Inform me about Ihsan.” He (the Messenger of Allah) answered, ” It is that you should serve Allah as though you could see Him, for though you cannot see Him yet He sees you.” He said, “Inform me about the Hour.” He (the Messenger of Allah) said, “About that the one questioned knows no more than the questioner.” So he said, “Well, inform me about the signs thereof (i.e. of its coming).” Said he, “They are that the slave-girl will give birth to her mistress, that you will see the barefooted ones, the naked, the destitute, the herdsmen of the sheep (competing with each other) in raising lofty buildings.” Thereupon the man went off.

I waited a while, and then he (the Messenger of Allah) said, “O ‘Umar, do you know who that questioner was?” I replied, “Allah and His Messenger know better.” He said, “That was Jibril. He came to teach you your religion.”

Intentions

To Muslims the second most important book, after the Holy Qur’an, is  Sahih al Bukhari.  This is a collection of sayings, and actions of Prophet Muhammad(Peace be upon him).  Imam Bukhari the author started that collection, with a very important hadith.  The Importance of that hadith, is the basis of all actions within Islam.  The hadith is as follows:

Narrated by ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab:

I heard Prophet Muhammad(Peace be upon him) saying, “The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended. So whoever emigrated for worldly benefits or for a woman to marry, his emigration was for what he emigrated for.”