Authenticity of Hadith
Question:
Dear sir,
Assalam Alikum,
Main stream sects of sunni muslim agreed on same book of hadith and hadith scholars,but we find clear controversy in view of authenticity of a particular hadith,so many Ahadith are considered authentic like wasila of adam,first creation of noor-e-muhammad etc,by bralvi scholars and same ahadith are considered fabricated by other sunni wahabi or deobandi scholars so how as a common man one can understand which hadith is authentic or fabricated?
Answer:
Assalamu Alaykum,
I suggest observation of the following simple principles for a person who needs to assess a hadith with no or little knowledge, skill and experience in analysing hadith. Note there are some overlaps between some of these principles but I detailed them in the following way in a hope that they may be clear:
1. No hadith adds any essential religious beliefs or practices to the corpus of religion.
2. No understanding of hadith can be against the clear statements of the Qur’an or clear principles that the Almighty has established in the Qur’an.
3. When the Qur’an instructs about a religious practice no hadith can add any compulsory elements to that instruction.
4. No understanding of a hadith can be against known facts.
5. No understanding of a hadith can change the meaning of a verse of the Qur’an from its obvious meaning.
Apart from the above principles, in a second level of studying a hadith the following considerations need to be in place (again these are specifically for one who has no or little knowledge, skill and experience in analysing hadith :
- Is the hadith narrated in the more reliable books?
If not, it is closer to cautious to remain with reservations about what the hadith suggests.
- Are there more than one version of the hadith?
If yes, then it is worth to read them as well before coming up with any conclusions.
- Is the hadith claiming that the prophet (pbuh) made an important statement to the public, yet it is narrated by very few companions only?
Imam abu Hanifa very wisely used to question such hadiths.
- Is the hadith about news of future? Merits of individuals? Reward of some deeds?
I am not suggesting that if the answer is yes then the hadith is wrong. However it is worth noticing that the scholars of hadith have found that comparing to other subjects, hadiths related to the above subjects are more prone to weakness because these have always been topics that fabricators of hadith and exaggerators or unwise well-wishers have been interested in.
- Is the hadith in favour of a particular sect of Islam and is narrated in the sources of that sect of Islam only?
If the answer is yes then it is wise to be cautious as the elements of sectarian bias can always be there.
You may notice that almost all that I mentioned above are about the content of hadith. Of course studying the narrators is another dimension of studying hadith, however since the question was referring to a common man I did not make any references to this aspect. Incidentally there are now a number of books and even online services on internet that can give the opinion of a scholar about the degree of reliability of a hadith. These can easily be used by a common man specially if reading Arabic is not a problem. Of course for more educated and experienced students of Islam looking at the original sources of rijal is essential.
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December 2013
Farhad Shafti
Dear sir,
Assalam Alikum,
Main stream sects of sunni muslim agreed on same book of hadith and hadith scholars,but we find clear controversy in view of authenticity of a particular hadith,so many Ahadith are considered authentic like wasila of adam,first creation of noor-e-muhammad etc,by bralvi scholars and same ahadith are considered fabricated by other sunni wahabi or deobandi scholars so how as a common man one can understand which hadith is authentic or fabricated?
Answer:
Assalamu Alaykum,
I suggest observation of the following simple principles for a person who needs to assess a hadith with no or little knowledge, skill and experience in analysing hadith. Note there are some overlaps between some of these principles but I detailed them in the following way in a hope that they may be clear:
1. No hadith adds any essential religious beliefs or practices to the corpus of religion.
2. No understanding of hadith can be against the clear statements of the Qur’an or clear principles that the Almighty has established in the Qur’an.
3. When the Qur’an instructs about a religious practice no hadith can add any compulsory elements to that instruction.
4. No understanding of a hadith can be against known facts.
5. No understanding of a hadith can change the meaning of a verse of the Qur’an from its obvious meaning.
Apart from the above principles, in a second level of studying a hadith the following considerations need to be in place (again these are specifically for one who has no or little knowledge, skill and experience in analysing hadith :
- Is the hadith narrated in the more reliable books?
If not, it is closer to cautious to remain with reservations about what the hadith suggests.
- Are there more than one version of the hadith?
If yes, then it is worth to read them as well before coming up with any conclusions.
- Is the hadith claiming that the prophet (pbuh) made an important statement to the public, yet it is narrated by very few companions only?
Imam abu Hanifa very wisely used to question such hadiths.
- Is the hadith about news of future? Merits of individuals? Reward of some deeds?
I am not suggesting that if the answer is yes then the hadith is wrong. However it is worth noticing that the scholars of hadith have found that comparing to other subjects, hadiths related to the above subjects are more prone to weakness because these have always been topics that fabricators of hadith and exaggerators or unwise well-wishers have been interested in.
- Is the hadith in favour of a particular sect of Islam and is narrated in the sources of that sect of Islam only?
If the answer is yes then it is wise to be cautious as the elements of sectarian bias can always be there.
You may notice that almost all that I mentioned above are about the content of hadith. Of course studying the narrators is another dimension of studying hadith, however since the question was referring to a common man I did not make any references to this aspect. Incidentally there are now a number of books and even online services on internet that can give the opinion of a scholar about the degree of reliability of a hadith. These can easily be used by a common man specially if reading Arabic is not a problem. Of course for more educated and experienced students of Islam looking at the original sources of rijal is essential.
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December 2013
Farhad Shafti
