Sunnah vs. Hadith (follow up 5)
Question:
Assalamualaykum akhi kareem,
May Allah reward you for your efforts, I have learnt quite a lot from your website. My question is as follows:
Answer:
Assalamu Alaykum,
Thanks for your good questions:
1. I am not aware of any scholars from the salaf who have had the same view about the hadith under discussion.
I wrote: “The Qur'an treats the payer of interest as the victim not a criminal.”
That the payer of interest is the victim not a criminal is an obvious fact, that is why the Qur’an condemns the receiver of riba and not the payer of riba. Verse 2:275 equalises the receivers of riba with those who have gone mad due to the touch of Satan. Verse 2:278 advises the receiver of riba to fear God and let go of it. Verse 2:279 indicates that receiving riba is oppression (zulm). Verse 3:130 condemns those who collect unjust money from debtors as riba. Verse 4:161 counts receiving of riba as one of the crimes of Jews.
In deed verse 2:280 is also another verse that can be added to this list. The verse comes immediately after the verse of riba and it advises the lender to give time to the debtor till when the debtor can repay the money. The custom of Arabs was that when the deadline would arrive they would demand the debtor to either return the whole money or two pay about double of the amount that they borrowed by the extended deadline. When the Qur’an advises to give time so that the debtor can return the money it is in fact again preventing from riba as well as from forcing the debtor to return the money.
In comparison, there is not even one verse that condemns the payer of riba.
2. First I need to make sure that there is no misunderstanding on what I have tried to convey. Hadith is not the words of the prophet (pbuh). Hadith is the report of one or very few individuals of what they attribute to the prophet (pbuh).
Also we need to clarify some expressions. Referring to my statement you wrote: “you believe that hadith can’t bring anything new in to the religion”. This is what I wrote: "No hadith adds any essential religious beliefs or practices to the corpus of religion.”
You asked me on what basis I believe this. Before I try to answer this, please bear in mind that logically we do not need to bring proof that a source of information is not an independent primary sources of understanding religion. Quite contrary logic dictates that when one claims that a source of information is an independent primary source of understanding Islam, then the onus is on that person to bring proof. Accordingly, if I wanted to be too technical in approaching your question, I would have written: “I argue that the Qur’an and the Established Sunnah are the primary independent sources of understanding Islam and I can prove that. If you think that ahad (individually narrated) Hadith is also a primary source of understanding Islam, then it is your responsibility to prove it, it is not my responsibility to disprove it."
However, this is my direct answer:
In a nutshell it no hadith, not even the most authentic one is anywhere near in authenticity and clarity to the Qur’an. The Qur’an itself tells us that the religion has been given to us with all clarity and in complete. To then think that the responsibility of passing part of religion to the next generation of Muslims have been put on the shoulder of very few individuals in every generation, resulting in often conflicting or inconsistent and out of the context information, goes against the promise of the Qur’an as well as the wisdom of the Almighty. For more elaboration please read: Sunnah versus Hadith, definition of established Sunnah.
In terms of the example you gave (One should not be married to a woman and her paternal aunt, or her maternal aunt, at the same time), in answering your earlier question I referred to this as an example, this is where I wrote:
Explaining this feature of the Arabic of the Qur’an, Javed Ahmad Ghamidi writes:
'One salient feature of the language of the Qur’an is that the meanings which are understood of their own accord because of the presence of other words and indicators or because of some logical obviousness are not expressed in words. Compliments of oaths, answer to conditional statements, parallel clauses of a sentence and the copulative sentence of a conditional sentence are often suppressed.' (Ghamidi, Mizan, 41).
The hadith of the prophet (pbuh) indicating that a woman and her aunt cannot be married together is therefore simply the explanation of verse 4:23 where it says that no two sisters can be married together. One who is familiar with the language of the Qur’an, that is based on the language of Quraysh, appreciates that the ruling that forbids marrying a woman and her sister, also forbids marrying a woman and her niece.
I would also like to reiterate what I wrote about hadih in one of my answers. While in principle hadith does not add any essential beliefs or practices to the corpus of religion, if a person is convinced that a hadith is the exact wording of the prophet (pbuh) and is instructing him/her about an essential element of religion then he/she has to follow that hadith. However to me, such reliable hadith is simply an elaboration and explanation of a directive of the Qur’an (category one above), which could be understood without that hadith as well but was reinforced and made absolutely clear by the prophet (pbuh).
3. Again I am not aware of any scholar of the past that have come up with the exact same understanding of Established Sunnah, as defined by Javed Ahmad Ghamidi and explained in this website. As you mentioned Imams Abu hanifa (by being very cautious about ahad hadiths) and Imam Malik (by giving importance to the practice of people in Medina) are coming from a very similar perspective. Please also note that for a number of centuries after the demise of the prophet (pbuh) Muslims did not have any easy access to hadith. The emphasis on deriving rulings from hadith only started in a later phase.
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September 2015
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Related Topics:
- Sunnah vs. Hadith
- Sunnah vs. Hadith (Follow Up 1: Imitating the Prophet - pbuh)
- Sunnah vs. Hadith (Follow Up 2: Criteria for Accepting a Hadith)
- Sunnah vs. Hadith (Follow Up 3: Definition of Established Sunnah)
- Sunnah vs. Hadith (Follow Up 4: Beard)
Assalamualaykum akhi kareem,
May Allah reward you for your efforts, I have learnt quite a lot from your website. My question is as follows:
- Firstly I would like to know who from the mathahib or from the salaf (not necessarily from the first 3 generations) have given this interpretation of the hadeeth?
Secondly you mentioned that the Quran considers the one who takes interest as a victim and should be supported and so on. I'm assuming you are referring to the ayah in surah baqarah. That ayah mentions that if the debtor is having a hard time, then grant him time till it is easy for him to repay. It doesn't say anything about the debtor borrowing on riba, unless you are referring to a different ayah which you can point me to. - Correct me if i'm wrong, you believe that hadith can’t bring anything new in to the religion but only clarifies or elaborates what is mentioned in the quran or established sunnah. What is your basis for this? Also can hadith make the quran specific? If no, how do we understand the hadith “One should not be married to a woman and her paternal aunt, or her maternal aunt, at the same time.”
- This understanding of sunnah is very rational and convincing and I find it very difficult to refute. This understanding of differentiating between established sunnah and hadeeth and rejecting ahadeeth which were contrary to the quran and established sunnah, was abu hanifa the first to devise such a methodology or understanding and can you also mention other famous Scholars from the salaf till present who also take this view other than Imaam Maalik.
Jazakallahukhair
Answer:
Assalamu Alaykum,
Thanks for your good questions:
1. I am not aware of any scholars from the salaf who have had the same view about the hadith under discussion.
I wrote: “The Qur'an treats the payer of interest as the victim not a criminal.”
That the payer of interest is the victim not a criminal is an obvious fact, that is why the Qur’an condemns the receiver of riba and not the payer of riba. Verse 2:275 equalises the receivers of riba with those who have gone mad due to the touch of Satan. Verse 2:278 advises the receiver of riba to fear God and let go of it. Verse 2:279 indicates that receiving riba is oppression (zulm). Verse 3:130 condemns those who collect unjust money from debtors as riba. Verse 4:161 counts receiving of riba as one of the crimes of Jews.
In deed verse 2:280 is also another verse that can be added to this list. The verse comes immediately after the verse of riba and it advises the lender to give time to the debtor till when the debtor can repay the money. The custom of Arabs was that when the deadline would arrive they would demand the debtor to either return the whole money or two pay about double of the amount that they borrowed by the extended deadline. When the Qur’an advises to give time so that the debtor can return the money it is in fact again preventing from riba as well as from forcing the debtor to return the money.
In comparison, there is not even one verse that condemns the payer of riba.
2. First I need to make sure that there is no misunderstanding on what I have tried to convey. Hadith is not the words of the prophet (pbuh). Hadith is the report of one or very few individuals of what they attribute to the prophet (pbuh).
Also we need to clarify some expressions. Referring to my statement you wrote: “you believe that hadith can’t bring anything new in to the religion”. This is what I wrote: "No hadith adds any essential religious beliefs or practices to the corpus of religion.”
You asked me on what basis I believe this. Before I try to answer this, please bear in mind that logically we do not need to bring proof that a source of information is not an independent primary sources of understanding religion. Quite contrary logic dictates that when one claims that a source of information is an independent primary source of understanding Islam, then the onus is on that person to bring proof. Accordingly, if I wanted to be too technical in approaching your question, I would have written: “I argue that the Qur’an and the Established Sunnah are the primary independent sources of understanding Islam and I can prove that. If you think that ahad (individually narrated) Hadith is also a primary source of understanding Islam, then it is your responsibility to prove it, it is not my responsibility to disprove it."
However, this is my direct answer:
In a nutshell it no hadith, not even the most authentic one is anywhere near in authenticity and clarity to the Qur’an. The Qur’an itself tells us that the religion has been given to us with all clarity and in complete. To then think that the responsibility of passing part of religion to the next generation of Muslims have been put on the shoulder of very few individuals in every generation, resulting in often conflicting or inconsistent and out of the context information, goes against the promise of the Qur’an as well as the wisdom of the Almighty. For more elaboration please read: Sunnah versus Hadith, definition of established Sunnah.
In terms of the example you gave (One should not be married to a woman and her paternal aunt, or her maternal aunt, at the same time), in answering your earlier question I referred to this as an example, this is where I wrote:
- Application of a Qur’anic directive (e.g. forbidding marriage with a woman and her parental or maternal aunt, that is simply an application of 4:23 if we appreciate the style of the Arabic language of the Qur’an)
- Reiterating what a human instinct considers desirable or not desirable (e.g. not eating animals with sharp canine teeth)
- Directives given not as the prophet but as the head of the state of Muslims (e.g. women not traveling without a mahram)
Explaining this feature of the Arabic of the Qur’an, Javed Ahmad Ghamidi writes:
'One salient feature of the language of the Qur’an is that the meanings which are understood of their own accord because of the presence of other words and indicators or because of some logical obviousness are not expressed in words. Compliments of oaths, answer to conditional statements, parallel clauses of a sentence and the copulative sentence of a conditional sentence are often suppressed.' (Ghamidi, Mizan, 41).
The hadith of the prophet (pbuh) indicating that a woman and her aunt cannot be married together is therefore simply the explanation of verse 4:23 where it says that no two sisters can be married together. One who is familiar with the language of the Qur’an, that is based on the language of Quraysh, appreciates that the ruling that forbids marrying a woman and her sister, also forbids marrying a woman and her niece.
I would also like to reiterate what I wrote about hadih in one of my answers. While in principle hadith does not add any essential beliefs or practices to the corpus of religion, if a person is convinced that a hadith is the exact wording of the prophet (pbuh) and is instructing him/her about an essential element of religion then he/she has to follow that hadith. However to me, such reliable hadith is simply an elaboration and explanation of a directive of the Qur’an (category one above), which could be understood without that hadith as well but was reinforced and made absolutely clear by the prophet (pbuh).
3. Again I am not aware of any scholar of the past that have come up with the exact same understanding of Established Sunnah, as defined by Javed Ahmad Ghamidi and explained in this website. As you mentioned Imams Abu hanifa (by being very cautious about ahad hadiths) and Imam Malik (by giving importance to the practice of people in Medina) are coming from a very similar perspective. Please also note that for a number of centuries after the demise of the prophet (pbuh) Muslims did not have any easy access to hadith. The emphasis on deriving rulings from hadith only started in a later phase.
--------
September 2015
--------
Related Topics:
- Sunnah vs. Hadith
- Sunnah vs. Hadith (Follow Up 1: Imitating the Prophet - pbuh)
- Sunnah vs. Hadith (Follow Up 2: Criteria for Accepting a Hadith)
- Sunnah vs. Hadith (Follow Up 3: Definition of Established Sunnah)
- Sunnah vs. Hadith (Follow Up 4: Beard)
