Have All The Hadeeth Survived Till This Day?

Imaam Bukhaari states that he had memorised over 600,000 hadeeth from which he extracted about 7000 for his saheeh, (or about 2600 without repetition) [Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdaadee, Taareekh Baghdaad, 2/8]. Those with a sickness in their hearts, use this statement to say that there are so many saheeh ahaadeeth which have not survived to this day and age. Ash-Shaykh Muhammad Mustafa Al-Azami refutes such a claim by saying:

As for the problem of enormous numbers, every channel of transmition is counted as a separate hadeeth. ‘Abdur-Rahmaan Ibn Mahdee (d. 198) said: “I have 13 traditions from Al-Mugheerah transmitting from the Prophet (saw) concenrining “al-mash ‘alaa al-khuffayn.” ” It is quite obvious that Al-Mugheerah is reporting a single action of or habit of the Prophet. It does not matter how many times this action was repeated. It would be reported as a single action. As this single action is reported to ‘Abdur-Rahmaan Ibn Mahdee from 1 channels

The first four centuries of the hijrah were the golden age for the science of transmition and the number of transmitters grew tremendously.

Ibn Khuzaymah (d. 311) gives some 30 isnaads for one hadeeth in one chapter, concerning the single act of ‘Aa’ishah, for cleansing the cloth. Meanwhile it is obvious that there might have been many other channels of transmition which were unknown to him.

Muslim Ibn Hajjaaj (d. 261) cites the names of a number of transmitters,when he argues about certain points, especially when there is a mistake committed by some transmitters. For example, he gives 13 traditions concerning the single incident of Ibn ‘Abbaas and his tahajjud prayer. In the prayer he stood on the left side of the Prophet and then the Prophet pulled him to his right side. Yazeed Ibn Abee Ziyaad related on the authority of Kulaib, that Ibn ‘Abbaas stood on the right side of th Prophet, but he was placed on the left. On this occasion Muslim gives 13 isnaads – making 13 hadeeths – contradicting Yazeed’s statement. Further, he does not give the complete isnaad ad their full growth until his time. He mostly gives details of channels until about 130 AH> Had he given the complete comprehensive isnaad flourishing in his own time, they might have grown to 50 traditions at least.

There have been some traditionists who claim that they had every hadeeth from 100 channels, and many others who have written every hadeeth from 20 or 30 channels. So we may now infer what the real numbers of the traditions were which were described as 600,000.

Another point is that they were not purely traditions of the Prophet (saw), but the sayings of the Companions and the Successors and their legal decisions as well; the word “hadeeth” covers all these subjects and matters in some scholars’ terms…

Now it is clear that when traditionists give enormous numbers for the traditions, they mean channels and sources of their transmission, and so not man real numbers of hadeeth. But when they give small figures, saying: “Al-Zuhree has 1,000 hadeeth, or Al-Qaasim has 200 hadeeth” they most probably man hadeeth as a subject matter not counted according to its isnaad.

[“Studies In Early Hadeeth Literature”, by M. M. AlAzami; Suhail Academy; Lahore, Pakistan; Pp. 302-3]

An Orientalist’s View On The Isnaad System

A contemporary Christian author, Asad Rustum, a former history professor at the American University in Beirut, wrote a book about historical narrations. In his book, he depended on the principles of hadeeth criticism, admitting that they consist of the best methods to authenticate historical reports and narrations. He wrote in chapter 6:

“The achievements of the scholars of hadeeth in this regard, over hundreds of years, are indeed worthy of wonder and respect. Here are some of the exact phrases we relate to you from their books to show you their scholarly precision and to acknowledge their contribution and favor to history.”

He then begins to relate from Imaam Maalik, Imaam Muslim, Al-Ghazaalee, Al-Qaadee ‘Iyaad, and Ibn As-Salaah.

Some Conditions For Accepting Narrations

Scholars lay down rules that explained in detail the criteria for accepting the narrations of a narrator and for rejecting them. The following four groups constitute the most important categories of narrators whose narrations are not accepted:

1) The liars who lied upon the Messenger of Allaah (saw). The scholars agree that narrations of hadeeth are not accepted from one who lied even once about the Prophet (saw). They also agree that it is one of the greatest sins to lie about the Prophet (saw). See this post for more info on whether a liar in hadeeth is a disbeliever or not.

2) The liars. Those who lie in their general talk, even if they never lied about the messenger of Allaah (saw). Scholars agree that if someone is known to have lied even once, then his narrations are not accepted. IMaam Maalike said, “But if one repents for his lies and then becomes known for truthfulness and uprightness, then the majority of scholars hold that both his repentance and narrations are accepted.”

3) The people of innovation and desires. The scholars agree that a narration is not accepted from an innovator who sinks into disbelief because of his innovation. The same ruling applies to the one who deems lying as being lawful, though he does not go into disbelief because of his innovation.

The Ummah Of The Isnaad System

After the Messenger of Allaah (saw) died, the Companions took from one another without doubting in the other person’s honesty.

This sort of trust in society continued until the fitnah came to pass, and the miserable Jew, ‘Abdullaah Ibn Saba, proclaimed his evil claim, one based on extreme Shee’ah ideas, that ‘Alee (ra) had qualities of godhood or of a deity.

In the introduction of Saheeh Muslim, Imaam Muslim related that Ibn Sireen said:

“They would not ask for the chain (of narrators), but when the fitnah occurred, they said, ‘Name us your men.’ They would see who was form the people of the Sunnah and take their hadeeth, and they would see who was form the people of innovation and not take their hadeeth.” [Muqaddimah Saheeh Muslim, 1/13-15]

He also relates that Ibn ‘Abbaas said:

“There was once a time in which when a man would say, ‘Allaah’s Messenger said…’ our eyes would hasten to him and our ears would open wide (to listen) to him. But when the difficulties and disgrace befell the people, we did not take from the people except for that which we knew.” [Muqaddimah Saheeh Muslim, 1/13-15]

The Taabi’oon followed suit and began to demand from narrators the chains of narrations, and they tried to take as much as they could from the Companions

Aboo Al-‘Aaliyah said:

“We used to hear narrations, the source of which were the Companions, and we would not be satisfied until we rode to them and heard from them ourselves.”

Ibn Al-Mubaarak said:

“The chain (of narrators) is part of the Religion. Were it not for the isnaad (the chain), anyone who wished could say whatever he wanted.”

[Taken from “The Sunnah And Its Role In Islamic Legislation” by Shaykh Mustafa As-Sibaa’ee,128-129]

The Difference Between Saying “A Saheeh Hadeeth” And Saying “Its Isnaad Is Saheeh”

The Difference Between Saying “A Saheeh Hadeeth” And Saying “Its Isnaad Is Saheeh”

QUESTION:

What is the difference between a saheeh hadeeth and a hadeeth whose isnaad is saheeh?.

ANSWER:

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly:

The muhaddithoon state that the saheeh hadeeth which is most likely attributable to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is the hadeeth which fulfils all of the five following conditions:

1. Each of its narrators is of good character

2. Each of its narrators has a precise memory

3. The isnaad is uninterrupted from beginning to end

4. The hadeeth is sound and free of any shudhoodh (irregularity) in its isnaad or matn (text)

5. The hadeeth is sound and free of any ‘illah (fault) in its isnaad or text.

This has been discussed in the answer to question no. 79163.

Secondly:

The fourth and fifth conditions are among the most precise of conditions and the most difficult for the critic, because proving them required intense research and precision, bringing together all the isnaads and narrations of the hadeeth, as well as extensive experience in the sciences of hadeeth and specialization in criticism. Hence many of the later muhadditheen chose to err on the side of caution in their verdicts, and they limited their studies to checking the outward appearance of the isnaad to check whether it met the first three conditions, so if a specific isnaad met these three conditions they would say “a saheeh isnaad”, so as to alert the reader to the fact that they were only verifying that it met the first three conditions, and not the fourth and fifth, so that the reader would be aware of what this muhaddith meant.

Al-Haafiz ibn al-Salaah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

When they say “This hadeeth has a saheeh isnaad or a hasan isnaad” instead of “this is a saheeh hadeeth or a hasan hadeeth”, that is because it may be said that this hadeeth has a saheeh isnaad but it is not saheeh per se because it is shaadhdh (odd) or mu’allal (faulty). End quote.

Muqaddimah fi ‘Uloom al-Hadeeth (p. 23)

Ibn Katheer says:

The fact that the isnaad is deemed to be saheeh or hasan does not necessarily mean that the same applies to the text, because it may be shaadhdh (odd) or mu’allal (faulty). end quote.

Ikhtisaar ‘Uloom al-Hadeeth (p. 43).

Book: Hadith – The chain Of Command

Hadith – The chain Of Command

Taught by Sheikh AbdulBary Yahya (Al-Maghrib)

Download it here [.pdf]