Hadith: Obligation to verify
authenticity
Akram Y Safadi
27th April 1995
Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was
Salaam 'ala Rasulillah
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Notes on the Hadith and Sunnah: Obligation to verify
authenticity [1]
Allah Most High says in the Qur'an (surat al-a`raf
7:33): {Say: My Lord has only forbidden indecencies, the inward and the outward,
and sin, and wrongful opression, and that you associate with Allah that for
which He sent down never authority, and that you say concerning Allah that which
you know not.}
Allah Most High says in the Qur'an (surat al-isra'
17:36): {And follow not that whereof you have no knowledge. Surely, the hearing,
the sight, the heart--all of those shall be questioned of.}
Allah Most High says in the Qur'an (surat al-talaq
65:2): {Then, when they have reached their term, retain them in kindness or part
from them in kindness, and call to witness two men of uprightness [2] among
yourselves, and keep your testominy upright for Allah. . .}
Allah Most High says in the Qur'an (surat al-hujurat
49:6): {O you who believe! If an unrighteous [3] bring you tidings, verify it,
lest you afflict a people in ignorance, and then be sorry for what you did.}
Muslim reported in his introduction to al-Sahih
(1/39): . . . A well-known athar (hadith) from the Messenger of Allah (Allah
bless him and his House and give them peace) states, "If anyone ascribes to
me a hadith seeing [4] (or: which is seen [5]) that it is untrue, he is thereby
one of the liars." [6] Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah told us> Waki` told
us> from Shu`bah> from al-Hakam> from `Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Laylah>
from Samurah ibn Jundab>; AND, Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah told us also> Waki`
told us> from Shu`bah and Sufyan> from Habib> from Maymun ibn Abi
Shabib> from al-Mughirah ibn Shu`bah>; They both (Samurah and al-Mughirah)
said: the Messanger of Allah (Allah bless him and his House and give them peace)
said that.
Muslim reported in his introduction to al-Sahih
(#1): Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah told us> Ghundar told us> from Shu`bah>;
AND, Muhammad ibn al-Muthanna and Ibn Bashshar both told us, they said>
Muhammad ibn Ja`far told us> Shu`bah told us>; from Mansur> from Rib`i
ibn Hirash> that he heard `Ali (Allah be pleased with him) delivering a
khutbah, he said> the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and his House and
give them peace) said, "Do not lie about me, for he who lies about me will
enter hell-fire." [7]
Muslim reported in his introduction to al-Sahih
(#5): `Ubayd Allah ibn Mu`adh al-`Anbari told us> my father told us>; AND,
Muhammad ibn al-Muthanna told us> `Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi told us>; they
both said> Shu`bah told us> from khubayab ibn `Abd al-Rahman> from Hafs
ibn `Asim> from Abu Hurayrah, he said> the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless
him and his House and give them peace) said, "It is enough falsehood for a
person to transmit everything he hears."
al-Shafi`i reported in al-Risalah (394#1090): `Abd
al-`Aziz [told us]> from Muhammad ibn `Ajlan> from `Abd al-Wahhab ibn
Bukht> from `Abd al-Wahid al-Nasri> from Wathilah ibn al-Asqa`> from
the Prophet (Allah bless him and his House and give them peace), who said,
"Surely, the greatest of lies is that who ascribes to me that which I did
not say, and who claims to have dreamt what he did not dream, and who claims
that he is the son of someone other than his own father." [8]
al-Shafi`i reported in al-Risalah (396/#1092): `Abd
al-`Aziz [told us] from Muhammad ibn `Amr from Abu Salamah from Abu Hurayarah
that the Messanger of Allah (Allah bless him and his House and give them peace)
said, "Let him who ascribes to me what I did not say come to his abode in
hell-fire." [9]
al-Shafi`i reported in al-Risalah (397/#1094):
Sufyan [told us] from Muhammad ibn `Amr from Abu Salamah from Abu Hurayrah that
the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and his House and give them peace) said,
"You may report about the Children of Israel and there is no blame [10].
Report about me, and do not lie about me."
Then, al-Shafi`i commented, This is the most
emphatic hadith ever transmitted from the Messanger of Allah on this matter. We
have relied on it as well as on other hadith-s in not accepting any hadith
except from a trustworthy transmitter and we know the truthfulness of those who
transmitted it from first to last.
If someone would ask: What evidence is there in
this hadith for what you have stated?
It would be said: Knowledge has made it certain
that the Prophet would never, in any circumstances, order anyone to lie about
the Children of Israel nor about anyone else. So when he permitted the reporting
from the Children of Israel, it was not the acceptance of lying about the
Children of Israel that he permitted, but he permitted only the acceptance of
that from a person who reported it, whose truthfulness or untruthfulness was not
known. Nor did he permit it from a person whose untruthfulness was known, for it
is transmitted from him that: "If anyone relates a report [11] seeing it
[12] (or: he is shown [13]) to be untrue, he is thereby one of the liars."
And whoever relates from a liar is not guiltless of lying bacuse he sees the
liar lying in his report. For finding the truth or falsity of most of the Hadith,
there is no evidence except truthfulness or untruthfulness of the reporter.
Except in a few special cases, where truth or falsity would be found if the
transmitter reports what cannot possibly be the case, or what is contradicted by
reports that is better established and is more indicative of the truth. Since
the Messenger of Allah distinguished between reporting from him and reporting
from the Children of Israel by saying: " . . . Report from me, but do not
lie about me."; knowledge makes it certain, Allah willing, that the lying
which he prohibited them from is the hidden lying. That is to report from one
whose truthfulness is unknown, because lying is prohibited in all circumstances.
Then, there is no lying greater than lying about the Messenger of Allah, Allah
bless him.
Footnotes
1 By Akram Safadi; e-mail a-safadi@nwu.edu
2 Arabic: `adl
3 Arabic: fasiq
4 Arabic: yara
5 Arabic: yura
6 This is an authentic hadith. Also reported by Ibn Majah in al-Sunan (#31-33);
7 This is an authentic hadith. Also, reported by Ahmad in al-Musnad (#629, 630,
1000, 1001, 1292); al-Bukhari in al-Sahih (Fath al-Bari, 1/199/#106);
8 This is an authentic hadith. Also, reported by Ahmad in al-Musnad (3/491,
4/106, 4/107); al-Bukhari in al-Sahih (Fath al-Bari, 6/540/#3509);
9 This is an authentic hadith. Also, reported by Ahmad in al-Musnad (2/501); Ibn
Majah in al-Sunan (#29);
10 Arabic: wa la haraj
11 hadith
12 Arabic: yarahu
13 Arabic: yurahu
