A Quiet discussion on the issue of attribution in hadith.

Abdul Latif Saeed

On Tuesday 03 October 2006

A quiet discussion on the issue of attribution in hadith

The isnad (attribution) in the hadith is considered the cornerstone of the science of hadith and through it most Muslims believe in the authenticity of the hadith or not. Or, in other words, is the chain of transmission sufficient evidence that does not accept any doubt in order to say that the Messenger of God, said this hadith or did not say it??

In other words, can you reach the degree of certainty in the attribution of any saying of the Messenger through the chain of transmission??.

* To answer all these questions, allow me, dear reader, to accompany you on this scientific journey, hoping that God Almighty will guide us all to what He loves and is pleased with, and guides us to the right path.

Before entering the subject, we give an illustrative example through the book of Al-Bukhari, and we choose this hadith and apologize to the honorable reader for mentioning such false news about the Prophet and his family, whom God honored in his dear book.

Al-Bukhari says in his book Sahih Al-Bukhari: (Abdullah bin Muhammad told us, Abd al-Samad told me, Shu’bah told me, Abu Bakr bin Hafs told me he said I heard Abu Salamah say: I and Aisha’s brother(?) entered upon Aisha, and her brother asked her about the washing of the Prophet, so she called for a vessel of water’, and she preceeded to wash her self then poured the remaining water over her head and between us and her is only a veil)…

Here Al-Bukhari ended his narration of this hadith which he falsely and slanderously ascribes to the Prophet and his women, the Mothers of the Believers.

In this strange hadith mentioned in Al-Bukhari, it is divided into two parts. The first section is what is known as the chain of transmission, and they are the chain of narrators who transmitted the hadith, and they are: the first is Abdullah bin Muhammad, the second is Abd al-Samad, the third is Shu’bah, the fourth is Abu Bakr bin Hafs, and the fifth is Abu Salamah, and he is the narrator of this hadith. They are a chain of narrators and they are five.

And the second section, which is what is known as the Matn, and it is the text of the hadith, which is: Aisha’s brother and I entered upon Aisha, and her brother asked her about washing the Prophet.

It is noted here that Abu Salama, the narrator of the hadith, avoided mentioning the name of Aisha’s brother, which was an argument for Abu Salamah to enter upon Aisha and watch her while she was bathing, so why this deliberate neglect by Abu Salamah…?

Is this the accuracy and scrutiny in the transmission, which they cracked our heads with.. T

hen why was his name not mentioned..?

Is this method considered scientific?

The answer is clear.

The position of the Noble Qur’an on the issue of chain of transmission:

Attribution has two directions:

The first: It is the narrator’s testimony to hearing this hadith from the Messenger of God or from so-and-so on the authority of so-and-so until it reaches the Messenger of God.

The second: It is the testimony of contemporaries to the narrator on the authority of the narrator himself, and in this way it applies to him (the chain of transmission) what applies to the testimony.

So, the concept of witness according to the previous verses and others is coexistence, even if the one who bears witness is one of the prophets (whom the Qur’an mentioned have knowledge of some unseen), since God Almighty gave some of the prophets knowledge of the unseen and not one of them is the Prophet. God Almighty says in the dear book about the Prophet (Say, I do not say to you, I have the treasures of God, and I do not know the unseen..) Al-An’am 50. Also read Hud 31, Al-A’raf 188 and others

Certificate in transactions:

The Noble Qur’an requires in the testimony that the testimony be written and transcribed and the witnesses should be recorded, even if the amount is small or large.

Is it permissible to accept unwritten testimonies regarding halal and haram across generations, of whom we have not seen a single one or lived with them?

The comparison here is obligatory and necessary if the Qur’an is in the field of preserving the least amount of debts. It necessitates writing with the phrase (and do not be tired of writing small or large…) then this means that it is necessary not to accept unwritten testimonies in the religious matter because of its seriousness…or in other words, whichever is more dangerous to the Society?, That you waste a small amount of money (because of not writing) or that you receive statements attributed to the Messenger of God whose authenticity is questionable and which constitute, as most people think, part of the religion (halal and forbidden)?.

Attribution and Judiciary

Is attribution recognized in any judicial system…?

In other words, is it possible to verify any fact through attribution…?

To answer this question, read with me this very short story. With apologies for the characters contained in it that are similar to the movie The Earth.

[In a simple town in the Egyptian countryside, the village woke up to the screams of the farmer, Muhammad Abu Swailem, announcing the theft of his buffalo, and accusing fingers were pointed at another farmer from the same village, Diab. He was arrested and put in prison and the trial began. The judge called the witnesses for the evidence, and the first witness was called. The judge asked him if you saw the incident. He said no, but I heard from Zaid, that the judge dropped the testimony of the first witness and summoned the second witness. The judge asked him if you saw the incident. He said no, but I heard from Omar, so the judge dropped his testimony and summoned the third witness (Omar) and the judge said to him, “Have you seen the incident?” He said “No.” But I heard from Mahrous. The judge summoned the fourth witness, Mahrous, and found him dead, so the judge dropped all previous testimonies and released the accused, Diab]. it’s is over

This is what happened in a simple worldly affair. All the hearing testimonies were dropped. Is God’s religion easier for us than stealing a buffalo in the Egyptian countryside…? So, how do you judge …?.

In other words, what?

Is it the first to protect and prove the theft of a buffalo in the Egyptian countryside, or statements attributed to the Prophet…?

But the most dangerous of all of this, and the most idiotic and assassinating the mind, with which God Almighty has honored us. It is for such matters to be discussed over long periods of time, as did Al-Bukhari, who discussed serious issues (halal and forbidden), which are 250 years away from him (the passing of the prophet), and issued final rulings that are not subject to appeal, appeal and cassation.

Otherwise, you will be considered outside the religion, God forbid, and you will be prosecuted through this falsehood attributed to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.

From the foregoing, it becomes clear to us that the attribution of a saying to a person who assigns it to another person and that person assigns it to another person through a series of narrators is contrary to the Noble Qur’an, which God has promised to preserve, and it is contrary to the reasoning with which God has honored us and commanded us to use it in the Almighty’s saying (Do they not understand) and not to leave it to rust. And it is against any system Judicial.

In the end, the rejection of false statements attributed to the Prophet through the so-called chain of narrators is a defense of the Prophet (for we do not accept falsehood on him) and a victory for the Noble Qur’an, which is the message that the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, brought to the world. The chapter…. It means that he does not need any other books with him, especially when his authenticity is questionable and contains insults to the Prophet.

And there is a final question, who is more in love with the Prophet….?

Who accepts falsehood and lies because he does not want to collide with the people who wrote this nonsense..?

Or the one who does not accept lying to the Prophet and absolves him of everything that was wrongly attributed to him?

May Allah guide us and guide you to his straight path (the Noble Qur’an).