In Defence of Hadith (4)

Response to comments from "Anonymous" on "In Defence of Hadith (3)"

Anonymous said: "You keep repeating the word 'post man' for the Prophet and attribute the term to those who question the autheticity of the hadith. This is silly and unresponsible. You are the ones who use this term in the beginning."


The word ‘Post man’ is never a word to describe our beloved Messenger and Prophet of Allah. I was referring to your statement:

“the Messenger that his duty is ONLY TO DELIVER THE KORAN.”

Try replacing the word “Messenger” with “Postman” and the word “Koran” with “Letters”, and read :

“the Postman that his duty is ONLY TO DELIVER THE LETTERS.”

What I’m saying is that your statement implies this! Whereas the prophet’s duties are many, and deliver the Quran is one of them! Read the Quran..

Anonymous said:“We have shown you many,many ayats in the Kor'an where Allah diffrenciate the terms of Prophet and Messenger to Muhammad. All scholars of the Kor'an should know that when Allah use the term Prophet to the Messenger of God it is always when he is alive not when he is dead.”

No scholar has mentioned this difference between the term “prophet” and “messenger”. Even IF, for the sake of argument, the scholars say so, all scholars say that hadith is a source of Islamic law.

Anonymous said:“There are ayats in the Kor'an where Allah tells Muhammad to obey the Messenger. Muhammad himself must obey the Messenger means to obey the laws that are revealed to Muhammad the Messenger.”

Please don’t take verses of Quran in exclusion of other verses of the Quran.

Quran says: “Obey Allah”
Quran also says: “Obey the Messenger.”
Quran also says: “Obeying the Messenger is like obeying Allah”
Quran also says: “He does not speak out of his own desire, rather it is revelation revealed (to him)”

What does that sound like? It sounds like the Messenger has messages not detailed in the Quran to convey to the people and instruct them with. So, how did these messages arrive to us?

Anonymous said:“If at any time God communicate with Muhammad in regards with other things which are not related to the Kor'an then that is His Wisdom to do so. But as far as we are concerned we must believe Allah when He says that you must follow only the Kor'an.”

Here is where you fail to realise that prophet Muhammad receives guidance in other than the form of the Quran, HENCE we are obliged to learn from his actions, words and approvals! If you deny that this form of revelation and guidance have reached us intact, we are basically saying there are guidance that have been lost and unpreserved! Quran requires explanation, example and details that have been explained through the prophet’s actions, words and approval. That is why scholars of the past, starting from the companions memorised these actions, words and approval and convey to the next generation, until they were compiled in books.

Anonymous said: “I have no problem with the hadiths which do not contradict the Kor'an but the problem is that thousands of them does so!!!! So how do you go about this?? You keep saying about the 'science of hadiths' like that only people with proper knowledge will understand this. This is so laughable. This is precicely what is wrong the Muslims today. They are so confused that they fail to see the blatant contradictions found in the hadiths. Then you go to say that not all hadiths are authentics and we must know how to 'select' the true ones!!”


Did I not mention the conditions of a hadith to be authentic? Generally, there are FOUR! Condition no. 3 is that “the hadith does not contradict the Quran or other more authentic narrations”! The science of hadith actually has stricter conditions compared to yours! Did you realise that?!

However, the science also details the method to understand the hadiths, especially when seemingly contradictory narrations are concerned. That is why we need to respect the scholars for explaining the Quran and Hadith, especially when Allah orders the laymen to refer to scholars in matters they don’t know! Why don’t you?

You say “laughable” because you read the hadith with the wrong attitude. Try reading the Quran with similar attitude and you will find “laughable” verses too! But in fact, it is only lack of objectiveness on your part.

I give you an example:

Quran says: “And seek help with patience and salat!” [2:45]
Quran says: “Woe be to those who perform salat!” [107:4]

Of course, we can explain this because the 2nd verse is referring to those who are not sincere.

But why don’t you apply the same attitude with hadiths? After all, the authentic hadiths have been meticulously checked for faults in CHAIN OF NARRATION and TEXT!

Anonymous said: “Why don't you just believe Muhammad the Messenger of Allah when he brought the Kor'an to the human race? You keep repeating that we must have hadiths inorder to understand the Kor'an. This understanding or believe is contradictory to the teachings of our Prophet, because he asked us to follow only the Kor'an and nothing else as a source of law. Kor'an is the Words of God revealed through Muhammad the Messenger of God (In na hu kow la rasul karim).”

How do you know the teachings of the Prophet when you only refer to the Quran? Where do you know that the Prophet “asked us to follow only the Koran”. If you accept a hadith, you have to accept the science of hadith, and stick to it, not choose as you wish!

Take the verse: “When you intend to perform salat then wash your face, your hands to the elbows, wipe your heads and (wash) your feet.” [5:6]

Did you know that this verse have been memorised over the centuries in two ways of recitation, hence one recitation means “(wash) your feet” while another recitation means “(wipe) your feet.” So, how to understand this verse with two recitations that seemingly contradict one another? Only through the hadith we know that “wiping” refers to performing wudhu while wearing socks or shoes! This is the teaching of the prophet, which does not contradict the Quran!

Anonymous said: “One of the main reasons why the Muslims Ummah today are so backward is because we have 'deserted the Kor'an'25:30. We are following the law of men instead of the law of God (Kor'an). Not only that they are wrong but they were made more than a thousand years ago by people who were half literate!!”

I agree with you, that Muslim Ummah has deserted the Quran. And this includes those who desert the correct understanding of the Quran, not just the Quran! And Quran tells you:

“He it is Who sent among the unlettered ones a Messenger from among themselves, reciting to them His Verses, purifying them, and teaching them the Book and Al-Hikmah. And verily, they had been before in manifest error” [62:2]

The Messenger (Muhammad) had several mission objectives:
1. Recite the verses of Quran – as you said: “to deliver the Quran”
2. Purify them from polytheism and sins
3. TEACH the BOOK – explain the verses of Quran
4. TEACH the HIKMAH – explain the....

What do you think? Quran? No, because that’s unnecessary repetition, but rather it means the Sunnah, ie. His Way to Allah! And the Sunnah has been conveyed to us in the form of narrations of his actions, words, description and approval! And these narrations are called “Hadith”.

So, deny point no. 4 and you have, in essence, deserted the Quran!

Anonymous said: “When our Prophet left us he did not leave any other book but only the Kor'an. There was no other book like 'an explaination of the Kor'an' or somehthing like that! And he even said that 'should any one write anything about me you must erase it'--hadith sahih. And again you might say that why do I believe this hadith? It is not me who believe or not but it is you that have the problems with your own believe!!”

Did I mention any other book? I never said hadith was another Holy Book revealed to the prophet as explanation to the Quran?! The reason why it was prohibited initially because he didn’t want the companions to get mixed up between his words and the Quran!

Notice, that the hadith did not say: “Why are you writing my words? My words mean nothing!” Rather the prophet just prohibited writing his words to avoid mix up. In fact, the prophet ordered the companions to write his speech at the Farewell Pilgrimage (Hajj) for Abu Shah, and that is permission to write his words! And that speech was done in front of thousands of muslims! This is an example of a narration called “Hadith”.

Anonymous said: “'We have permitted the enemies of every prophet-human and jinn devils-to inspire in each other FANCY WORDS,in order of deceive. Had your Lord willed, they would not have done it. You shall disregard them and their fabrications. This is to let the mind of those who do not believe in the Hereafter listen to such fabrications and accept them, and thus expose their real convictions. Shall I seek other than God as a source of Law (Kor'an), when He has revealed to you this book (Kor'an) fully detailed? Those who received the scripture recognize that it has been revealed from your Lord, truthfully. You shall not harbour any doubt. The word of your Lord is complete, in truth and justice. Nothing shall abrogate His words. He is the Hearer, the Omniscient. If you obey the majority of people on earth, they will divert you from the path of God. They follow only conjecture; they only guess. Your Lord is fully of those who stray off His path, and He is fully aware of those who are guided'.(Kor'an 6:112-117).”

Funny, I would you these verses against you and your false arguments. And fully detailed in Quran itself? Or through the example of Muhammad and his detailed explanations? How to pray? How to pay zakat? How to make Hajj? And the list goes on....

Anonymous said: “'These are God's revelations that we recite to you truthfully. In which Hadiths other than God and His revelations do they believe? Woe to every fabricator, guilty'.(Kor'an 45:6-7).”

This verse and similar verses cannot be used to refer to the “Hadith”. IF yes, then the prophet should say nothing, just be a “postman”.

Please understand this properly:
We do not say hadith is another scripture like the Quran.
We do not say hadith is infallible because the transmissions are through fallible humans from generation to generation.

But, the hadith is the narrations of
1. trustworthy humans
2. with good memory
3. from generation to generation
regarding what the companions heard or saw about the prophet.

Who is your father? Who is your grandfather? Who is your great grandfather? And so on? Do you believe the answers given to you by your parents? You have no choice! You have to trust and believe them.

You may say "These does not matter, since it is not religion."

My reply is: It is not as important as religion, but it has something to do with religion. When your father passed away, don't you inherit from your father? If your father has another wife and a daughter with different mother, and you fall in love with her, marriage is prohibited by religion, and the list goes on.

If you have to trust your parents in this matter with religious significance, trust in trustworthy scholars and narrators is more significant and required! This is why hadith narrations are trusted and considered authentic when the chain of narrators consists of trustworthy scholars and narrators with unbroken chain, and with good memory! After the chains have been verified to be authentic, then the text will be scrutinised for contradictions. It is a proper and consistent method of verification.

Hadith narrations have gone through compilation (like books of Sunan, Musnad, etc.) and filtration (like Sahih Bukhari and Muslim). Humans are required to do the best they can to filter the narrations, hence the science of hadith! Rest assured that the conditions to accept hadith are far more stringent than anything you can imagine. There is no way anyone can learn this science in one sitting, not even in 2-3 years or more, but it requires dedication and hard work.... That’s why scholars who follow the methodology of the companions must be referred to for the correct understanding.

Anonymous said: “Our Prophet was told in the Kor'an that he cannot guides, only Allah does any guidance. I pray that whoever reads this will come into the Grace of Allah and strictly follow the teachings of our beloved Prophet (Kor'an) and thus escape from the clutches of Satan.”

This is an example of taking a verse in exclusion of another. What do you say about this verse:

“And verily, you (O Muhammad SAW) are indeed guiding (mankind) to the Straight Path” [42:52]

Contradiction?

No, but many hadith you “claim” to be blatantly contradictory are similar to this situation.

Lastly, I say again.

Did the companions of the prophet understand that we must only take from the Quran and leave everything else? If yes, then I will follow their understanding since the Quran was revealed in their time and addressed to them, and they were taught by the prophet himself!

Rather, the hadiths originated from their narrations! Hence, they must have thought there is significance in narrating what they heard, seen or know. If these people, whom Allah has confirmed in the Quran to be believers and Allah is pleased with them, started these narrations, surely in these narrations there are great good, in fact, guidance!

May Allah guide us all to the straight path.