WHEN WAS THE HADITH WRITTEN?

by Dr. Kaukab Siddique [Pennsylvania]
Is It True That Hadith Were Not Written in the time of the Prophet, pbuh?
Were Qur’an and Hadith transmitted by same people or different ones?

Question from Sis. N. in Detroit

I am originally from Iran, moving to real Islam, Qur’an and Hadith. I read a good book by Fazlur Rahman (Chicago University) but it confused me on some points. He writes, Hadith was written in third century after the Prophet. New Trend’s web site says follow Qur’an and Hadith. I am confused please explain why Hadith was not written in time of the Prophet ?

ANSWER by Kaukab Siddique:

Unfortunately it seems from his writings that Dr. Fazlur Rahman was significantly influenced by Christian missionaries and Jewish orientalists.

His writings were such that they confused the Muslims of Pakistan. However he had the support of the military government, but eventually was defeated and fled to America where he was immediately given a senior position at Chicago University to teach Islam.

Both the Qur’an and the Hadith were written down in the time of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The Qur’an is the word of Allah revealed to Muhammad (peace be on him). The Hadith is the commentary, explanation, implementation of the Qur’an by Muhammad (pbuh). Both are interlinked and essential to each other. No authentic Islamic scholar has ever tried to say that Hadith is not necessary or was written later.

The people who wrote down the Qur’an, on bits and pieces of materials, were the SAHABA or companions of the Prophet (pbuh). Paper and printing were not available at that time. So, people could not go around with printed and bound copies of the Qur’an. Even the collation and putting together of the Qur’an was done by the SAHABA so that the Qur’an became a BOOK between two covers after the Prophet (pbuh) passed away. This great work was done under the supervision of Abu Bakr, Umar, Osman and Ali (may Allah be pleased with them all) who were the first four rightly guided Caliphs of Islam.
The same SAHABA also wrote and transmitted the Hadith and made sure that nothing was falsely attributed to the Prophet (pbuh).

The QUR’AN was also MEMORIZED by the Sahaba. In fact few of them had it in writing but many of them knew it from memory. The cross checking of memory with writing was carried out to make sure that the Qur’an as revealed to the Prophet, pbuh, was transmitted to future generations.

The HADITH was also memorized by the SAHABA and transmitted to future generations. Any scholar of Hadith had to MEMORIZE the HADITH from the written collections of the Sahaba and then RECITE IT FROM MEMORY to his/her teacher. Thus an accurate record of the Prophet’s, pbuh, life and teachings was enshrined in the scholarship of the Muslim world.

In the era after the SAHABA various kinds of sects arose which tried to disseminate their own versions of the Qur’an. Some of them claimed that Hazrat Ali (r.a.) had received suras of the Qur’an from the Prophet, pbuh, which no one else had. The scholars of the line of Ali (r.a.) and Fatima (r.a.), such as Imam Jafar and Imam Baqir, were able to repudiate these claims because they had the Qur’an both by memory and in writing.

Similarly attempts were made to invent “Hadith.”

This was a very serious effort by Kings and emperors who wanted religion to justify their tyranny and to creatre a “tame Islam.” The problem was aggravated by the fact that various SAHABA had migrated to various cities, and after they passed away, various people could claim that they had heard Hadith from them.

It was in that context that great scholars like Imam Bukhari stepped forward to ENSURE that fabrications did not enter the corpus of Hadith. I think that these scholars were a bit too strict and as a result they sometimes designated as “weak” even those Hadith which were authentic but which would not pass the test of extremely severe scrutiny.

Imam Bukhari and other imams are the ones Dr. Fazlur Rahman was abusing when he claimed that Hadith was written in the third century after the Prophet. Fazlur Rahman really was quite ignorant of Hadith and hence recklessly fell into the trap set for him by Christian missionaries and Jewish orientalists.

WAS HADITH WRITTEN in the TIME OF THE PROPHET (pbuh)?

Yes! the evidence is overwhelming.

Here is one sample from a prominent companion of the Prophet, pbuh, Abdullah ibn Umru ibn al-Aas. It is authenticated by two distinct and separate compilers of Hadith, Abu Dawud in his Sunan (chapter kitabut al-ilm) and Darimi in his Musnad (chapter on Rukhs fi kitabut al-ilm):

“Whatever I heard from the messenger of Allah, peace be on him, I would write it down so as to be able to memorize it. Then some in the Quraish (tribe) said to me: You write down whatever you hear though the messenger of Allah is a human being and speaks both in anger and in joy. On hearing that I stopped writing and then I mentioned this to the messenger of Allah. He pointed with his finger to his mouth and said: Write on! By Him in whose Hand is my being, no word comes out of this mouth but the Truth.”
Abdullah ibn Umru (r.a.) collected the Hadith he had written in the presence of the Prophet (pbuh) in a book titled Al-Sadiqa. Abdullah said: “There are two things I love in life: Al-Sadiqa and al-Wahat.” He explained: “Al-Sadiqa is that manuscript which I heard and wrote from the messenger of Allah and Wahat is that land which (my father) Umru ibn al-Aas donated to the cause of Allah and which I take care of.” [Darimi’s Sunan.]

The compendium Tahzeeb al-Tahzeeb tells us that on the death of Abdullah, r.a, the manuscript of Al-Sadiqa was secured by his grandson Shuaib bin Muhammad and then transmitted to the next generation by his son also named Umru. THE HADITH WRITTEN BY Abdullah, r.a., DIRECTLY FROM THE PROPHET, pbuh, AND AT HIS COMMAND, are to be found in the collections of Hadith which we have under this chain of narration:

“From Umru son of Shuaib from his father from his grandfather.” As Hadith is a very strict discipline, some classical scholars wanted to classify the collection as Mursal because they thought the grandson should have SAT DOWN IN FRONT OF THE GRANDFATHER AND RECITED THE WHOLE COLLECTION TO HIM FROM MEMORY! However, some of the greatest scholars of Hadith, like Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, accept the authenticity of Al-Sadiqa.

What makes Al-Sadiqa’s authenticity irrefutable is that it was also transmitted by OTHER STUDENTS of Abdullah (r.a.) who had nothing to do with his grandson.

So, don’t let anyone tell you that Hadith was not written in the time of the Prophet, pbuh.

FINALLY, spend a couple of months in trying to understand this verse of the Qur’an. It will help you to understand why the Hadith is essential and ALWAYS goes with the Qur’an:

“The Prophet is closer to the believers than their own selves, and his wives are their mothers. [33:6 ]

EVERY WORD OF THE QURAN WAS TRANSMITTED THROUGH HADITH

 

courtesy: fonsvitae

How the Qur’an was Transmitted. Every verse was  connected to Hadith. 
Answering the Fitna of Rejection of Hadith. 

The following is a segment of the Juma Khutba given by Dr. Kaukab Siddique in Baltimore on October 25:

1. The Book called the Qur’an was with Allah and was revealed to Muhammad, pbuh, over a period of 23 years.

2. Each time it was revealed, it was a WAHI or revelation on his heart and soul, NEVER IN WRITING.

3. He would be helped by the Angel to memorize it. Then he would recite it to one of few Companions who could write and the sahabi would write. The Prophet, pbuh, himself could NEITHER READ nor WRITE.

4. When the Prophet, pbuh, would tell a Companion what had been revealed and ask him to write, that was Hadithe Muhammad, pbuh. Thus EVERY VERSE in the Qur’an was transmitted by hadith.

5. In Madina, the Prophet, pbuh, instituted writing as a skill among the converts to Islam. Thus as longer and longer suras were revealed, there were more and more katibs [scribes] to write them down.

6. The Book was with Allah and was gradually revealed VERBALLY, not in writing, to the Prophet, pbuh. This should be clear to all.

6. Thus when the world IQRA is translated as read or recite, it meant that Allah was going to educate the Prophet, pbuh, to be able to recite the Book coming down [nazil] from heaven.

7. When the Qur’an says, “Book”, it is not implying that the whole book had been revealed right away. The whole Book was with Allah.

8. As time went on, the Prophet, pbuh, through Allah’s Guidance told the sahaba [his Companions] which Sura to place where. Thus the first revelation, Alaq or Iqra became sura 96.

9. Again all this arrangement of the Qur’an was through Hadith, the Prophet’s directions to the sahaba,

10. Sometimes, a few words were placed by the Prophet, pbuh, within an entire sura which had already been revealed. Again, this is Hadith in action. The Qur’an thus is UNTHINKABLE without hadith. There is no Islam without Muhammad, pbuh.

The Qur’an uses the term RECITE in various forms, such as YATLU, TATLU, ATLU, YATALA. The role of the Prophet’s, pbuh, hadith, is best defined thus in Sura 2 verse 151:

“Allah has conferred a great favor on the believers, sending among them a messenger from among themselves, who RECITES [YATLU] unto them the Signs of Allah, and purifies them and INSTRUCTS them in the Book and Wisdom.”

The whole process was verbal, not in writing:

“Do not move your tongue concerning the Qur’an to make haste therewith. It is for us to collect it [in your heart], so you may recite it [quranu’hu], and when We have recited it, follow its recital [quranuhu] Nay, more, it is for US to expound it [through your tongue.” [75:16-19]

So, dear Muslims, the Prophet, pbuh, was not carrying a written Book around with him. It was all verbal and became WRITING when the Sahaba, r.a., wrote it down and memorized it.

So, bless the Sahaba, r.a., after you bless the prophet, pbuh, among them the great compiler of the entire revelation, Usman r.a., ibn Affan.

Thus those who say “Qur’an only” or that hadith was produced in the 3rd century are playing into the hands of the Zionists and the Rand Corporation.

EVERY WORD of the Qur’an was transmitted through hadith.

I conclude with this beautiful Hadith:

Fatima Zahra, r.a., narrates: “The Prophet informed me secretly, ‘Jibril used to recite the Qur’an to me and I to him once a year, but this year he has recited the entire Qur’an with me twice. I do not think but that my death is approaching.’ ” [Sahih Bukhari, Fadail al-Qur’an.]

Kaukab Siddique, PhD

Chairperson, Department of Languages and Literature, Interim

QURAN, HADITH: CAN YOU CHOOSE ONE WITHOUT THE OTHER?

WHAT DOES THE QUR’AN MEAN by SAYING that it EXPLAINS ALL THINGS?
A Refutation of Westernized Pakistanis who Attack Hadith 

In 1861 a Christian missionary writer named William Muir wrote a book titled THE LIFE of MAHOMET in which he attacked Hadith. A famous Muslim scholar of the time, Sir Sayyid Ahmed Khan answered Muir in detail. Unfortunately Sir Sayyid was himself a great admirer of British power and was deeply overawed by the majesty of the British Empire. He gradually succumbed to Muir’s attack and started casting doubts on some segments of Hadith. Gradually he narrowed down the efficacy of Hadith to a very few aspects of life.

Through Sir Sayyid influence on westernized Indian Muslims, the attack on Hadith gradually entered the mentally defeated segment of what we today call the Pakistani elites or the Pakistani ruling class.

In 1896 a Jewish scholar named Goldziher launched a massive attack on Hadith in his publication Muhammedanische Studien. It was not translated into English until 1967 but in 1950, its major thesis was taken up and built on by another Jewish scholar Joseph Schacht in his book ORIGINS OF MUHAMMADAN JURISPRUDENCE.

Under the influence of Sir Sayyid, a number of writers under severe inferiority complex to the west emerged. The most important of these was Ghulam Ahmed Pervez who carried out systematic and scurrilous attacks on Hadith. His magazine Tolu-e-Islam, started in 1938, became a rallying point for anti-Hadith writings with a clear pro-government bias.

In the 1960s came Dr. Fazlur Rahman who carried out a more sophisticated attack on Hadith.
All these anti-Hadith efforts were tackled by scholars of various schools of Islamic thought in Pakistan. Abul Ala Maudoodi was the most famous of these but there were others whose rebuttal of the anti-Hadith people was more far reaching than his. [Maudoodi was too polite towards the attackers.]

The anti-Hadith people became irrelevant in Pakistan but they have found some support among Pakistanis in America. One of them has set up shop in Florida and attracted admirers by denouncing Imam Bukhari’s Sahih. A bunch of these characters are busy on the Internet abusing the Hadith under the slogan of “QUR’AN ONLY.” Every now and then I receive their emails.

I am willing to listen to any critique of the Hadith, and even of the Qur’an, if it is written in scholarly language and based on honest investigation. It should not take the shape of abuse, out of context listing of quotations and downright fabrication. The arrogance and deliberate efforts of these people to remove Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) leadership from Islam forced me to give them some of my valuable time.

IF THE QUR’AN CONTAINS EVERYTHING and HADITH IS NOT NEEDED ….

I pointed out that the QUR’AN DOES NOT MENTION RAPE. I asked the anti-Hadith people to give me chapter and verse from the Qur’an. What is rape, what is its punishment and how is this punishment to be implemented? Give chapter and verse. I sent my question to all the Pervaiz followers and other anti-Hadith people. They are unable to give chapter and verse.

So the Qur’an does not mention the punishment for rape. It’s given in Hadith. [My book LIBERATION of WOMEN THRU ISLAM is the only book in English which gives the Hadith on rape.] Qur’an and Hadith have always been together.
So let’s look at the verses of the Qur’an which are misused by the Pervaizi cult and other anti-Hadith people.

SURA 16 VERSE 89

This is one of the verses which the “Qur’an Only” cult [Pervaizis] keep repeating. They quote it as follows:
“We have sent down to thee the Book explaining all things.” [16:89]

Actually the whole verse is as follows:“On the Day we shall raise from all Peoples a witness against them, from amongst themselves: And we shall bring thee [O Muhammad] as a witness against these: And WE have sent down to thee the Book explaining all things, a Guide, a Mercy, and Glad Tidings to Muslims.”

[Note the extra-Qur’anic role of the Prophet, pbuh, as witness against his people. If Muslims are Muhammad’s, pbuh, people, then he, as leader through his teachings, is a witness against them till the Day of Judgement.]

NOW FOCUS ON THE WORDS “explaining all things” [“tibyaanal-li-kulli shay’in” in Arabic.] Does this mean that the Qur’an covers every possible issue and leaves nothing out, with emphasis on ALL? Other verses of the Qur’an indicate that this is an idiom which indicates that fundamental or generic issues of a great variety are covered. Seminal issues are covered. For instance, harshness towards women is forbidden, as in Sura Nisa. But it does not mean that EVERYTHING is in the Qur’an. Let’s understand this terminology from the Qur’an itself. For instance, about the Tablets or Commandments given to Moses, the Qur’an uses just about the same words:

“And we ordained for him in the Tablets in ALL MATTERS, admonition and EXPLANATION of ALL THINGS, (and said): “Take and hold these with firmness, and enjoin thy people to hold fast by the best in the precepts: Soon shall I show you the homes of the wicked.’ ” [7:145]
[The Arabic for the words I have put in capitals is “min kulli shay’in’ and “tafsillal-li-kulli shay.”]

Evidently ALL things could not possibly be written on explained on the Tablets. It is simply idiomatic expression for essentials and fundamentals.

Now focus on the word ALL [kull in Arabic]. Does it mean LITERALLY ALL and EVERYTHING in Arabic? Let’s see what the Qur’an says:

“And thy Lord taught the Bee to build its cells in hills, on trees, and in habitations: Then to eat of ALL [“kull’] of the fruits (of the earth) and follow the ways of thy Lord made smooth… [to the end of the verse]” [16:68-69]

Obviously the ALL here is idiomatic and not to be taken literally. No Bee can possibly eat of ALL the fruits, literally.

“And proclaim the Pilgrimage among men: they will come to thee on foot and on EVERY {“kull} camel lean, through deep and distant highways.” [22:27]

Again the EVERY camel has to be idiomatic. It cannot be taken literally to mean that every possible camel will be ridden by the pilgrims!

In the story of the Queen of Sheba (known as Bilqis), the Hoopoe says:

“I found a woman ruling over them and provided with EVERY THING {“kull sha’yi”}, and she has a magnificent throne.” [27:23]
Evidently Bilqis did not LITERALLY have every thing. It is an idiom to indicate that she has all the fundamental riches of the world.

To conclude this section, the Qur’an includes ALL the fundamental and seminal issues which humanity needs but there are many important things not in it which were taught by the Prophet (pbuh.) [Also, once Qur’an and Hadith are understood they can be used as basis for Islamic understanding, BUT BOTH do not cover many things for which ijtihad, qiyas, and many other forms of reasoning are needed.]

The Hadith of the Prophet (pbuh) explain how Muhammad (pbuh) understood and implemented the verses of the Qur’an. Everything he taught is as much a part of Islam as is anything in the Qur’an.Rape was defined and punished by the Prophet (pbuh) and he also indicated that the woman’s word be accepted and the man be punished after proper investigation. It’s in the Hadith, NOT in the Qur’an.

Excerpt from an article by: by Kaukab Siddique, PhD

PRAY FOR GAZA & SYRIA & OPPOSE THE TYRANTS

Courtesy: Mohammad the social worker and film journalist from GAZA

THE QURAN:

“The way (of blame) is only against those who oppress men and wrongly rebel in the earth without justification; for such there will be a painful torment.” (42:42)

HADITH:

Hisham said: “I bear testimony to the fact that I heard the Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) saying, `Allah will torment those who torment people in the world.”’

Allah, the Exalted, says:

“And let those who oppose the Messenger’s commandment (i.e., his Sunnah legal ways, orders, acts of worship, statements)beware, lest some Fitnah (disbelief, trials, afflictions, earthquakes, killing, overpowered by a tyrant) should befall them or a painful torment be inflicted on them.” (24:63)

MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN IN THE MOSQUE.

Kashmiri Children pray : courtesy:http://photos.denverpost.com/2012/07/24/photos-ramadan-observed-across-the-muslim-world/#11

Hadith transforms our lives.
Men, Women Children are Integral Parts of Masjid Community 

“Unus bin Malik narrates:

Once the Messenger of Allah, pbuh, recited very briefly from the Qur’an in the fajr prayer. He was asked : O messenger of Allah, why such a brief recitation? He replied: I heard a baby crying and I thought that his mother is praying with us and I thought it better to let the mother take care of the child as quickly as possible.” [Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal. Section 3, hadith 257.]

“When I start praying, I want to pray for a long time, but then I hear a child crying and I make the prayer brief so that the mother may not worry too much owing to the crying of the child.” [Prophet Muhammad, pbuh., Sahih al-Bukhari, kitab al-Adhan and Sahih Muslim, kitabus Salat.] 

“The sahaba narrate that once during Zuhr prayers, the messenger of Allah, pbuh, stayed in prostration [sajda] while leading prayers, for so long that we thought something had happened or he had suddenly received revelation [wahy]. . After prayers people asked him why one sajda was so long? Had something happened or revelation had come. He replied that it was nothing but that my grandson sat on my back  and I did not want to get up quickly and ruin the fun he was having.” [Sunan of Nasa’i: 1/134]  

These authentic hadith remind us that our community is meant to be united, well-integrated community. Men, women and children belong together in the masjid, with the rules and discipline of Islam.

The mother is there and the Imam cares for her and for her worries and cares. The little children are there and are treated with love and patience. Very small children don’t know what’s going on and will play horsy by climbing on your back when you go into prostration [sajda].

The holiest mosque with prayers led by the holiest imam does not neglect basic human needs like the crying of a baby.
Just look at the children of our ummah, globally. How they cry for food, for love, for patience, and we keep praying as if it does not concern us. Humanity must be at the center of our vision otherwise our prayers become conventional forms without meaning. 

Of course, as children grow, we must teach them about the rules of prayer and respect for the mosque.

THE SIN OF OMISSION

Allah Subhanawataala says in the Hadith Qudsi, what is the sin of omission……..

On the authority of Abu Sa’id (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said:

Let not any one of you belittle himself. They said: O Messenger of Allah, how can any one of us belittle himself? He said: He finds a matter concerning Allah about which he should say something, and he does not say [it], so Allah (mighty and sublime be He) says to him on the Day of Resurrection: What prevented you from saying something about such-and-such and such-and-such? He say: [It was] out of fear of people. Then He says: Rather it is I whom you should more properly fear.

It was related by Ibn Majah with a sound chain of authorities.

Hadith Qudsi 22

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