WHAT IS WEAK (DAI’F) HADITH?

GUEST ARTICLE: from asqfish.wordpress.com

Asalaam o alaikum Readers,

I am not a Faqih nor pretend to be one, but there are so many disrespectful comments flying around about Daif hadith that I decided to research it. Here is what I found, I am posting the most succinct ones.

For those who like cliff notes here it is:

Daif Hadith is not fabricated hadith

Daif hadith can be used as examples to follow but rulings of halal and haram cannot be derived from it.

The must dos and Dont dos cannot be derived from Weak hadith.(for left brain people:)

Weak hadith are good notations about various aspects of life and can be used to inspire oneself. (for right brain people:)

Allah knows best!

WHAT IS A WEAK HADITH?

Da`if

A hadith which fails to reach the status of Hasan is Da`if. Usually, the weakness is one of discontinuity in the isnad, in which case the hadith could be Mursal, Mu`allaq, Mudallas, Munqati` or Mu`dal, according to the precise nature of the discontinuity, or one of a reporter having a disparaged character, such as due to his telling lies, excessive mistakes, opposition to the narration of more reliable sources, involvement in innovation, or ambiguity surrounding his person.

The smaller the number and importance of defects, the less severe the weakness. The more the defects in number and severity, the closer the hadith will be to being Maudu` (fabricated).76

Some ahadith, according to the variation in the nature of the weakness associated with its reporters, rank at the bottom of the Hasan grade or at the top of the Da`if grade. Reporters such as `Abdullah b. Lahi’ah (a famous judge from Egypt), `Abd al-Rahman b. Zaid b. Aslam, Abu Bakr b. Abi Maryam al-Himsi, Faraj b. Fadalah, and Rishdin b. Sa’d attract such types of varying ranks as they are neither extremely good preservers nor totally abandoned by the traditionists.77

http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Hadith/Ulum/asb7.html

A WEAK HADITH IS NOT FABRICATED.

Definition of Weak Hadith:

A weak hadith is a hadith that fails to meet all of the conditions for an acceptable hadith. (the five conditions for a hadith to be acceptable). If it does not meet all of the conditions then it is a rejected hadith. If it fails to meet even one of the conditions of the acceptable hadith then it is a weak hadith.

Conditions for authenticity of hadith

1. Chain is unbroken
2. Every narrator is adl (person of integrity)
3. Every narrator is dhabit (academic soundness, proficient/accurate) ***
4. No shudhoodh (cannot contradict stronger sources for both the chain and the text)
5. No 3illah (Cannot contain any hidden damaging defects; refers to both the chain and the text)

http://www.smahate.com/islamic-classes/2011-winter/uloom-al-hadith-winter-2011

Daeef (Weak) is a type of Hadith that has a narrator who either doesn’t have a strong memory or isn’t virtuous.

Weak (Daeef) Hadith is only reliable in excellence, not in rulings (permissibility or prohibition will not be proven for it. Yes, good deeds or the prominence of an individual can be).

The result of this is that a weak Hadith is not a lie, false or fabricated (contrary to the propaganda of Ghair-Muqallids). The Muhadditheen have kept its rank less than Sahih and Hasan merely for caution.

If a weak Hadith becomes a Hasan Hadith for some reason, it also becomes completely credible, with both excellence and rulings able to be proven from it.

http://sunniforum.net/showthread.php?p=4558

Dhaeef (ضعيف)

Literal Meaning: Weak.

Technical Meaning: That Hadith which does not fulfill the criteria of Hasan. In this Hadith there is some defect either in the chain of transmission or in proper understanding of the transmitter, or its contents are not in perfect agreement with Islamic beliefs and practices.

It must be in mind that while quoting Dhaeef Hadith one must not say, “Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said “but one must take precautions and may say that it is quoted from him etc”.

Status: Whether to act upon Dhaeef Hadith or not, it is controversial. There is usually consensus that Dhaeef Hadith cannot be used in Masail but can be used in Fadhail, Mustahab or Makrooh only when it fulfills three preconditions.

1. Its defect (of being Dhaaef) is not of extreme grade.
   
2. The Hadith comes under some well known principle of Shari’ah.
   
3. Acting upon it should not be thought obligatory.
   

As per Hanafi school of thought, Dhaeef Hadith is preferred over Qiyas (analogical deduction).

As already stated that if Dhaeef Hadith gets support from other sources, then it gets elevated to the status of Hasan Ligairihi.

When to quote Dhaeef Hadith

It is permissible to quote Dha’eef Hadith if:

1. It is not related to Islamic beliefs.
2. It is not related to Halal and Haram.
3. It is related to things like motivation or admonition.(Targeeb or Tarheeb)

http://publications.islamkashmir.org/classification-of-hadith

INSPIRATION FOR WOMEN: ASMA BINT ABU BAKR (RA)

Authentic Islam as seen by a woman: Asma, r.a., the daughter of Abu Bakr, r,a.

 “And their Lord has accepted of them, and answered them: ‘Never will I allow to be lost the work of any of you, be ye male or female: You are one body …” [The Qur’an 3:195]

• Islam is a way of life for all people. It is not restricted to some one category. It is for young and old, Arab and non-Arab, men and women.
• Asma, r.a., the daughter of Abu Bakr, r.a., encompasses in her life extremely important aspects of Islam as seen by a woman.
• A THOUGHTFUL AND SPIRITUAL CHILD
• When she was a child, she embraced Islam, right in the beginning of the Prophet’s mission [pbuh]. So it’s not correct to count only Khadija, Zayd, Ali and Abu Bakr [Allah be pleased with them] as the first Muslims. Islam does not disregard serious minded children. Ali, r.a., was only 12 when he accepted Islam. Asma, r.a., was even younger, perhaps. 7 or 8. Very intelligent and involved. So, let’s bring up our children to be serious.
• In his efforts to leave Makka for Madinah, the Prophet, pbuh, with Abu Bakr, r.a., Muhammad, pbuh, took refuge in a cave known as Thaur, going south of Makka. Thus the kuffar were deceived because they thought he would go north to get to Madinah. Deceive the oppressors.
• MOUNTAIN CLIMBING TO AID THE PROPHET PBUH IN HIJRAH
• There was no food or water for the two most blessed people in Islam hiding in the cave. Asma, r.a., brought them the food and water. She had to walk several miles in the desert, then climb a mountain, then slide down over rocks into the cave. To save the water from spilling and the food from falling into the sand, she tore her waistband into two. With one piece she tied up the mouth of the water skin, and with the other she tied up the food. Hence her nickname zaat-un-nataqain [the owner of the two waist bands].
• PHYSICALLY FIT
• She had to be extremely strong, able to walk for miles in the hot sand and climb into the mountain cave. Also, she was fearless knowing that the oppressors had set a bounty of a 100 camels on Muhammad, pbuh [which would be about $100 million today]. Her life was in danger for saving him.
• Asma, r.a., did the hijrah to Madina and took the oath of allegiance [ baiyah] to Muhammad, pbuh.
• She was married to Zubair, r.a.,and gave birth to eight children, 5 boys and 3 girls. Zubair, r.a., was one of the great mujahid sahaba of the Prophet, pbuh.
• AN INSPIRATION TO ALL WORKING WOMEN (MOTHERS)
• Even married, she was a working woman and went out several miles each day to collect dates to bring them back for her husband to take to the market. Thus Islam endorses working women.
• HEYA AND MODESTY WHILE WORKING
• Once she was walking home with a big pile of goods on her head when the Prophet, pbuh, saw her. He made his camel sit down and invited her to sit behind him. There was a group of men with him, so out of HAYA [modesty and shyness], she refused and walked back home alone. Later, her husband was sad that she carried such a burden. She said, she knew Zubair, r.a., was a man of honor and would not have liked her to be with a crowd of men. He replied that she should have accepted the ride and that it is a sin to refuse the Prophet’s invitation.
• Asma’s son Abdullah, was the first child born in the Islamic community after the hijrah. The Prophet, pbuh, loved the baby so much that he kissed him and put his saliva in the baby’s mouth.
• RAISING A GOOD SON:
• Asma, r.a., prepared Abdullah, r.a., to be a great scholar and a great mujahid.
• The khilafate Rashida [the rightly guided caliphate] ended and was followed by Kingship. The tragedy of Kerbala occurred when the grandson of the Prophet, pbuh, was martyred by the tribal army of the king.
• Most of our scholars do not notice that Asma’s son, Abdullah, fought the same dynasty as Hussain, r.a., did and defeated it. He set up an Islamic caliphate and scholars consider it the continuation of the righrly guided caliphate. He was extremely pious and brave and was well guided by the sublime Asma,r.a,
• As more and more wealth came into the Muslim domain, more and more corruption arose. Thus Abdullah, r.a., who was not corrupt lost followers while the tyrant in Syria became stronger.
• Finally a stage came when Abdullah, r.a., was left alone. He was faced with the same choice as Hussain, r.a.,: Accept the king’s corrupt power or go down fighting for Islam. Abdullah, r.a., chose to go down fighting.
• He went to say farewell to his mother, Asma, r.a., who was now 80 plus years old. When she embraced him, she felt the armor under his shirt. She told him: There is no need for this. You are not fighting for the world. You are fighting for shahadat. He took off the armor and fought for a very long time till he was brought down by missiles [arrows] fired by the Ummayeds.
• He was martyred in the Ka’aba, a much holier place than Kerbala. Isn’t it a shame that our sectarians cry over Hussain, r.a., but ignore Abdullah, r.a., when both were fighting the same enemy?
• After Abdullah, r.a., was killed, the king ordered his men to bring Asma, r.a., to his presence even if she had to be dragged by her hair. She refused to go and quoted a hadith that evil would arise from the tribe of the king. The historians do not divulge what happened to her after that. The hadith she quoted is in Sahih Muslim. She passed way soon after her son, in the year 73 after hijrah.
• Dear brothers, tell your mothers, daughters, wives, sisters, aunts, grandmothers the story of Asma.RA
• [Hadith narratives about Asma, r.a., are scattered in the books of authentic Hadith but they were collected by a great scholar, Muhammad ibn Sa’ad, in his monumental work known as the Tabaqat in the year 230 after the hijrah.]

Excerpt from a Jumma Khutbah given by  Dr. Kaukab Siddique in Masjid Jamaat a-Muslimeen in Baltimore. 

Some points are mentioned here:

SUPPLICATION FOR VICTORY : YA ELAHI……

a soldier supplicates in Chechnya: Courtesy: http://02varvara.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/

From Riyadh us Saliheen Chapter on “SABR/FORTITUDE”

Abdullah bin Abu Aufa (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) at one time when he confronted the enemy, and was waiting for the sun to set, stood up and said,

“O people! Do not long for encountering the enemy and supplicate to Allah to grant you security. But when you face the enemy, show patience (fortitude)  and steadfastness; and keep it in mind that Jannah lies under the shade of the swords”

DUA:  Then he invoked Allah, saying,

“O Allah, Revealer of the Book, Disperser of the clouds, Defeater of the Confederates, put our enemy to rout and help us in over-powering them”.

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

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.

Rebuttal of the Attacks on Prophet Muhammad, pbuh.

Courtesy: http://www.utsandiego.com/photos/2012/sep/14/685017/

After 400 years of slavery, Africa is rising up with the banners of Islam.

Excerpt from the Juma’ khutba at Masjid Jamaat al-Muslimeen in Baltimore.

 BACKGROUND:

The organized concerted effort by the secular intelligentsia, artists, moviemakers and writers who have made it their lifetime goal to chip at Islam from all aspects in a systematic manner.

The most recent one being a lighted match on an oil field by insulting the Prophet pbuh, and the edicts of the Quran regarding adoption and other injunctions for humankind in order to lead a just and righteous life.

The major ideological groups that have come together to fling mud on the pure persona of Prophet Muhammad pbuh and bring the Muslims of the world and the western Governments to butt heads are primarily Zionists (who though are called Jews are secular & imperialistic in their ideology): http://www.nkusa.org/aboutus/zionism/index.cfm) Now perhaps the secularized (under the Zionist influence) Coptic (Egyptian) Christians have joined them while seeking protection in the United States for their blatant inflammatory incitation against the heart of Islam.

Here are the main points of the Khutbah:

1. The enemies of Islam have made a serious mistake of attacking the best of men, and the beloved of Allah Subhanawataala: Muhammad, pbuh, who is dearer to Muslims than their own lives.

Allah Subhanawataala says in the Quran:

The Prophet is closer to the Believers than their own selves, and his wives are their mothers……….The Quran Surah Al Ahzaab 33:6 (translation by Yusuf Ali)

2.  The Zionist Jews began the systematic onslaught by attacking Hadith because they know US Muslims are deficient in the study of Hadith. However they did not realize that Muslim scholars have studied EACH hadith and categorized its strength and weakness.  There is nothing that these enemies of Islam can tell us about Hadith.

3. They then started attacking the beloved wife of the Prophet, pbuh, Aisha, r.a., not realizing that Aisha, r.a., is the greatest Muslim woman, scholar, teacher, orator, poet, leader; pious, virtuous and chaste as witnessed by Allah Almighty himself.

4. They then started attacking Abu Huraira RA to weaken the several thousand hadiths that Muslims rely on for ebadah and daily life.

5. Some “Muslim” agents of the government are trying to fool the Muslim public and say that Muhammad, pbuh, forgave his enemies so we should too! I would say to these agents: If you are personally attacked, forgive the attacker. That is not the issue.

6. By attacking Muhammad, pbuh, the Zionists and Islam haters are attacking the ENTIRE ISLAMIC WAY of LIFE. The way we live, all our fasting and festivals, our marriages, our food, our child upbringing, our habits of cleanliness, EVERYTHING is connected to the example of the Prophet, pbuh.

7. Thus an attack on the Prophet, pbuh, is cultural GENOCIDE, an attempt to destroy Islam and the identity of Muslims and to make them ashamed to call themselves as such.  It’s like telling a child: Your mother is a whore and you are not legitimate!

8.  This is coming from the Zionists, the pariahs of the world. Look at their morality:

i)  They support fornication, adultery and the battering of women. More than 4,000,000 women are battered in the USA the moral and political guidelines of which are rapidly transferring to the control of Zionists.

ii) The movies the Zionists produce are chock full of images of violence against women.

iii)Now they have come out openly in support of homosexuality. Man on man, woman on woman.  Can scum cover the purity of the Prophet (pbuh)? They want to attack the Prophet, pbuh, and teach us morality?

iv)  Allah categorizes us as Muslim, Mumin, Muhsin, Mujahid, and Shaheed. These Zionists categorize Muslims as fundamentalists [those who pray and fast], extremists [those who protest peacefully against occupation of Muslim lands] and terrorists [those who resist occupation of their homeland with weapons].

12. Let us examine how “brave” are these people are who want to criticize our beloved, brave, just and gentle Prophet PBUH under the guise of the first amendment:

13. They sit in Tampa, Florida and fire missiles into Afghan & African villages. Their drones slaughter women children and old men under the guise of  “suspected militants.” Is this courage and justice?

14.They bomb villagers in impoverished Muslim countries who have no anti-aircraft guns and no food and then boast of their heroism and refer to their victims as “terrorists.”

15.They occupy Muslim lands and claim that Muslims are so violent that they don’t want their lands occupied!

16.Most of them are the progeny of those who carried on slavery for 400 years, raped every black woman and exterminated entire tribes of Native Americans. With this historical background they want to set the moral standards for Muslims and have the gumption to criticize the Prophet, pbuh?

17. For years under the guise of business corporations they have misled the innocent unsuspecting people of Africa and looted their wealth and polluted their soil and water.

Now Africa is rising up with the banners of Islam. Libya, Egypt, Somalia, Sudan, Nigeria… our African brothers and sisters are becoming game changers……..

End Khutbah

Allah Subhanawataala in the Quran describes the fate of those who harm or insult the Prophet pbuh:

سورة المسد

بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

تَبَّتْ يَدَا أَبِي لَهَبٍ وَتَبَّ ﴿١﴾ مَا أَغْنَىٰ عَنْهُ مَالُهُ وَمَا كَسَبَ ﴿٢﴾ سَيَصْلَىٰ نَارًا ذَاتَ لَهَبٍ ﴿٣﴾ وَامْرَأَتُهُ حَمَّالَةَ الْحَطَبِ ﴿٤﴾ فِي جِيدِهَا حَبْلٌ مِّن مَّسَدٍ ﴿٥﴾

 

[111:1] Yusuf Ali

Perish the hands of the Father of Flame! Perish he!

[111:2] Yusuf Ali

No profit to him from all his wealth, and all his gains!

[111:3] Yusuf Ali

Burnt soon will he be in a Fire of Blazing Flame!

[111:4] Yusuf Ali

His wife shall carry the (crackling) wood – As fuel!-

[111:5] Yusuf Ali

A twisted rope of palm-leaf fiber round her (own) neck!

Allah knows best!

SAHABIAT ATTENDED JUMMA AND MEMORIZED THE QURAN…….

***

Evidence that women attended jumma salah:

 The daughter of Haritha b. Nu’man said: I did not memorise (Surah) Qaf but from the mouth of the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) as he used to deliver the. sermon along with it on every friday.

She also added: Our oven and that of the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) was one.

(Book #004, Hadith #1893)

 

*** Photo courtesy of: google search on islam and women