QUESTIONS ABOUT HADITH SCIENCES

   Questions and Answers on the Most Important Issues of Hadith and Hadith Sciences

    Question-8: Do the hadiths in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim represent knowledge?

   Answer-8: According to most of the scholars of ijtih, the hadiths that are not mutawatir in Bukhari and Muslim express supposition because they are ahad news. As a general rule of procedure, ahad news express supposition. There is no difference in this regard between Bukhari, Muslim and other hadith books.

   Question-9: Does the rejection of the narrator (rejection of the narrator or his narration due to flaws) have absolute priority over modification (considering it reliable)?

   Answer-9: If the objection and its reasons are clearly stated, it shall precede the amendment. If not, the objection shall not be accepted.

   Question-10: Is the narration of a heretic (mubtadi') valid?

  Answer-10: The scholars of hadith, jurists and scholars of the Usul have said: The narration of an innovator who is declared a takfir because of his bid'ah is unanimously not accepted. There is disagreement about the narration of the one who is not declared a takfir. Some state that the narration of such an innovator is generally unacceptable due to his sinfulness and that interpretation will not benefit him. Others consider his narrations valid as long as he is not someone who considers it permissible to speak out in support of his own school of thought - whether he is a propagandist of his bid'ah or not. Some have said: If he is not a propagandist who calls for his own bid'ah, it is accepted, otherwise it is not. This view is the view of the majority of scholars and is the most consistent/balanced and correct view.

  Question-11: What is the difference between news and testimony?

 Answer-11: While news and witnessing are similar in some aspects, they are also different in others. Their common aspects are: Muslim, having the age of reason, justice, integrity, being able to memorize the news he narrates and the things he witnesses and to be able to convey them to others. Their different aspects are: Freedom, being a man, number, imputation (accusation of lying in the narration) and accepting the second in the place where the original is. For example, the news of a slave, a woman, a single person and the narration of a student (second) in the presence of the teacher (original) are acceptable. However, the testimony of those other than women is not accepted in these. The testimony of women in certain places is considered valid – like other witnesses.

  Question-12: What should a narrator of the hadith or a reader of the hadith say if they have doubts about the wording of the hadith or want to narrate it in terms of meaning?

 Answer-12: The scholars have said: “If the narrator or the reader of the hadith has doubts about the wording of the hadith, he should say ‘ev kama qaal: or something like this’ after the hadith.” The scholars have also stated: “It is recommended for the person who narrates the hadith in terms of meaning to use the expressions ‘ev kama qaal, nahvu haza: or something like this, like this’ after narrating the hadith, just like the companions and the generations after them did. But Allah knows best.”

  Question-13: What is a lie? Is it necessary for a news item to be deliberately false?

 Answer-13: According to scholars, lying is reporting something in a different way than it is. And there is no need for intent. However, intent is a condition for the act to be considered a sin. Still, Allah Almighty knows the truth.

Question-14: Is it permissible to narrate from every person? What is the ruling on jarh?

Answer:14: It is permissible to narrate only from reliable (sika) narrators. It is permissible, even obligatory, to criticize narrators for the faults they have and the mistakes they have made. Moreover, such criticism is not backbiting, which is forbidden, but on the contrary, it is considered a defense of the supreme sharia.

Question-15: Do the rewards of charity, prayer, fasting and reading the Quran reach the dead?

Answer:15: According to the common view of scholars, the reward of charity reaches the dead and the dead benefit from it. This is the correct view. The view of some theologians, “no reward reaches the dead,” given by the Shafi’i jurist Abu’l-Hasan al-Mawardi al-Basri in his work called al-Hawi, is completely unfounded and clearly contrary to the Book, the Sunnah and the consensus of the Ummah, and is an erroneous view. For this reason, it is not even worth dwelling on. Regarding prayer and fasting, the view of the Shafi’i school of thought and the majority of scholars is that the reward does not reach the dead. However, if the deceased has an obligatory fast and his guardian or someone who has been given permission by the guardian wants to observe a missed fast instead of the deceased, then Imam Shafi’i has two different views. The most famous of these is that such a thing is not permissible. However, the view accepted as correct by the leading scholars of the late Shafi’i school of thought is that such a fast is possible. As for the issue of reading the Quran, the well-known view of the Shafi'i school of thought is that the reward of reading the Quran will not reach the dead. However, some scholars of this school of thought have expressed the opinion that it can.

     Some groups of scholars have stated that the reward of all acts of worship such as prayer, fasting, and reading the Quran can reach the dead. In the section titled “Babu man mata wa aleyhi dayn: Chapter on the person who died with a debt that he could not pay” of Sahih al-Bukhari, there is a narration that Ibn ‘Omar ordered the daughter of a woman who died with debts to make up for her mother’s prayers. The author of al-Hawi narrates that Ata ibn Rabah and Ishaq ibn Rahuyah stated that “it is not permissible to pray on behalf of the dead.” Imam Abu Muhammad al-Baghavi, one of the scholars of our school of thought (Shafi’i), says in his work al-Tahzib: “A mud of food can be given to the dead for each prayer that he missed.” In fact, all these views are weak. Because their only evidence is to compare it with other deeds whose reward is confirmed by consensus to reach the dead, such as prayer, alms and pilgrimage.

   However, the views of Imam Shafi'i and those who think like him are based on the verse, "A person has only what he himself has worked for" and the following hadith of the Prophet: "When a person dies, nothing is recorded in his book of deeds except three things: Sadaqah Jariyah (any kind of charity), or knowledge that people can benefit from, or a child who will pray for him." Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, on the other hand, states that if the Qur'an is read without expecting anything in return and its reward is given to the soul of the deceased, the reward of this will reach the deceased just as the reward of fasting and pilgrimage reaches the deceased.

Question-16: Is there a requirement for the number of people who refute or amend a narrator?

Answer:16: Scholars are in disagreement on this issue. The correct view is that the number condition should not be sought; even with the word of one person, the narrator can be considered unfair or just. Because it is considered as news, and one person is enough for the truth of the news.

Question-17: Is it necessary to explain the reason for the surgery?

Answer:17: Scholars have also disagreed on this issue. Imam Shafi'i and many other scholars have made it a condition that the reason be explained. Because the person who is criticized may be considered to be condemned due to some hidden reasons that do not require condemnation or due to issues on which scholars disagree. Qadi Abu Bakr al-Baqillani, on the other hand, argues that this is not a condition. Other scholars are of the opinion that it is a condition for others, but not for those who know the reasons very well. Those who make it a condition for the explanation of the reason to be condemned say the following: The benefit of considering the person who is condemned absolutely without giving a reason to be condemned is that the narrator cannot be cited as evidence until the reasons for the said condemnation are explained.

Question-18: If a revision and an amendment conflict, which one takes precedence?

Answer:18: If there is a conflict between criticism and criticism, the criticism is given priority according to the preference of the majority of scholars and scholars. At this point, it does not matter whether the number of those who consider the narrator fair (muaddil) is small or large. Although there are those who say, “if the number of those who consider the narrator fair is large, then the criticism is given priority,” the correct view is the first one. Because the critic (the one who criticizes the narrator) is aware of a hidden flaw that the muaddil is not aware of.

Question-19: Can a hadith from a weak narrator be written?

Answer-19: A hadith of a weak narrator, as in the case of mutabaat, can only be written to strengthen or support other hadiths (as a reference or witness) and cannot be evidence on its own. From weak narrators, sometimes hadiths that are unrelated to halal, haram and other religious rules, such as hadiths of targhib and tarhib, narrations on the virtues of deeds, stories, asceticism and good manners, have been narrated. According to the scholars of hadith, it is permissible to be flexible in the hadiths on these and similar subjects; there is no harm in narrating these hadiths -except for the fabricated ones- and acting upon them. Because their foundations are principles that have been clearly established in the sharia and are known by the experts.

    In any case, the Imams did not use the news from weak narrators as evidence for religious rulings on their own. None of the hadith imams or other scholars of makkah did such a thing. At this point, it is not right, and even very ugly, for many jurists to do so and rely on weak narrations. Because if a person does this knowing that the hadith is weak, it is not permissible to act on such a hadith in terms of religious rulings. However, if he does not know that the hadith in question is weak, he should not immediately try to use it as evidence without thoroughly investigating and examining it. If he knows this examination and research, he should do it himself, and if he does not know, he should learn by asking someone from the scholars.

Question-20: What do mutawatir news and news-i vahid mean? Is news-i vahid considered evidence? Does it express knowledge?

Answer:20  Scholars have divided the news into two groups: mutawatir and ahad. Mutawatir news: It is the news narrated by a group of people who are of the same quality and number as themselves, who cannot agree on a lie by reason. This news should be something that the narrators have seen or heard, and should not be based on conjecture. It should also express knowledge. According to the majority of scholars, there is no specific number of people in the group mentioned, and it is not required that they be Muslim or just. There are other weak opinions on this issue, which are explained in detail in the usul books.

    The news of the mutawatir hadith is the news that does not meet the conditions of the mutawatir hadith. At this point, there is no difference whether the narrator of the news is one or more than one person. There is a difference of opinion regarding its ruling: The Companions, Tabiun and the majority of the Muhaddis, Faqihs and Usulists after them stated that the news of a single reliable person (wahid) is one of the evidences of the Sharia; it expresses opinion and knowledge, and therefore it is necessary to act upon it. Acting upon the news of the wahid is not established by reason but by the Sharia. The Qadariyya, Rafizis and some Zahiris are of the opinion that acting upon it is not obligatory. Some even said: Rational evidence and the news of the wahid prevent acting upon it. Al-Jubba'i from the Mu'tazila says: "It is necessary to act upon the hadiths narrated by only two people from two people." Another says: "In order to act upon, it is necessary for four people to narrate from four other people." A group of hadith scholars argue that the one-sided report necessitates action.

     Some have said: “It requires only exoteric knowledge apart from esoteric knowledge.” Some scholars of hadith have also claimed that only the ahad news in Bukhari or Muslim express knowledge and that the narrations in other hadith books do not express knowledge. All of these views, except the opinion of the majority, are baseless and invalid. Because the (diplomatic) letters that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) dictated and the messengers he sent to neighboring countries are sufficient evidence regarding action. The Prophet (pbuh) held people responsible for acting according to these messengers and letters. The same situation continued during the period of the Rashidun and after them; the four caliphs, the other companions and the generations of predecessors and successors who came after them always adhered to the news of a single person who informed them about a sunnah, and they consulted him regarding matters of law and fatwa and took into consideration his decisions.

     They have even overturned decisions they made contrary to the news of the one who is one. In a situation where no evidence of the Sharia is known, their resorting to the news of the one who is one, their bringing evidence to those who oppose them with this news, and the opposition submitting to it are all known things and are never in doubt. On the other hand, reason is not contrary to acting upon the news of the one who is one. Moreover, the Sharia has already stated that it is obligatory to act upon it. Therefore, it is obligatory to act according to the command of the Sharia. However, those who say that the news of the one who is one expresses knowledge are making an illogical claim. Because as long as there are possibilities such as error, illusion and lies, how can it express knowledge? Still, Allah knows best. (Taken from a Site) Nizameddin DEMİR