The virtue of the Merciful, the Loving, collection of Sunan Abu Dawood 22/19

Authored by Yaser Mohammed Fathi Al Eid Introduction In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate All praise is due to Allah, we praise Him, seek His help, and ask for His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of ourselves and from our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide; and whomsoever He misguides, none can guide. I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. {O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims} [Al-Imran: 102]. {O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate, and dispersed from both many men and women. And fear Allah, through whom you ask one another, and the wombs. Indeed, Allah is ever over you an Observer} [An-Nisa: 1]. {O you who have believed, fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice. He will then amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment} [Al-Ahzab: 70-71]. As for what follows: Al-Nawawi, in the introduction to his summary, said: "It is incumbent upon every person to acquire the manners of the Messenger of Allah -peace be upon him- and to follow his sayings, actions, and approvals in judgments, manners, and all aspects of Islam. And to rely on what is authentic, and to avoid what is weak. Do not be deceived by those who oppose the correct Sunnah, nor imitate those who rely on weak hadiths; for Allah -Glory be to Him- said: {So take what the Messenger gives you, and abstain from what he forbids you} [Al-Hashr: 7], and He said: {Indeed, in the Messenger of Allah you have a good example} [Al-Ahzab: 21], and: {Say, If you should love Allah, then follow me, so Allah will love you and forgive you your sins} [Al-Imran: 31]. These verses and their meanings urge following him -peace be upon him-, and forbid innovation and invention. Allah -Glory be to Him- commanded us when disputing to return to Allah and His Messenger, meaning the Book and the Sunnah. All of this pertains to authentic Sunnah. As for what is not authentic, how can it be called Sunnah? And how can it be judged that the Messenger -peace be upon him- said or did something without justification? Do not be deceived by the many lax in action and those who justify rulings with weak hadiths, even if they are authors and imams in jurisprudence and other sciences, and have written extensively on this in their books. If asked about this, they would answer that reliance is not on the weak, but scholars have permitted working with weak hadiths in stories and virtues of actions that do not conflict with the fundamentals of Sharia, such as the virtue of tasbih, other remembrances, encouragement of noble morals, asceticism in the world, and other matters whose principles are known and established." Al-Muzaffar Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Hamad ibn Ibrahim ibn Al-Fadl Al-Bukhari said: When Abu al-Abbas Al-Walid ibn Ibrahim ibn Zaid Al-Hamadhani was dismissed from the judiciary of Rayy and Bukhara in the year 318 AH, due to renewing a friendship that had existed between him and Abu al-Fadl Muhammad ibn Ubaid Allah Al-Balhami, he stayed in our neighborhood. He said: My teacher Abu Ibrahim Ishaq ibn Ibrahim Al-Khattali carried me to him and said: I ask you to have this boy narrate what he heard from your teachers, may Allah have mercy on them. He said: I have no hearing. He said: How can you be a jurist, then? He said: Because when I reached the age of men, my soul yearned for seeking hadith, knowing men, understanding news, and hearing it. So I aimed to Muhammad ibn Ismail Al-Bukhari in Bukhara, the author of "Al-Tarikh" and known for his knowledge of hadith, and I informed him of my purpose and asked for his acceptance. He said to me: O son, do not enter into any matter before knowing its limits and understanding its measures. I said: Define for me the limits of what I intend, and the measures of what I asked you about. He said: Know that a person does not become a complete hadith scholar until he writes four with four, like four in four at four with four over four from four, and all these quadruples are not complete except with four and four, so when he completes them all, four becomes easy for him, and he is tested with four. If he endures this, Allah will honor him in this world with four, and reward him in the Hereafter with four. I asked him: Explain to me, may Allah have mercy on you, what you mentioned about the states of these quadruples with a pure heart, with a sufficient explanation and a clear statement, seeking full reward. He said: Yes, the four that require your writing are: the news of the Messenger -peace be upon him- and his legislation, the companions and their measures, the followers and their states, and all scholars and their histories, along with the names of their men, their nicknames, their places, and their times. The praise with sermons, supplication with supplication, Basmala with surahs, Takbir with prayers, such as the Musnad, the Musar, the Maqtu'at, and the Maqtu'at. In childhood, in adolescence, in youth, and in old age. When busy, when free, when poor, and when rich. In mountains, seas, towns, and deserts. On stones, shells, skins, and shoulders, until he can transfer them to papers. From those above him, and from those like him, and from those below him, and from his father’s book, knowing it is in his father’s handwriting and not others. For the sake of Allah, seeking His pleasure, working with what agrees with the Book of Allah, spreading it among seekers and lovers, and composing to revive his remembrance after him. And these things are only achieved by four skills of the servant, namely: knowledge of writing, language, morphology, and grammar; and four blessings from Allah -Glory be to Him-: health, ability, diligence, and memory. When these are complete, four become easy: family, children, wealth, and homeland. And four afflict: the glee of enemies, the blame of friends, the stabbing of the ignorant, and envy of scholars. If he endures these trials, Allah will honor him in this world with four: pride in contentment, dignity of self, the sweetness of knowledge, and the vitality of eternity. And He will reward him in the Hereafter with four: intercession for his brothers, under the shade of the Throne where there is no shade but His, watering those whom He wills from His Prophet Muhammad -peace be upon him-, and companionship with the prophets in the highest Paradise in Heaven. I have inform you, my son, in brief, all that I heard from my teachers, scattered in this chapter. So now, focus on what I have intended for you, or leave it. He said: I was overwhelmed by his words, and I fell silent, pondering, and I looked down regretfully. When he saw that from me, he said: If you cannot bear all these hardships, then learn the jurisprudence that you can acquire while sitting in your home, quiet and settled, without needing to travel far or leave your homeland, and riding the seas. It is also the fruit of hadith, and the reward of the jurist is no less than that of the hadith scholar in the Hereafter, nor is his dignity less than that of the hadith scholar. When I heard that, my resolve to seek hadith diminished, and I turned to knowledge as much as I could with Allah’s success and grace. That is why I did not have what I could dictate to this boy, O Abu Ibrahim. Abu Ibrahim said: This hadith, which no one else has except you, is better than a thousand hadith with others. End of his speech. He narrated this story with its chain: Al-Qadi Iyad in "Al-Ilma" (pp. 29–34), Al-Mizzi in "Al-Tahdhib" (24/461–464), and Al-Suyuti in "Tadrib ar-Rawi" (2/156–158). This story has meanings and implications. What I intend by mentioning it: to praise these imams, the imams of hadith and narration, and their care for the hadith of the Messenger of Allah -peace be upon him-, and their dedication of their lives and their most precious possessions to uncover its chains and narrations, whether in the Musnad, the Mursal, the Maqtu', or the Maqtu'. Through this, the defect and authenticity of the hadith become clear, and the authentic distinguished from the weak. They strove to gather as much as possible from the carriers of this knowledge in their time, so much so that some traveled days and nights in search of a single hadith [see: "Al-Jami' li-Akhlaq ar-Rawi" (2/225)]. After collecting the hadiths and their chains, they endeavored to scrutinize and distinguish the authentic from the weak, the preserved from the strange, and the known from the rejected. They identified individuals, rare reports, and oddities, even classifying them separately from the authentic and the famous, based on their memorization, understanding, and knowledge [see: "Ma'rifat 'Uloom al-Hadith" (151)]. They were aided by their knowledge of the companions, the followers, their successors, and all scholars and narrators, their names, nicknames, titles, classes, lineages, tribes, countries, and times, to distinguish narrators from one another. They paid attention to scrutinizing the chain and the text of the hadith, not only examining the chain and its defect but also analyzing the texts, even if narrated with a sound chain, like the sun. The reality that many engaged in seeking hadith overlook: that the judgments of these imams regarding men—criticism and praise—were based on the narrations of these narrators. If they trusted a narrator or weakened him, that judgment was based on their review and consideration of his narrations, comparing them with the narrations of trustworthy preservers. If they agreed, that indicated his preservation and accuracy; he was a reliable, precise witness. If they disagreed, they considered the extent of the discrepancy, which, if small enough to be tolerated from ordinary humans due to forgetfulness, oversight, or occasional error, they generally accepted and trusted him. If their doubts increased or his mistakes became frequent, they weakened him with appropriate commentary. For example, Ibn Ma'in's reports about such narrators vary depending on what they narrated and their reliability—sometimes trusting, sometimes lenient. If he was proven to have deliberately lied or fabricated, they would tear apart his hadith, accuse him, and warn against him. Trustworthiness does not require that a person never make mistakes; even the most reliable hadiths are accepted unless there is evidence of error or mistake. Imam Muslim said in "Al-Tamiz" (170): "No transmitter of news or bearer of tradition from the past until our time, even if he is the most memorizing, most cautious, and most precise in what he preserves and transmits, is free from error and forgetfulness. How about those I have described to you, whose way is negligence and forgetfulness?" And Al-Tirmidhi said in "Al-'Ilal Al-Saghir" (5/702 - Al-Jami'): "The people of knowledge are distinguished by their memorization, precision, and certainty during hearing; even the greatest imams are not immune from mistakes and errors, despite their memorization." Today, we see some who judge hadiths, texts, and chains based solely on the sayings of the men—twisting the matter, for the imams judged men by their hadiths. Today, hadiths are judged by their men, regardless of what these imams said about these hadiths specifically. Many hadiths were criticized, and they have opinions about the trustworthiness of their men. Some of those who care about hadith today dismiss the judgments of these imams on hadiths, hiding behind their statements about men, claiming that trustworthy narrators are not overestimated, even if that leads to doubt about the companions, or accepting falsehoods that contradict authentic hadith and tradition, or turning non-religious matters into religion, and non-Sunnah into Sunnah. Many have abandoned the previous scholars for others, they claim. Sometimes, the imams declare a hadith as weak without it being apparent to us; they may hint at a hidden defect in the hadith that is difficult to perceive. When that happens, we must follow their opinions if they agree, for the consensus of the scholars is a proof [Al-Marasel by Ibn Abi Hatim (703)]. No one should oppose them. If they differ, then we weigh their opinions according to their principles and methods of correction and defect, and we should not introduce a new statement that precedes them. Just as the companions—may Allah be pleased with them—who witnessed revelation and were the most sincere, most knowledgeable, least pretentious, most guided, and best morals among the nation—if they differ on a matter, we should not invent a new statement. Likewise, these critic imams, who lived during the time of codification and knew the conditions of narrators and narrations, should not be contradicted or have new opinions introduced. We say their words if they agree, and we prefer among their opinions if they differ. Ibn Hajar, in explaining Abu Dawood’s statement: "And what contains severe weakness I have clarified," said: "What is understood is that what contains moderate weakness is not clarified. From this, it is clear that all that Abu Dawood remained silent about is not necessarily considered good by him; rather, his silence falls into categories: 1. Those in the authentic books or on the condition of authenticity. 2. Those that are inherently good (hasan) in themselves. 3. Those that are good if supported (hasan li al-shad). 4. Those that are weak but from narrators who are generally not abandoned. All these categories are valid for evidence, as Ibn Mandah reported: he issues weak hadiths if he finds no alternative in the chapter, and considers them stronger than personal opinion. Ibn Abd al-Barr said: "Whatever Abu Dawood remains silent about in his book is correct in his view, especially if he did not mention anything else in the chapter." Similar to what Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal narrated through Ibn Mandur: he used to rely on Amr ibn Shuayb from his father from his grandfather if nothing else was in the chapter, and more explicitly, as narrated by Abu Al-'Az Ibn Kadsh: he told his son: "If I wanted to restrict myself to what I consider authentic, I would not narrate from this Musnad except what comes one after the other, but you, my son, know my way in hadith: I do not contradict what weakens unless there is something in the chapter that prevents it." And from what we narrated from the route of Abdullah ibn Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, he said: I heard my father say: "You hardly see anyone examining opinion except that there is doubt in his heart, and weak hadiths are more beloved to me than opinion." He asked him about a man in a town who finds only a hadith scholar and a man of opinion, whom should he ask? He said: "Ask the hadith scholar, not the man of opinion." This is similar to what is narrated from Abu Dawood, and it is not surprising, for he was a student of Imam Ahmad. It is not strange that he says his opinion. Al-Najm Al-Tufi also quoted Taqi al-Din Ibn Taymiyah, saying: "I examined the Musnad of Ahmad and found it consistent with Abu Dawood’s condition." Our sheikh also pointed in the twenty-third chapter to some of this. From this, it becomes clear that the weakness of those who rely on everything Abu Dawood remained silent about is evident, for they reject many weak hadiths in their judgments and remain silent about them, such as: Ibn Lahi'a, Salih Muwala al-Taw'amah, Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn 'Aqil, Musa ibn Wardan, Salama ibn al-Fadl, Dallam ibn Saleh, and others. It is not appropriate for the critic to follow them in silence about their hadiths or to rely on them in their judgments. Rather, his way is to see whether there is a supporting narration that supports or contradicts, or if it is strange and needs consideration—especially if it conflicts with the narration of someone more trustworthy. Because then it falls into the category of the rejected. He may also issue rulings on much weaker narrators, such as: al-Harith ibn Wajih, Sadaqa al-Duqayq, Othman ibn Waqid al-'Amri, Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Bilmani, Abu Janab al-Kalbi, Suleiman ibn Arqam, Ishaq ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Abi Furoo', and other weak narrators. Similarly, chains that are disconnected, or narrations of mudallis (concealed) with 'an' (narration by reporting from someone who did not hear directly), and chains where the names are ambiguous, do not justify judging these hadiths as good (hasan) just because Abu Dawood remained silent—because his silence sometimes is just an acknowledgment of what he previously discussed about that narrator in his book, or due to forgetfulness, or because of the obvious weakness of that narrator and the consensus of the imams to discard his narration, like Abu al-Huwayrith, Yahya ibn al-'Ala, and others. Sometimes, it is due to different narrations from him, which is the most common; for example, in Abu al-Husayn ibn al-'Abd’s narration, there are many criticisms of some narrators and chains that are not present in Al-Lu'lu'i’s narration, even though his narration is more famous. For example: the hadith narrated via: al-Harith ibn Wajih, from Malik ibn Dinar, from Muhammad ibn Sirin, from Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him): the hadith "Indeed, under every hair there is impurity..."—which was criticized in some narrations, with the statement: "This is a weak hadith, and al-Harith's hadith is rejected." In some narrations, he only mentioned part of this, and in others, he did not speak about it. He may also criticize a hadith with severe weakness outside of the Sunnah, and remain silent about it in the Sunnah. For example: the hadith in the Sunan via: Muhammad ibn Thabit al-'Abdi, from Nafi', who said: I went with Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) on a need to Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), and he mentioned the hadith about "If one of you intends to urinate, let him wipe his private parts," which he did not comment on in the Sunan, but when he mentioned it in "Al-Tafrid," he said: "No one followed Muhammad ibn Thabit in this." Then he narrated that Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: "It is a rejected hadith." As for hadiths with disconnected or ambiguous chains: there are many such in the book, including the third hadith in his book: from the route of Abu Tiyah, who said: An old man told me: When Ibn Abbas came to Basra, he used to narrate from Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him). He mentioned the hadith: "When one of you wants to urinate, let him wipe his private parts," which is not commented on in all narrations, and the old man is ambiguous. And other hadiths that are prevented from being used as evidence due to their defects. The correct stance is not to rely solely on his silence, because we have described that he does accept weak hadiths and prefers them over analogy if that is established from him. And the one who relies solely on his silence does not see that as evidence, so how can he follow him? All this, if we interpret his statement: "And what I did not say anything about is valid," as meaning that it is valid for proof, that is apparent. If we interpret it more broadly, as validity for proof, or for evidence, or for support, then it does not necessarily mean he accepts weak hadiths. It is necessary to consider those places where he remained silent and whether they contain isolated reports or not. If they contain isolated reports, then the first interpretation is confirmed; otherwise, the second. In any case, what he remained silent about is not suitable for evidence at all. Al-Nawawi, may Allah have mercy on him, pointed this out: "In Abu Dawood's Sunan, there are apparent weak hadiths that he did not clarify, even though they are agreed to be weak. So, his words must be interpreted." Then he said: "And the truth is that what we find in his Sunan that he did not clarify, and no one has declared its authenticity or good status except those who rely on it, is good. And if those who rely on it declare it weak, or see in its chain what warrants weakness with no justification, then they judge it as weak and do not pay attention to Abu Dawood’s silence." End of Ibn Hajar’s words from "Al-Nukat." See: "Al-Bahr Al-Mazhar" (3/1075–1108), and "Khatm Sunan Abu Dawood" by Abdullah ibn Salim Al-Basri (78). My method in extracting and judging hadiths is as follows: 1. I omit from the end of Abu Dawood’s chain from his teacher to the one upon whom the chain depends, to facilitate and shorten the mention of those who narrated this hadith via this narrator. For example: (68) ... Simak, from 'Ikrimah, from ibn Abbas, who said: Some of the wives of the Prophet -peace be upon him- washed in a basin... The purpose is that all the authors I mentioned in the extraction only narrated it from the route of Simak ibn Wahr, as the chain depends on him among them. They narrated it from multiple routes from Simak, narrated by: Shu'bah, Sufyan Al-Thawri, Abu Al-Ahwas, Hamad ibn Sulaiman, Israel, Sharik, and others. I did this after confirming the multiple routes to this narrator, so that they are generally established, not just narrated by weak and abandoned narrators. 2. The chains I mention during the extraction are either multiple routes to a specific narrator, so I start with the one on whom the chain depends, as I mentioned above, or it is narrated with a single chain: then I either mention it fully without omission, or I omit from the teacher of the author to a specific narrator who is the defect in the chain, or it is narrated with a chain that is valid for proof, to whom I mentioned. 3. I compile the various chains of the hadith from the available sources as much as possible, then classify these chains according to the agreement and disagreement of narrators on a particular narrator. 4. I gather the opinions of the imams regarding the hadith, whether from extraction sources, or from the books of men and 'Ilal (defects), or others. 5. I follow the opinions of the imams in deriving the defect, attempting to interpret their words to clarify their intended meaning if there is ambiguity. 6. If the imams agree on a hadith, it is necessary to follow their consensus, as I have previously stated. 7. If they differ, I try to reconcile their opinions; if that is not possible, I prefer one of the opinions based on their principles and methods of correction and defect, according to the clues of preference, and Allah knows best. I named it: "The Virtue of the Merciful, the Loving: Extraction of Sunan Abu Dawood." Before concluding, I emulate the words of Al-Shatibi, may Allah have mercy on him: "Trust in Him and forgive His weaving... with forbearance and kindness, even if it is fragile. Peace be upon one of the two good deeds: success... and the other is effort, aiming straight, so He may forgive. And if there is a rupture, then repair it with a virtue... of patience, and let him correct it with generosity and eloquence. And speak truthfully, if not for harmony and his spirit... all mankind would be in discord and chaos. Keep your chest safe, and be prepared for the sanctity of Al-Quds, purer in washing." And I ask Allah to grant me success in what is right. He is the All-Hearing, the Responsive. And our last supplication is praise be to Allah, Lord of all worlds. Prepared by: Abu Amr Yaser bin Mohammed Fathi Al Eid Riyadh, 15 Sha'ban 1428 AH fathy.yaser@gmail.com