1

(A Treatise On Importance Of
Chain Of Narration Of Hadeeth)
By: Wajahat Hussain Al-Hanafi)
Translated by: Sarah Firdouse

CONTENTS
Section 1: The Purpose of writing this Treatise: ......................................................... 3
Section 2: Narrating a Hadeeth without verifying its authenticity: ............................... 6
Section 3: The disapproval of being negligent in narrating Ahadeeth: ....................... 9

Chapter:
.............................................. 9
:

Chapter: The Reason behind such harsh punishment for attributing lie on the Holy
Prophet : ............................................................................................................ 10
Section 4: The Importance of a Chain: ..................................................................... 11
Section 5: No Hadeeth is acceptable without its chain of narrators: ......................... 12
Chapter: ................................................................................................. 12
Chapter: Without a chain/Sanad, the Hadeeth stands Fabricated: ....................... 13
Section 6: A Hadeeth should only be narrated from a primary source of Hadeeth: .. 15
Section 7: Those Ahadeeth narrated without a chain by someone who is not a
Muhaddis (expert in Hadeeth sciences): .................................................................. 18
Chapter: Relying upon a Jurist who is not a Hadeeth expert in matters of Hadeeth:
.............................................................................................................................. 19
Chapter: Relying upon a Hadeeth of a commentator of Quran (Mufassir) who is not
an expert of Hadeeth: ........................................................................................... 22
Chapter: Relying upon the Hadeeth of a Sufi who is not an expert in Hadeeth: ... 23
Chapter: An Hadeeth expert narrating a Hadeeth is not enough; the first condition
for authentication of a Hadeeth depends upon its chain: ...................................... 26
Section 8: The Khutaba (religious speakers) saying We have heard this Hadeeth
from so and so scholar. ........................................................................................... 27
Section 9: The saying that these Ahadeeth are Mashhoor (famous): ....................... 28
Chapter: Those Ahadeeth which are famous among public: ................................. 28
Chapter: Those Ahadeeth which are Mashoor near Muhadditheen: ..................... 29

. ,
:
All praise is for ALLAH alone who is the Lord of all worlds, who has
blessed humans with intellect and consciousness, who gives glad tidings
of guidance to those who are intellectual and warns the disbelievers in
Quran with the news of misguidance for not using their intellects. Millions
of blessings and salutations be upon the Arabi, Quraishi, Hashmi, Makki,
Madani, RasoolAllah and on his Family and on his Companions. By
the grace of Allah, I have discussed the significance of a Sanad/chain of
Hadeeth and also the ruling upon baseless Ahadeeth in this Treatise, and
named it .There are a lot of beneficial things in this
Treatise for people of knowledge and intellect. Verily guidance is from
Allah alone.

SECTION 1: THE PURPOSE OF WRITING THIS TREATISE:

It is unfortunate that our community shows absolutely no passion towards
knowledge. There were times when scholars always followed the discipline
of proving their stance from Quran and Hadith with proper research,
hence the people of intellect used to trust them. But nowadays, people
have shut their brains. The ocean of research is dry whereas the well of
blind following is full and everyone is solely concerned about defending
their own Peer, Mosque or sect even if they have to go against Quran and
Hadith for accomplishing this purpose.

Allama Muhammad Iqbal Rahimahullah Taala says:

The forest of learning and research is devoid of lion-hearted men.

Only the blind followers of the Mullahs and Sufis have now been left
behind, O Saqi

People are showing extreme negligence when narrating Ahadeeth because

they have now befriended blind following and have completely rebuffed
research and study. We have many a time heard religious
speakers/preachers mostly narrating Ahadeeth which are either fabricated
(self-made) or baseless. Noble scholars of the past had always put efforts
to distinguish fabrications from the narrations of our beloved Prophet ,
May Allah increase their ranks. With Allahs guidance, even I have made
this humble effort by following those truthful Scholars. I pray that
Almighty Allah includes my name in the list of those who have made
utmost efforts to discern lies and fabrications attributed to the Holy
Prophet and I hope the same from HIM. Ameen
The objective of compiling this Treatise is not to hurt the sentiments of
anyone but Haqq is that, Haqq must be followed.

Allah says in Quran, Al Maidah-Verse 8:

O believers! Holding fast to the cause of Allah, bear witness based on
justice. And let not (even) the extreme hostility against a people provoke
you into abstaining from justice (in their case). Always do justice, (for) it
is closer to piousness. And fear Allah. Indeed, Allah is Well Aware of your
works.

Imam Ahmad in Musnad under Musnad Abu Saeed Khudri, Tirmidhi,

Ibn e Majah and Tabrani report and below are the words from Musnad
Ahmad that the Prophet said:

Fear of people should not stop anyone of you from telling a truth when
he has himself seen it, witnessed it or has heard it.

Imam Hakim narrates from his chain in Madkhal, Ibn e Salah, Ibn e
Mulaqqin, Ibn e Jumaa, Ali Qari al Hanafi, Jalaluddin Suyuti and many
others report:

Imam Abu Bakr Khalad narrates: I said to Yahya bin Saeed: Wouldnt
those people stand against you in front of Allah on the Day of Judgement
if you reject their Ahadeeth? He said: Those people standing against me
is much preferable to me than Prophet of Allah standing against me and
saying Why did you narrate that Hadeeth attributed to Me which
according to you was fabricated?

Imam Khateeb Baghdadi in Al Kifaya, Ibn e Jauzi in al Maudhooat, Ibn

e Rajab, Ali Qari Hanafi, Jalaluddin Suyuti and many other scholars
report that:

,



:
:





:

,




,


Muhammad bin Bundar Jurjani narrates: I said to Imam Ahmed bin
Hambal: Abu Abdullah, it is really hard for me to say So and so (narrator
of Hadeeth) is Kazzab(liar) and so and so is Dhaeef. So he said: If you
are silent and I too observe silence (on this) then (how) and when would
the ignorant recognize (the difference between) Sahih (authentic) and
Saqeem (unauthentic)?

Imam Jurqani narrates from his chain the quote of Imam Shafai in his
book

It does not befit a person to remain silent when he knows that so and so
Hadeeth is a lie (attributed to Prophet )and (to comment on it) is not
slandering.

Imam Ibn e Iraq says in

that

Imam Ghazali said:

And this (fabricating a narration in sermons or narrating it without

verification) is from the whisperings of Satan, there is no need of

lies/fabrications when authentic (narrations) already exist. And that which

is revealed by Allah and His Prophet is sufficient which makes it
needless for one to fabricate narrations in sermons.

SECTION 2: NARRATING A HADEETH WITHOUT VERIFYING

ITS AUTHENTICITY:

Allah says in Quran, Al Isra-36:

And, (O man,) do not follow that of which you have no (authentic)
knowledge. Indeed the ear, the eye and the hearteach of them will be
questioned.

All Fuqaha and Muhadditheen agree upon the fact that attributing lies to
the Beloved Prophet is Haraam/forbidden. Few from the Shafai and
Maliki school are of the opinion of disbelieving (Takfeer) for the person
who fabricates a Hadeeth.
In my view, a person who fabricates a narration which makes Halal as
Haram and Haram as Halal is a Kaafir while the one who narrates it to
others without verifying its authenticity is committing a Major sin.
Earlier, scholars used to acquire knowledge of Quran and Hadeeth for the
sake of Allah and His Prophet and they used to give preference to
those Rules in which they found Truth. Today, because people have
turned towards blind following, the situation has become completely
opposite. Nowadays, most of the people who acquire knowledge of Quran
and Hadeeth do so with the sole intention of strengthening the belief of
their own sect. Dont you observe the topics of sermons in mosques these
days are mostly related to Ikhtelafi issues (issues related to difference of
opinions)? Dont you see that people remember Ahadeeth related to Rafa
Yadain (raising of hands in salaah) but they do not remember even one
single Hadeeth about all other sections of Namaz!
Due to this trend of blind following, anyone who gives lectures on the
hottest topics is being given the status of a Scholar or Researcher by
common public these days- doesnt matter if he narrates fabricated
stories. Because of such attitude shown towards knowledge, many of the
Preachers narrate Ahadeeth which were already been graded as
fabricated or baseless by scholars and researchers of past. When

these preachers of Islamic Knowledge are warned about this mistake,

they say we have heard this narration from so and so scholar of ours,
how can he commit a mistake? Unknowingly, these people are
considering the Rules (Usool) of narrating a Hadeeth and designating to it
a status, not more than an imaginary notion or story. Undoubtedly, we
are in that very era about which the Beloved Prophet had predicted.

Imam Ahmed, Bukhari, Muslim, Nasai, Tirmidhi, Ibn e Majah and

others narrate that the Prophet said:

:

One sign from amongst the signs of the Last hour is that Knowledge will
be taken away and ignorance will prevail.

Imam Bayhaqi and Ibn e Abi al Dunya report that the Holy Prophet
said:

Surely a time shall come upon people when nothing will remain of Islam
except its name and (recitation of) Quran will only be regarded as a
custom. Their mosques will be full (of people) but devoid of guidance;
their scholars will be the worst of creation on earth.
By the grace of Allah, I say, these days, Quran is only about Khatam or
for the purpose of Dum Durood.

Imam Ahmed, Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Nasai, Ibn e Majah and

others report that the Prophet said:

Verily, Allah does not take away knowledge by snatching it away from
(the hearts of) people but He takes away knowledge by taking away the
scholars, so that when there is no learned person left, people will turn to
the ignorant as their leaders; then they will be asked about religious
matters who will then give verdicts without (complete) knowledge (and
study). So they will themselves go astray, and will lead others astray.
By the Grace of Allah, I say, Religious speakers and preachers these days
have chosen fabricated stories as their topics of discussion. That is the
very reason why people prefer listening to stories than the Quran. Such

orators are themselves misguided while they ruin the beliefs and views of
others.

Imam Tabrani in Mujam al Kabeer and Ibn e Wada in

narrate with a Hasan/fair chain that the Prophet said:

When Bani Israeel was nearing its destruction, they had started to
narrate stories.
We have seen many times that a speaker/preacher lays the foundation of
his discussion on a self-made narration and he speaks on it for hours and
hours together discussing its commentaries in detail which results in
much applause from the audience.

Imam Ibn e Jaad and Ibn e Abi Al-Dunya report that the Prophet
said:

On the day of resurrection, among the biggest sinners will (also) be

those people who spend a lot of efforts on wrong things.
Hence, one should properly research and verify before narrating a
Hadeeth or any other kind of knowledge forward so that we do not
become one of those whose behavior is condemned by the Beloved
Prophet .

SECTION 3: THE DISAPPROVAL OF BEING NEGLIGENT IN

NARRATING AHADEETH:

CHAPTER:
:

The Messenger of Allah said: 'Whoever tells lies about me

deliberately let him take his place in Hell.
This is a Mutwatir (mass transmitted) Narration. This narration has been
reported by (exact) words and by meaning by a large group of
Companions (May Allah be pleased with them all). The names of few of
them are below:
Abu Bakr Siddiq, Umar Farooq, Usman Ghani, Maula Ali al Murtuda, Umm
ul Momineen Aisha, Talha bin Ubaidullah, Zubair bin Awam, Saad bin Abi
Waqas, Saeed bin Zaid, Abu Ubaidah bin al Jarah, Abdullah bin Masood,
Ammar bin Yaser, Abdullah bin Umar, Abdullah bin Abbas, Abdullah bin
Zubair, Abu Moosa Ashari, Abdullah bin Amr, Usama bin Zaid, Abu
Hurairah, Abu Saeed Khudri, Huzaifa bin Yaman, Jabir bin Abdullah, Abu
Qatadah Ansari, Bara bin al Azib, Zaid bin Arqam, Anas bin Malik,
Mugheera bin Shuba. Samrah bin Jandab, Suhaib bin Sinan, Saib bin
Yazeed, Umar bin Hareeth, Abu Umama, Rafe bin Khadeej, Aus bin Aus,
Muawiyah bin Abu Sufyan and many other companions (May Allah be
pleased with them all) have narrated it.
Few of the scholars who have recorded this Hadeeth are mentioned
below:
Imam Abu Yusuf have recorded it in Kitaab al Aathar citing the chain of
Imam Azam Abu Hanifa. Mamar bin Rashid, Ibn e Wahb, Ahmad, Ishaq
bin Rahwiya, Darimi, Humaidi, Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawood, Tirmidhi,
Nasai, Ibn e Majah, Ibn e Abi Shayba, Tahawi, Abu Dawood Tiyalsi,
Shashi, Ibn e Hibban, Abu Yaala, Hakim, Darqutni, Tabrani, Bayhaqi,
Bazzar, Hannad, Harith bin Abi Usama, Uqaili, Ibn e Adi, Abu Nuaym,
Ismaili, Tamam bin Muhammad, Ibn e Bishran, Muhammad
Ramahurmazi, Ibn e Sad, Ibn e Abdul Barr, Ibn e Asakir, Khateeb, Ibn e
Saaid, Ibn e Jauzi, Ibn e Qane, Jauzqani, Ibn e Khaleeel and many
others have recorded it with many chains.

10

CHAPTER: THE REASON BEHIND SUCH HARSH

PUNISHMENT FOR ATTRIBUTING LIE ON THE HOLY
PROPHET :

Imam Ahmed, Bukhari, Muslim and Tabrani report that the Prophet of
Allah said:

Indeed attributing a lie to me is not like attributing a lie on anyone else.
The words of the Holy Prophet form the basis of this Deen.
Allah says in Quran, Surah Najm Verse 3

. .
And he does not speak out of his (own) desire. His speech is nothing but
Revelation, which is sent to him.
That is why, fabricating a lie against the Prophet is like fabricating a
lie against Allah and doing so implies that one is corrupting the Deen that
was (revealed) complete in itself and adding ones own beliefs in the
message of Allah and His Prophet becomes the cause of admitting one
to Hell-fire.

Allah says in Surah Nakhl, Verse 11

And do not tell a lie which your tongues utter: This is lawful and that is
forbidden, thus fabricating a lie against Allah. Indeed, those who
fabricate lies against Allah will (never) be delivered.

11

SECTION 4: THE IMPORTANCE OF A CHAIN:

Imam Muslim, Khateeb, Qadhi Iyadh, Ibn e Salah, Shaykh ul Islam in

Khutba al Sadeedah and many other Scholars of Usool record the
words of Imam Abdullah bin Mubarak that he said:

Isnad (chain of authority) is a necessary part of Deen, if there was no
chain of authority then everyone would have said whatever he wanted to
say.

Imam Hakim, Khateeb, Ibn e Rajab, Shaykh Ul Islam in Khutba al

Sadeedah and many other Scholars of Usool narrate that Imam Sufyan
al Thauri said:

The isnad is the weapon of a Muslim (who is the receiver of the
knowledge). If he is not equipped with the arms, how is he going to fight
(and defend himself)?

Imam Ibn e Rajab Hanbali reports in Sharah al Ilal that Imam Auzai
said:

Knowledge being taken away is the disappearance of Isnad/chains.

Imam Ibn e Rajab Hanbali reports in Sharah al Ilal that Imam Shubah
bin Hujaj said:

Verily, we test the authenticity of Hadeeth by the chain of that Hadeeth.

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SECTION 5: NO HADEETH IS ACCEPTABLE WITHOUT ITS

CHAIN OF NARRATORS:

The previous chapter contained a very brief discussion about the

importance of Chain. Insha Allah, each of the following chapters will
elaborate the previous ones.

CHAPTER:
Allah says in Quranm Al Ahqaf verse 4:

Bring me any Book (revealed) before this (Quran), or some remnant of
knowledge, if you are truthful.

Imam Hakim, Khateeb, Ramahurmuzi, Suyuti, Ali Qari, Jamaluddin

Qasmi and many other scholars report that Imam Matr al Waraq said
in the Tafseer of the above verse:

} }
:
Remnant of knowledge means the chain of transmission of Hadeeth.
Our Teacher, Shaykh ul Islam, has also taken the above verse in the
same sense. He has translated the above verse in Irfan ul Quran as
follows:
Bring me (as a proof) any Book (revealed) before this (Quran) or some
remnant of knowledge (transmitted from the bygone people), if you are
truthful.

Shaykh ul Islam writes in Khutba al Sadeeda, his exceptional book on

Usool e Hadeeth:

) 4 : 46 ( ) (:

The words of Almighty Allah:

meaning (bring me as a proof)

remnant of knowledge (if you are truthful). This verse signals towards

13

the narration of Hadeeth and its chain of transmission. Such is the

important status of Sanad/chain in the transmission of Deen.
By the grace of Allah I say: Narrating Ahadeeth or other such reports with
its proper chain of narrators is one of the special and unique
characteristics of this Deen which are well described in books of Usool.
Dont you see all other religions of this world including Jews and
Christians do not possess any (concept of) Chain of Transmission. Due to
the absence of Chain, their books and beliefs have become so gibberish
that there is no way to differentiate between original and fake and they
believe a Prophet to be the son of God (Maaz Allah). Because they do not
hold the Sanad/chain, neither Jews can prove any narration of Moosa
(Peace be Upon Him) nor the Christians can prove any narration of Isa
(Peace be Upon Him). How can we be so foolish that on one hand we
criticize Jews and Christians (for narrating Books and sayings without
their chain of narrators) and on other hand we ourselves keep narrating
Ahadeeth without its chain of narrators? There already exists a few people
who are always hell-bent on stating every other act to be unlawful
because according to them it resembles the actions of Jews and
Christians. Doesnt this practice (of reporting Ahadeeth without a chain)
resemble that same religious approach? Allah alone may save us from this
Fitna which has mixed right with wrong and truth with falsehood.

CHAPTER: WITHOUT A CHAIN/SANAD, THE HADEETH STANDS

FABRICATED:
Intellectually and naturally, how is it possible for a person to believe a
Hadeeth which has been narrated without its chain of narrators by a
person who does not hold any expertise in the field of Hadeeth, which was
never narrated by any known scholar of Hadeeth before and which
remained unproven for hundreds of years in history? Doesnt it mean
blind following? Is it not the same attitude as that of Jews and
Christians? If this same approach is chosen for narration of Ahadeeth,
then the status of Usool e Hadeeth which strongly adheres to the rule that
a Hadeeth without its chain can never be accepted remains nothing more
than a fictional concept.
Do you not know that the scholars of past were so strict concerning the
transmission of Ahadeeth that they even rejected Ahadeeth of Tabaeen
and Taba Tabaeen if they would report it without its chain, although the
Prophet had stated that their era (of Tabaeen and Taba Tabaeen) will
be the best era after the era of Companions(Sahaba).

14

Imam Ali Qari states in

.
Imam Abu Bakr bin Khayr has reported the consensus of scholars that it
is unlawful for a Muslim to say Holy Prophet said so and so until and
unless that report was narrated to him (with its chain of narrators).

Imam Khateeb Baghdadi in Al Kifaya and Shaykh ul Islam in Khutbah

al Sadeedah report that Imam Saleh bin Ahmed said:

,




,

Without its chain, a Hadeeth has no status. The chain of any Hadeeth is
the ladder to reach the text of that Hadeeth.

Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal states in Al Ilal:

Imam Zuhri used to be very strict towards that person who narrated
Ahadeeth without their chain of narrators.

Imam Ibn e Iraq in his book

states:

If these Huffaz (like Ahmed, Ali bin Madeeni, Yahya bin Maeen, Bukhari,
Nasai, Abu Hatim, Abu Zura, Darqutni, Tahawi, Ibn e Hajr, Suyuti, Ali
Qari) or any other scholar who is at par with the above mentioned
scholars says that I do not know this (Hadeeth) or This Hadeeth has no
basis about any narration then it is enough a proof for that Hadeeth to
be graded as Fabricated.

15

SECTION 6: A HADEETH SHOULD ONLY BE NARRATED

FROM A PRIMARY SOURCE OF HADEETH:
By the Grace of Allah, I say, from amongst the many Fitnas of this time,
one of the greatest Fitna is that majority of religious speakers, scholars
and common people have mixed up the primary and secondary sources of
various subjects. Ahadeeth are being taken from the books of Tasawwuf,
Fiqh from books of Hadeeth, Aqeeda from books of Fiqh etc. Neither do
they bother to see in which area a book has been written nor do they care
to find whether the writer of that book is an expert in this field or not.

Imam Ali Qari al Hanafi states in

One of the basic rules (of transmitting knowledge) is that it is unlawful to
report the Narrations of the Holy Prophet , issues related to Fiqh, and
the Tafseer of Quran etc from any source other than the (respective)
primary sources.
But due to this mixing up of various subjects, people have started
narrating Ahadeeth from books of Imam Ghazali and his likes although
the researchers agree upon the fact that his books cannot be counted
amongst Hadeeth books and most of the Ahadeeth present in his books
are either baseless or fabricated. When we try to warn people about this,
they think that we are criticizing Imam Ghazali. Allah is well aware that
we are not criticizing him, but on other hand it also doesnt mean that we
are blind followers. The Prophet of Allah is much more dearer to us
than any other scholar of this world.

Imam Jalaluddin Suyuti states in

: - - ":
" .
If it is said that the Holy Prophet used to comb his blessed beard
twice every day, then I say that this is not narrated through any Chain
and it is not found in any book except Ihya uloom ud Deen of Imam
Ghazali. This fact is well established (near researchers) that it also
contains Ahadeeth which are baseless.

16

I have mentioned Imam Ghazali as an example whereas there are

innumerous books of the same kind which circulate among public that are
full of self-made narrations.

The grand Mufti of Egypt Imam Shaykh Ali Juma states in his book

:
:

The Mutakhireen (late Hanafis) say: (Fiqh) is not to be obtained from

each and every book (of Fiqh). The text supersedes (its) commentaries,
and commentaries are given precedence over the Fatwas.

Imam Abdul Hayi Lakhnawi has rejected those people who narrate
Ahadeeth without its Sanad/Chain in his book . It is
necessary for a student of knowledge to study and understand all
works of Imam Abdul Hayi Lakhnawi. Undoubtedly, I have found him
to be most truthful in narrating Ahadeeth among all his
contemporaries. Imam Abdul Hayi Lakhnawi has done an in depth
discussion about narrating Fatwas from unreliable books of Fiqh and he
has given many proofs for it from books of Hanafi scholars. One of
them is about Imam Ibn e Nujaym Misris saying which he has written
in his Risail:
It is unlawful to narrate a Fatwa from a book that is not well
known/famous in Fiqh.

Imam Abdul Hayi Lakhnawi has also proved that it is not lawful to give
a Fatwa from a book of someone whose status is not well known.

By the grace of Allah, I say that when there is such strictness being
observed in narrating a Subsidiary (Furui) issues related to Fiqh which is
totally based on Zann(uncertain thought), then a Hadeeth are the words
of the Holy Prophet which deserves a lot more care and strictness in
its transmission. It should be narrated from well-known books which are
transmitted with proper chains.

17

Shaykh Muri bin Yousuf Hanbali states in his book

:


Books which have been primarily written for the purpose of recording
Ahadeeth are the ones which are relied upon, and any Hadeeth which is
not present in these books is rejected (means, it cannot be accepted).

Imam Ibn e Iraq states in his book

And one indication of a narration being fabricated has been mentioned by
Imam Fakhruddin Razi; that is, if the narrator narrates a Hadeeth of an
era when the Ahadeeth were already drafted and recorded such that when
one keenly studies that particular narration, it is found to be neither
preserved in the memory of people (meaning the Huffaz of Hadeeth) nor
in the books (of Hadeeth). And as far as the era of the blessed
Companions is concerned, then it was possible in their time for a person
to narrate a Hadeeth which has not been narrated by any other person.

With Allahs guidance, I have made it clear from various arguments that a
Hadeeth should only be narrated from a Hadeeth book which is
transmitted by a proper chain and not from books of History, Tasawwuf,
Tafseer, Fiqh, Sarf, Nahw, Lughat, Qasas etc. And guidance is from Allah
alone.

18

SECTION 7: THOSE AHADEETH NARRATED WITHOUT A

CHAIN BY SOMEONE WHO IS NOT A MUHADDIS (EXPERT
IN HADEETH SCIENCES):
It should be clear from the previous chapters that any Hadeeth without its
chain is unacceptable no matter whether the one who is narrating it is a
trustworthy scholar or a Jurist or a pious devout. Earlier nations had
shown similar behavior, they used to believe anything to everything their
scholars used to say, with sealed eyes and brains.
Allah states in Quran, Surah Taubah Verse no. 31:

They took their priests and monks for lords besides Allah and (also) the
Messiah, the son of Maryam (Mary), whilst in truth they had not been
given (any) command except to worship (only) the One God besides
Whom there is no God. Holy is He, far above those that they associate
with Him as partners.

Imam Tirmidhi, Tabrani, Bayhaqi, Ibn e Saad, Ibn e Abi Hatim and
Suyuti narrate from a fair chain that Adi bin Hatim (May Allah be
pleased with him) said:

{ :

]31 : } [

:

I went in the blessed court of the Holy Prophet and he was

reciting this verse of Surah Taubah, then he said: Know that they
(Jews and Christians) did not worship their scholars (and pious/priests)
but they (blindly) believed everything their scholars stated to be lawful as
lawful and whatever their scholars stated to be unlawful as unlawful (due
to blind following).
By the grace of Allah I ask everyone to introspect! Do you not act in same
way (as mentioned above)? Do you not follow your Shaykh when he says
something to be lawful or unlawful, although you have the ability to study
such matters and find the truth still you chose not to confirm it and in
case if a strong opinion is found against the view of your Shaykh, then
instead of going with the truth, you prefer the opinion of your Shaykh!

19

The excellence of somebodys knowledge doesnt make them safe from

committing mistakes. Allah has created various categories among people
of knowledge. Few of them are experts in the field of Fiqh but they are
not skilled in the Narration of Hadeeth hence due to this fact, there is a
chance of them committing errors in narrating Ahadeeth. Likewise, there
are many Muhadditheen who do not have command in the subject of Fiqh
hence their opinions in Fiqh do not hold any weight. Few people have this
misconception that anyone who has knowledge of Fiqh is also
knowledgeable about Hadeeth. If a scholar of Hadeeth can excel in his
subject of narrating Ahadeeth and he need not be a Faqeeh then it is
quite possible for a scholar of Fiqh to not have an in depth knowledge of
Ahadeeth. If I were to study mathematics, I would study it from a teacher
of Mathematics, not from a teacher of Urdu. Everybody is skilled in their
own fields and it is not befitting for anyone to comment about anything
which is not their area of study.
CHAPTER: RELYING UPON A JURIST WHO IS NOT A HADEETH
EXPERT IN MATTERS OF HADEETH:
Imam Jalaluddin Suyuti says in

:


Imam Zarkashi states: And concerning the Fuqaha, those of them who
have memorized the texts of Ahadeeth and have knowledge of (the
complete rules of) Jarah and Tadeel for narrators of Hadeeth are said to
be Muhadditheen.

Imam Ali Qari al Hanafi in his book

mentions the Hadeeth of Qaza-e-Umri which is narrated in few books

of Fiqh and states:

It doesnt matter because this comes in (the book of Fiqh) al Nihaya and
many of the commentators of Al Hidaya (which is a book of Fiqh) have
recorded it; since those people were not from Muhadditheen and neither
this Hadeeth is found in any published book (having its chain of
transmission) nor does any other book contain this Hadeeth.

20

Imam Abdul Hayi Lakhnawi writes on the above statement of Imam Ali
Qari in the Muqaddima of his book

There are many beneficial points in this statement of Imam Ali Qari. That
is to say, if the books of Fiqh are reliable on matters of Furu, and their
writers are also reliable in matters of Fiqh, even then the Ahadeeth they
narrate in those books cannot be completely relied upon. There are
numerous such Ahadeeth which are found in books of Fiqh but they are
fabricated.

Imam Abdul Hayi Lakhnawi states in his book

If a Faqeeh who is expert in Fiqh but has no knowledge about checking

authenticity of Hadeeth on the basis of Chain and narrators of Hadeeth
then those narrations of him which he narrates without a chain cannot be
accepted. Such Ahadeeth can only be believed to be authentic after
proper research (on its chain) by Muhadditheen.

Imam Jamaluddin Zaylai in various places has commented on

mistakes committed in Hadeeth by his teachers and other scholars in
his book

I will mention few of them here: Imam states in

....

Our Shaykh has followed other scholars (in this regard) and has
committed a mistake by attributing this Hadeeth to Abu Dawood (He
further discusses this error and states) because it is the duty of a
Muhaddith to comment on the Asl of a Hadeeth and to find out who
(which Imam of Hadeeth) has recorded (so and so Hadeeth). That is why,
a slight change in the words do not cause any harm to him. As far as a
Faqeeh is concerned then (showing carelessness while narrating) doesnt

21

befit him because the Faqeeh aims at deriving laws from the text of
Hadeeth which is only possible when the text of Hadeeth complies with his
aim.

Imam Jamaluddin Zaylai states in

, ,

Our Shaykh Alauddin has committed an error by attributing this Hadeeth

to Talha (May Allah be pleased with him) through the chain of Muslim
because he has followed others (and did not himself check the Hadeeth).
This Hadeeth has been narrated by Imam Muslim from Abu Hurairah (and
not from Talha)

Imam states in

, :

:
Our Shaykh Alauddin has followed others (and did not himself check) in
narrating this Hadeeth and has committed a mistake by mentioning the
words of Imam Tirmidhi as Abu Ubaidah has not seen his father
whereas Imam Tirmidhi has never stated this in any of his books, in fact
Imam Tirmidhi has said that Abu Ubaidah did not hear any Hadeeth from
his father.

Imam states in

.
""



Qadhi Shamsuddin has made an error by attributing this Hadeeth to
Bukhari and Muslim in his book Al Ghaya whereas Imam Muslim did not
narrate this Hadeeth while Imam Bukhari has narrated it in his Taleeq.
By the grace of Allah, I say, do you not see how these scholars preferred
truth over anything? They did not blindly follow anyone and never did
they abandon truth just because their teacher or some scholar said

22

something against it. This issue will be discussed in detail in the coming
chapters.
CHAPTER: RELYING UPON A HADEETH OF A COMMENTATOR OF
QURAN (MUFASSIR) WHO IS NOT AN EXPERT OF HADEETH:
Majority of Mufassireen have narrated many fabricated and baseless
Ahadeeth in their books. The most famous narration these days of all is
the Hadeeth about the age of Jibraeel Alayhi Salam. The Hadeeth says
that once the Holy Prophet asked Jibraeel about his age.then there
is a long narration which says that the Prophet said: Oh Jibraeel! I
am that star which you have seen seventy thousand times after every
seventy thousand years. This Hadeeth has been narrated by Ismail Haqq
in his Tafseer Rooh ul Bayan. He passed away in 1127 Hijri, implying
towards the fact that no one had ever narrated this Hadeeth in the
previous thousand years, it is neither found in any other book nor does it
has any chain. Is any other proof is required to prove this Hadeeth as
fabricated?
May ALLAH save us from such negligence!

Allama Ibn e Taymiyyah writes in Minhaj as Sunnah:

People of knowledge agree upon the fact that Thalabi has recorded
many fabricated narrations (in his Tafseer) for example, the narrations
(attributed to) Abu Umama (May Allah be pleased with him) at the
beginning of every Surah about their (fabricated) virtues and many other
such (fabricated) narrations.

Imam Nawawi states in :

And among the fabricated narrations is the Hadeeth of Ubayi bin Ka'ab
which is regarding the virtues of each Surah of Quran. Any Mufassir who
has narrated this Hadeeth has committed a mistake.

Imam Suyuti states in

of Imam Nawawi:

in the commentary of this statement

23

Any Mufassir who has narrated this in their books has erred like Tha'labi,
Wahidi, Zamakhshari, Baidwi etc.

Shaykh Mur'i bin Yusuf Hanbali states in

:

:
. :




Imam Shafai' has said: Not more than around a hundred narrations are
proved to be narrated from Ibn e Abbas on (the subject of) Tafseer.
Imam Ahmed said: Tafseer Kalbi is fabricated from beginning to end.
CHAPTER: RELYING UPON THE HADEETH OF A SUFI WHO IS NOT AN
EXPERT IN HADEETH:
Narrating Ahadeeth from the books of Sufis and relying upon them is a
major mistake. When people are warned about it, they argue saying Sufis
were people of Kashf and all realities were disclosed to them, how can
they err in narrating Hadeeth?
By the grace of Allah, I say, such opinion is rooted from nothing but
ignorance and emotional reactions. If there is no chain of a particular
Hadeeth and the one who is narrating it is a big Sufi, even then it cannot
be accepted. First of all, the authenticity of a Hadeeth depends only and
only upon its chain as we have discussed it in detail in the previous
chapters.

Imam Jamaluddin Qasmi makes a chapter in his

and

states:

Those Ahadeeth which are recorded in books of Fiqh and Tasawwuf
cannot be relied upon if they have no chain of narration,it doesnt o
matter if the author of that book is a celebrated (scholar of his own
field).

Imam Jamaluddin Qasmi makes another chapter in

states:

and

24

Reply to those people who believe in authenticating Ahadeeth by means
of Kashf, (know that) the authenticity of a Hadeeth depends only upon its
Sanad.
Imam Jamaluddin Qasmi mentions a long statement of Allama Ulaysh in
this same chapter which states:

....

This is one of the (agreed upon) rule of knowledge that Ahadeeth can
only be proven (to be authentic) by means of its Sanad and not by means
of any illuminations of heart (or spiritual state). Wilayat and Karamaat
cannot intervene in this matter (of narration of Ahadeeth).
By the grace of Allah, I say, if anyone objects that Allama Jamaluddin
Qasmi opposed the Sufis, then I implore you to get rid of this
misconception and read his section of Hadeeth e Qudsi from his book

. Your heart will get illuminated and you will know his Aqeeda.

Imam Muslim narrates in his Muqaddima (of Sahih Muslim) that Imam
Abu Zinad said:

I have seen hundred such people in Madina who were pious, but they
were not regarded to be capable of narrating Ahadeeth that is why
Ahadeeth were not narrated from them.

Imam Muslim narrates in Muqaddima:

" :

Imam Yahya bin Saeed al Qittan said: We have not found anyone who
lied more (or erred) in narrating Hadeeth than the pious.
Imam Muslim states that Imam Yahyas son has said in interpretation of
above statement that they (pious) did not lie intentionally but they did so
unintentionally.

25

Imam Ibn e Rajab mentions the statement of Imam Abu Abdullah Ibn
e Mandah in Sharah Ilal Tirmidhi that he said:

()
Whenever you find a Hadeeth which has (the narrator in the chain
saying) the words I have heard this Hadeeth from so and so Zahid
(pious) then take your hands off that Hadeeth (i.e., do not accept it
without properly verifying that chain).

Imam Ibn e Rajab states in Sharah al Ilal Tirmidhi:

:.
Imam Ali bin Madeeni narrates: I asked Imam Yahya bin Saeed
regarding Malik bin Deenar, Muhammad bin Wasi and Hassan bin Abi
Sinaan, he said: I have not seen anyone lying in Hadeeth more than the
pious because they use to narrate Ahadeeth from anyone they met
without distinguishing (between reliable and liar narrators because of
their good opinion of everyone).

Imam Ibn e Rajab states in Sharah al Ilal Tirmidhi:

:
) (
.
: .

.
There are two types of people among those who are busy in worship and
their Ahadeeth are rejected: One group among them consists of those
people who are prevented from memorizing Ahadeeth due to worship.
There are greater chances of unintentional mistake (waham) in their
narrations so they might narrate Mauqoof narration as Mursal or Mursal
narration as Mauqoof like Aban bin Abi Ayash and Yazeed al Raqashi.
Imam Shubah used to tell about each of them that I prefer committing
an act of fornication to be better than narrating Hadeeth from them.

26

And few of those people used to deliberately fabricate Ahadeeth and they
regarded this act to be equivalent to worship. Ahmed bin Muhammad bin
Ghalib, Ghulam Khaleel, Zakarya bin Yahya al Waqar Misri were few who
showed such behavior.

CHAPTER: AN HADEETH EXPERT NARRATING A HADEETH IS NOT

ENOUGH; THE FIRST CONDITION FOR AUTHENTICATION OF A
HADEETH DEPENDS UPON ITS CHAIN:

Imam Hafiz Ibn e Hajr mentions in

under the biography of

Imam Sulaiman bin Ahmed Tabrani:

... a

Ismail bin Muhammad Taimi has objected (on Imam Tabrani) that he
has recorded many Munkar and Fabricated narrations in his books. (Imam
Ibn e Hajr replies to him saying) Not only Imam Tabrani but many
Muhadditheen after the first two centuries have done this act (of reporting
a fabricated Hadeeth with a Sanad in their books). Because they have
mentioned the Sanad, they are free from that accusation (hence their
successors can distinguish such Ahadeeth after analyzing it and they do
distinguish it).
It proves that even if a Muhaddis narrates a Hadeeth without a chain then
it cannot be accepted after first three generations i.e. Companions,
Tabieen and Taba Tabieen.

27

SECTION 8: THE KHUTABA (RELIGIOUS SPEAKERS)

SAYING WE HAVE HEARD THIS HADEETH FROM SO AND
SO SCHOLAR.
Whenever those speakers who carelessly narrate Ahadeeth are made to
realize that the Hadeeth which they have narrated is baseless and
fabricated near researchers and Muhadditheen and when it is said to them
to avoid narrating such Ahadeeth for the sake of Allah and his Prophet
, they say: We have heard this Hadeeth from many scholars, how
can it be baseless?
By the grace of Allah, I say, Hasnt your Lord blessed you with intellect?
Did He give you the blessing of acquiring knowledge so that you can shut
the doors of your brain and throw away its keys?

Imam Muslim, Hakim, Ibn e Jad and Bazzar etc narrate that the
Prophet said:

.
It is enough of a lie for a man to narrate (without verifying) whatever he
hears.

Imam Muslim narrates in his Muqaddima that Imam Malik said:

.
Know that a man who narrates whatever he hears is not safe from
erring, and he can never become an Imam (or Muqtada) as long as he
narrates everything he hears.
The words of the Holy Prophet can as well be applicable to you if you
narrate anything and everything without verifying its authenticity
although you have the ability to verify (its authenticity). If you are not
capable of verifying its authenticity, then you are not at all qualified to
narrate Ahadeeth. Hence, it will still remain unlawful for you to narrate
Ahadeeth.
Imam Zaylai wonderfully says:

The one who is being followed is himself erring (or is confused) and the
one who is following him is unaware of it.

28

SECTION 9: THE SAYING THAT THESE AHADEETH ARE

MASHHOOR (FAMOUS):
CHAPTER: THOSE AHADEETH W HICH ARE FAMOUS AMONG PUBLIC:

Imam Ibn e Hajr Asqalani states in

And in those narrations which are famous among people, there exists
such Ahadeeth which are narrated from only one chain; also, there exist
such Ahadeeth which has no chain at all.

Imam Sakhawi repeats the statement of Imam Ibn e Hajr in Fath ul

Mughees and says:

( : ;

And in those narrations which are famous among people, there exists
such Ahadeeth which are narrated from only one chain; also, there exist
such Ahadeeth which has no chain at all. For example, (the Hadeeth
saying) the scholars of my Nation are like the Prophets of Bani Israel.
With Allahs guidance, I say, there are many such Ahadeeth which are
famous among the people but they are baseless. Few such examples are
mentioned below:
1. The story of Owais Qarni (May Allah be pleased with him)
breaking his teeth.
2. Allahs love for His servants is greater than the love of seventy
mothers.
3. About performing special prayers on the last Friday of Ramzan.
4. Offering Qaza e Umri.
5. Bad omens being sent down in Safar.
6. Deeds getting invalidated because of having a talk in the Mosque.
7. Offering Namaz with a cap/head cover is better than offering
27/70 prayers.
8. The time of drinking water during meals.
9. Punishment on drinking water while standing.
10.
The one who speaks during Azan wont be allowed to recite
the Kalima at time of death.
11.
Loving ones country is Iman.
12.
Satan offers Namaz if the prayer rug is unfolded.

29

13.
Whoever has found himself has indeed found his Lord.
14.
The scholars of my Nation are like the Prophets of Bani
Israeel.
15.
Fajr Salah illuminates the face, Zohr Salah increases
provision, Asr Salah gives strength and so on.
16.
There is no Namaz without a cap.
All of these are either baseless or fabricated which has no root at all. If
you go through the books of Imam Ibn e Jauzi, Suyuti, Ali Qari and other
scholars of Hadeeth who has done excellent work in collecting these
fabrications, it will be much clearer to you that a Hadeeth being famous
among people is in no way a proof of its authenticity.

CHAPTER: THOSE AHADEETH W HICH ARE MASHOOR NEAR

MUHADDITHEEN:
By Mash-hoor if one means being Mash-hoor near Muhadditheen, even
then it depends entirely upon its chain.

Imam Ibn e Hajr Asqalani states in

under the definition of

Mash-hoor:

A Hadeeth that has more than two chains is Mash-hoor near
Muhadditheen.
By the grace of Allah I say, for Ahnaaf, That Hadeeth is said to be Mashhoor which has been narrated by one or more than one companion and
then such a large number of people narrate from these companions that it
attains the level of Mutwatir (mass transmission) in the era of Tabaeen
and Taba Tabaeen.
The above definition of Hadeeth e Mashhoor has been mentioned by these
Hanafi scholars: Imam al Daboosi, Bazdawi, Sarakhsi, Samarqandi
Akhsikati, Bukhari, Nasafi, Fanari, Ibn e Humam, Ibn e Ameer Haaj,
Ameer Badshah, Bihari, Qasim Ibn e Qutloobgha, Ali Qari and Lakhnawi
etc (Rahimahum Allah)
Hence it is proven that the authenticity of Hadeeth depends upon its chain
even in this area. The very first step to be taken is to check the
Sanad/chain, if the chain is worthy of acceptance, then the Hadeeth is
tested for other conditions which are related to the text of Hadeeth.
If I discuss this further, then this Treatise will get elongated.

30

Allama Muhammad Iqbal was also fed up of this attitude of blind following
and he regarded this to be the reason behind the decline of Muslims. He
says:
There is no place in India where from to learn, the tenets that the Muslim
Faith concern.
They are devoid of zeal for godly acts, and are not wont to seek its basic
facts.
The mystics, who were keen their faith to spread, are silent now and
thought for them a dread.
Alas! the state of bondage deprives of zest, slaves tread the beaten path
and relinquish quest.
The jurists are helpless to such extent cant change themselves but would
change Qurans content.
How sad, the jurists cant shift their outlook, but would prefer to change
the Holy Book!
These abject slaves opine and cling to creed that Holy Book is full of flaws
indeed.
They think it incomplete for this fact because it fails to teach the slavish
tact.

This Treatise got completed on Sunday, 29th Rajab 1436 Hijri (17th May
2015). Guidance is only from Allah alone and this work is solely for Allah
and His Prophet . I hope to be rewarded from Allah and His Prophet

only for this humble attempt of mine. I testify that there is no God but
Allah and Muhammad is Allahs beloved and chosen Messenger . And I
express extreme disgust on all kinds of lies attributed to the Holy Prophet.

Servant of sacred knowledge of Hadeeth

Wajahat Hussain Al-Hanafi