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The Effect of Hadith on the Disagreement of the Jurists (Allah be pleased with all of them)
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate
This morning, in preparation for the Hadith or Fiqh course that begins this weekend, I was flipping through Shaykh Muhammad `Awwamah’s (Allah preserve him) priceless book, Athar al-Hadith al-Sharif Fi Ikhtilaf al-A’imma al-Fuqaha, and came across the following quote,
Ibn Wahb said, “Had Allah not rescued me through Malik and Layth, I would have gone astray.” He was asked, “How come?” to which he replied, “I heard many, many hadiths (akthartu min al-hadith) and that confused me. I then presented [the hadiths that confused me] to Malik and Layth, and they would tell me, “Accept this one and ignore that one.”" (Athar al-Hadith al-Sharif, 3rd ed., p. 58, quoted from Qadi `Iyad’s Tartib al-Madarik)
The Malik mentioned in this quote is the famous Medinan faqih and muhaddith, Imam Malik b. Anas (eponymn of of the Maliki school), and the Layth is the famous Egyptian faqih and muhaddith, Layth b. Sa`d (a mujtahid imam in his own right whose knowledge was lost because of lack of students).
Hadith literature is a double-edged sword. For top-notch scholars who are steeped in both hadith and fiqh, it is a goldmine of guidance from the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace); for non-scholars who “go it alone”, it is a minefield waiting to lead them astray.
Proof isn’t hard to come by: just do a survey of the websites that talk about Islam and you will find a confusing array of conflicting opinions, all clinging to hadiths as their justification. A single hadith is a snippet, a snapshot, a moment out of the 23-year period of divine revelation. Putting this snapshot into its proper context is not an easy task, especially when there are thousands and thousands of snapshots, some real, some forged; some clear, some fuzzy.
Shaykh Muhammad `Awwamah’s book shows the complexity of interpreting hadith, and that the reason why the great jurists differed in their conclusions are more complex than simply, “he wasn’t aware of the hadith,” or, (worse still) “he ignored this hadith and decided to invent his own opinion instead.”
I was speaking to a young scholar here in the U.A.E. last night and he told me that this book “deserves to be written in gold,” and that every student of knowledge should memorize it (not just read it). My own teacher, Shaykh Talal Ahdab, gave me this book to read many, many years ago, and told me that the late Shaykh `Abdul Fattah Abu Ghudda (Allah have mercy on him) used to urge people to read this book repeatedly. Shaykh Talal himself said he read this book no less than 50 times.
Hamza.
Asalaamu alaikum Shaykh Hamza,
I have a comment regarding those who go it alone. I am one of those who went it alone for quite awhile. Not because I felt very smart and brillant in my ability to figure things out - but at times that is what is available. Particulary for women - at times that is the only choice you have.
From where I am residing I feel people are open to listening to those with knowledge. The issue is access. It is not always easy to get hold of people with knowledge to clarify issues. Not all of us can really pack up and travel to far away lands and live there to study.
Maybe I am wrong in this logic - Instead of reading a book 50 times, I think 10 is enough, and making time for those non-scholars who go it alone is better than reading it 40 more times.
I think the dilemma facing us is to connect people with sound knowledge of Islam to the grassroots and the masses. Convincing them to not go it alone is not an issue.
I am enrolled in the class you are preparing for.
wasalaam,
Fedwa