الدفاع عن السنة The defence of the Sunnah

[فداء الرسول]

Episode 1: The defence of the Sunnah 1/2


Introduction

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon the leader of educators and the head of those whose faces and feet are white (from the effect of ablution); our Prophet Mohammed, and upon his family and all of his Companions.

In what is to follow:

Allah – Exalted in Highness – has put the Sunnah of His Prophet - peace be upon him – at a paramount status, and uppermost position, as He entrusted to him - peace be upon him - with the duty of mission, the function of elucidation, so the Almighty said: ((and We have sent down unto you the Message; that you may explain clearly to men what is sent for them ...)) [An-Nahl: 44]. And ‘elucidation’ is a generic term for meanings with combined roots and ramified branches:

One of them is: the elucidation of the same revelation by its manifestation through his tongue after it had been hidden.

The second one: the elucidation of its meaning and its interpretation to whoever had a need for that. He has also shown that the wrong-doing mentioned in His saying, Exalted He be: ((and confuse not their beliefs with wrong)) [Al An’am: 82], is false worship (1).

The third one: his actual elucidation, such as when he has elucidated prayer times to the asking person through his action (2).

The fourth: elucidation of what he has been asked about, concerning the provisions that are not in the Quran. The Quran then descends with their elucidation. Such as when he had been asked about the slandering of the spouse, the Quran came with the Li’aan (a solemn oath used in cases of unfaithfulness, and which attract a curse if untrue) and its equivalents (3).

The fifth: elucidation of what he has been asked about via inspiration, even though it is not Quran, such as when he had been asked about a man who entered the state of ritual Ihram in a cloak heavily embalmed with a saffron-based scent. Revelation came that he takes his cloak off and removes the effect of the scent (4).

The sixth: his elucidation of the provisions with the Sunnah as inception without question, such as when he prohibited donkey meats for them (5) and fixed term marriages (6).

The seventh: his elucidation to the people the permissibility of the thing by doing it himself, and not forbidding them to follow his example.

The eighth: his elucidation of the permissibility of the thing by approving it for them doing it while he is observing it, or teaching them that they do it.

The ninth: his elucidation of the permissibility of the thing spontaneously by keeping silent from prohibiting it, even though he does not authorize it verbally.

The tenth: that he arbitrates the Quran in affirming something, prohibiting it or permitting it, and formulates for that provision a set of conditions, impediments, restrictions, specific times, circumstances and particularities. The Lord –Exalted in Highness – then confers upon His Messenger its elucidation; such as His saying, Exalted He be: ((except for these, all others are lawful)) [An Nisa’ 24].

The allowance depends on the conditions of marriage, the absence of impediments, the time it is due and the suitability of the situation whereby it is lawful; so the Sunnah came with the elucidation of all that.

Everything he - peace be upon him - legislated for the nation is an elucidation from his part on behalf of Allah that this is his law and his religion, and there is no difference between what he reports from Him of rehearsed utterances and between His revelation, which is the equivalent of His words in terms of the obligation in following, and the contravention of the former is like the contravention of the latter (7).



(1) The Sahih of Bukhari: (32), and the Sahih of Muslim: (327).

(2) The Sahih of Muslim: (613).

(3) The Sahih of Bukhari: (4745).

(4) The Sahih of Bukhari: (1789), and the Sahih of Muslim: (1180).

(5) Abu Dawood: (4604), At-Tirmidhi: (2663), Ibn Hibbaan: (12), authenticated by Al-Haakim: (1/109), and Adh-Dhahabi approved it.

(6) The Sahih of Bukhari: (4216), and the Sahih of Muslim: (1407).

(7) I’laam Al-Muwaqqi’een: (4/97-104).

[فداء الرسول]

Episode 2: The defence of the Sunnah 2/2

If that was the status of the Sunnah and this is its importance, its denial, violation, tampering with it, doubting its authenticity, feigning of lies around it, which is what the deviant parties sought in the past, and the deviants seek latterly. All of that is considered a very serious matter, as that has the consequence of opening doors of evil, which tear down the structure of Islam, and that is for the following reasons:

Firstly: that the legal provisions of fundamental knowledge "beliefs", their elucidation and details depend on the Sunnah after the Quran and with it. Denial of the Prophetic Sunnah threatens doctrines with deficiency and ambiguity. It prejudices that which concerns divinities, prophecies, aural traditions and other that that from the issues of faith. Does a religion get established on deficient and ambiguous doctrines?!

Secondly: the elimination of the principles of practical legal provisions, "the principles of Islamic jurisprudence"; because this science addresses the evidence upon which provisions are formulated. Fundamentalists have agreed, by consensus, that the Sunnah is the second source of Islamic legislation, and based on this, denial of the Sunnah makes the Islamic jurisprudence at the mercy of the winds; due to it not being based on evidence and lacking foundations.

Thirdly: the disintegration of the applied branches of jurisprudence "ideological and comparative" because the bulk of jurisprudential issues and facts are based on the Sunnah of the Prophet, either through elucidation and clarification; such as the times, numbers and modalities of the prescribed prayers, or independently, such as expiation for one who spoils the fast of Ramadan, and the sentences of one who drinks intoxicants and the apostate, and manners, behaviour, virtuous deeds and so on.

Fourthly: The distortion of the sciences of the Holy Quran, due to it being based, in many of its cases, on the prophetic Sunnah, and the threat of the science of exegesis, due to it being based, in most of what it is presented with, on the prophetic Sunnah (1).

Thus, the denial of the Sunnah paves the way for doubting the Quran itself, and disrupts the verses that urge and incite to follow His Messenger - peace be upon him - and to take him as a role model, to arbitrate him, to accept his ruling, to favour obedience to him over the obedience to anyone else, so that the nation is left without a legislation of clear features and strong designation; as the principles of legislation and its branches have been exposed to fabrication and boldness.

The slur against the prophetic Sunnah is destruction to Islam in its beliefs, acts of worship, systems, morals, destruction to its unity and a cause of the Muslims lagging behind in the course of civilization.

Professor Mohammed Asad says: "The Sunnah had been a key to understanding the Islamic Renaissance since more than thirteen centuries, so why can’t it be the key to understanding our present disintegration?. Acting according to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah - peace be upon him – is an action to preserve the entity of Islam and its advancement, and forsaking the Sunnah is the dissolution of Islam.

The Sunnah had been the steel frame upon which the edifice of Islam was established, and if you remove the structure of a building, would you be astonished (i.e. surprised) that the building collapses as if it is a house of cards? (2).

This is what the enemies of Islam are planning for, whether those showing hostility to it, the conspirators against it, or those wearing its cloak in deception and falsehood. But even if they endeavour what they can, they will not reach their desired goal, and sought purpose, but will remain reeling in purposeless confusion in overcast mazes with numerous sprains, difficult to exit, until they die with rage, anguish and hatred; because Allah - the Almighty – Has assigned His care to protect His religion from those who seek to harm it, and to protect its adherents from all those who seek them with evil, as indicated by His saying, the Almighty: ((Fain would they extinguish Allah's light with their mouths, but Allah will not allow but that His light should be perfected, even though the unbelievers may detest (it). It is He Who has sent His Apostle with guidance and the Religion of Truth, to proclaim it over all religion, even though the Pagans may detest (it).)) [At-Taubah: 32-33].

The concern of the bands of transgression - old and new - and their attempts to undermine the pure Sunnah are but like the concern for which Al A’sha said:

Like the one who butted a rock one day to weaken it

He did not hurt it, and weakened the horn of the Ibex

They are, by their transgression, fabrication, abuse, falsification and false pretences, but wronging themselves and their religion: ((And soon will the unjust assailants know what vicissitudes their affairs will take!)) [Ash-Shu’ara’: 227].

In this oratory, we will take a pause by their fabrications and lies. We will expose their misconceptions and fabrications, refuting them, rebutting them, so that the truth is revealed and falsehood is exposed, and from Allah we draw help and we ask Him success. ((and my success can come but from Allah. In Him I trust, and unto Him I turn)).



(1) The prophetic Sunnah - Dr. Ahmad Karima, P. 27, 28.

(2) Islam at the Crossroads, p. 87.


alssunnahnet.com

[فداء الرسول]

Episode 3: A pause with the false allegations of the orientalists and the illusions of the occidentalists (1-4)


We presented in the chapter pertaining to (the chronicling of the Sunnah) in this site to define the Sunnah in language and terminology, and we have mentioned its use in the Holy Quran, and its concept in the Sunnah and with the predecessor of the nation, and urged beforehand on the need to understand the differences between the linguistic meanings and the conventional meanings; because the lack of understanding of that and ignorance of it lands the doer in a great deal of confusion and considerable turmoil, and this is what happened to the term Sunnah. We see that the enemies of Islam and hallowed Sunnah have exploited these differences hideously, which is predictive of their deep hatred against Islam and the Muslims. In their attack on the pure Sunnah, they focus on some of its linguistic or conventional meanings neglecting - sometimes out of ignorance, and some other times knowingly- the remainder of its conventional meanings; in order to reach their goal and purpose from questioning its probativeness and not act according to it, including their focus on the meaning of the Sunnah in the terminology of the jurists, which is not an obligation, such that the one who does it is complimented and the one who abandons it is not disparaged(1).

This generalization in the definition of the Sunnah is utter misguidance(2); for there is in it a dissuasion of the word from its terminological meaning with the orators and scholars of fundamentals, and that it is a source of legislation, independent and inseparable from the Holy Quran in supportive arguments, and that the five mandatory provisions take place in it, as they do in the Holy Quran exactly(3).

And among the linguistic meanings, which the enemies of Islam focus on in their definition of the Sunnah; its meaning which came in the sense of mode and conduct, whether good it was or bad, and they express that meaning as habit and custom as the orientalist (Goldziher)(4) said: (Sunnah is the synthesis of hereditary mores and traditions in the pagan Arab community; then transmitted to Islam, so it underwent a radical change when transmitted. Then the Muslims established from the most common of doctrines, words, actions and habits, for the oldest of generations of Muslim a new Sunnah)(5). He was succeeded on that by all those who came after him from the orientalists(6).

Echoing these words, Dr. Ali Hasan Abd Al-Qaadir, in his book(7) (An overview of the history of Islamic jurisprudence), he said: (The meaning of Sunnah was pre-existent in the Arab communities in the past, and refers to the correct way in life for the individual and the group. The Muslims did not invent this meaning, but was already known in the pre-Islamic era. They used to call that Sunnah; these Arabic traditions and what is consistent with ancestral customs. This meaning has remained in Islam in the old schools in the Hijaz, and in Iraq as well, in this general sense; meaning the existing activity and the consensual affairs in Islamic circles, and the model example of correct conduct without that being restricted to the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace be upon him. Finally, this meaning was set, and the Sunnah was made exclusive to the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace be upon him. This definition goes back to the late second century AH, on account of the way of Imam Shaafi'i, with which he went against the old terminology)(8).

Yes, the term Sunnah and its meaning were known in the language of the Arabs before Islam, and the Muslims have neither invented this word nor its meaning. Nevertheless, the matter is not as the orientalists and Dr. Ali Hasan Abd Al-Qaadir alleged, in that the meaning of Sunnah in the beginning of Islam is the pagan habit and custom(9), or that it is just the correct way. But rather includes the correct way and the incorrect one, according to the view of the majority of linguists. The Holy Quran, the prophetic Hadiths and the pre-Islamic poetry support them in appellation, which has been previously elucidated.



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(1) Al Bahr Al Muheet by Az-Zarkashi 1/284, and Irshaad Al Fuhoul by Shawakaani 1/155, and the Principles of Jurisprudence by Sheikh Mohammed Al-Khodhari 54, and the Principles of Jurisprudence by Sheikh Abdul Wahaab Khallaaf p. 111.

(2) See: the generalization of Mahmoud Abu-Rayah for that, in ‘Lights on the Sunnah’ p. 38.

(3) See: Regulations of narration with the orators. pp.25, 26, abridged.

(4) Goldziher: a Hungarian Jewish orientalist. He travelled in Syria, Palestine and Egypt, and accompanied some of Al Azhar’s scholars. He has got compilations in German, English and French, some of which has been translated into Arabic. Dr. As-Sibaa’i said:" he was known for his hostility towards Islam and by the dangerousness of his writings about it, and from the editors of the Encyclopaedia of Islamic". He wrote about the Quran and the Hadith. Among his books: History of the schools of Islamic Exegesis," and "Doctrine and Law in Islam," and "The Scandals of the Zahiris", and others. He died in 1921. He has got a translation in: Al A’laam by Az-Zarkali 1/284, and Orientalism by Dr. As-Sibaa’i 31-32, and ‘The Views of the Orientalists on the Quran and its Interpretation’ by Dr. Omar Ibrahim 1/161-162.

(5) Doctrine and Law in Islam, p. 49, 251.

(6) The Encyclopaedia of Islam 7/330, see: Studies in the Hadith by Dr. Al A’dhami 1/5-11, and ‘The Methodology of Collection of the Sunnah and the Collection of the Gospels’ by Dr ‘Aziah Ali Taha. P. 62,122,123.

(7) Ali Hasan Abd Al-Qaadir: Professor in the history of Islamic legislation, holder of an international award in philosophy from Germany, and the metaphor from the Faculty of Theology in the history department, dean of the Faculty of Sharia Al-Azhar Al-Sharif formerly. Among his works: ‘An Overview of the History of Islamic Jurisprudence’

(8) An Overview of the History of Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 122 123.

(9) It would be right to define the Sunnah as habit and custom, but what is meant by habit in this case is the habit of the prophet - peace be upon him – i.e. what he had done, endorsed, or had observed but did not object to, which is in this case from the religion. It is also given to the practical legacy of the life of the Companions - may Allah be pleased with them – and does not mean habit and custom prevailing during the pre-Islamic era, as alluded by the statement of Goldziher and those who say as he did. See: the probativeness of the Sunnah by Dr. Abdul -Ghani Abdul-Khaaliq P.49-51, and the Doorway to the Prophetic Sunnah by our respected professor, Dr. Abdul-Mahdi Abdul Qaadir, p. 25-26.

[فداء الرسول]

Episode 4: A pause with the false allegations of the orientalists and the illusions of the occidentalists (2-4)



The use by the Holy Quran and the hallowed Sunnah of the word Sunnah, in the linguistic sense, does not mean that the linguistic meaning (the way), (the practice) or (the habit) is what is meant, in the law, by Sunnah. This word has shifted from its linguistic meaning to the conventional meaning (Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah - peace be upon him - encompassing his utterances, actions, endorsements, physical and moral attributes...), and it is in this sense a legislative source, inseparable from the Holy Quran, one does not get dissociated from the other.

This conventional meaning for the word Sunnah was set and known in the beginning of Islam, while the Prophet - peace be upon him- was among his companions - may Allah be pleased with them - and the matter is not as alleged by Dr. Ali Hasan Abd Al-Qaadir in succession to the orientalists, that this conventional meaning for the Sunnah was set in the late second century AH.

Among the linguistic meanings, which the enemies of Islam focus on in their definition of the Sunnah, its meaning contained in the sense way. Then they define the Sunnah as: the practical process, or the practical Sunnah. As to his words, accounts and qualities - peace be upon him – they are not of the Sunnah, and setting the term Hadith or Sunnah on that is, in their view, but a terminological novelty from the orators, unbeknown to the language, and is not used in its literature. Thus alleged Mahmoud Abu Rayah(1) in his book (Lights on the Mohammedan Sunnah)(2) in succession to Dr. Tawfeeq Sidqi(3).

In that, too, the engineer Dr. Mohamed Shahrour(4) says in his book (The Book and the Quran: A Contemporary Reading): (What has been termed the Prophetic Sunnah is but the life of the Prophet - peace be upon him - as a prophet and a human being, who lived his life in reality, even at the heart of it, and not in a world of illusion).

Elsewhere he says: (from here comes the wrong definition, in our view, of the Prophetic Sunnah that it is all that which was issued by the Prophet - peace be upon him – from utterance, action, command, forbiddance or endorsement. Knowing that this definition for the Sunnah is not that of the Prophet - peace be upon him - himself, and is therefore subject to discussion and give and take. This definition was a cause in the mummification of Islam, knowing that the Prophet - peace be upon him - and his Companions did not define the Sunnah in this way, and the actions of Omar Ibn Al-Khattab confirm this)(5).

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(1) Mahmoud Abu-Rayah: an Egyptian writer, who was affiliated to Al Azhar in his early youth. When he moved to the secondary Azhar stage, he failed to pass more than once. He worked as corrector of typographic errors at a newspaper in his hometown, then a clerk at the Municipality until he was made to retire. Among his collections, in which he slandered the Sunnah and the Companions: ‘Lights on the Sunnah’ and ‘The Tale of the Mohammedan Discourse’, and ‘Sheikh Almudheirah (Abu Hurayrah)’. See: ‘The Sunnah and its Stance in Legislation’ by Dr. As-Sibaa’i p. 466.

(2) Lights on the Sunnah, p. 39.

(3) Dr Tawfeeq Sidqi: He is Dr Mohamed Tawfeeq Sidqi; a physician at the Prison Services in Cairo. He wrote articles in the magazine Al-Manar, entitled "Islam is the Quran alone". He died in 1920. Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Ridha interpreted his work in the magazine Al-Manar, volume 483/21 and subsequent ones. See: the magazine Al-Manar, volume 11/774.

(4) Mohammed Shahrour: A contemporary Syrian writer. He holds a doctorate in engineering from the National University of Ireland in Dublin. His works include: ‘The Book and the Quran: A Contemporary Reading’, and ‘Islam and Belief: A System of Values’, and ‘The State and the Society’.

(5) The Book and the Quran: A Contemporary Reading. p. 546-548.

[فداء الرسول]

Episode 5: A pause with the false allegations of the orientalists and the illusions of the occidentalists (3/4)


Niazi, Izz Ad-Deen(1) says: (men of religion in the third century AH knew the Sunnah and added matters to it that are of their independent intellectual effort. They had said in its definition: (it is all that could be traced back to the Prophet - peace be upon him - from utterance, action, endorsement, a physical or moral attribute, or conduct, whether it was before the mission – like his meditation in the cave of Hira’ - or after it). This expanded definition, which came in an era ulterior to that of the Prophet - peace be upon him - and his Companions, has brought calamity to Islam. In another placement, he says: (though most of those who introduced the sayings of the Prophet - peace be upon him -, his actions and comportments into the religion, they did it while knowing they are doing what is forbidden, and fall into sin. But, whims and Satan were stronger than belief in that period, so Satan did what he wanted)(2).

Among the linguistic meanings they focus on in their scepticism towards the Sunnah, its meaning revealed in the Quran in the sense of command of Allah - the Almighty -, His prohibitions and all other provisions, and His way, and they say: there is no Sunnah apart from the Way of Allah - the Almighty – which is mentioned in His Mighty Book, and that it is impossible for the Messenger of Allah to have a Way, and for Allah - the Almighty – to have a Way, then the Apostle would associate himself with Almighty Allah.

Concerning this, Mohammed Najib(3) says in his book (The Prayer): The Quran and the verses contained therein is the Way of Allah, which He instigated and prescribed as a framework for existence, and Allah Himself followed; for it is the Way of Allah...

It is not plausible for the Messenger to have a way, and for Allah to have a Way, then the Apostle would associate himself with Allah, and both of them would have a special Way, which is impossible to happen from a believer and from a Messenger in particular. It is not plausible for a person, to whom Allah Has given the book, the wisdom and the prophecy that he leaves the rule of Allah and His Way, and requests of people that they follow what he instigates as provisions. That, if it ever happens, is but arrogance in the land and transcendence over Allah. Allah Almighty says: (It is not (possible) that a man, to whom Allah Has given the Book, and Wisdom, and the prophetic office, should say to people: "Be my worshippers rather than Allah's": on the contrary (He would say) "Be worshippers of Him Who is truly the Cherisher of all: For you have taught the Book and you have studied it earnestly) (Al ‘Imran: 79), (But when a warner came to them, it has only increased their flight from righteousness. On account of their arrogance in the land and their plotting of Evil, but the plotting of Evil will hem in only the authors thereof. Now are they but looking for the way the ancients were dealt with? But no change will you find in Allah's way (of dealing), and no turning off will you find in Allah's way (of dealing). (Fatir: 42, 43). This underlines the need to return to the Book of Allah, for it is alone the collection of the way of Allah(4).



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(1) Niazi Izz al-Din: A contemporary Syrian writer, emigrated to America, from his writings: ‘A Warning from the Sky’, and ‘The Religion of the Sultan’, in which he claimed that the hallowed Sunnah has been put by the Imams of the Muslims among the Jurists and orators in order to establish the sovereignty of the Sultan Mu’awiyah - may Allah be pleased with him - and Muslims’ scholars stridden on their path to this day.

(2) A Warning from the Sky, p. 40, 111.

(3) Mohamed Najib: A contemporary writer. Among his works (The Prayer), in which he denied the hallowed Sunnah, and claimed that prayer details have been mentioned in the Holy Quran. The book has been issued by the supporters of the Quran following a symposium, published by the Encyclopaedia of Islamic Scientific Knowledge.

(4) The Prayer, p. 276, 277.

[فداء الرسول]

Episode 6: A pause with the false allegations of the orientalists and the illusions of the occidentalists (4/4)



In that, too, Ahmed Subhi Mansour(1) says in his book (The Class of Punishment for Apostasy), defining the real Sunnah, by saying: (The Way of Allah the Almighty is the Sunnah of His Messenger, peace be upon him...). Almighty Allah sends down the Law as revelation and the Messenger conveys it and implements it, and the Prophet would be the first of people in obedience and following to the commands of Allah. Almighty Allah commanded the Prophet to say: (I follow but that which is revealed to me) (Al Ahqaf: 9). Belief in the Messenger means belief in all that which descended on him of the Quran, and belief that he followed that revelation and applied it, and he was the first of people to believe it and implement it thereof(2).

Qaasim Ahmad(3) says in his book (Re-evaluation of the Hadith): It is by looking at the use of the words Sunnah and Hadith in the Quran, which gives us interesting information, that we find that the word (Sunnah) refers in the Quran to the order, or the divine law, and to the paradigm of the previous nations which met their fate. The Quran did not indicate that the Sunnah is the comportment of the Prophet, and these two uses are inferred to by the following two verses:

The saying of the Almighty: ((Such has been) the practice (approved) of Allah already in the past: no change will you find in the practice (approved) of Allah) (Al Fath: 23). And His saying: (Say to the Unbelievers, if (now) they desist (from Unbelief), their past would be forgiven them; but if they persist, the punishment of those before them is already (a matter of warning for them)) (Al Anfal: 38).

The term "Hadith" has been used in the Quran with the meaning "news", "narratives", "message" and "thing". It has been mentioned thirty-six times in different linguistic placements, none of which refers to what is known as the prophetic Hadith. In contrast, it has been mentioned in ten placements from manifest verses referring to the Quran and strongly excluding any discourse besides the Quran, of which these verses: (Allah has revealed the most beautiful Message in the form of a Book, consistent with itself) (Az Zumar: 23), (But there are, among men, those who purchase idle tales, without knowledge (or meaning), to mislead (men) from the Path of Allah and throw ridicule (on the Path): for such there will be a Humiliating Penalty) (Luqman: 6)(4).

This is in addition to what the enemies of the Sunnah alleged in their definition of the Sunnah that it is the practical process, the practical Sunnah, or that it is the Way of Allah Almighty. And that the definition of the Sunnah is that it is: (all that which is issued by the Prophet - peace be upon him – from utterance, action, endorsement, or character ....), a terminology introduced by the orators and was not known to the Prophet - peace be upon him - or his Companions – may Allah be pleased with them – even though this definition has been a reason in the mummification of Islam. This false assertion is indicative of what I have already mentioned, that these enemies are mingling meanings in the language, with those in the terminology, and neither care about their cognition, nor their explanation, either out of ignorance, or knowingly with the intention to deceive the reader and mislead him, and cause him to call in question the probativeness of the Sunnah, and its scholars whom the Lord of Honour and Power destined to safeguard it from alteration and change, wholly and accurately, as He destined to His mighty scripture, those that safeguard it among the unrivalled scholars.

Perhaps it has become clear - previously - to the honourable reader that the Sunnah of the Prophet with its definition, which is known to orators, fundamentalists and jurists, was intentional from the Prophet - peace be upon him - and known to the Companions - may Allah be pleased with them all - and that this definition for the hallowed Sunnah has been a reason for the glory of Islam and Muslims, and not for its mummification as the enemies of Islam allege. It has also become clear that the term Sunnah and the term Hadith were synonymous during the period of the blessed prophecy and the time of the Companions - may Allah be pleased with them – then those who came after them from amongst the followers and their followers - may Allah be pleased with them - and accordingly scholars of the consistent law, contrary to the enemies of Islam, the pretenders: that the term Sunnah is not the same as the term Hadith, and that they must be distinctive from each other(5).

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(1) Ahmed Sobhi Mansour: graduated from Al Azhar and got an international award in history from the University. He repudiated the Sunnah, so the University cleared itself of him. He travelled to America and worked with the divinator Rashad Khalifa, lecturing at the American University in Cairo, Director of the gallery Ibn Khaldun at Moqattam. Among his compilations: ‘Prophets in the Quran’, ‘The Disobedient Muslim’, ‘The Torment of the Grave and the Bald Snake’ and ‘Why the Quran?’, under the pseudonym Abdullah Al-Khalifa. See his story with Rashad Khalifa in the two books: ‘Musaylimah at the Tucson Mosque’, and ‘Defence of the Sunnah’, the first part of the series "Islam and the Continuation of the Plot" both of which are by the honourable Professor. Dr. Taha Hbaishi.

(2) The Class of Punishment for Apostasy, p. 40.

(3) Qaasim Ahmad: a contemporary Malaysian writer and President of the Malaysian Socialist Party - formerly - author of: ‘Re-evaluation of the Hadith’, in which he denied the probativeness of the Sunnah.

(4) See: ‘Re-evaluation of the Hadith’, p. 77, 78, and his infrence to this verse that the term Hadith is the Quran is an obsolete and void inference. This (idle talk) here is the fairytales and myths, see: ‘Interpretation of the Holy Quran’ by Ibn Katheer 3/441.

(5) See: The Sunnah in the writings of the enemies of Islam (1/24-30), abridged.

[فداء الرسول]

Episode 7: Suspicion around the appellation and the response to it 1/2



It goes without saying when we decide: that the terms (Sunnah) and (Hadith) are Arabic, whereas among the enemies of Islam who denied this axiom was Goldziher, when he once claimed that the word (Sunnah) was taken from the Hebrew (Mishnah), he said: (Even in Islam, this idea took a place too, I mean taking a sacred law behind the Quran or an oral one as is the case with the Jews) (1).

Then said once again: it is rather a pagan term in origin, which Islam adopted and excerpted, and pursued him on that from his creed: Schacht and Margolioth, as quoted from them by Dr Mohammed Al A’dhami in his book (Studies in the Prophetic Hadith) (2).

And followed the Orientalists on that, Kasim Ahmad, when he said: (what Muslims should be aware of is the very big similarity between this opinion and the old opinion of the Jews about the written and oral revelations. The Jewish Talmud, which includes the Mishnah and the Gemara; the two resemble the Islamic Hadith and Sunnah. They are a set of oral teachings belonging to rabbis and senior Jewish scholars, the basis of their interpretation to their holy book and their explication to it over a long period, by the tongue of the Jewish scholar Yehuda Goldin (3).

The Orientalist Alfred Guillaume also claimed in his book (The Hadith in Islam): that the term (Hadith) is derived from the Hebrew word with the Jews (Hadash), which means the new, the news, or the stories (4).

The purpose for this misconception is intended to deny that the two terms are Arabic.

This false suspicion has been refuted by Professor Sheikh Mahmoud Shaltout in his book (Islam: Doctrine and Law), where he negated that the term Sunnah be taken from the Hebrew (5).

Dr. Mohamed Al-A’dhami also refuted in his book (Studies in the Prophetic Hadith) the false claim of Goldziher; that it is a pagan term in origin, but Islam adopted and excerpted it (6).

This suspicion was mentioned and refuted by Dr. Raouf Chalabi in his book (The Prophetic Sunnah between Confirmation by the Graspers and Rejection by the Ignorants), he said: it is the very nature of life that goodness is not safe from evil, that justice is not safe from injustice, and Satan had destined elements which slander against Islam and its sources. Some researchers had alleged that the designation with the term Sunnah is taken by Muslims from the Hebrew word (Mishnah), that is given in Jewish terminology to the set of Jewish narrations, which are considered, in their opinion, the main reference in learning the provisions of the Torah. It is also considered as an explication and exegesis for it, then the Muslims arabicized it to the word (Sunnah). The Jews allege that the Muslims gave it - following Arabicization – as a proper term to designate the set of prophetic narrations in return for their use of the word (Mishnah) to designate the set of Jewish accounts.

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1. Doctrine and Law in Islam, p. 49.

2. Studies in the Prophetic Hadith, 1: 5, 6.

3. Re-evaluation of the Hadith p. 78, 79.

4. Quoted from: Methodology of collection of the Sunnah, by Dr. Aziah Ali Taha, p. 62.

5. Islam: Doctrine and Law, p. 492 493.

6. Studies in the Prophetic Hadith, 1: 5 -11.

[فداء الرسول]

Episode 8: Suspicion around the appellation and the response to it 2/2

The answer is:

The eminent Professor Dr. Raouf Chalabi: the objection of the Jews and those who followed them over the terms (Sunnah) and (Hadith) is summarized in two points:

1- That Muslims Arabicized it from the words (Mishnah) and (Hadash).

2- That Muslims gave it as a proper term to designate the set of prophetic narrations in return for what the Jews did by giving the term (Mishnah) to designate the set of Jewish accounts that explain the Torah to them, which is considered as the main source in learning the provisions.

In response to the first point: the inquisitive and honest mind does not accept the claim of the Jews and those who followed their path, that the early Arab Muslims Arabicized (Mishnah) to (Sunnah), or Arabicized (Hadash) to (Hadith).

Firstly: due to the lack of similarity in characters and structure.

Secondly: because the words were reportedly used in Pre-Islamic Poetry, used by our Lord - Almighty - in His Holy Book, and our Prophet - peace be upon him – used them in his noble Statements, as previously mentioned in the linguistic definition of the Sunnah and Hadith, which leaves no scope for the hypothesis into the research concerning the Arabization of the word (Sunnah) from (Mishnah) or (Hadith) from (Hdash).

Therefore, the two terms were not Arabicized by the Muslims from the words (Mishnah and Hadash), but rather took them from the core of their language, their explicit Holy Book and frank Statement of their Prophet - peace be upon him - (1).

Dr Al A’dhami says in response to the claim of paganism of the term: "So, what Goldziher said about the Sunnah being a pagan term used by Islam, is an allegation not based on evidence, and contrary to concrete evidence, and that the use of the Pre-Islamic or the pagans among the Arabs (for a particular word) in its linguistic concept, does not cover it with a particular garment, nor does it turn it into a pagan term, and especially if we look at their different uses for this word. Otherwise, the whole of the Arabic language would have turned into a pagan term, and this cannot be uttered by any sane person "(2).

The same as this statement is said in response to the allegation of Alfred Guillaume that the word (Hadith) is derived from the Hebrew word (Hadash).

In response to the second point: Ibn Qayyim Al Jawziyyah (3) says in “Ighathat Al Lahfaan”: "The word Mishnah means the book written by Jewish scholars at the time of the state of the Babylonians and the Persians, and the state of the Greeks and the Romans, which is the smallest book and is around eight hundred pages in size."

While the Talmud: is the largest book authored by Jewish scholars together with Mishnah, and is about half a mule’s burden in size, due to its bulkiness. Scholars did not compile it all in the scope of one era, but rather compiled it generation after generation. When the later ones among them looked at this compilation, where the more time passes the more they add to it, and that there is in the later addition what contradicts the beginnings of this compilation, they learned that if they do not discontinue the practice and prohibit from adding to it, it would lead to the flaw which cannot be bridged. They discontinued the additions to it, and prohibited from it, and barred scholars from adding to it and supplementing it with anything else, and forbade that anything else be added to it, so it was halted at that lot (4).

So, the Mishnah and the Talmud are authored by Jewish scholars to satisfy their whims, and they attribued it to the Torah and to our master Moses - peace be upon him and upon our Prophet - not so in the prophetic Hadith and pure Sunnah; for they are prophetic narrations revealed from the part of the Lord of Glory, and none of the scholars of Islam has an intervention in any of them, except by preserving them, taking care of them and implementing them, and the author of the Sunnah - peace be upon him - is the one who designated and named all that which emanated from him as utterance, action, or account, etc..., as of his noble Hadith and pure Sunnah.

He is the one - peace be upon him –who said: (Satan has despaired of ever being worshipped in your land. However, he is satisfied to be obeyed in everything else from the deeds that you consider despicable. Therefore beware! O people! I have left among you something which, if you cling to it, you shall never be led astray: the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet, peace be upon him) (5).

From all this, is becomes clear to us that the two words (Sunnah) and (Hadith):

1 - Genuinely Arabic.

2 - That the Holy Quran and the prophetic Sunnah had used them.

3 – That it is the prophet - peace be upon him - who termed the Hadith and the Sunnah, and set them as proper terms on all that which emanated from him as utterance, action or account, etc..., as I have previously mentioned.

Thus expunged from the possibility the assumption that the Muslims derived into Arabic the word (Sunnah) from the word (Mishnah), or (Hadith) from (Hadash), or assuming they are pagan terms, and that there is a big difference between the chandelier of the clear path in Islam, and the muddy soil of the distorters who were cursed on the tongue of their prophets: David and Jesus, the son of Mary; as requital for that they have done (6). End of quote.

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1) The Prophetic Sunnah between Confirmation by the Graspers and Rejection by the Ignorants, p. 32 and subsequent pages, abridged.

2) Studies in the Prophetic Hadith, 1: 7.

3) Ibn Qayyim Al Jawziyyah: he is Mohammed ibn Abu Bakr ibn Ayyub Az-Zar’i Ad-Dimashqi, Abu Abdullah, the Hanbali jurist, fundamentalist, narrator, grammarian, writer, preacher and orator. He has many indexed works, the most popular of which are: “A’laam Al Mauqi’iyeen ‘An Rabbil’aalameen”, “Zaad Al Ma’aad Fi Hadyi Kheiril’ibaad”, and others. He died in 751 AH. He has got a translation in: “Al Bidayah Wan-Nihaayah” of Ibn Katheer 14/234, and “Ad-Durar Al Kaaminah” of Ibn Hajar 3/400-403 No. 1067, and “Shadharaat Adh-Dhahab” 6/168, and “Tabaqaat Al Mufassireen” of Ad-Dawdi 2/93 -97, No. 456, and “Al Waafy Bil-Wafiyyaat” 2/270.

4) Ighaathat Al Lahfaan, 2/323, 324.

5) Narrated by Al Haakim in “Al Mustadrak the Book of Knowledge”, the chapter pertaining to his Sermon - peace be upon him – during the farewell pilgrimage 1/171, 172 No. 318, from the statement of Ibn Abbas - may Allah be pleased with him – and said: in its chain of narration‘Ikrimah and Bukhari expostulated using it, and Ibn Abu Uweys and Muslim expostulated using it, and all of its narrators are agreed upon, and then said: it has got a witness from the Statement of Abu Hurayrah - may Allah be pleased with him - and narrated it in the previous instance, and Adh-Dhahabi agreed with him and said it has a basis in the authentic. End of quote.

6) The Prophetic Sunnah between Confirmation by the Graspers and Rejection by the Ignorants by Dr. Raouf Shalaby, p. 32: 36 quote, and The Sunnah in the writings of the enemies of Islam (1/50-53).

[فداء الرسول]

Episode 9: Refuting the calumny set by Goldziher and those who followed him (1-5)


Tuesday 4 January 2011



This calumny adopted by Goldziher and those who followed him is void from several aspects:
The first aspect: (Goldziher) and his student have alleged that the Islamic concept of the Sunnah is a term modified from the old Arabic views, and pre-Islamic heritage; he means that Islam retained some of the matters familiar to the Arabs, anterior to it, following their regulation for them, which is what the Orientalists always mention. Then this is (Gustave Le Bon), who says in his book (The Civilization of the Arabs): (Such like Mohammed, who knew how to select from ancient Arab systems what seemed the most appropriate, then supported it with his religious influence, but the law of Mohammed did not abolish all the customs it substituted) (1).
Goldziher always hits this string in all his Islamic studies: he makes everything Islamic amenable: either to internal factors, such as the jurisprudence of the pre-Islamic people and their customs, or to external factors, such as Judaism, Christianity and Greek mythology.
These customs or traditions, which are retained by Islam, are quite specific. They do not amount to one tenth of the Islamic legislations. Nevertheless, Islam only retained them on one condition, which is that they neither contravene legal evidence, nor one of its fundamental rules.
Dr Zaki Ad-Din Shaaban says: (This is why we find that the wise legislator endorses many of the matters that are familiar to the Arabs before Islam, following their regulation for them, such as selling, mortgaging, leasing, borrowing, oaths, marriage, considering parity between spouses, the imposition of blood money on the killer’s relatives, basis of inheritance and the guardianship in marriage through family-relations, and does not rule out from them but the inappropriate and harmful that are unsuitable, such as usury, gambling, burying female infants alive and denial of women's inheritance) (2).
Dr. Sassi Al Haj presented some of the provisions, which had existed within the Arabs previously, and Islam retained or revoked, then said: (These are examples concerning worship and transactions found in pre-Islam, and Islam approved some of them and revoked some others. From this endorsement, orientalists reckoned that the Prophet drew his information, news and provisions, representing his commands and prohibitions, from these customary laws, which he found in his milieu. He was influenced by them, and incorporated them into his book, which he authored, and into his practices and statements, which he aired to his Companions, and became a major part of his legislations.
We do not deny the existence of such provisions and laws, resulting from the customs of the pagans in Islamic legislation. It would not harm the Prophet to maintain the suitable laws, whether regulated acts of worship or transactions, as long as these provisions fit with the philosophy of Islamic law, in order to achieve its purposes for which it was revealed. We cannot conclude from their retention the influence of the Prophet by them, considering that they are matters he drew from his environment, and not revealed by Allah to him in His impervious book. If the matter had been otherwise, he would have maintained all the other pagan laws and customs, and not have prohibited some of them and permitted some others. But, legislation always takes into account the interests of people and subjects, in the interests of whom they have been initiated. The suitable provisions remain, and the inappropriate ones are abolished, due to their conflict with the interest of the community.
Islam retained many of the pagan customs and legislations, because: they are suitable for application. They are not the subject of criticism from the community. They fulfil the interests of those for whom these provisions were initiated. When it abolished the inappropriate ones among them, it took into consideration these divine teachings, which brought the Mohammedan message to eliminate exploitation, corruption and injustice in its diverse forms and colours. It refined Hajj rituals by abolishing the circumambulation of the nude, removed the idols and cultivated marriage. It retained the correct system, which is harmonious with human nature, and abolished the inappropriate among it, that leads to the mix up in lineages and sow hatred and enmity between the members of the society and the divorce system, and initiated legislation that safeguards women's right to alimony and custody.
All these legislations, whether acts of worship or transactions, were initiated to organize the Muslim community, which seeks to achieve equality and love among the members of the human society as a whole. We cannot just accept, through them, the suspicions of the orientalists; that maintaining and approving them means they form the sources of the Holy Quran, and the Islamic legislations emanating from the other sources of legislation) (3).
The approach of effect and influence pursued by the orientalists in Islamic studies, does not lead to valid scientific results. There is nothing wrong with the effect and influence, in terms of realism and methodology, but their use in an arbitrary form leads to stripping Islam of its sound principles and foundations, and this is what is rebuffed, scientifically and objectively.
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(1) The Civilization of the Arabs, p. 382.
(2) Principles of Jurisprudence, p. 193.
(3) Criticism of the orientalistic discourse (1/275-276

[فداء الرسول]

Episode 10: Refuting the calumny set by Goldziher and those who followed him (2-5)







The second aspect: Goldziher claimed that the Arabs did not come up with this concept and its practical applications; because it was found beforehand with the pagan Arabs ... From thence, the attachment of the Muslims to the Sunnah is like the attachment of the Arabs to the traditions of their ancestors...to the end of what he said.
Goldziher, with this statement of his, intends as usual to render what is Islamic to internal and external factors, so that he denies it every originality, renewal, or innovation.
(We do not deny that pagan Arabs were following their ancestors, worshiping their deities, guided by the traditions of their ancestors and holding fast to their beliefs and idols; because they found their fathers assiduously devoted to them, applying those traditions and guided by their footsteps. But there is disparity between the concept of Sunnah in that era and its concept in the Islamic era. It is not a set of amended old Arabic views as Goldziher said, but took its concept counterfactually to the traditions of the pagan Arabs; because it has become a legislative source, having its probativeness in the determination of provisions, and its source became divine, due to it being issued from Allah, but related in the Messenger’s own words, and because it addressed topics and issues, which treat problems and concepts of the new religion, and because it was issued as divine commands one is not permitted to deviate from, unlike the pagan Arabs who can deviate from the ways of their ancestors. Obedience of the Messenger in what he says, does, or decides is a religious duty the Muslims has no escape from turning away from. Therefore, the concept of Sunnah in the two eras is different and completely disparate. The pagans stick to the traditions of their ancestors in view of fanaticism, and the Muslims follow the Sunnah of their Prophet in view of worship).
The inference of (Goldziher) to the Hadith of the Messenger, which calls the Muslims to follow the ways of those who came before them, etc ... He had doubted this Hadith at first; because he said of it: (attributed to the Prophet) and did not say: (the Prophet said), and he misinterpreted it secondly, because the intention of the Prophet was not to call the Muslims to cling to the traditions of their pagan ancestors, but a call to stick to the Sunnah of the Prophet and the footsteps of his noble Companions, and not to differ and disunite in the future, not to dissociate oneself from the community (of Muslims) and to avert sedition as much as possible. The Prophet told of all these matters in other Statements (1), and urged Muslims to adhere to the proper Sunnah, join the opinion of the community, avoid discord and dispute, no matter what, and obey the person in position of trust and authority, so as not to divide the opinion of the community and the strength of the Muslims goes forth in a scatter.
That confirmation of his was an announcement from his part of what will occur in his nation from separation and difference, and urged them to avoid them. It is understood from this Hadith also, a call upon the Muslims to cling to the Sunnah of the Prophet and that of his Companions, so as not to imitate the Jews, the Christians, the Romans, the Persians and other nations; and from here was the unsound inference of (Goldziher) to this Hadith in this context (2).
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(1) There are those, which Abu Dawood narrated in his Sunan (4597): (Even though those before you, from the people of the Book, split according to seventy-two denomination, this religion with split into seventy-three: seventy-two of which are in the hell fire and one in Paradise, which is the community (of Muslims).
(2) Criticism of the Orientalist discourse (1/412-413).