The Qur’an as a criterion for hadith-text examination
Muslims rightly believe that the Qur’an and Sunnah (sayings and doings of the Last Prophet) are the most fundamental sources of Islamic thought, life, and civilization. Yet, they are not equal in terms of authenticity. The Qur’an is fully reliable without an iota of doubt. But Hadith literature c...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
London Academy of Iranian Studies
2010
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/21794/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/21794/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/21794/1/The_Qur%27an_as_a_criterion_for_hadith-text_examination.pdf |
| Summary: | Muslims rightly believe that the Qur’an and Sunnah (sayings and doings of the Last
Prophet) are the most fundamental sources of Islamic thought, life, and civilization.
Yet, they are not equal in terms of authenticity. The Qur’an is fully reliable without an
iota of doubt. But Hadith literature contains both reliable and unreliable reports on
the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) sayings and doings. In order to check authenticity of Hadith and
Sunnah as recorded in sources Muslim scholars have developed some criteria, which
basically serve the purpose of authentication of chain of reporters (sanad). As for the
text of reports, no serious efforts have been made by Hadith scholars. The Qur’an must
be considered as a criterion to check the position of text of Hadith reports. If there is
an uncompromising conflict between Hadith-text and the Qur’an, Haith report must
be rejected as fabricated and unreliable even though its chain of reporters appears authentic. In this article ten Hadiths have been selected from al-Bukhari’s and
Muslim’s famous works of Hadith for text checking using the Qur’an as criterion. The
selected Hadith in this article are: (1) lies attribute to Prophet Ibrahim, (2)
predetermination of human destiny, (3) Irrelevance of Man’s deeds for entry into
Paradise, (4) coercion in conversion to Islam, (5) Moses’ power to delay his death, (6)
Moses’ condemnation of Adam’s error, (7) time involved in the creation of the universe,
(8) Transfer of Muslims’ sins to Jews and Christians, (9) Eve as the root cause for
women’s infidelity, and (10) women as source of bad omen. The author sees the texts of
these Hadith as in sheer conflict with one or the other statement of the Qur’an hence
he suggest that these Hadith are unreliable. The objective of this research is not to
discredit the contribution of great Muslim scholars; it is rather to investigate further
into the authenticity of Prophet Muhammad’s (s.a.w.) sayings and doings as compiled
and recorded by Hadith scholars. |
|---|