What is the way to distinguish the authentic Sunnah from the weak?
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The Shaykh : What is the way to distinguish the authentic Sunnah from the weak? Is it, for example, what was known in the past among the Sufis as kashf (unveiling), where one claims that it is opened to him and he sees that this hadith, which is famous among the people and among the scholars as being authentic, is actually not authentic through the means of kashf, and vice versa, that this one is authentic, even if it is weak according to the hadith scholars, because it has been established for us through kashf? This is the claim that the scholars of Sufism used to make.
I think the reality of Sufism has now become clear to most people, and they no longer are deceived by the sweet-sounding words that were attributed to Sufism. Their reality has been exposed due to the large number of letters and writings that have been published, both old and new. If no one can claim to authenticate hadiths through kashf, then what is the way? There is no way left except the path of the specialized scholars of hadith who established the science of hadith terminology and the science of al-jarh wa al-ta'dil (the critique and vindication of narrators). This is the way.
Some Orientalists who were given the opportunity to study the science of hadith, as if they were one of the Muslim scholars, have testified that the Islamic community is unique in this method of knowing ancient events through the study of isnads (chains of narration) and from that date onward.
So, if this is the known way among the hadith scholars, is there another way besides this, or besides kashf? There is no way except for every person to rely on his own intellect. Herein lies the deviation from the Shari'ah under the name of what? That the Shari'ah addresses the intellect. This is a very dangerous plot. That is because Allah (Mighty and Majestic), without a doubt, when He mentions certain verses, says in them:[Al-'Ankabut 29:43] and the like. But when we want to know a legal ruling, and intellects vary, whether in terms of the strength or weakness of understanding, or in terms of the type of culture or study, all of this differs from person to person. Therefore, there is no intellect to which people can refer when they differ, as those who differ refer to the Book, and as those who differ refer to the Sunnah.
So, there is no way to interpret the Qur'an except through the Sunnah, and there is no way to know what is authentic of it from what is not authentic except through the study of isnads and the biographies of the men in these isnads. And so, like al-Ghazali, this...
I think the reality of Sufism has now become clear to most people, and they no longer are deceived by the sweet-sounding words that were attributed to Sufism. Their reality has been exposed due to the large number of letters and writings that have been published, both old and new. If no one can claim to authenticate hadiths through kashf, then what is the way? There is no way left except the path of the specialized scholars of hadith who established the science of hadith terminology and the science of al-jarh wa al-ta'dil (the critique and vindication of narrators). This is the way.
Some Orientalists who were given the opportunity to study the science of hadith, as if they were one of the Muslim scholars, have testified that the Islamic community is unique in this method of knowing ancient events through the study of isnads (chains of narration) and from that date onward.
So, if this is the known way among the hadith scholars, is there another way besides this, or besides kashf? There is no way except for every person to rely on his own intellect. Herein lies the deviation from the Shari'ah under the name of what? That the Shari'ah addresses the intellect. This is a very dangerous plot. That is because Allah (Mighty and Majestic), without a doubt, when He mentions certain verses, says in them:
but none will understand them except those of knowledge.
وما يعقلها إلا العالمونAnd none remember except those of understanding
وما يتذكر إلا أولي الألبابSo, there is no way to interpret the Qur'an except through the Sunnah, and there is no way to know what is authentic of it from what is not authentic except through the study of isnads and the biographies of the men in these isnads. And so, like al-Ghazali, this...