What is the ruling on narrating a hadith by meaning?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : I would like to ask some questions regarding the subject of my thesis, my teacher: narrating a hadith by meaning. I would like to take your valuable opinion on this topic.
The Shaykh : Exchange your seats.
The questioner : It is a major issue in the science of hadith.
The Shaykh : And it is.
The questioner : Narrating a hadith by meaning.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : It is a major issue; this issue is significant, meaning narrating a hadith by meaning in the science of hadith.
The Shaykh : Do you mean you are asserting that it is a problem, or are you asking whether it is a problem?
The questioner : Is it a problem?
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : There is a vast difference between the two.
The questioner : Yes, correct.
The Shaykh : Give me this bucket; there is no problem with it, with the permission of Allah. This is because narrating a hadith by meaning is something the scholars of hadith have explicitly stated is permissible, but not absolutely.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Rather, it is with a condition.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And in my opinion, if you know or recall this condition, the problem collapses and disappears. It is that the one who wants to narrate a hadith by meaning should be holding its wording in his mind.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : If he is holding its wording in his mind, then the problem disappears and the matter becomes easy.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And I think it is not hidden from you, nor from every student of knowledge, that the scholars of tafsir (exegesis) have all agreed that it is permissible to interpret the Noble Qur'an into non-Arabic languages, but by meaning and not by wording. This is because interpreting the Qur'an into a non-Arabic language with a literal, word-for-word interpretation is an impossible matter. This is because there are words in the Arabic language where a single word gives two contradictory meanings.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And there is much of this, and I authored some theses long ago on contradictory words.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : For example, it is said "a noble man," meaning great, or "a lowly man." These are contradictory words. It is also said "the sun has bant," meaning it rose, or "it set." These are contradictory words. Likewise, it is said "the night has 'asa'asa," meaning it approached, or "it departed." Therefore, there are no synonyms for such words in non-Arabic languages. And this is a little from many examples.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Exchange your seats.
The questioner : It is a major issue in the science of hadith.
The Shaykh : And it is.
The questioner : Narrating a hadith by meaning.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : It is a major issue; this issue is significant, meaning narrating a hadith by meaning in the science of hadith.
The Shaykh : Do you mean you are asserting that it is a problem, or are you asking whether it is a problem?
The questioner : Is it a problem?
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : There is a vast difference between the two.
The questioner : Yes, correct.
The Shaykh : Give me this bucket; there is no problem with it, with the permission of Allah. This is because narrating a hadith by meaning is something the scholars of hadith have explicitly stated is permissible, but not absolutely.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Rather, it is with a condition.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And in my opinion, if you know or recall this condition, the problem collapses and disappears. It is that the one who wants to narrate a hadith by meaning should be holding its wording in his mind.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : If he is holding its wording in his mind, then the problem disappears and the matter becomes easy.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And I think it is not hidden from you, nor from every student of knowledge, that the scholars of tafsir (exegesis) have all agreed that it is permissible to interpret the Noble Qur'an into non-Arabic languages, but by meaning and not by wording. This is because interpreting the Qur'an into a non-Arabic language with a literal, word-for-word interpretation is an impossible matter. This is because there are words in the Arabic language where a single word gives two contradictory meanings.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And there is much of this, and I authored some theses long ago on contradictory words.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : For example, it is said "a noble man," meaning great, or "a lowly man." These are contradictory words. It is also said "the sun has bant," meaning it rose, or "it set." These are contradictory words. Likewise, it is said "the night has 'asa'asa," meaning it approached, or "it departed." Therefore, there are no synonyms for such words in non-Arabic languages. And this is a little from many examples.
The questioner: Yes.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.