What is your opinion regarding the statement of some scholars that a single-narrator hadith conveys only conjecture?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : The same scholars said: A hadith of the singular category yields conjecture... it yields conjecture...
The Shaykh : Pardon me, for some reason I said that a weak hadith yields the weaker form of conjecture. What you are attributing to the scholars is not conjecture, but rather the opposite of that; that is the stronger form of conjecture. The scholars of the... as you say, said that a hadith of the singular category yields conjecture, but when they use the term conjecture, they do not mean the conjecture that Allah condemned and criticized, but rather the conjecture that is obligatory upon us by the Shari'ah to act upon, and its description is "the stronger form of conjecture." So, we can now say that conjecture is divided into three categories—no, I am not guessing: certainty, the stronger form of conjecture, and the weaker form of conjecture.
The weaker conjecture does not enter into the legislation of Islam—praise be to Allah—under any circumstances. As for the stronger conjecture, it is obligatory to act upon it, whether in rulings or in creed, as long as it comes through an authentic hadith. And the other type of conjecture—which is certainty—there is no doubt that this is the best thing to which a human mind or heart can find rest. In this sense came His saying—Blessed and Exalted is He—narrating about the believer:[Al-Haqqah 69:20]. So what does "I thought" mean here? It means certainty.
The questioner : I believed.
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : I believed.
The Shaykh : So, conjecture—Professor—does not always mean the weaker form of conjecture, nor does it always mean the stronger form of conjecture. Sometimes it means certainty, as you heard in the noble verse, and sometimes it means the stronger form of conjecture. And upon this are all the rulings of the Shari'ah. That is, the judge here, when he rules for so-and-so against so-and-so, or rules to cut off the head of so-and-so, whether he has certainty in this case or he has the stronger form of conjecture... the stronger form of conjecture is the basis upon which the rulings of the Shari'ah are established. As for the weaker form of conjecture, it is absolutely not permissible to act upon it. So, there is a difference between the weaker form of conjecture and the stronger form of conjecture. And the stronger form of conjecture is divided into certainty and the stronger form of conjecture.
Eid Abbasi : Certainty, now they think that there is...
The Shaykh : A lot, yes.
So, the point—our brothers—is that this detail, and linking rulings that differ according to the degree of establishment of the hadith in the mind of a person, this is something that no one who knows the development of these matters with the development of the eras can accept.
I say, for example, to the group of the Islamic Tahrir Party who raised the banner of their claim that it is not permissible to act upon authentic hadiths in matters of creed. They say, for example: We do not believe in the punishment of the grave, because the hadith regarding it is conjectural; meaning, it is a single-narrator hadith. And extend this to whatever known creeds you wish. I have a thesis that will be published soon.
Have you finished it? Is that how it is?
Eid Abbasi: In sha Allah, next week it will be...
The Shaykh: A thesis titled, among other issues, "The Obligation to Act Upon Single-Narrator Hadiths in Creed and the Refutation of Those Who Oppose." I mentioned about twenty points in refuting these people, and I concluded this thesis with examples of creeds that were established by authentic hadiths that did not reach the level of mass transmission. Nevertheless, they are Islamic creeds among the majority of Muslims. Those who cling to the tail of this erroneous belief—that it is not permissible to act upon single-narrator hadiths in creed—must invalidate Islamic creeds. Among the first of these creeds is that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is the master of the prophets. Is there a text in the Qur'an regarding this claim? Do you know a clear verse that Muhammad ibn Abdullah is the master of the prophets?
The questioner: No.
The Shaykh: All that is in the matter is several hadiths regarding this, but these hadiths did not reach the degree of mass transmission through twenty or thirty paths with thirty Companions. No. Nevertheless, the Muslims—praise be to Allah—believe that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is the master of the prophets. Where did this creed come from? It came from single-narrator hadiths. And, for example, the ten promised Paradise—does anyone among the general Muslims know them? Of course, no one does. They all know them. Is there a verse that the ten promised Paradise are Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and so on? There is no verse. Fine; is there a mass-transmitted hadith? There is no mass-transmitted hadith. Would two or three hadiths suffice? Yes. So the Muslims believed that these are the ten promised Paradise. And so we mentioned twenty, or perhaps thirty.
The questioner: Thirty.
The Shaykh: Thirty creeds, all of which are Islamic creeds, and there are no mass-transmitted hadiths for them. So if we cling to this deviant belief—that it is not permissible to act upon single-narrator hadiths in creed—we would demolish dozens, if not hundreds, of correct Islamic creeds.
So I say, on the occasion of refuting these people: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to send messengers who announced Islam, such as Mu'adh and Ali and others, to the lands.
...
The Shaykh: This ruling was addressed by Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah in his book "Zad al-Ma'ad." As is his custom, he only mentions the story, establishing chapters in deriving legal rulings from what is in the story. Among them, he established a chapter to clarify whether it is permissible to kill the spy who spied on the Muslim state or not. He narrated the two opinions and preferred the opinion of those who say to kill the spy in this hadith. He said: Because the Messenger (peace be upon him) only prevented Umar from killing him not on the basis of Islam, but on the basis of his being from the people of Badr.
The questioner : Yes, a person from Badr.
The Shaykh : In this is an indication that Islam alone is not sufficient to protect the blood of this spy, but rather because he was from the people of Badr, that protected him from retaliation.
The questioner : Especially - Professor - what does it mean?
The Shaykh: Especially, yes.
The questioner : This is for now... .
The Shaykh: Yes.
Another questioner : And there is no other hadith?
The Shaykh: No.
Eid Abbasi : Yes, is this a hadd or?
The questioner : A hadd.
The Shaykh : A hadd.
Another questioner : A hadd.
Eid Abbasi : It is added to the hudud.
The Shaykh : Even this specific hadith was among the problems of the sect that we mentioned in Jordan, and they had deviated from the rest.
Eid Abbasi: And they declared the Muslims disbelievers.
The Shaykh : And they declared the Muslims disbelievers, so in the midst of my speech and establishing the argument against them, I mentioned this story to the man; because I felt that these people, I mean, fell into the path of the Khawarij, meaning: as soon as a person commits a mistake, they declare him a disbeliever.
The questioner : He breaks his oath.
The Shaykh : Yes, he was a hypocrite, meaning he was a disbeliever.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: So I said to him: What is your opinion regarding the story of Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah? He said: Tell us about it. This is also something you address in your research. So I mentioned to him what I remembered of it, especially what we were dealing with at that time. He said: Fine. Umar said: Let me kill this hypocrite, and the Messenger approved him. Here I detailed for him what I detailed yesterday in Aleppo. Hypocrisy is two types—also like disbelief, oppression, and open sinfulness: practical disbelief, creedal disbelief, practical hypocrisy, creedal hypocrisy, practical open sinfulness, creedal open sinfulness, practical oppression, creedal oppression. So I said to him: Umar's statement, "Let me kill this hypocrite," does not mean that he apostatized from his religion. Otherwise, if it meant this, he would have become a disbeliever who apostatized from his religion.
Eid Abbasi : He killed him.
The Shaykh: Yes, whereas the Messenger (peace be upon him) did not treat him in this manner. Rather, he said:, to the end of the hadith.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : What is this talk?
The Shaykh: How do you know that this is a person who deserves to be treated differently from the spy who is spying? This was indeed spying, but this man has a status with Allah and a rank he attained by virtue of being from the people of Badr.Sahih Muslim 2494a. So I said to him: If Umar's statement that he was a hypocrite meant disbeliever, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) would not have treated him with that response.
I returned to ask him the decisive question on the subject, so listen to the answer and be amazed. I said: So how do you conceive of the matter that a man disbelieved through this spying, and yet, no. I asked him: Do you believe...
...
The Shaykh : ... that he is a Companion? [Everyone laughs!]
...
Another questioner : ... the Shaykh (may Allah be pleased with him)!
The Shaykh: Absolutely, it is in itself. Do you know, this is also the case of the Shaykh (may Allah be pleased with him)? One of the sheikhs from the Syrian desert who teaches "Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyyah." And you know that most of "Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyyah" contains what they call "shatihat" (ecstatic utterances). We call them "kufriyyat" (statements of disbelief). And this Shaykh would appear to have a wide door of figurative interpretation, and he was skilled in language, metaphor, and reality, and I don't know what else. So whenever a catastrophe came before him, he would interpret it for him; that its meaning is not this, no, not this, no, not this, until he reached one that exhausted the Shaykh in interpreting it. He thought, thought, and said to him: ... there was no interpretation. He stood up and wrote in the margin: "The disbelief of the Shaykh (may Allah be pleased with him)" [Everyone laughs!].
...
The Shaykh: The point is: this poor man remained... in misguidance. He said: This Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah disbelieved, were it not that he was a Companion. We said to him: Subhan Allah! O man, where do you go with His saying—Blessed and Exalted is He—:[An-Nisa 4:48]? So then our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) does not forgive shirk, and our Lord has no favoritism; this is a Companion for whom shirk is forgiven, but if he were not a Companion, it would not be forgiven for him.
The questioner: Although he said to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him):[Az-Zumar 39:65].
The Shaykh: Indeed, I mentioned to him this verse and others. He stood up and was silent. I said to him: Fine; I want to ask you a question; if this Companion believed that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is a part of the Lord of the Worlds (Glorified and Exalted is He), just as is the content of the statement of those who say that he took a handful of His light.
The questioner : This exists, this.
The Shaykh: So he said to her: Be Muhammad, and she was; meaning Muhammad is a part of the Lord of the Worlds. What is your opinion, Professor, if a Companion like this, Hatib, said that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is a part of the Lord of the Worlds, is this disbelief or not? He said: Disbelief. I said: Is it forgiven for him? He said: No. I said: Why do you not distinguish between this and that? So this was among the things that revealed to him the path of guidance.
The questioner: The truth.
The Shaykh: Yes.
Another questioner: Our Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Yes?
Another questioner : In some... they say that... what does it mean?
The Shaykh : By Allah, this is something.
Another questioner : This is the story now.
The Shaykh : This is an ancient thing.
Another questioner : Disbelief.
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed, ancient in misguidance.
The Shaykh : Pardon me, for some reason I said that a weak hadith yields the weaker form of conjecture. What you are attributing to the scholars is not conjecture, but rather the opposite of that; that is the stronger form of conjecture. The scholars of the... as you say, said that a hadith of the singular category yields conjecture, but when they use the term conjecture, they do not mean the conjecture that Allah condemned and criticized, but rather the conjecture that is obligatory upon us by the Shari'ah to act upon, and its description is "the stronger form of conjecture." So, we can now say that conjecture is divided into three categories—no, I am not guessing: certainty, the stronger form of conjecture, and the weaker form of conjecture.
The weaker conjecture does not enter into the legislation of Islam—praise be to Allah—under any circumstances. As for the stronger conjecture, it is obligatory to act upon it, whether in rulings or in creed, as long as it comes through an authentic hadith. And the other type of conjecture—which is certainty—there is no doubt that this is the best thing to which a human mind or heart can find rest. In this sense came His saying—Blessed and Exalted is He—narrating about the believer:
Indeed, I was certain that I would be meeting my account."
إِنِّي ظَنَنتُ أَنِّي مُلاقٍ حِسَابِيَهْThe questioner : I believed.
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : I believed.
The Shaykh : So, conjecture—Professor—does not always mean the weaker form of conjecture, nor does it always mean the stronger form of conjecture. Sometimes it means certainty, as you heard in the noble verse, and sometimes it means the stronger form of conjecture. And upon this are all the rulings of the Shari'ah. That is, the judge here, when he rules for so-and-so against so-and-so, or rules to cut off the head of so-and-so, whether he has certainty in this case or he has the stronger form of conjecture... the stronger form of conjecture is the basis upon which the rulings of the Shari'ah are established. As for the weaker form of conjecture, it is absolutely not permissible to act upon it. So, there is a difference between the weaker form of conjecture and the stronger form of conjecture. And the stronger form of conjecture is divided into certainty and the stronger form of conjecture.
Eid Abbasi : Certainty, now they think that there is...
The Shaykh : A lot, yes.
So, the point—our brothers—is that this detail, and linking rulings that differ according to the degree of establishment of the hadith in the mind of a person, this is something that no one who knows the development of these matters with the development of the eras can accept.
I say, for example, to the group of the Islamic Tahrir Party who raised the banner of their claim that it is not permissible to act upon authentic hadiths in matters of creed. They say, for example: We do not believe in the punishment of the grave, because the hadith regarding it is conjectural; meaning, it is a single-narrator hadith. And extend this to whatever known creeds you wish. I have a thesis that will be published soon.
Have you finished it? Is that how it is?
Eid Abbasi: In sha Allah, next week it will be...
The Shaykh: A thesis titled, among other issues, "The Obligation to Act Upon Single-Narrator Hadiths in Creed and the Refutation of Those Who Oppose." I mentioned about twenty points in refuting these people, and I concluded this thesis with examples of creeds that were established by authentic hadiths that did not reach the level of mass transmission. Nevertheless, they are Islamic creeds among the majority of Muslims. Those who cling to the tail of this erroneous belief—that it is not permissible to act upon single-narrator hadiths in creed—must invalidate Islamic creeds. Among the first of these creeds is that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is the master of the prophets. Is there a text in the Qur'an regarding this claim? Do you know a clear verse that Muhammad ibn Abdullah is the master of the prophets?
The questioner: No.
The Shaykh: All that is in the matter is several hadiths regarding this, but these hadiths did not reach the degree of mass transmission through twenty or thirty paths with thirty Companions. No. Nevertheless, the Muslims—praise be to Allah—believe that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is the master of the prophets. Where did this creed come from? It came from single-narrator hadiths. And, for example, the ten promised Paradise—does anyone among the general Muslims know them? Of course, no one does. They all know them. Is there a verse that the ten promised Paradise are Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and so on? There is no verse. Fine; is there a mass-transmitted hadith? There is no mass-transmitted hadith. Would two or three hadiths suffice? Yes. So the Muslims believed that these are the ten promised Paradise. And so we mentioned twenty, or perhaps thirty.
The questioner: Thirty.
The Shaykh: Thirty creeds, all of which are Islamic creeds, and there are no mass-transmitted hadiths for them. So if we cling to this deviant belief—that it is not permissible to act upon single-narrator hadiths in creed—we would demolish dozens, if not hundreds, of correct Islamic creeds.
So I say, on the occasion of refuting these people: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to send messengers who announced Islam, such as Mu'adh and Ali and others, to the lands.
...
The Shaykh: This ruling was addressed by Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah in his book "Zad al-Ma'ad." As is his custom, he only mentions the story, establishing chapters in deriving legal rulings from what is in the story. Among them, he established a chapter to clarify whether it is permissible to kill the spy who spied on the Muslim state or not. He narrated the two opinions and preferred the opinion of those who say to kill the spy in this hadith. He said: Because the Messenger (peace be upon him) only prevented Umar from killing him not on the basis of Islam, but on the basis of his being from the people of Badr.
The questioner : Yes, a person from Badr.
The Shaykh : In this is an indication that Islam alone is not sufficient to protect the blood of this spy, but rather because he was from the people of Badr, that protected him from retaliation.
The questioner : Especially - Professor - what does it mean?
The Shaykh: Especially, yes.
The questioner : This is for now... .
The Shaykh: Yes.
Another questioner : And there is no other hadith?
The Shaykh: No.
Eid Abbasi : Yes, is this a hadd or?
The questioner : A hadd.
The Shaykh : A hadd.
Another questioner : A hadd.
Eid Abbasi : It is added to the hudud.
The Shaykh : Even this specific hadith was among the problems of the sect that we mentioned in Jordan, and they had deviated from the rest.
Eid Abbasi: And they declared the Muslims disbelievers.
The Shaykh : And they declared the Muslims disbelievers, so in the midst of my speech and establishing the argument against them, I mentioned this story to the man; because I felt that these people, I mean, fell into the path of the Khawarij, meaning: as soon as a person commits a mistake, they declare him a disbeliever.
The questioner : He breaks his oath.
The Shaykh : Yes, he was a hypocrite, meaning he was a disbeliever.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: So I said to him: What is your opinion regarding the story of Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah? He said: Tell us about it. This is also something you address in your research. So I mentioned to him what I remembered of it, especially what we were dealing with at that time. He said: Fine. Umar said: Let me kill this hypocrite, and the Messenger approved him. Here I detailed for him what I detailed yesterday in Aleppo. Hypocrisy is two types—also like disbelief, oppression, and open sinfulness: practical disbelief, creedal disbelief, practical hypocrisy, creedal hypocrisy, practical open sinfulness, creedal open sinfulness, practical oppression, creedal oppression. So I said to him: Umar's statement, "Let me kill this hypocrite," does not mean that he apostatized from his religion. Otherwise, if it meant this, he would have become a disbeliever who apostatized from his religion.
Eid Abbasi : He killed him.
The Shaykh: Yes, whereas the Messenger (peace be upon him) did not treat him in this manner. Rather, he said:
And what makes you know?
وما يدريك ؟The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : What is this talk?
The Shaykh: How do you know that this is a person who deserves to be treated differently from the spy who is spying? This was indeed spying, but this man has a status with Allah and a rank he attained by virtue of being from the people of Badr.
you little know that Allah revealed about the people of Badr: Do what you like for there is forgiveness for you
وما يدريك لعل الله اطَّلع على أهل بدر فقال لهم : اعملوا ما شئتم ؛ فإني قد غفرت لكمI returned to ask him the decisive question on the subject, so listen to the answer and be amazed. I said: So how do you conceive of the matter that a man disbelieved through this spying, and yet, no. I asked him: Do you believe...
...
The Shaykh : ... that he is a Companion? [Everyone laughs!]
...
Another questioner : ... the Shaykh (may Allah be pleased with him)!
The Shaykh: Absolutely, it is in itself. Do you know, this is also the case of the Shaykh (may Allah be pleased with him)? One of the sheikhs from the Syrian desert who teaches "Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyyah." And you know that most of "Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyyah" contains what they call "shatihat" (ecstatic utterances). We call them "kufriyyat" (statements of disbelief). And this Shaykh would appear to have a wide door of figurative interpretation, and he was skilled in language, metaphor, and reality, and I don't know what else. So whenever a catastrophe came before him, he would interpret it for him; that its meaning is not this, no, not this, no, not this, until he reached one that exhausted the Shaykh in interpreting it. He thought, thought, and said to him: ... there was no interpretation. He stood up and wrote in the margin: "The disbelief of the Shaykh (may Allah be pleased with him)" [Everyone laughs!].
...
The Shaykh: The point is: this poor man remained... in misguidance. He said: This Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah disbelieved, were it not that he was a Companion. We said to him: Subhan Allah! O man, where do you go with His saying—Blessed and Exalted is He—:
Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَغْفِرُ أَنْ يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَلِكَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُThe questioner: Although he said to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him):
if you should associate [anything] with Allah, your work would surely become worthless
لَئِنْ أَشْرَكْتَ لَيَحْبَطَنَّ عَمَلُكَThe Shaykh: Indeed, I mentioned to him this verse and others. He stood up and was silent. I said to him: Fine; I want to ask you a question; if this Companion believed that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is a part of the Lord of the Worlds (Glorified and Exalted is He), just as is the content of the statement of those who say that he took a handful of His light.
The questioner : This exists, this.
The Shaykh: So he said to her: Be Muhammad, and she was; meaning Muhammad is a part of the Lord of the Worlds. What is your opinion, Professor, if a Companion like this, Hatib, said that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is a part of the Lord of the Worlds, is this disbelief or not? He said: Disbelief. I said: Is it forgiven for him? He said: No. I said: Why do you not distinguish between this and that? So this was among the things that revealed to him the path of guidance.
The questioner: The truth.
The Shaykh: Yes.
Another questioner: Our Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Yes?
Another questioner : In some... they say that... what does it mean?
The Shaykh : By Allah, this is something.
Another questioner : This is the story now.
The Shaykh : This is an ancient thing.
Another questioner : Disbelief.
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed, ancient in misguidance.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.