from the Shaykh to the professors regarding the books studied in this university?
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The Shaykh : I have a question, and it is perhaps the only one. I would like to know about these faculties you mentioned: is your acquaintance with them from a distance or from up close?
The questioner : This faculty was first opened in the year 1949.
The Shaykh : Excuse me, I want you to translate this date into the Hijri calendar.
The questioner : Yes, 1369.
The Shaykh : Approximately, yes?
The questioner : 1369.
The Shaykh : And 1369.
The questioner : Yes, forty-six years ago.
The Shaykh : What Allah willed.
The questioner : Forty-six years ago.
The Shaykh : I understood that the programs that are established are established freely by the professors, like that, meaning.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : This is a good thing.
The questioner : They are established by the professors, and then they go to the university presidency, which only approves them to make them official.
The Shaykh : Yes, but they do not intervene in changing them.
The questioner : No, they do not intervene. The professors, in this year, established a program or curriculum. If any deficiency, any point, or anything appears in it, they can overcome it in the next year, and so on, if Allah wills, they will proceed on the right path.
The Shaykh : The matter is natural; all curricula are like this. A question now comes to mind: what are the books of the Sunnah that are taught to the students?
The Shaykh : The question is for a specialized professor there.
The questioner : Yes, yes, we do not study any book in its entirety.
The Shaykh : Ah.
The questioner : But we have notes every year. For example, what comes to my mind is that we studied al-Taqrib by al-Nawawi, abridged in the principles of jurisprudence, and al-Tarhib, some of its topics. There are also books in our language on the principles of Prophetic hadith written by Turkish authors, such as Ahmad... who migrated to Istanbul in the time of the Ottomans as a teacher and lived in Istanbul, and wrote principles in the Turkish language, then translated al-Tajrid al-Sarih li-Ahadith al-Jami' al-Sahih in twelve volumes, and the Turkish government published it four years ago. And the professors who studied in Istanbul and in Kayseri and in... wrote independent books on the principles of hadith, deriving and utilizing what the scholars wrote, for whom we ask Allah for mercy and forgiveness.
The Shaykh : If Allah wills.
The questioner : We also teach some Prophetic hadiths to the students, and some of the creed, which is prayer and zakah and the like. Then we explain to them in the Turkish language, and sometimes half the lesson, five minutes or more of that, we teach in Arabic if we can, according to our ability.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : The only obstacle for us is that the students who studied before us, and who studied before us, are at varying levels of knowledge in the Arabic language. They learn the Arabic language in the religious secondary school, in the first year approximately five hours, and in the second year four hours, but if the lessons are not taught to them intensively.
The Shaykh : Intensively.
The questioner : Some students acquire a lot of knowledge in the Arabic language, so some remain very weak. And the students who come from the non-religious popular secondary schools cannot speak or write in the Arabic language. So they study the Arabic language in the secondary school years, in hours, twenty hours a week. And books have been published in our town in the Arabic language, and books have also been printed in the Turkish language on Prophetic hadith last year. And now, thank you.
The Shaykh : Yes, my question, may Allah reward you, was about the books of hadith that you teach to the students. So I understood from your answer that you do not teach them a specific book.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Rather, they are selections and picks. Then you mentioned some books which, as you know well, are in the terminology of hadith, in the principles of hadith.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : But I wanted to understand, in the texts of hadith, what are these references that you return to and select from?
The questioner : It occurred to me now that I studied some of the small books that you published from the early hadith scholars. I found in the printing houses four treatises. I think one was Iqtida' al-'Ilm bi al-'Amal by al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, and another book on the creed by Abu 'Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Sallam.
The Shaykh : Faith.
The questioner : Faith. We studied them. This booklet was completed, with the help of Allah, in a session last year. But the students knew the Arabic language from a long time ago. Many of those who study with us now, our schools were an institute for higher studies thirteen years ago, called the Higher Islamic Institute. Many of the lessons were legal in this time, and their hours were more than that. But now many of the students are from the secondary school of imams and preachers, and they also come from the non-religious secondary schools.
The Shaykh : And is your selection of hadiths based on the principles of hadith, meaning you choose the authentic hadith, then the good hadith, and you turn away from the weak hadiths that are famous among the nation?
The questioner : The teaching here was like this: the students come to the lesson, the teacher reads a specific hadith and sometimes writes it on the board, then translates this hadith into our Turkish language, then explains it briefly and clarifies some of the rulings, then explains another hadith. For example, I think our colleagues studied the abridged version of Muslim and also al-Ihkam fi Ahadith al-Ahkam this year. I studied last year Prophetic hadith in our time as a lecture course lasting two hours, for those who graduate with us in the fourth year. And I teach in the last years, I teach the Persian language... and there is an assistant professor in our faculty named... he teaches Prophetic hadith, and an assistant professor also...
The Shaykh : Well done, well done.
The questioner : Tracing the hadith to its sources is very important for us.
The Shaykh : I do not mean tracing the hadith to its sources, I mean the selection. I give you an example, Professor. Instead of transferring, for example, from the four Sunan known to you, which of course contain the authentic, the good, and the weak, and some of them may also contain the fabricated, instead of transferring from these four Sunan, we transfer from the two Sahihs. Since the study of the Sunnah with you is not teaching a book from beginning to end, but rather it is by the method of selection as you mentioned, if the selection means reducing the material, but this reduction should be chosen and selected. And this selection, the closest means or method, is returning to the two Sahihs, on which the scholars of the Muslims agreed, as you know, that they are the most authentic books of hadith and the most authentic reference after the Book of Allah the Exalted. This is what I intended. If selection is necessary, then the selection should be limited to books that aim for the authentic or specialize in the authentic.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Last year we studied from the book al-Lu'lu' wa al-Marjan fi ma Ittafaq 'alayh.The Shaykh : In.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : It is possible that we selected by mistake from the students. We have a specific criterion.
The Shaykh : And why?
The questioner : Because of the smallness of our merchandise, in fact.
The Shaykh : If Allah wills, you will become a reference in hadith.
The questioner : If Allah wills, my question.
The Shaykh : Please go ahead.
The questioner : Professor Muhammad Aydin, head of the Department of History of Religions.
The Shaykh : Welcome, greetings.
The questioner : I mean, you are famous in the sciences of hadith, and also in books on this subject. I want to learn. In the beginning of Islam, there were two civilizations: the civilization of the Jews and the Christians, and the second civilization is the Iranian Majusi civilization. So my question is this: is there an influence on the Prophetic hadiths from these two civilizations? Did you mention this topic while you were writing and striving in this issue?
The Shaykh : I believe.
The questioner : This faculty was first opened in the year 1949.
The Shaykh : Excuse me, I want you to translate this date into the Hijri calendar.
The questioner : Yes, 1369.
The Shaykh : Approximately, yes?
The questioner : 1369.
The Shaykh : And 1369.
The questioner : Yes, forty-six years ago.
The Shaykh : What Allah willed.
The questioner : Forty-six years ago.
The Shaykh : I understood that the programs that are established are established freely by the professors, like that, meaning.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : This is a good thing.
The questioner : They are established by the professors, and then they go to the university presidency, which only approves them to make them official.
The Shaykh : Yes, but they do not intervene in changing them.
The questioner : No, they do not intervene. The professors, in this year, established a program or curriculum. If any deficiency, any point, or anything appears in it, they can overcome it in the next year, and so on, if Allah wills, they will proceed on the right path.
The Shaykh : The matter is natural; all curricula are like this. A question now comes to mind: what are the books of the Sunnah that are taught to the students?
The Shaykh : The question is for a specialized professor there.
The questioner : Yes, yes, we do not study any book in its entirety.
The Shaykh : Ah.
The questioner : But we have notes every year. For example, what comes to my mind is that we studied al-Taqrib by al-Nawawi, abridged in the principles of jurisprudence, and al-Tarhib, some of its topics. There are also books in our language on the principles of Prophetic hadith written by Turkish authors, such as Ahmad... who migrated to Istanbul in the time of the Ottomans as a teacher and lived in Istanbul, and wrote principles in the Turkish language, then translated al-Tajrid al-Sarih li-Ahadith al-Jami' al-Sahih in twelve volumes, and the Turkish government published it four years ago. And the professors who studied in Istanbul and in Kayseri and in... wrote independent books on the principles of hadith, deriving and utilizing what the scholars wrote, for whom we ask Allah for mercy and forgiveness.
The Shaykh : If Allah wills.
The questioner : We also teach some Prophetic hadiths to the students, and some of the creed, which is prayer and zakah and the like. Then we explain to them in the Turkish language, and sometimes half the lesson, five minutes or more of that, we teach in Arabic if we can, according to our ability.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : The only obstacle for us is that the students who studied before us, and who studied before us, are at varying levels of knowledge in the Arabic language. They learn the Arabic language in the religious secondary school, in the first year approximately five hours, and in the second year four hours, but if the lessons are not taught to them intensively.
The Shaykh : Intensively.
The questioner : Some students acquire a lot of knowledge in the Arabic language, so some remain very weak. And the students who come from the non-religious popular secondary schools cannot speak or write in the Arabic language. So they study the Arabic language in the secondary school years, in hours, twenty hours a week. And books have been published in our town in the Arabic language, and books have also been printed in the Turkish language on Prophetic hadith last year. And now, thank you.
The Shaykh : Yes, my question, may Allah reward you, was about the books of hadith that you teach to the students. So I understood from your answer that you do not teach them a specific book.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Rather, they are selections and picks. Then you mentioned some books which, as you know well, are in the terminology of hadith, in the principles of hadith.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : But I wanted to understand, in the texts of hadith, what are these references that you return to and select from?
The questioner : It occurred to me now that I studied some of the small books that you published from the early hadith scholars. I found in the printing houses four treatises. I think one was Iqtida' al-'Ilm bi al-'Amal by al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, and another book on the creed by Abu 'Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Sallam.
The Shaykh : Faith.
The questioner : Faith. We studied them. This booklet was completed, with the help of Allah, in a session last year. But the students knew the Arabic language from a long time ago. Many of those who study with us now, our schools were an institute for higher studies thirteen years ago, called the Higher Islamic Institute. Many of the lessons were legal in this time, and their hours were more than that. But now many of the students are from the secondary school of imams and preachers, and they also come from the non-religious secondary schools.
The Shaykh : And is your selection of hadiths based on the principles of hadith, meaning you choose the authentic hadith, then the good hadith, and you turn away from the weak hadiths that are famous among the nation?
The questioner : The teaching here was like this: the students come to the lesson, the teacher reads a specific hadith and sometimes writes it on the board, then translates this hadith into our Turkish language, then explains it briefly and clarifies some of the rulings, then explains another hadith. For example, I think our colleagues studied the abridged version of Muslim and also al-Ihkam fi Ahadith al-Ahkam this year. I studied last year Prophetic hadith in our time as a lecture course lasting two hours, for those who graduate with us in the fourth year. And I teach in the last years, I teach the Persian language... and there is an assistant professor in our faculty named... he teaches Prophetic hadith, and an assistant professor also...
The Shaykh : Well done, well done.
The questioner : Tracing the hadith to its sources is very important for us.
The Shaykh : I do not mean tracing the hadith to its sources, I mean the selection. I give you an example, Professor. Instead of transferring, for example, from the four Sunan known to you, which of course contain the authentic, the good, and the weak, and some of them may also contain the fabricated, instead of transferring from these four Sunan, we transfer from the two Sahihs. Since the study of the Sunnah with you is not teaching a book from beginning to end, but rather it is by the method of selection as you mentioned, if the selection means reducing the material, but this reduction should be chosen and selected. And this selection, the closest means or method, is returning to the two Sahihs, on which the scholars of the Muslims agreed, as you know, that they are the most authentic books of hadith and the most authentic reference after the Book of Allah the Exalted. This is what I intended. If selection is necessary, then the selection should be limited to books that aim for the authentic or specialize in the authentic.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Last year we studied from the book al-Lu'lu' wa al-Marjan fi ma Ittafaq 'alayh.The Shaykh : In.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : It is possible that we selected by mistake from the students. We have a specific criterion.
The Shaykh : And why?
The questioner : Because of the smallness of our merchandise, in fact.
The Shaykh : If Allah wills, you will become a reference in hadith.
The questioner : If Allah wills, my question.
The Shaykh : Please go ahead.
The questioner : Professor Muhammad Aydin, head of the Department of History of Religions.
The Shaykh : Welcome, greetings.
The questioner : I mean, you are famous in the sciences of hadith, and also in books on this subject. I want to learn. In the beginning of Islam, there were two civilizations: the civilization of the Jews and the Christians, and the second civilization is the Iranian Majusi civilization. So my question is this: is there an influence on the Prophetic hadiths from these two civilizations? Did you mention this topic while you were writing and striving in this issue?
The Shaykh : I believe.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.