Is the statement of al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar (what he is silent upon is either authentic or good) in al-Fath specific to what he adds to the original text in terms of words and extractions, or is it general for every hadith he cites?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Here is a phrase in Hidayat al-Sari that al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar mentioned, which relates to the hadiths upon which al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar is silent in al-Fath. At first, it seemed to me that everything al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar is silent upon in al-Fath is, by condition, authentic or good, as he mentioned in the introduction. But when I reflected on his phrase here, it appeared to me that this is specific to something. I wanted to read the phrase to you and clarify my intent so that you can guide me.
The Shaykh : By Allah, if this is correct, it would be something new, because this is what is in my mind.
The questioner : Very well, may Allah preserve you.
The Shaykh : Okay, please proceed.
The questioner : Here, our Shaykh, al-Hafiz is speaking about his methodology in Sahih. May Allah have mercy on him, he said: "When these chapters are clarified and these principles are established, I began explaining the book, seeking help from the opener of the Wahhab [Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab]. So I will present, if Allah wills, the chapter and its hadith first." This is, I mean, the beginning of his speech.
The Shaykh : Okay.
The questioner : So I will present, if Allah wills, the chapter and its hadith first, then I will mention the point of connection between them if it is obscure. Then, secondly, I will extract what relates to a valid purpose in that hadith, from the textual and chain-related benefits, from completions and additions, and from clarifying the obscure and making explicit the concealed hearing of a deceiver, and the following of a listener from a Shaykh who had previously become confused. I extract all of this from the mother books of chains, the compendiums, the extractions, the parts, and the benefits, with the condition of authenticity or goodness in what I cite from that.
The Shaykh : Okay, what is new in the matter?
The questioner : What I understood is that this statement is specific to what he mentions as additions to the wording of al-Bukhari in the text of al-Bukhari's hadith. He says, "Abu Nu'aym added," "Ibn 'Uwaimah added," "Ibn al-Khayyam added," "Ibn Abi Shaybah added"—the additions that relate to this text. As for the hadiths he presents as jurisprudential schools far from the text, I mean, leaving aside the jurisprudential schools, this does not include them. Okay, until I complete the rest as well, perhaps it will become clear with the rest.
The Shaykh : Please.
The questioner : He said, "And thirdly, its original is what is disconnected from its suspended and stopped reports, and there the extra benefits join together and the scattered pearls are arranged. And fourthly, I verify what is difficult from all of the above, names and descriptions, with clarification of the meanings of the linguistic terms and pointing out the rhetorical subtleties and the like. And fifthly, and this is what I want to connect between fifthly and secondly, fifthly, I present what I benefited from the words of the Imams, what they deduced from that report in terms of jurisprudential rulings, ascetic admonitions, and established etiquettes, restricting myself to the stronger position of that, seeking the clear over the strange in those paths, with attention to combining what appears to contradict others, and specifying the abrogated with its abrogator, the operative with its specifier, the absolute with its qualifier, the general with its clarifier, and the apparent with its interpreted, and pointing to subtleties from the principles of jurisprudence, subtleties from the benefits of Arabic, and selections from the differences of the schools, according to what is connected to it from the words of the Imams and the understanding that it is from the important objectives, to the end of what was mentioned in the chapter. So here, in the fifth chapter, he spoke about the jurisprudential issues and the jurisprudential schools and what was conditioned in this condition. And he only conditioned the first condition in the chapter of additions that relate to the text from the chain and textual benefits. Is it understood from this statement that there is specification? May Allah preserve you.
The Shaykh : Fifthly, what he addressed regarding the hadiths.
The questioner : He did not mention the hadiths.
The Shaykh : Neither negatively nor positively.
The questioner : Yes, that is right.
The Shaykh : In this case, I do not think that in the fifth chapter there is anything that supports what came before in the first. Therefore, I need you to listen to me again to his previous statement that specifies the authentication and improvement to what is related to the hadiths of Sahih al-Bukhari that he explains.
The questioner : Okay, let us return to it, if Allah wills.
The Shaykh : Please.
The questioner : May Allah have mercy on him, he said, "I will present, if Allah wills, the chapter and its hadith first, then I will mention the point of connection between them if it is obscure. Then, secondly, I will extract what relates to a valid purpose in that hadith, from the textual and chain-related benefits, from completions and additions, and from clarifying the obscure and making explicit the concealed hearing of a deceiver, and the following of a listener from a Shaykh who had previously become confused. I extract all of this from the mother books of chains, the compendiums, the extractions, the parts, and the benefits, with the condition of authenticity or goodness in what I cite from that."
The Shaykh : By Allah, it does not appear to me that this statement contains specification, unless we have an example. For instance, he cited a hadith with its connection, because here is the word "purpose."
The questioner : Yes, what relates to a valid purpose in that hadith.The Shaykh : Okay, is this a valid purpose that does not include citing a hadith with a connection related to the topic, and it is not from the chapter of additions and the like?
The questioner : Okay, our Shaykh, the rest of the speech. He said, "From the textual benefits," after he said, "what relates to a valid purpose in that hadith," he said, "from the textual and chain-related benefits, from completions and additions, and from clarifying the obscure, to the end of what he said. And is it possible, our Shaykh, that it is more likely that in some places he presents hadiths and is silent upon them, then weakens them in another place in al-Fath itself?"
The Shaykh : This benefits us in case we do a comparison, that we do not find in his hadiths that fall within this restriction that you are currently discussing.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : We do not find in it anything of that kind, which in some of his books he weakens. In reality, the matter thereafter requires attention to such an observation that you drew attention to, and may Allah reward you with good. And the observation should be directed to two sides.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The first side is looking at the hadiths that he mentions which do not have a direct connection to some of the phrases of the hadiths recorded in the Sahih.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The second observation is whether he is not absolutely held to this side, that he contradicts himself in another book, if nothing of this is found, so that this is directed to the specification that you drew attention to. Otherwise, it may be that he prevented the detail.
The questioner : Yes, our Shaykh, here in the hadith of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) which is attributed to him in the first part, page eight. Okay, he mentioned it without speaking about it, except that he explicitly stated its weakness in the eighth part of al-Fath, page two hundred and twenty. And we have another hadith.
The Shaykh : Excuse me.
The questioner : Please.
The Shaykh : The hadith whose weakness he explicitly stated.
The questioner : Which hadith? And you preferred, our Shaykh, in the narration that it is mursal.
The Shaykh : Yes, the one in which Qarah ibn 'Abd al-Rahman is included.
The questioner : So he mentioned it in the Book of the Beginning of Revelation and was silent upon it.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : And he mentioned it afterwards in the eighth part of al-Fath, page two hundred and twenty, and explicitly stated its weakness. When another hadith appears, our Shaykh, and it is the hadith, he mentioned it in the first part, page eleven, being silent upon it, and explicitly stated its weakening in the fourth part, page two hundred and nineteen. Is the matter as you mentioned? Is a rule taken from one example and two and three and more? The induction requires time and effort until a person comes out with a rule.
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed.
The questioner : And this is what was meant by relying on it in argumentation, I mean, or relying strongly on it, to the extent that he cared for its wording, may Allah have mercy on him, in Hidayat al-Sari.
The Shaykh : Yes, some of the examples I mentioned, like the hadith, do not fall into the first section.
The questioner : It does not fall in, because the hadith is not from the additions of the hadith, these, no. But he was speaking, may Allah have mercy on him, that there are those who denied the claim of the singularity of this hadith, and there are those who said that 'Umar was followed in that. He said, "If he was followed in meaning, then yes. But as for being followed in wording, no, except the hadith of 'Umar. And as for in meaning, he presented such hadiths as 'The intention of the believer is better than his deed' and to the end of what he mentioned. And he mentioned in responses to people who claimed the singularity or rarity of this hadith, and there are people who claimed that 'Umar did not have it uniquely. He said, 'If the intention is that he did not have it uniquely in meaning, yes, there are other hadiths in the meaning of this hadith.'"
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : And if it is in structure, no, except from 'Umar and what came from Abu Sa'id, may Allah have mercy on him.
The Shaykh : In any case, it should be, as we said, that the topic is studied more broadly, if Allah wills.
The questioner : I ask Allah to bless you.
The Shaykh : May Allah preserve you.
The questioner : What Allah willed.
The Shaykh : By Allah, if this is correct, it would be something new, because this is what is in my mind.
The questioner : Very well, may Allah preserve you.
The Shaykh : Okay, please proceed.
The questioner : Here, our Shaykh, al-Hafiz is speaking about his methodology in Sahih. May Allah have mercy on him, he said: "When these chapters are clarified and these principles are established, I began explaining the book, seeking help from the opener of the Wahhab [Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab]. So I will present, if Allah wills, the chapter and its hadith first." This is, I mean, the beginning of his speech.
The Shaykh : Okay.
The questioner : So I will present, if Allah wills, the chapter and its hadith first, then I will mention the point of connection between them if it is obscure. Then, secondly, I will extract what relates to a valid purpose in that hadith, from the textual and chain-related benefits, from completions and additions, and from clarifying the obscure and making explicit the concealed hearing of a deceiver, and the following of a listener from a Shaykh who had previously become confused. I extract all of this from the mother books of chains, the compendiums, the extractions, the parts, and the benefits, with the condition of authenticity or goodness in what I cite from that.
The Shaykh : Okay, what is new in the matter?
The questioner : What I understood is that this statement is specific to what he mentions as additions to the wording of al-Bukhari in the text of al-Bukhari's hadith. He says, "Abu Nu'aym added," "Ibn 'Uwaimah added," "Ibn al-Khayyam added," "Ibn Abi Shaybah added"—the additions that relate to this text. As for the hadiths he presents as jurisprudential schools far from the text, I mean, leaving aside the jurisprudential schools, this does not include them. Okay, until I complete the rest as well, perhaps it will become clear with the rest.
The Shaykh : Please.
The questioner : He said, "And thirdly, its original is what is disconnected from its suspended and stopped reports, and there the extra benefits join together and the scattered pearls are arranged. And fourthly, I verify what is difficult from all of the above, names and descriptions, with clarification of the meanings of the linguistic terms and pointing out the rhetorical subtleties and the like. And fifthly, and this is what I want to connect between fifthly and secondly, fifthly, I present what I benefited from the words of the Imams, what they deduced from that report in terms of jurisprudential rulings, ascetic admonitions, and established etiquettes, restricting myself to the stronger position of that, seeking the clear over the strange in those paths, with attention to combining what appears to contradict others, and specifying the abrogated with its abrogator, the operative with its specifier, the absolute with its qualifier, the general with its clarifier, and the apparent with its interpreted, and pointing to subtleties from the principles of jurisprudence, subtleties from the benefits of Arabic, and selections from the differences of the schools, according to what is connected to it from the words of the Imams and the understanding that it is from the important objectives, to the end of what was mentioned in the chapter. So here, in the fifth chapter, he spoke about the jurisprudential issues and the jurisprudential schools and what was conditioned in this condition. And he only conditioned the first condition in the chapter of additions that relate to the text from the chain and textual benefits. Is it understood from this statement that there is specification? May Allah preserve you.
The Shaykh : Fifthly, what he addressed regarding the hadiths.
The questioner : He did not mention the hadiths.
The Shaykh : Neither negatively nor positively.
The questioner : Yes, that is right.
The Shaykh : In this case, I do not think that in the fifth chapter there is anything that supports what came before in the first. Therefore, I need you to listen to me again to his previous statement that specifies the authentication and improvement to what is related to the hadiths of Sahih al-Bukhari that he explains.
The questioner : Okay, let us return to it, if Allah wills.
The Shaykh : Please.
The questioner : May Allah have mercy on him, he said, "I will present, if Allah wills, the chapter and its hadith first, then I will mention the point of connection between them if it is obscure. Then, secondly, I will extract what relates to a valid purpose in that hadith, from the textual and chain-related benefits, from completions and additions, and from clarifying the obscure and making explicit the concealed hearing of a deceiver, and the following of a listener from a Shaykh who had previously become confused. I extract all of this from the mother books of chains, the compendiums, the extractions, the parts, and the benefits, with the condition of authenticity or goodness in what I cite from that."
The Shaykh : By Allah, it does not appear to me that this statement contains specification, unless we have an example. For instance, he cited a hadith with its connection, because here is the word "purpose."
The questioner : Yes, what relates to a valid purpose in that hadith.The Shaykh : Okay, is this a valid purpose that does not include citing a hadith with a connection related to the topic, and it is not from the chapter of additions and the like?
The questioner : Okay, our Shaykh, the rest of the speech. He said, "From the textual benefits," after he said, "what relates to a valid purpose in that hadith," he said, "from the textual and chain-related benefits, from completions and additions, and from clarifying the obscure, to the end of what he said. And is it possible, our Shaykh, that it is more likely that in some places he presents hadiths and is silent upon them, then weakens them in another place in al-Fath itself?"
The Shaykh : This benefits us in case we do a comparison, that we do not find in his hadiths that fall within this restriction that you are currently discussing.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : We do not find in it anything of that kind, which in some of his books he weakens. In reality, the matter thereafter requires attention to such an observation that you drew attention to, and may Allah reward you with good. And the observation should be directed to two sides.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The first side is looking at the hadiths that he mentions which do not have a direct connection to some of the phrases of the hadiths recorded in the Sahih.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The second observation is whether he is not absolutely held to this side, that he contradicts himself in another book, if nothing of this is found, so that this is directed to the specification that you drew attention to. Otherwise, it may be that he prevented the detail.
The questioner : Yes, our Shaykh, here in the hadith of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) which is attributed to him
Every matter in the mind that does not begin with the praise of Allah is cut off.
كل أمر في بال لا يبدء بحمد الله فهو أقطعThe Shaykh : Excuse me.
The questioner : Please.
The Shaykh : The hadith whose weakness he explicitly stated.
The questioner : Which hadith?
Every matter in the mind that does not begin with the praise of Allah is cut off.
كل أمر في بال لا يبدء فيه بحمد الله فهو أقطعThe Shaykh : Yes, the one in which Qarah ibn 'Abd al-Rahman is included.
The questioner : So he mentioned it in the Book of the Beginning of Revelation and was silent upon it.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : And he mentioned it afterwards in the eighth part of al-Fath, page two hundred and twenty, and explicitly stated its weakness. When another hadith appears, our Shaykh, and it is the hadith
The intention of the believer is better than his deed
نية المؤمن خير من عملهThe Shaykh : Yes, indeed.
The questioner : And this is what was meant by relying on it in argumentation, I mean, or relying strongly on it, to the extent that he cared for its wording, may Allah have mercy on him, in Hidayat al-Sari.
The Shaykh : Yes, some of the examples I mentioned, like the hadith
The intention of the believer is better than his deed
نية المؤمن خير من عملهThe questioner : It does not fall in, because the hadith
Actions are only by intentions
إنما الأعمال بالنياتWhoever goes on an expedition and does not intend anything other than a camel's saddle, he will not get from his expedition anything other than what he sought.
من غزا ولم ينوي الا عقالا فليس له من غزوه إلا ما غزىThe Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : And if it is in structure, no, except from 'Umar and what came from Abu Sa'id, may Allah have mercy on him.
The Shaykh : In any case, it should be, as we said, that the topic is studied more broadly, if Allah wills.
The questioner : I ask Allah to bless you.
The Shaykh : May Allah preserve you.
The questioner : What Allah willed.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.