Explanation of the author's statement: Chapter on explaining some of the types of sorcery. Ahmad said: Muhammad ibn Ja'far narrated to us, 'Awf narrated to us, from Hayyan ibn al-'Ala.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : Yes.
The reader: "Chapter on explaining some of the types of sorcery. Ahmad said: Muhammad ibn Ja'far narrated to us, 'Awf narrated to us, from Hayyan ibn al-'Ala, he said: Qatan ibn Qubayyisa narrated to us from his father: that he heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say:Mishkat al-Masabih 4583". 'Awf said: Sunan Abi Dawud 3908Sahih Maqtu' (Al-Albani).
The Shaykh : The line writes.
The reader: Huh?
The Shaykh : The line writes...
The reader: No, I don't have it.
The Shaykh : We don't have it, the line writes.
The reader: Connect it. "And the practice of the soothsayer: the line writes on the ground. And al-Jibt: al-Hasan said it is the sound of the devil, and its chain is good. And Abu Dawud, al-Nasa'i, and Ibn Hibban in his Sahih have the supported version of it". We have...
The Shaykh : Where is the last one? Hibban... Ibn Hibban.
The reader: "And from Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan Abi Dawud 3905Hasan (Al-Albani) Narrated by Abu Dawud, and its chain is authentic.
And from al-Nasa'i, from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah:Sunan an-Nasa'i 4079Da'if (Darussalam).
And from Ibn Mas'ud, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Riyad as-Salihin 1538 Narrated by Muslim.
And from both of them, from Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both), that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ".
The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. He (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Chapter on explaining some of the types of sorcery". This means explaining the realities of these things, along with their ruling as well; explaining them along with their ruling. It has already been mentioned in the chapter on sorcery that it is divided into two categories: disbelief and open sinfulness. If the sorcery is done by using jinn and the like, then it is? Disbelief. And if it is done with harmful medicines and the like, then it is open sinfulness and not disbelief. Likewise, the types of sorcery mentioned here, some of them are disbelief and some are less than that, according to what the scriptural evidence requires.
And "types" is the plural of "type," and the type is more specific than the genus. The type is more specific than the genus, because the genus is a name under which types fall, and the type is a name under which individuals fall. And this has passed us by, I think.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : In the end of al-Safarini's creed, and we said that a type can be a genus with respect to what is under it, and a genus can be a type with respect to what is above it. So, the human is a type with respect to the animal, and the animal is a genus with respect to the human, because it includes the human, camels, cattle, and sheep. And the animal, with respect to the body, with respect to the body, is it a type? A type, because the body includes the animal and includes the inanimate.
Here, "types" means types with respect to the general genus. And it has already been established for us that sorcery in language is everything that is hidden in cause and subtle in perception, so it is sorcery. So al-Fakhr al-Razi counted among the types of sorcery the clocks. The clocks, he said they are sorcery. And the clocks, as you know, originally are composite devices where a person knows that some of them turn others. How is this? If they brought electronic clocks now, they would say it is sorcery. Yes, because its cause is hidden. Originally, he said: these types mentioned by the author (may Allah have mercy on him), some of them are disbelief and some are less than that, according to what becomes clear.
"Ahmad said: Muhammad ibn Ja'far narrated to us, he said: 'Awf narrated to us, from Hayyan ibn al-'Ala, he said: Qatan ibn Qubayyisa narrated to us from his father, that he heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)...". What do you have regarding the discussion of... the men, in succession.
The reader: He spoke in the explanation.
The Shaykh : Okay, and what does he say?
The reader: His statement: "Imam Ahmad said." He titled it for Imam Ahmad.
The Shaykh : This is known, and Qubayyisa does not need [explanation], yes.
The reader: "And Muhammad ibn Ja'far is the one famous as Ghandar al-Hudhali al-Basri, a trustworthy and famous narrator".
The Shaykh : Yes.
The reader: Established with Shu'bah.
The Shaykh : Established.
The reader: "Until Ibn al-Madini preferred him over 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi in it, and indeed Ibn Mahdi acknowledged that to him".
The Shaykh : Okay, note this is an important point in the science of terminology: that a person can be trustworthy with one of the sheikhs and not with others, and can be trustworthy in one of the countries and not in others, and can be trustworthy in a general sense. In a general sense. So if it is said, for example, of Muhammad ibn Ja'far that he is trustworthy and established with Shu'bah, it means that with others he does not deserve this description, he does not deserve this description. But the man is known, famous, and trustworthy, yes.
The reader: "He died in the year 193 or 194. And 'Awf is ibn Abi Jamilah, with the opening of the jīm, al-'Abdi al-Basri, known as 'Awf al-Arabi, trustworthy. He died in the year 146 or 147, and he was 86 years old. And Hayyan ibn al-'Ala is with the bottom dot, and it is said Hayyan".
The Shaykh : With the bottom dot, and it is said?
The reader: And it is said Hayyan ibn al-Makhariq, Abu al-'Ala.
The Shaykh : Okay. How is it said Hayyan? Hayyan is with the bottom dot.
The reader: We have it like this.
The Shaykh : No, the bottom dot is the single dot.
The reader: ... .
The Shaykh : The bā' is called the single dot.
The reader: In terms of diacritics...
The Shaykh : Yes, yes, okay.
The reader: ... and it is said.
The Shaykh : And it is said?
The reader: And perhaps it is said Hayyan.
The Shaykh : Hayyan...
The reader: ... Abu al-'Ala.
The Shaykh : No.
The reader: ... .
The Shaykh : Meaning, it is called, meaning the kunya replaces the "ibn." This is the meaning. It is said, what we have now is Hayyan ibn al-'Ala, what you have is "and it is said Hayyan Abu al-'Ala," because they differed on it, yes.
The reader: And Hayyan ibn al-'Ala is with the bottom dot.
The Shaykh : Hayyan.
The reader: "And Hayyan ibn al-'Ala is with the bottom dot, and it is said Hayyan ibn al-Makhariq, Abu al-'Ala, al-Basri, acceptable. And Qatan with two fathas".
The Shaykh : Okay, wait. "Acceptable," what does the word "acceptable" mean? Weak until he is supported, yes.
The student: "And Qatan with two fathas, Abu Sahlah al-Basri, truthful. His statement: 'from his father'".
The Shaykh : What is the rank of "truthful"? Do you see, "truthful" is "acceptable." Where did he take it from? From al-Taqrib. From al-Taqrib, because these are his terms. And he was mentioning in the introduction, referring to "acceptable" and "truthful."
The Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) said: that its chain is good. Its chain is good. And in my opinion, it is less than good. In reality, less than good, unless there are supporting chains. And it seems some scholars hold that if the chain of a hadith is authentic, they are lenient with it. If the text is authentic, if the text is authentic and conforms to the principles, they are lenient with the chain. They are lenient with the chain. And the opposite is the opposite: if it contradicts the principles, they do not care about the chain. This is a good approach regarding the ruling, meaning for taking the ruling from the hadith. But regarding our judging the chain as good merely on the testimony of the principles for the authenticity of this hadith, this is problematic. Because it leads to the fact that if this chain came to us in another hadith, we would judge it as good. We would judge it as good. So it is better to say: that there is weakness in the chain, but the text is authentic. Or not? Yes, the text is authentic, yes.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : No, even if he is not "acceptable," describing him as "acceptable" does not give, does not bestow goodness on the hadith. But it seems the Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) had the matter [settled] by the testimony of the principles for the authenticity of the text.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Yes?
The student: al-Nawawi graded it as good.
The Shaykh : By Allah, in any case, scholars differ. I see.
The student: The preferred.
The Shaykh : I see that this is not judged as good. "Good" is better than "hasan." "Good" is higher than "hasan."
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Yes. "Good" is stronger than "hasan." Then, judging it as "hasan" with a chain like this, by Allah, I have something in my mind about this. I have something in my mind about this, because we should strive to verify the hadith of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Except that, as I told you, what does not lighten the matter is the authenticity of the text.
The student: Which is more important, the text or the chain?
The Shaykh : They are all important. They are all important. But the chain, if it is authentic and the principles testify to it, we may do without it. I mean, if the text is authentic and the principles testify to it, we may do without it. The chain is necessary.
Ibn al-Mubarak says: "If it were not for the chain, everyone would say what they wished". And everyone would say: the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said such and such. Abu Bakr said such and such. 'Umar said such and such. And so on, yes.
The reader: "His statement: 'from his father.' He is Qubayyisa, with the opening of the first letter and the kasrah of the single dot, ibn al-Makhariq, with the lightening of the mīm and the opening of the mu'jamah, Abu 'Abd Allah al-Hudhali, a Companion who settled in Basra".
The Shaykh : His father.
The student: al-Halali, Abu 'Abd Allah al-Hudhali, settled in Basra.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: It ended...
The Shaykh : That's it. Okay, let us now return to the hadith: that he heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say.
The reader: "Chapter on explaining some of the types of sorcery. Ahmad said: Muhammad ibn Ja'far narrated to us, 'Awf narrated to us, from Hayyan ibn al-'Ala, he said: Qatan ibn Qubayyisa narrated to us from his father: that he heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say:
Augury from the flight of birds, the practice of pessomancy,* and taking evil omens pertain to divination."
إن العيافة والطرق والطيرة من الجبت'Iyafah means to makes the birds fly by threatening them. Tarq means lines drawn on the earth.
العيافة زجر الطير والطرق الخط بالأرضThe Shaykh : The line writes.
The reader: Huh?
The Shaykh : The line writes...
The reader: No, I don't have it.
The Shaykh : We don't have it, the line writes.
The reader: Connect it. "And the practice of the soothsayer: the line writes on the ground. And al-Jibt: al-Hasan said it is the sound of the devil, and its chain is good. And Abu Dawud, al-Nasa'i, and Ibn Hibban in his Sahih have the supported version of it". We have...
The Shaykh : Where is the last one? Hibban... Ibn Hibban.
The reader: "And from Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
If anyone acquires any knowledge of astrology, he acquires a branch of magic of which he gets more as long as he continues to do so.
من اقتبس شعبة من النجوم فقد اقتبس شعبة من السحر زاد ما زادAnd from al-Nasa'i, from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah:
Whoever ties a know and blows on it, he has practiced magic; and whoever practices magic, he has committed Shirk; and whoever hangs up something (as an amulet) will be entrusted to it.
من عقد عقدة ثم نفث فيها فقد سحر ومن سحر فقد أشرك ومن تعلق شيئا وكل إليهAnd from Ibn Mas'ud, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Shall I tell you what 'Al-'Adhu' (falsehood and slandering) is? It is calumny which is committed among the people.
ألا هل أنبئكم ما العضه ؟ هي النميمة : القالة بين الناسAnd from both of them, from Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both), that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Indeed, some of the babban is sorcery.
إن من الببان لسحراThe Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. He (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Chapter on explaining some of the types of sorcery". This means explaining the realities of these things, along with their ruling as well; explaining them along with their ruling. It has already been mentioned in the chapter on sorcery that it is divided into two categories: disbelief and open sinfulness. If the sorcery is done by using jinn and the like, then it is? Disbelief. And if it is done with harmful medicines and the like, then it is open sinfulness and not disbelief. Likewise, the types of sorcery mentioned here, some of them are disbelief and some are less than that, according to what the scriptural evidence requires.
And "types" is the plural of "type," and the type is more specific than the genus. The type is more specific than the genus, because the genus is a name under which types fall, and the type is a name under which individuals fall. And this has passed us by, I think.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : In the end of al-Safarini's creed, and we said that a type can be a genus with respect to what is under it, and a genus can be a type with respect to what is above it. So, the human is a type with respect to the animal, and the animal is a genus with respect to the human, because it includes the human, camels, cattle, and sheep. And the animal, with respect to the body, with respect to the body, is it a type? A type, because the body includes the animal and includes the inanimate.
Here, "types" means types with respect to the general genus. And it has already been established for us that sorcery in language is everything that is hidden in cause and subtle in perception, so it is sorcery. So al-Fakhr al-Razi counted among the types of sorcery the clocks. The clocks, he said they are sorcery. And the clocks, as you know, originally are composite devices where a person knows that some of them turn others. How is this? If they brought electronic clocks now, they would say it is sorcery. Yes, because its cause is hidden. Originally, he said: these types mentioned by the author (may Allah have mercy on him), some of them are disbelief and some are less than that, according to what becomes clear.
"Ahmad said: Muhammad ibn Ja'far narrated to us, he said: 'Awf narrated to us, from Hayyan ibn al-'Ala, he said: Qatan ibn Qubayyisa narrated to us from his father, that he heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)...". What do you have regarding the discussion of... the men, in succession.
The reader: He spoke in the explanation.
The Shaykh : Okay, and what does he say?
The reader: His statement: "Imam Ahmad said." He titled it for Imam Ahmad.
The Shaykh : This is known, and Qubayyisa does not need [explanation], yes.
The reader: "And Muhammad ibn Ja'far is the one famous as Ghandar al-Hudhali al-Basri, a trustworthy and famous narrator".
The Shaykh : Yes.
The reader: Established with Shu'bah.
The Shaykh : Established.
The reader: "Until Ibn al-Madini preferred him over 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi in it, and indeed Ibn Mahdi acknowledged that to him".
The Shaykh : Okay, note this is an important point in the science of terminology: that a person can be trustworthy with one of the sheikhs and not with others, and can be trustworthy in one of the countries and not in others, and can be trustworthy in a general sense. In a general sense. So if it is said, for example, of Muhammad ibn Ja'far that he is trustworthy and established with Shu'bah, it means that with others he does not deserve this description, he does not deserve this description. But the man is known, famous, and trustworthy, yes.
The reader: "He died in the year 193 or 194. And 'Awf is ibn Abi Jamilah, with the opening of the jīm, al-'Abdi al-Basri, known as 'Awf al-Arabi, trustworthy. He died in the year 146 or 147, and he was 86 years old. And Hayyan ibn al-'Ala is with the bottom dot, and it is said Hayyan".
The Shaykh : With the bottom dot, and it is said?
The reader: And it is said Hayyan ibn al-Makhariq, Abu al-'Ala.
The Shaykh : Okay. How is it said Hayyan? Hayyan is with the bottom dot.
The reader: We have it like this.
The Shaykh : No, the bottom dot is the single dot.
The reader: ... .
The Shaykh : The bā' is called the single dot.
The reader: In terms of diacritics...
The Shaykh : Yes, yes, okay.
The reader: ... and it is said.
The Shaykh : And it is said?
The reader: And perhaps it is said Hayyan.
The Shaykh : Hayyan...
The reader: ... Abu al-'Ala.
The Shaykh : No.
The reader: ... .
The Shaykh : Meaning, it is called, meaning the kunya replaces the "ibn." This is the meaning. It is said, what we have now is Hayyan ibn al-'Ala, what you have is "and it is said Hayyan Abu al-'Ala," because they differed on it, yes.
The reader: And Hayyan ibn al-'Ala is with the bottom dot.
The Shaykh : Hayyan.
The reader: "And Hayyan ibn al-'Ala is with the bottom dot, and it is said Hayyan ibn al-Makhariq, Abu al-'Ala, al-Basri, acceptable. And Qatan with two fathas".
The Shaykh : Okay, wait. "Acceptable," what does the word "acceptable" mean? Weak until he is supported, yes.
The student: "And Qatan with two fathas, Abu Sahlah al-Basri, truthful. His statement: 'from his father'".
The Shaykh : What is the rank of "truthful"? Do you see, "truthful" is "acceptable." Where did he take it from? From al-Taqrib. From al-Taqrib, because these are his terms. And he was mentioning in the introduction, referring to "acceptable" and "truthful."
The Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) said: that its chain is good. Its chain is good. And in my opinion, it is less than good. In reality, less than good, unless there are supporting chains. And it seems some scholars hold that if the chain of a hadith is authentic, they are lenient with it. If the text is authentic, if the text is authentic and conforms to the principles, they are lenient with the chain. They are lenient with the chain. And the opposite is the opposite: if it contradicts the principles, they do not care about the chain. This is a good approach regarding the ruling, meaning for taking the ruling from the hadith. But regarding our judging the chain as good merely on the testimony of the principles for the authenticity of this hadith, this is problematic. Because it leads to the fact that if this chain came to us in another hadith, we would judge it as good. We would judge it as good. So it is better to say: that there is weakness in the chain, but the text is authentic. Or not? Yes, the text is authentic, yes.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : No, even if he is not "acceptable," describing him as "acceptable" does not give, does not bestow goodness on the hadith. But it seems the Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) had the matter [settled] by the testimony of the principles for the authenticity of the text.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Yes?
The student: al-Nawawi graded it as good.
The Shaykh : By Allah, in any case, scholars differ. I see.
The student: The preferred.
The Shaykh : I see that this is not judged as good. "Good" is better than "hasan." "Good" is higher than "hasan."
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Yes. "Good" is stronger than "hasan." Then, judging it as "hasan" with a chain like this, by Allah, I have something in my mind about this. I have something in my mind about this, because we should strive to verify the hadith of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Except that, as I told you, what does not lighten the matter is the authenticity of the text.
The student: Which is more important, the text or the chain?
The Shaykh : They are all important. They are all important. But the chain, if it is authentic and the principles testify to it, we may do without it. I mean, if the text is authentic and the principles testify to it, we may do without it. The chain is necessary.
Ibn al-Mubarak says: "If it were not for the chain, everyone would say what they wished". And everyone would say: the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said such and such. Abu Bakr said such and such. 'Umar said such and such. And so on, yes.
The reader: "His statement: 'from his father.' He is Qubayyisa, with the opening of the first letter and the kasrah of the single dot, ibn al-Makhariq, with the lightening of the mīm and the opening of the mu'jamah, Abu 'Abd Allah al-Hudhali, a Companion who settled in Basra".
The Shaykh : His father.
The student: al-Halali, Abu 'Abd Allah al-Hudhali, settled in Basra.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: It ended...
The Shaykh : That's it. Okay, let us now return to the hadith: that he heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say.