Mentioning al-Shanqiti's statement regarding the argument based on the number of witnesses in a mutawatir hadith.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Shaykh, in the discussion of the mutawatir hadith, Imam al-Shanqiti (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned in his book *Mudhakkirat Usul al-Fiqh* that, after speaking about the number, the correct view regarding the mutawatir is that there is no specific number fixed for it. Rather, it means that for every hadith, the number is appropriate for that hadith, and it may not be appropriate for another hadith. However, he said that four, certainly, are not among the number of tawatur, because four came as witnesses in the case of zina, and the judge needed to verify their character. So if the report of four had conveyed certainty, there would have been no need to verify their character. Therefore, it is five or more. Is this argument correct?
The Shaykh : Not at all, not at all. I do not think he says this in such a general way. Does he mean that if four of the Rightly Guided Caliphs came and narrated the hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), does that convey tawatur?
The questioner : From the Rightly Guided Caliphs...
The student : We return, we return to the circumstances.
The Shaykh : This is it. So, the four, the number in any case here has no concept at all, because it varies according to the trust in the reliability of those who narrated the hadith that is intended to be called mutawatir or not. And so, as they say in our region in Syria, "It was hit by an Alawite," if the Rightly Guided Caliphs narrated the hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and then the narration descended to four of the Tabi'un who are trustworthy, established, and known to us as mountains in memorization, from those who say that this does not convey tawatur. But when the matter comes to other narrators who are not of such fame in reliability, precision, and fairness, etc., like these here, it can be said that even four are not sufficient. So the issue is therefore a relative issue, relative, as was said in the principle, meaning.
The student : The difference between narration and testimony is also established in this place, because if three of the Rightly Guided Caliphs came and testified to zina, the fourth is necessary in terms of testimony, whereas in terms of narration, it has another ruling.
The Shaykh : Yes, without a doubt. Well done, well done.
The student : May Allah bless you.
The questioner : O our Shaykh, the narrator who was described as having poor memorization, so in reality, the questions I brought with me, meaning, were almost finished, but when I saw, praise be to Allah, your kindness, forgiveness, and breadth of understanding.
The Shaykh : Pardon me.
The questioner : Meaning, Allah expanded my chest to mention some of the questions that I also need.
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The questioner : Because at the beginning there were questions, then I selected from them, and then our brother 'A'idh al-Qarni came, meaning, to add some of the selection, selection.
The Shaykh : What Allah willed, in any case.
The questioner : According to the circumstancesThe Shaykh : If you find space, then like this.
The Shaykh : The benefit is shared.
The Shaykh : Not at all, not at all. I do not think he says this in such a general way. Does he mean that if four of the Rightly Guided Caliphs came and narrated the hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), does that convey tawatur?
The questioner : From the Rightly Guided Caliphs...
The student : We return, we return to the circumstances.
The Shaykh : This is it. So, the four, the number in any case here has no concept at all, because it varies according to the trust in the reliability of those who narrated the hadith that is intended to be called mutawatir or not. And so, as they say in our region in Syria, "It was hit by an Alawite," if the Rightly Guided Caliphs narrated the hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and then the narration descended to four of the Tabi'un who are trustworthy, established, and known to us as mountains in memorization, from those who say that this does not convey tawatur. But when the matter comes to other narrators who are not of such fame in reliability, precision, and fairness, etc., like these here, it can be said that even four are not sufficient. So the issue is therefore a relative issue, relative, as was said in the principle, meaning.
The student : The difference between narration and testimony is also established in this place, because if three of the Rightly Guided Caliphs came and testified to zina, the fourth is necessary in terms of testimony, whereas in terms of narration, it has another ruling.
The Shaykh : Yes, without a doubt. Well done, well done.
The student : May Allah bless you.
The questioner : O our Shaykh, the narrator who was described as having poor memorization, so in reality, the questions I brought with me, meaning, were almost finished, but when I saw, praise be to Allah, your kindness, forgiveness, and breadth of understanding.
The Shaykh : Pardon me.
The questioner : Meaning, Allah expanded my chest to mention some of the questions that I also need.
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The questioner : Because at the beginning there were questions, then I selected from them, and then our brother 'A'idh al-Qarni came, meaning, to add some of the selection, selection.
The Shaykh : What Allah willed, in any case.
The questioner : According to the circumstancesThe Shaykh : If you find space, then like this.
The Shaykh : The benefit is shared.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.