What is your esteemed opinion on purifying the sciences of hadith and their principles _i.e., terminology_? Or is there no disagreement among hadith scholars on this, unlike their disagreements in other Islamic sciences?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : You call for general purification in the Sunnah. What is your opinion on purifying the sciences of hadith and their principles _i.e., terminology_? Or is there no disagreement among hadith scholars on this, unlike their disagreements in other Islamic sciences? Please clarify.
The Shaykh : The Shaykh: There is no doubt that there is known scholarly disagreement in the principles of jurisprudence, and in the principles of hadith as well. However, the disagreement in the principles of the latter, the principles of hadith, is far less than the disagreement in the principles of jurisprudence. But we know that all Islamic sciences are based on the Book and the Sunnah. You have just seen how Imam al-Bukhari established the proof for affirming that principle in the hadith of Ibn 'Umar regarding the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) inside the Ka'bah.
All Islamic sciences refer back to the Book and the Sunnah. Therefore, the purification that we constantly emphasize is not limited to the Sunnah. We say: It is obligatory to purify the creed first of all, which is the foundation, and leads to eternal abode in Paradise if one holds to it with guidance, or to the Fire if one contradicts it, may Allah protect us from that. So, by purifying the Sunnah, we do not mean stopping at this point. Rather, we say: The foundation of all the purifications that are necessary for the Muslim community to return to its purified religion, free from all foreign elements, is the purification of the Sunnah. After this purification, or alongside it if possible, it is necessary to also turn to purifying the principles of jurisprudence and the principles of hadith, to the extent possible. We believe this is a matter with no harm. Thus, we call for purification in its broadest sense. But where do we begin? We begin by purifying the second of the foundations of the Shari'ah, which is the hadith and the Sunnah. This is our answer to that question.
The Shaykh : The Shaykh: There is no doubt that there is known scholarly disagreement in the principles of jurisprudence, and in the principles of hadith as well. However, the disagreement in the principles of the latter, the principles of hadith, is far less than the disagreement in the principles of jurisprudence. But we know that all Islamic sciences are based on the Book and the Sunnah. You have just seen how Imam al-Bukhari established the proof for affirming that principle in the hadith of Ibn 'Umar regarding the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) inside the Ka'bah.
All Islamic sciences refer back to the Book and the Sunnah. Therefore, the purification that we constantly emphasize is not limited to the Sunnah. We say: It is obligatory to purify the creed first of all, which is the foundation, and leads to eternal abode in Paradise if one holds to it with guidance, or to the Fire if one contradicts it, may Allah protect us from that. So, by purifying the Sunnah, we do not mean stopping at this point. Rather, we say: The foundation of all the purifications that are necessary for the Muslim community to return to its purified religion, free from all foreign elements, is the purification of the Sunnah. After this purification, or alongside it if possible, it is necessary to also turn to purifying the principles of jurisprudence and the principles of hadith, to the extent possible. We believe this is a matter with no harm. Thus, we call for purification in its broadest sense. But where do we begin? We begin by purifying the second of the foundations of the Shari'ah, which is the hadith and the Sunnah. This is our answer to that question.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.