MUSLIM VILLA - QURAN ONLY

Category 7 => Articles on general Hadith flaws / drawbacks / contradictions => Topic started by: Heba E. Husseyn on February 01, 2021, 05:18:29 pm



Title: Hadith analysis Dr. Hamidullah - initial correctness followed by oversights
Post by: Heba E. Husseyn on February 01, 2021, 05:18:29 pm



Dr. Mohammad Hamidullah and Muhammad Haykal are quoted in Al-Islam.org (https://www.al-islam.org/restatement-history-islam-and-muslims-sayyid-ali-ashgar-razwy/umar-bin-al-khattab-second-khalifa) as in the excerpt below.  Initially he grasps the point on Hadith correctly but then slips without putting in a very valid question on which is based his entire justification for the preservation of Hadith.   Can anyone guess what that simple question is which Dr. Hamdiullah has missed?   First read the excerpt please.


Quote:

One of the companions whom the Sunni Muslims consider one of the greatest authorities on Hadith, was Abu Hurayra. He was ever ready to quote a Hadith. There was never an occasion when recollection did not come to him of something he had heard the Prophet saying or something he had seen him doing. Once Umar asked him:  “O Abu Hurayra! Tell me this. Did the Messenger of God have nothing in the world to do except to whisper Hadith in your ears?”  Umar then ordered Abu Hurayra not to narrate any more Hadith.  Abu Hurayra was a very gregarious and a garrulous man. When Umar gagged him, he felt bottled up. But he was a patient man, and quietly awaited the time when he would be unmuzzled. His opportunity came when Umar died, and he returned, with a vengeance, to the business of relating Hadith. Today, the books of Hadith, compiled by Sunni collectors, are brimming with traditions narrated by him.

It is perhaps interesting to speculate on Umar's decision in placing the traditions of the Prophet under proscription. Did he believe that the proscription would outlast his own caliphate? There is no way of knowing the answer to this question. But he could not have meant the proscription to be effective only during his own lifetime; he could only have meant it to be everlasting. If so, then did he want to deprive the Muslims of the record of the precepts and precedents of their Prophet forever?

Muhammad Husayn Haykal says in the passage quoted above from his book that Umar was “moved by God's inspiration” to place the Hadith of the Apostle of God under proscription. This means that Umar's authority to order the suppression of Hadith, was implicit in the “inspiration” of which he was the recipient, and he didn't hesitate to exercise it. In exercising his “inspired” authority, he overrode even the consensus of the companions.

Consensus, incidentally, is a very important principle in Sunni jurisprudence. But Umar was right in overriding it. After all the consensus of fallible, earth-bound mortals could never supersede the authority of Umar's “inspiration.”

But Umar's ordinance suppressing Hadith leaves one vital question unanswered, viz., is it possible to understand and to practice Islam at all, and to obey the commandments of God embodied in Al-Qur’an al-Majid, without the knowledge and understanding of the sermons, statements, speeches, commands, prohibitions, precedents, examples and explanations of Muhammad Mustafa?

Was it, for example, possible for the companions to know, merely by reading Qur’an, how to say the five canonical prayers if Muhammad himself had not taught them? Or, would they have known how much Zakat (poor-tax) to pay, when to pay and whom to pay if they had not seen the Apostle himself paying it?

Without Hadith, Muslims could never understand the ideology of Islam nor could they grasp its practicability. In this regard, the contemporary, Austrian-born scholar, translator and commentator of Qur’an, Muhammad Asad, writes in his book, Islam At The Crossroads, as follows:

The Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad is, (therefore) next to Qur’an, the second source of Islamic law of social and personal behavior. In fact we must regard the Sunnah as the only valid explanation of the Qur’anic teachings and the only means to avoid dissension concerning their interpretation and adaptation to practical use.

Many verses of the Qur’an have allegorical meaning and could be understood in different ways unless there was some definite system of interpretation.

Unquote:


The first paragraph is thoroughly logical and correct.   But then unfortunately the speakers wander away into darkness.

Without the shadow of a doubt, Abu Huraira was a big time fraud.   And undoubtedly, the admirable second righteous Caliph, Umar bin Khattab, had caught Huraira's dubious intentions and deceitful tactics.  Without the question of a doubt, Umar disliked Huraira.  Furthermore, as any sincere believer, Umar bin Khattab was not beholden to the idea of Hadith. 

But some of the oversights after the first paragraph in the above quote are too glaring for my omission.

In the first place, the speakers forget the great Verse 17:84 where The Almighty says "Say: Each one does according to his rule of conduct, and your Rab is Best Aware of him whose way is right."   This Verse confirms that humans have been given the ability and entitlement to choose their path of conduct through their discernment and introspection.  If they utilize their sense of discernment right, they help their own souls.  

The speakers also forget Verses 3:7 and 75:16-19  (http://muslimvilla.smfforfree.com/index.php?topic=2445.0)that categorically convey that there can be NO fixed universal interpretation for several (particularly allegorical)  Verses of the Quran.  Only Allah has the final interpretation.  This approach is also perfectly congruent with Verse 17:84 that each person needs to reflect on their own to grasp the interpretation of all such Verses on the basis of selfless judgment and insight.

While Dr. Hamidullah lambastes Abu Huraira very rightly, the former still persists on upholding traditions or Hadith (in the name of "sunnah") for that same hackneyed reason that without traditions one cannot understand the Quran.  The very simple question he completely overlooks is:  To what level can the authenticity and thus the correctness of traditional narrations be acceptable as an ideology or an institution?  To what extent can or should anyone trust the flimsy logic of "isnad?" (http://muslimvilla.smfforfree.com/index.php?topic=527.0)

We know the bent of the human mind which is perpetually inclined to deviating from facts and perpetually inclined to pursuing its own interest.  We are also aware of history, that it was on account of these very fallible human traits that all former Divine Scriptures were completely altered by human hands who wanted to uphold traditions above the Divine Words.  The big blessing is that Allah Almighty Himself takes the responsibility to preserve the original Words of His Final Message in Lawh Mahfooz (guarded tablet) (http://muslimvilla.smfforfree.com/index.php?topic=4924.0)  "Nay, but it is a glorious Qur'an.  On a guarded tablet."  85:21-22 Surah Al-Buruj.   

Thus, practically extra Quranic sources cannot alter the Words of the Quran.  But they can encroach through external channels and distract people from the Quran, making the Noble Quran dismissive in the minds of the distracted ones.  Unfortunately this is exactly what has happened.  The distraction in many segments has gone so far that we have definitely come to the point that we are left with two black & white choices:  Either shut the door to traditional narrations completely or simply don't bother and leave it open.  Generally I am not in favor of black & white decisions in almost all walks of life.  But this one calls for it, considering the tendencies of slipping away from Divine Words to the words of humans is so deeply ingrained within the human self.  Even if you keep the door narrowly open, it's only a matter of time for that slender pathway to get crowded with falsifications and fabrications pushing their way to indoctrinate the human mind and distract it from the Noble Quran.  At best, our mainstream institutions have gone as far as keeping the door slim open.  At worst, many have kept it wide open. Since we cannot completely disassociate ourselves from the mainstream, let us at least ensure that we stay with the former not the latter.  And even in regard to the former, who also do falter now and again, never forget the need to filter their interpretations with the Quran as our Sole Criterion.

In regard to Dr. Hamidullah's questions on how to know the method of salat or zakat if there was no Hadith (needless queries that are ever so common), again the very obvious and straightforward answers are very simply elucidated in our following posts:

-  Does the Quran contain the exact procedure of salat? (http://muslimvilla.smfforfree.com/index.php?topic=2302.0)
-  Zakah as given in the Noble Quran. (http://muslimvilla.smfforfree.com/index.php?topic=2309.0)
-  The Noble Quran on Fasting. (http://muslimvilla.smfforfree.com/index.php?topic=2419.msg6760#msg6760) 
-  What does the Noble Quran say about Hajj? (http://muslimvilla.smfforfree.com/index.php?topic=2418.0)

No matter which topic you're seeking to get yourself acquainted with, the Noble Quran has it all. You may feel like seeking the opinion of various Verses from well-read believers, but there's no such thing as the explication of the Quran from a jurist or sheikh or imam being final or infallible.  While sometimes they speak sense, other times they speak nonsense too.  For example, if you want to know whether or not it's okay for you to watch lewd movies, the ethical guidelines for that are loud and clear in the Noble Quran saying NO it's NOT okay at all, no matter what might be your situation.   You don't have to ask a jurist to give you an answer.

"And when they do some lewdness they say: We found our fathers doing it and Allah has enjoined it on us. Say: Allah, verily, enjoins not lewdness. Tell you concerning Allah that which ye know not?"  7:28 Al-Araf.

"You enjoin right conduct and forbid indecency; and you believe in Allah."   3:110  Al-Imran.


The fact that the Noble Quran is a Standalone and Self-Explanatory Book NOT dependent on human writings for the explanation of its ethical commandments seems much to difficult for many of our jurists to grasp, desperately lacking in foresight and too full of lethargy to reflect, always wanting to be spoon fed with the deeply tainted works of so-called traditions.

"This day have I perfected your religion for you and completed My favour unto you, and have chosen for you as religion al-Islam."  5:3  Al-Maidah.


Related posts:

-  Omar bin Khattab (ra) supported QURAN ALONE, no Hadith. (http://muslimvilla.smfforfree.com/index.php?topic=3504.0)
-  Does the term theology connote to true faith? (http://muslimvilla.smfforfree.com/index.php?topic=2536.0)





Title: Re: Hadith analysis Dr. Hamidullah - initial correctness followed by oversights
Post by: N. Truth Seeker on February 01, 2021, 05:38:29 pm


Very interesting post.  At least it's now proven that Omar bin Khattab whose sincerity toward the Noble Quran and the final messenger was unquestionable, Alhumdulilah, also did not support the idea of hadith narrations because of the very unreliable nature of this concept and institution which can easily slip, preferring fictions over facts .. and it does more often than not as we see presently.



Title: Re: Hadith analysis Dr. Hamidullah - initial correctness followed by oversights
Post by: Ruhi_Rose on February 01, 2021, 05:44:39 pm


As I read both Hamidullah and Haykal, who are generally acquainted with the problems of hadith, are basically viewing an anti-Hadith stance as an anti-Prophet stance.  This approach is widespread not just among mainstream people and jurists, but also those who do officially acknowledge the flaws and needlessness of hadith such as Hamidullah and Haykal.   Hardly anyone can get the simple fact that the Prophet (pbuh) never ever said 99% of what we see floating around as "tradition."   Whose tradition please, the Prophet's tradition or the hidden tradition of trolls forging his (pbuh) name to promote their favorite practices?  That's the reason a lot of us don't approve of the Hadith institution which is based on our recognition of the Prophet's (pbuh) great character, and it feels totally unacceptable and offensive when he (pbuh) is slandered through forged narrations in the name of "traditions."



Title: Re: Hadith analysis Dr. Hamidullah - initial correctness followed by oversights
Post by: N. Truth Seeker on February 01, 2021, 05:50:30 pm



Also don't forget, the excerpt is from Islam.org which is a traditional Shiia hadith-following site that's quoting Hamidullah and Haykal without any proof that it's really their words.  It's well known that Shiias don't like Umar bin Khattab.  In the above quoted paragraphs it seems like Islam.org is trying to discredit Umar bin Khattab in the eyes of both Sunnis and Shiias by elaborating Umar's anti-hadith approach.   It is very true that Umar did not approve of the hadith at all, and as a Quran-alone follower I see this as something very complimentary.  But in the mind of hadithsers, it can be used as an instrument to slander Umar among mainstream hadith-following Muslims. 

   


Title: Re: Hadith analysis Dr. Hamidullah - initial correctness followed by oversights
Post by: Ruhi_Rose on February 01, 2021, 05:52:26 pm


That's spot on brother TS ..


Title: Re: Hadith analysis Dr. Hamidullah - initial correctness followed by oversights
Post by: Zainab_M on February 01, 2021, 05:55:19 pm



SubhanAllah, great post and the logical aspects very sensibly addressed. 

Also the perception on the additional points by Br. TS and Sis Ruhi are remarkably accurate.  Alhumdulilah.