The effects of using weak Hadeeth

The term “weak hadeeth” refers to any narration which does not fulfill the conditions of authenticity. The scholars of Hadeeth agree that a “weak hadeeth” must not be attributed to the Prophet by saying: “The Prophet said …”.

Applying weak hadeeth in excellent deeds.

Very often when you point to the weakness of a Hadeeth you hear being cited, someone will immediately say: “But this Hadeeth is talking about (the reward of) excellent deeds, and it is alright to refer to unauthentic Hadeeth when talking about excellent deeds.”

It has become a norm amongst the majority of a good number of scholars and students of Islamic learning that it is alright to use weak Hadeeth when it refers to the reward of excellent deeds. They consider it a fully accepted rule that should not be argued. They also would quote the words of great scholars to support their point.

Before going into detail to refute the arguments of these people, let me point out that they have, in general, misunderstood the sayings of the great scholars of Islam they quote, relative to weak Hadeeth and how it should be used.

This serious misunderstanding has led to the great epidemic of freely using weak narrations; which certainly may involve lying against the Messenger of Allaah .

Refutation of the claim:

First, we should mention that the rule cited earlier (that weak Hadeeth can be used in excellent deeds) is not accepted by all the scholars of Hadeeth. For instance, Abu Bakr Ibn ‘Arabi said: “The weak Hadeeth should be absolutely avoided and not dealt with.”

Second, we should know that the scholars of Hadeeth who permitted the use of weak Hadeeth have set very strict rules applying to their use. Al-Haafith Ibn Hajar Al-‘Asqalaani

said: “There are three conditions that must be fulfilled in order to use the weak Hadeeth:

a. It is well accepted that the weakness should only be slight. This will help to exclude Hadeeth reported by liars or accused reporters (of lying) who are known to commit big mistakes.

b. The weak Hadeeth should be used under already well-established principles and should not bring in ideas of its own.

c. When a weak Hadeeth is used (after it fulfills the above two conditions), it should not be believed to be said by the Messenger of Allaah ; to do so we would be crediting him with that which he did not say.

For the above conditions to be satisfied, people planning to use the weak Hadeeth should have the ability to:

1. Distinguish between the weak and the authentic Hadeeth in order to fulfill condition (c) above, otherwise they may fall into lying about the Messenger .

2. Distinguish between the slightly weak Hadeeth and those which are very weak or fabricated, in order to fulfill condition (a) above.

What should be very clear to Muslims is that the ability to make the above two distinctions is not possessed except by a very small category of the scholars of Hadeeth (who can be counted on the fingers).

In particular with reference to item (2) above, only a few of the scholars of Hadeeth in all of the history of Islam have dealt with it.

Someone might justifiably ask: “Why are we so strict in this matter (of using weak Hadeeth), when some scholars of Hadeeth have permitted it?”

The answer to this question was given by a great scholar of Hadeeth, Muhammad Naassir Ad-Deen Al-Albaani who said:

“The earlier scholars used to mention the Hadeeth with their full Isnaad (chain of Narrators), so that any other scholar reading their treatise could know from the chain of Narrators the degree of authenticity of the Hadeeth.”

We pray that this small introduction to the subject of weak Hadeeth and using it as proof has helped in clarifying how dangerous this is.

The two most authentic books of Hadeeth

Saheeh Al-Bukhaari:

Of all the works of Hadeeth, Saheeh Al-Bukhaari and Saheeh Muslim are regarded as the most authentic and authoritative books, after Al-Quran. Indeed the very word "Saheeh" means "authentic". Saheeh Al-Bukhaari was compiled by Imaam (leader) of Hadeeth, Mohammad Ibn Ismaa'eel Al-Bukhaari, born 194H in Bukhaara, central Asia. He traveled at an early age seeking knowledge to Hijaaz (Makkaah and Madeenah), Ancient Syria, Iraq Egypt etc. He devoted more than 16 years of his life to the actual compilation of this work. He learnt from more than 1000 scholars. It is said that Imaam Al-Bukhaari collected over 300,000 Hadeeths and he himself memorized 200,000 of which some were unreliable. He wrote many books especially on the bibliography of Hadeeth narrators and other books on various issues of Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). However, his book 'Saheeh Al-Bukhaari', stands out for being the most authentic book of Hadeeth. It was also the first book to contain only authentic Hadeeths, while previous books contained authentic and non-authentic Hadeeths, as well as sayings of the companions and others. Imaam Al-Bukhaari died in his hometown, Bukhaara in the territory of Khurasaan (West Turkistan), in the year 256H.

He grouped the traditions of the Prophet under various headings dealing with specific points of Islamic jurisprudence. In his time, the schools of law had been generally established and his objective was to catalogue the traditions he regarded as authentic in relation to their respective topics of jurisprudence.

Before he recorded each Hadeeth, he would perform ablution and offer a two-Rak'ah prayer and supplicate to Allaah. Many religious scholars of Islam tried to find fault in the great remarkable collection, but without success. It is for this reason, they unanimously agreed that the most authentic book after the Book of Allaah is Saheeh Al-Bukhaari.

Some facts about Saheeh Al-Bukhaari:


1. It contains 7,275 Hadeeths, which he chose from the large number of Hadeeths that he had collected.
2. The number of complete unrepeated Hadeeths is 2230.
3. All the Hadeeths mentioned are authentic.
4. The conditions for accepting a Hadeeth were very stringent. Such as:

a) The chain of narrators must be linked, i.e. every narrator must have met his predecessor, (the man of whom he heard the Hadeeth from, up to the Prophet .)

b) For it to be enclosed in the Saheeh, the narrators must be of the highest caliber regarding their piety, manners, memory, integrity, etc.

5. The book is not a mere book of narrations; it is essentially a course of study on Hadeeth, its derivatives, inductions and research.

6. Each one of its 97 chapters is headed by a relevant verse from the Quran that complements the meaning of the Hadeeths quoted.

7. Finally, much more could be said about this monumental work, however, it is enough to say that many people have reached fame and achieved the highest qualifications by studying the book, researching it and commenting on it.

Saheeh Muslim:

Saheeh Muslim is the second most authentic book of Hadeeth after Saheeh Al-Bukhaari, compiled by Imaam Muslim ibn Al-Hajaaj Al-Nisapuri . Born in 202H and died in 261 H. He traveled widely to gather his collection of Hadeeth to Iraq Hijaaz, Ancient Syria, and Egypt. He learnt from many scholars, most of which were Al-Bukhaari's teachers. He also learnt from the Imaam Al-Bukhaari himself and became his most loyal student. Like Imaam Al-Bukhaari, Allaah have mercy upon him, he, Allaah have mercy upon him, wrote many books on the sciences of Hadeeth.

He, Allaah have mercy upon him, sought not so much to complement the issues at stake in the fiqh, the lslamic jurisprudence, but rather to produce a collection of sound traditions, an authentic record, on which future studies of Hadeeth could be based.

Some facts about Saheeh Muslim:

1. The book contains 4000 non-repeated Hadeeths and 12000 repeated ones.
2. Many narrations are mentioned in Saheeh Al-Bukhaari, but with different chain of narrators.
3. In every chapter more than one Hadeeth with the same meaning but with different chains and text are listed. The first Hadeeth in each chapter is the strongest, followed by weaker narrations in order to strengthen weaker narrations.
4. Excellent classification.
5. The book is forwarded by a detailed introduction about the basis of the sciences of Hadeeth.

Saheeh Al-Bukhaari is preferred over Saheeh Muslim based on the authenticity of the Hadeeths. Imaam Al-Bukhaari was more strict in selecting Hadeeths (chains) than Imaam Muslim . Besides considering all the conditions of a Saheeh Hadeeth, Imaam Al-Bukhaari stipulated a further condition that a narrator should meet the person from whom he is narrating the Hadeeth.

Imaam Muslim however, did not stipulate the evidence of meeting the narrator from whom he is narrating, but according to him, it is sufficient to accept the Hadeeth of a narrator if he lives in the same period and there was the possibility of meeting the narrator from whom he is reporting the Hadeeth. So, the condition of Imaam Muslim was less strict than the condition of Imaam Al-Bukhaari .

While Bukhaari's compilation is considered the more reliable of the two, Muslim's arrangement of his material has been recognised as superior, and rightly so. While Al-Bukhaari made the traditions in his collection testify to his own schedule of various points of law, Muslim left them to speak for themselves.



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