❖ Apparent Contradictions in Authentic Hadith: Reality or Misconception? ❖
Adapted from responses to Hadith-rejecters’ objections, with structured clarification for deeper understanding.
◈ The Allegation: Contradiction in Authentic Hadith
Some objectors claim that certain authentic (ṣaḥīḥ) hadiths appear contradictory. For instance:
- One hadith states that keeping horses for Jihad brings reward even for their feeding and waste.
- Another hadith mentions that misfortune (nuhūsat) lies in three things: a horse, a house, and a woman.
How can both be true if horses are seen as both a means of reward and misfortune?
◈ Reality: No Contradiction—Only Misunderstanding
This is a misconception similar to how some Qur’anic verses may appear to conflict:
✔ “Wealth and children are a trial (fitnah)…” (Sūrah al-Taghābun: 15)
✔ “Those who spend in the way of Allah… will have their reward.” (Sūrah al-Baqarah: 274)
These are context-based truths. Likewise, a horse, house, or woman may become a source of trial only if they distract from religion. Otherwise, they are not inherently misfortunate.
☑ The hadith mentioning misfortune uses a conditional tone:
“If there was misfortune in anything, it would be in these three.”
This is not an absolute declaration of misfortune.
◈ Objection: Contradiction on Women’s Participation in Jihad
- One hadith tells ʿĀʾishah (RA) that women’s jihad is Hajj.
- Other narrations depict women in battlefields, serving the wounded and assisting the army.
Is this a contradiction?
◈ Clarification: Different Contexts, No Conflict
✔ ʿĀʾishah’s hadith indicates that jihad is not obligatory for women—rather, Hajj is their equivalent.
✔ The other hadiths show that voluntary participation in supportive roles (not combat) was permissible.
➡️ These narrations are complementary, not contradictory.
◈ Objection: Lineage—Quraysh vs. Naḍr ibn Kinānah
Some point to a supposed conflict: The Prophet ﷺ is said to be from Quraysh in one narration and from Naḍr ibn Kinānah in another.
◈ Response: Lineage Clarified
There is no contradiction here. The Quraysh are descendants of Naḍr ibn Kinānah.
This is like referring to someone by a tribal name and also by a regional or ancestral identifier—both are accurate.
◈ Objection: Use of Persian Words by the Prophet ﷺ
The Prophet ﷺ reportedly used the Persian phrase “kakh kakh” to stop Hasan (RA) from eating a date meant for charity. Critics ask: Did the Prophet ﷺ or his household speak Persian?
◈ Explanation: Multilingual Influence is Normal
Languages often borrow words. Even today, non-native words are commonly used in daily speech.
Using a single phrase from another language does not imply fluency or regular usage.
Persian words were part of the region’s vernacular during that time.
◈ Objection: Martyrs and Abrogated Verse
A hadith refers to 70 Companions martyred, and their message being mentioned in a now-abrogated Qur’anic verse. Some question: Didn’t Allah know they would be martyred?
◈ Answer: Divine Wisdom and Abrogation
Allah says:
“Whatever verse We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring one better or similar.”
(Sūrah al-Baqarah: 106)
✔ Abrogation (naskh) is part of Allah’s wisdom.
✔ Just as Prophets were sent to people who later killed them, yet Allah knew this would happen, these verses served a purpose at their time.
☑ Belief in such divine acts without objection is a requirement of faith.
◈ Final Conclusion
There is no real contradiction in authentic hadiths—only misinterpretation or incomplete understanding.
✔ Just as the Qur’an requires contextual interpretation to resolve apparent conflicts,
✔ The same method applies to Hadith.
The correct approach is reconciliation (taṭbīq) between narrations rather than rejection.
