Doubts of Hadith Deniers Regarding the Abundance of Ahadith

The deniers of Hadith have raised the objection regarding the science of Hadith that how did the Muhaddithin receive such a large number of Hadith. They present large figures to give the impression that 95% of these Hadith were fabricated and forged. Even if some authentic Hadith existed, they were so mixed up that it was impossible to separate them. For this reason, even the Hadith accepted by the Muhaddithin were not reliable in their view. But the reality is that there are many reasons for the abundance of Hadith, of which only one reason is the existence of fabricated Hadith. These reasons are as follows:

1. In terms of the breadth of meanings

The difference between Sunnah and Ahadith has already been clarified. Sunnah pertains solely to the person of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, whereas Ahadith also include the sayings and actions of the Companions and the Followers. Therefore, it is logical that the number of Ahadith is many times greater than the Sunnah of the Messenger, peace be upon him.

2. In terms of Chains of Transmission and Routes

For example:

«انما الاعمال بالنيات»

Translation: “Actions are judged by intentions.”

This is a verbal Sunnah, but it is counted among the Ahadith with seven hundred (700) different narrations. Thus, due to the chains of transmission and routes, the number of Ahadith becomes many times greater than the Sunnah.

3. The Sunnah of the Messenger, peace be upon him, is mostly based on the interactions of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them

During the time of the Prophet ﷺ, the practice of Sunnah relied more on interaction with the Companions than on writing and narration. For example, the Companions would observe the Prophet ﷺ praying and then pray in the same manner. Or when various delegations came to Medina, the Prophet ﷺ would keep them with him for a few days and upon their departure, he would instruct them:

«صَلُّوا كَمَا رَأَيْتُمُونِي أُصَلِّي»

Translation: “Pray as you see me praying.”

Similarly, on the occasion of the Farewell Pilgrimage, he said:

«خُذُوا عَنِّي مَنَاسِكَكُمْ»

Translation: “Learn from me the way of performing the rites of Hajj.”

(This narration is authentic. See: Irwa’ al-Ghalil, Hadith: 1074)

Later, when the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, began to narrate and write down the details of prayer, Hajj, fasting, zakat, and other rulings, entire books were compiled from these small instructions.

4. Existence of the Subject Matter of Ahadith

During the time of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, there were also some hypocrites and apostates who openly came forward with their false beliefs after his death. For example, an incident occurred during the time of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, which Ibn Adi narrated in his book “Kamil” on the authority of Sayyiduna Buraidah, may Allah be pleased with him. After his death, the number of people fabricating hadith increased, who were called Waddaa’een. These people were of six different types:

1. Zanadiqa (Secularists)
2. Ahl al-Shi’ah
3. Sufis
4. Emirs and Sultans
5. Mu’tazilites
6. Khawarij

These people fabricated many false hadiths to prove their misguided beliefs and ideas as true. They defended their views through these hadiths and refuted the views of the people of truth. When the same subject hadith was narrated with different chains of transmission, the number of hadiths appeared to be greater.

5. Methods and Chains of Transmission of Subject Hadiths

As previously stated, the hadith scholars not only knew about fabricated hadiths but also about their chains of narration, so that they could warn the public about these fabricated hadiths. Just as when the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ is narrated through various chains, their number increases manifold, similarly, when fabricated hadiths come with different chains of narration, their number also increases.

Many objections have been raised by the opponents of hadith regarding the number of hadiths, especially by the group called Tulu-e-Islam. These objections attempt to cast doubt on the number of hadiths. On page 25 of “Maqam-e-Hadith,” a criticism is made about the abundance of hadiths, stating that various hadith scholars recorded only a few thousand hadiths in their books out of millions of hadiths:

1. Imam Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him: Out of six hundred thousand (600,000) hadiths, after removing repetitions, only 2762 hadiths.
2. Imam Muslim, may Allah have mercy on him: Out of three hundred thousand (300,000) hadiths, after removing repetitions, only 4248 hadiths.
3. Imam Abu Dawood, may Allah have mercy on him: Out of five hundred thousand (500,000) hadiths, after removing repetitions, only 4800 hadiths.
4. Imam Ibn Majah, may Allah have mercy on him: Out of four hundred thousand (400,000) hadiths, after removing repetitions, only 4000 hadiths.
5. Imam Nasa’i, may Allah have mercy on him: Out of two hundred thousand (200,000) hadiths, after removing repetitions, only 4321 hadiths.

Example of Imam Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him

On page number 22 of “Maqam-e-Hadith,” it is stated about Imam Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him:
“He traveled city by city and village by village collecting nearly six hundred thousand (600,000) hadiths. Out of these, according to his criteria, he found only 7200 hadiths authentic and included them in his book, rejecting the remaining five hundred twenty-nine thousand.”

Falsehood and Deception:

Some important points to consider from the above objections are:

The number of hadiths has been greatly exaggerated in the objections. The number of hadiths mentioned in the cited excerpt exceeds 2 million, while the maximum number of authentic hadiths is stated to be 1.4 million. These figures do not include only a few well-known hadith scholars but also other scholars. The five reasons for this abundance of hadiths have already been explained, and this number refers to different methods (ways of narration) and chains of transmission (isnads), not the texts (original content) or Sunnahs and traditions. Since hadith scholars count each chain and method of narration separately as an individual hadith, this number is according to their counting, not according to the count of the texts.

The Actual Number of Hadiths

After removing repetitions (i.e., hadiths narrated multiple times), the figures that emerge are actually based on texts, collections, and reports. These are generally called “Hadith,” and their total number does not exceed 20,000. Furthermore, many hadiths are present together in various hadith collections, which reduces their actual number to less than half. According to Imam Hakim’s research, the number of authentic hadiths, including Sahih al-Sitta and Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal, does not exceed 10,000. His words are:

«اَلَا حَادِيتُ الَّتِى فِى الدَّرَجَةِ الأولى لَا تَبْلُغُ عَشَرَةَ آلافٍ»

“The number of high-grade hadiths does not reach ten thousand.”
If the scope of these 10,000 hadiths is expanded further, and instead of only authentic and high-grade hadiths, good and weak narrations are also included, as well as counting dozens of other hadith books besides Sahih Sitta and Musnad Ahmad, which fall under the third and fourth categories, then regarding their total number, Manazir Ahsan Gilani writes in his book “Tadween-e-Hadith”:
“Anyway, counting shows that the total number of all types of hadiths—authentic, good, weak—that are currently present in Sahih Sitta, Musnad Ahmad, and other books, does not even reach 50,000 (50,000). And this is a collection of every kind of hadith, good and defective. After examining all the books, not only Ibn Jauzi, whose standards of criticism are very strict, but also Imam Hakim, who is known for leniency and tolerance, have said: ‘The number of first-grade authentic hadiths does not even reach ten thousand.'”

The Reality of Inclusion in the Number of Hadiths

It can be stated without any doubt that this number of 50,000 includes all types of hadiths, whether they fall under the category of Mashhoor (popular) or Mardood (rejected). Among the Mardood hadiths, the lowest grade is Mawdoo’at (i.e., fabricated hadiths). Since a large number of fabricated hadiths exist in the hadith books of our third and fourth categories, this fact cannot be ignored.

Inclusion of All Types of Hadiths in the Hadith Collections

The question of why the muhaddithin included every type of hadith (all kinds of authentic and weak narrations) in their books has already been answered in the chapter on “Fabrication of Hadith.” In brief, this was done to eliminate the scope of objections raised by false sects:
“The muhaddithin have corrupted our narrations even though they were authentic.”
To refute this objection, the muhaddithin preserved every kind of hadith so that the distinction between truth and falsehood could be made.

Rational Argument Regarding the Number of Sahih Hadiths

The total number of authentic hadiths being discussed does not even reach 10,000. Now compare this number with the written collection that was compiled during the Prophetic era itself. We have detailed this in the chapter on “Hadith Writing,” and even The Rise of Islam acknowledges this. Does this not make it clear that even if there were some additions or adulterations in the hadith collections during the third and fourth centuries Hijri, the scholarly group of muhaddithin identified these flaws and separated them?

The Role of Muhaddithin in the Preservation of Authentic Hadiths

Through the same effort and research, the characteristics of authentic hadiths have become clear and evident. These are the very hadiths whose adherence is necessary for Muslims until the Day of Judgment, and whose preservation was promised by Allah Almighty Himself. It is evident that Allah Almighty fulfills His responsibility in the human world through humans, and the people who played their role in this regard were precisely the group of Muhaddithin (scholars of hadith), may Allah have mercy on them. They preserved the treasures of hadith and conveyed them to the Ummah so that Muslims could learn the correct teachings and follow them.

The objections raised by Taloo-e-Islam particularly against the hadith scholars, especially Imam Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him, include the allegation that they relied on “personal insight, their own standards, and their own understanding” in accepting or rejecting hadiths. This statement is based on absolute falsehood. The hadith scholars never used their personal opinions as a criterion for accepting or rejecting hadiths. For them, the standard was the principles and rules they adopted based on the principles of narration and criticism, which were initiated by Sayyiduna Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, and these principles developed over time among the hadith scholars.

Furthermore, this falsehood is also evident because Taloo-e-Islam itself mentions these principles on pages 107 and 158 of the same book “Maqam-e-Hadith,” which the hadith scholars adopted for the investigation of hadiths. If indeed the hadith scholars had no principles for accepting or rejecting hadiths and only acted according to their own understanding, then why would Taloo-e-Islam find it necessary to provide detailed commentary on these topics?

Concern about the Loss of Hadiths

The Dawn of Islam raised the question that among the piles of hundreds of thousands of hadiths, which the scholars of hadith rejected, perhaps some authentic hadiths were also lost. Our answer is that the real concern should be for those who consider the hadiths important and regard the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ as an essential part of the religion. But those whose belief is that hadiths were only obligatory to follow during the time of the Prophet’s era and that their importance diminished in later times, why should they be concerned about this matter?

For further clarification, it is stated that the total number of narrations (including reports and traditions) in Sahih Bukhari is 9684. If the traditions and letters are separated, then after removing repetitions, the number of Marfu’ hadiths remains 2663. Imam Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him, did not reject the remaining 590,000 hadiths; rather, he did not include them in his book because this book was a “Mukhtasar” (a concise selection). These authentic hadiths were later included by Imam Hakim, may Allah have mercy on him, in his compilation “Mustadrak Hakim.” Therefore, it is incorrect to say that any part of the religion has been lost.

The Real Complaint at the Dawn of Islam

The third objection raised by Tulu-e-Islam is:
“Just think, if Imam Bukhari were to reject five hundred ninety-four thousand (594,000) hadiths on the grounds that, in his opinion, they could not be from the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and yet he would not be considered a denier of hadith, then how can a person today be declared a disbeliever and outside Islam for saying that, based on Quranic insight, a particular hadith could not be from the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ?”
This question itself invites Tulu-e-Islam to reflect on why this happens, but they have shifted the responsibility onto others. Behind this question are some misunderstandings which we clarify here with explanation:

The Methodology of Imam Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him:

1. Types of Hadith Selection: The hadiths that Imam Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him, left out were of three types:

   Hadiths whose status was only related to chains of narration and isnads, evidences, and followers, and whose recording was not necessary.

2. Hadiths that did not meet the conditions set by Imam Bukhari. For example, one of Imam Bukhari’s conditions was that it was not enough for narrators to be contemporaries; it was also necessary to prove that they had met. However, according to Imam Muslim, this condition was not required. Therefore, some authentic hadiths that Imam Bukhari did not include in his book were recorded by Imam Muslim in his “Sahih.”
3. Some hadiths whose meaning Imam Bukhari considered already included in previously selected hadiths, so he did not find it necessary to record them again.
4. Denial of Personal Opinion: Imam Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him, did not allow personal opinion or liking and disliking to influence his research of hadith. Rather, he adopted strict principles of narration and understanding, which were established by Sayyiduna Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, and evolved over time. These principles had developed into a complete science by the end of the second century Hijri, and Imam Bukhari was an expert in this science.
5. Religious Insight: Imam Bukhari’s insight was not merely Qur’anic but a complete religious insight, which included a significant part of the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace be upon him. This insight was gained through the path of the Sahabah, Tabi‘in, and Tabi‘ al-Tabi‘in. The era of Tabi‘ al-Tabi‘in is considered up to 220 Hijri, and Imam Bukhari was born in 194 Hijri and died in 257 Hijri, which gave him ample opportunity to benefit from the Tabi‘ al-Tabi‘in. This insight was not merely inherited but was strictly bound by the principles of narration and understanding.

The Root Cause of Disbelief

The objections of the rise of Islam center around the person who denies the Hadiths based on his “Quranic insight.” His insight has two main sources:

1. The Arabic language of the Jahiliyyah era: This person claims that he understands the Quran according to the Arabic language of the Jahiliyyah era.
2. Modern and atheistic thoughts and ideologies: This person uses the language as a support to include his thoughts in the Quran, so that he can fit his atheistic ideologies into the text of the Quran.

This person distorts the meanings of the Quran, alters the interpretations of the verses, and arranges them according to his own intellect. Expecting such a person to obey the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ is equivalent to burdening his intellect. According to him, the meaning of the exemplary conduct of the Prophet ﷺ mentioned in the Ahadith is that this following was only for the Companions, and there is no need for it for those who come later. According to him, in later times, following the Shariah means that whoever establishes the center of the Ummah (i.e., the Muslim government), that is actually the following of the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. According to this theory, the entire collection of Ahadith becomes useless and untimely in this person’s view. Therefore, if such a person is not called a denier of the Sunnah or a denier of Hadith, then what else can he be called?

The issue of disbelief (kufr) in denying the Ahadith of Imam Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him

The rise of Islam raised the objection that how can someone be declared a disbeliever or expelled from Islam for denying even a single hadith of Imam Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him? The truth is that issuing a fatwa of disbelief for denying a single hadith has never been the stance of any muhaddith or faqih. It is also mentioned in Maqam al-Hadith that Imam Abu Hanifa, may Allah have mercy on him, and some other renowned personalities denied or criticized certain hadiths, but they were not declared disbelievers solely on that basis.

• This difference existed because they did not agree on the authenticity of those hadiths, and according to their research, those hadiths did not meet the criteria of authenticity.
• The issue of disbelief arises only when a person, after the authenticity of a Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ has been established, still does not consider it obligatory to follow it. That is, for him, abandoning obedience to the Sunnahs of the Prophet ﷺ is equivalent to distortion in religious matters.

Tulu-e-Islam raised this point on page 19 of their book “Maqam-e-Hadith”:
“Imam Humam bin Munabbih, may Allah have mercy on him, compiled collections of hadith in Medina before 58 AH and found only 138 hadiths. Whereas in the third century AH, Imam Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him, collected hadiths and found six hundred thousand (600,000) hadiths.”
Based on this, Tulu-e-Islam concluded that in the first century AH, the written collection of hadith was almost nonexistent, and in the second and third centuries AH, there was a sudden enormous increase in the number of hadiths. Let us consider this claim:

1. Humam bin Munabbih and Sayyiduna Abu Bakr Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him

The claim by Tulu-e-Islam that Imam Humam bin Munabbih, may Allah have mercy on him, collected only 138 hadiths is not correct. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, began writing hadiths before 12 Hijri and collected 500 (five hundred) hadiths. Consider that Sayyiduna Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, was compiling and documenting hadiths 47 years before Humam bin Munabbih, may Allah have mercy on him, and he had four times more hadiths available. This is proof that in the first century Hijri, there was a substantial amount of hadith material in written form. Tulu-e-Islam has also mentioned these 500 hadiths of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, in several places in Maqam-e-Hadith, and it has been acknowledged that hadith writing was taking place during the Prophetic era. Similarly, Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr bin Aas, may Allah be pleased with him, compiled Sahifa Sadiqa consisting of one thousand (1000) hadiths by the command of the Prophet, peace be upon him.

2. Narrations of Sayyiduna Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with him

The second objection raised by Tolu-e-Islam is that the number of narrations from Sayyiduna Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) runs into thousands, but in the collection of his student Hammam bin Munabbih (may Allah have mercy on him), there are only 138 hadiths. This objection is actually based on a misunderstanding. If Imam Hammam (may Allah have mercy on him) had claimed that he collected all the hadiths of his teacher, then this objection would be valid, but that is not the case. Imam Hammam (may Allah have mercy on him) never said that these 138 hadiths encompass all the narrations of his teacher.

• Hammam bin Munabbih (may Allah have mercy on him) included only verbal hadiths in his collection, while practical and tacit hadiths were not included.
• Even today, many scholars compile selected collections of hadiths, but this does not mean that their knowledge or the knowledge of their teachers is limited only to those hadiths.

3. Lack of Written Records

The conclusion of Tulu-e-Islam that “until the end of the first century Hijri, no written collection other than 138 hadiths is found” is based on falsehood. Because on page 10 of the same book “Maqam-e-Hadith,” Tulu-e-Islam itself mentions these written collections that existed during the Prophetic era. We have also shed detailed light on this in the chapter Kitabat-e-Hadith. This proves that a written collection of hadiths existed in the first century Hijri, and the claim that the number of hadiths suddenly increased in the third century Hijri is far from the truth.

Summary:

This article refutes the objections raised by the “Rise of Islam” movement regarding the authenticity and compilation of Hadiths. The movement claims that Imam Bukhari and other Muhaddithin accepted or rejected Hadiths based on their personal opinions. However, the article clarifies that this claim is incorrect because the Muhaddithin strictly applied the principles of Riwayah (transmission) and Dirayah (understanding) for the verification of Hadiths, principles which were established by Sayyidina Ali رضي الله عنه.

Key Points:

• The allegation against Imam Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him, that he accepted hadiths based on his personal opinion is baseless. He adopted strict criteria to verify the authenticity of hadiths.
• The claim of thousands of hadiths being lost is also rejected. Imam Bukhari did not include many hadiths in Sahih Bukhari, but the reason was not that they were incorrect; rather, they did not meet his conditions or were repetitive.
• The objection to Hammam bin Munabbih collecting 138 hadiths is answered by stating that he never claimed these were all the hadiths of Sayyiduna Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with him. Furthermore, other written collections existed during the Prophetic era, such as Sahifa Sadiqa, compiled by Abdullah bin Amr bin Al-As, may Allah be pleased with him.
• The increase in the number of hadiths is explained by different chains of narration (methods of transmission) and differences among narrators, not due to new material.
• The stance of Tolu-e-Islam that only those Sunnah should be accepted which conform to their Quranic interpretation is criticized. The article states that when a hadith is proven authentic after thorough research, rejecting it leads towards disbelief because it denies the teachings of the Prophet, peace be upon him.