❀ Correct Interpretation of the Ḥadīth “Kullukum Ḍāll” and Ruling on Misrepresentative Explanation ❀
Is it correct to explain the ḥadīth “كلكم ضال” (“All of you are astray”) by saying:
"All of you are misguided—no one is excluded, no companion is excluded, and no person until the Day of Judgment is excluded",
and then later saying, “except for the one whom I guide”?
Shaykh Fahd Ansari (ḥafiẓahullāh)
It is essential to maintain the original tone and context of a ḥadīth when interpreting it. The ḥadīth in question includes the phrase:
"إِلَّا مَنْ هَدَيْتُهُ" — “Except the one whom I guide.”
To speak about revered individuals—such as the Prophet’s noble companions, whose guidance and success are affirmed in the Qur’an—within a framework of general condemnation (as though they were left in a state of misguidance until later excluded) is itself a distortion of the meaning and a misguided approach.
✔ The phrase “كلكم ضال” must be understood in light of the complete ḥadīth, which clearly includes an immediate exception:
“except those whom I have guided.”
✔ Interpreting it with an emphasis that no one is spared—in a deliberately absolute tone—and then only later reluctantly acknowledging the exception, contradicts the balanced tone of the Sunnah.
✔ Such misrepresentation becomes even more serious when coming from someone known to harbor disrespect or aversion toward the companions (ṣaḥābah), since it reveals an underlying bias against those praised by Allah Himself in the Qur'an.
✔ This kind of approach is contrary to the spirit of Sharī‘ah, and especially to the methodology of the pious predecessors (salaf al-ṣāliḥīn) in explaining religious texts.
The correct method of interpreting “كلكم ضال” is to:
◈ Respect the full structure of the ḥadīth,
◈ Avoid generalizations that include those whose guidance is divinely attested,
◈ And not frame the explanation in a tone of accusatory absolutism.
The companions, prophets, and other rightly guided individuals are not to be lumped into general statements of misguidance, especially when the ḥadīth itself provides an explicit exception.
To violate this is misleading, disrespectful, and a deviation from sound Islamic scholarship.
هٰذَا مَا عِندِي وَاللّٰهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَابِ
❖ Question:
Is it correct to explain the ḥadīth “كلكم ضال” (“All of you are astray”) by saying:
"All of you are misguided—no one is excluded, no companion is excluded, and no person until the Day of Judgment is excluded",
and then later saying, “except for the one whom I guide”?
❖ Answer by:
Shaykh Fahd Ansari (ḥafiẓahullāh)
It is essential to maintain the original tone and context of a ḥadīth when interpreting it. The ḥadīth in question includes the phrase:
"إِلَّا مَنْ هَدَيْتُهُ" — “Except the one whom I guide.”
To speak about revered individuals—such as the Prophet’s noble companions, whose guidance and success are affirmed in the Qur’an—within a framework of general condemnation (as though they were left in a state of misguidance until later excluded) is itself a distortion of the meaning and a misguided approach.
❖ Clarification:
✔ The phrase “كلكم ضال” must be understood in light of the complete ḥadīth, which clearly includes an immediate exception:
“except those whom I have guided.”
✔ Interpreting it with an emphasis that no one is spared—in a deliberately absolute tone—and then only later reluctantly acknowledging the exception, contradicts the balanced tone of the Sunnah.
✔ Such misrepresentation becomes even more serious when coming from someone known to harbor disrespect or aversion toward the companions (ṣaḥābah), since it reveals an underlying bias against those praised by Allah Himself in the Qur'an.
✔ This kind of approach is contrary to the spirit of Sharī‘ah, and especially to the methodology of the pious predecessors (salaf al-ṣāliḥīn) in explaining religious texts.
❖ Conclusion:
The correct method of interpreting “كلكم ضال” is to:
◈ Respect the full structure of the ḥadīth,
◈ Avoid generalizations that include those whose guidance is divinely attested,
◈ And not frame the explanation in a tone of accusatory absolutism.
The companions, prophets, and other rightly guided individuals are not to be lumped into general statements of misguidance, especially when the ḥadīth itself provides an explicit exception.To violate this is misleading, disrespectful, and a deviation from sound Islamic scholarship.
هٰذَا مَا عِندِي وَاللّٰهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَابِ
