This excerpt is taken from the book by Fazilat-ul-Sheikh Abdul Salam Rustami From Denial of Hadith to Denial of Quran.
Fourteenth Objection: Lack of Knowledge of the Subject of Hadith
One major objection of the deniers of Hadith is that the subjects of the narrations of the sayings of the Prophet ﷺ had become so mixed up that it was almost impossible to distinguish truth from falsehood. Hafiz Aslam also added that the fabricators went to the extent of including the names of well-known trustworthy narrators in the chain to escape the scrutiny of Hadith critics and experts in the science of names and narrators. In this way, fabricated narrations also gained the status of acceptance.
Reference: Maqam-e-Hadith, p. 155
Answer:
There are three discussions in this:
➊ The wisdom behind fabricating Hadith
➋ The origin of fabricating Hadith and its causes
➌ The efforts of the scholars of the Ummah in scrutinizing the subjects of narrations
The Wisdom Behind Fabricating Hadith
One great wisdom behind the fabrication of hadith is that it serves as a strong proof for the authority of hadith, because if hadith were not authoritative, then for what purpose would a person fabricate hadith? It is like the importance of the currency in circulation in a country; a counterfeiter brings fake currency in opposition to it. If the currency in circulation were not necessary and important, then why would the counterfeiter bother to make fake currency? It is clear that from the time the fabrication of hadith began, hadith was already considered authoritative by the Muslims.
Another wisdom is that when the fabrication of hadith began, the struggle for the investigation of hadith also started at the same time, and as the fabrication of hadith increased, the criticism of hadith intensified. The science of the names of narrators and the discussions on the criticism and accreditation of narrators began, and fabricated hadiths were separated. Those who undertook this effort were rewarded with great reward.
The Beginning of Hadith Fabrication and Its Causes
An incident of fabricated hadith occurred during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. It is narrated from Buraydah رضي الله عنه that a sub-tribe of Banu Harith was settled two miles from Medina. A man from this tribe, during the period of ignorance, sent a marriage proposal to a man for his daughter, but the tribe refused. Then that man wore clothes similar to those of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and came to him, saying: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent me wearing this garment as a sign so that I may decide about your wealth and lives. Then that man went to the woman to whom the marriage proposal was sent to forcibly marry her. The tribe sent a messenger to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and narrated the entire incident to him. The Prophet ﷺ said: "The enemy of Allah has lied." Then the Prophet ﷺ sent a man and said to him: "If you find that man alive, kill him, and if you find him dead, burn him." When that man reached there, he saw that a large snake had bitten him and he had died. So the messenger burned him. Because of this, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said:
من كذب على متعمدا فليتبوأ مقعده من النار
"Whoever deliberately lies about me, let him prepare his place in Hell."
Reference: This hadith is present in Sahih Bukhari without this incident. Sahih al-Bukhari, Knowledge, Chapter: The Sin of Lying on the Prophet ﷺ, Hadith: 110, and this incident is in Al-Mawdu'at al-Kubra by Mulla Ali Qari, p. 4. A hadith with this meaning is also in Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat by Al-Tabarani: 568/1, Hadith: 2091.
From this incident, it is understood that the fabrication of hadith began during the time of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, but about twenty years later, at the end of the caliphate of Uthman رضي الله عنه, this fitnah (trial) appeared in a collective form. The leader of this fitnah was Abdullah ibn Saba, a Jew who claimed Islam but introduced some false beliefs of his own and to spread his beliefs, he went towards Kufa, Basra, Syria, and Egypt because the people there had recently become Muslims. Especially in Egypt, Abdullah ibn Saba's movement was successful. He said about Ali رضي الله عنه that the true right to the caliphate belonged to Ali رضي الله عنه. Because of this fitnah, Uthman رضي الله عنه was martyred. Due to the conspiracies of this group, the Battle of Jamal and the Battle of Siffin occurred, and Muslims were divided into two sects. Some Shia of Ali gave Ali رضي الله عنه the status of God. When Ali رضي الله عنه burned these heretics in fire, they said: We were right in saying that Ali رضي الله عنه is God because God has the authority to burn His servants in fire. The Kharijites criticized Ali رضي الله عنه to the extent that they began to consider him a disbeliever. Then both these groups began fabricating hadiths to prove their own righteousness. The first group exaggerated in praising Ali رضي الله عنه by fabricating hadiths attributed to him. Similarly, they fabricated hadiths attributed to Ali رضي الله عنه to criticize Abu Bakr and Umar رضي الله عنهما and prove them usurpers. However, the Kharijites had very little role in fabricating hadith.
After that, all the innovators who appeared fabricated hadiths from their side to prove and propagate their heretical beliefs and actions.
The Efforts of the Scholars of the Ummah Regarding the Investigation of Hadiths
First of all, Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) clearly stated in refutation of the Sabaiyyah:
مالي ولهٰذا الخبيث الأسود ۖ معاذ الله أن أضمر لهما إلا الحسن الجميل
"What concern do I have with that black wicked one (Ibn Saba)? I seek refuge in Allah! That I should say anything other than good about these two (Abu Bakr and Umar, may Allah be pleased with them)."
He (may Allah be pleased with him) said this and came to the pulpit until people gathered, then he narrated a long incident in praise of these two.
Reference: Lisan al-Mizan: 344/3
Also, he (may Allah be pleased with him) said the following harsh words regarding the Sabaiyyah sect:
قاتلهم الله أى عصابة بيضاء سودوا و أى حديث من حديث رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أفسدوا
"May Allah destroy them (the Sabaiyyah). They have darkened such a bright group (the Muslim Ummah) and corrupted many of the hadiths of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)."
Reference: Tadhkirat al-Huffaz: 15/1
After such incidents, he (may Allah be pleased with him) firmly resolved to widely publicize authentic hadiths in opposition to fabricated hadiths. The scroll containing the rulings of Zakat, Diyah, and obligations, which was kept in the sheath of his sword, was published, and he encouraged his companions to write it so that people would engage with it and be distracted from fabricated hadiths.
Furthermore, scholars have provided a criterion to recognize fabricated hadiths, by which one can identify a hadith as fabricated. Allama Ibn al-Jawzi (may Allah have mercy on him) says:
كل حديث يخالف العقول ويناقض الأصول فاعلم أنه موضوع
"Every hadith that contradicts reason and the principles of Shariah, know that it is fabricated."
أو يكون مما يدفعه الحس والمشاهدة أو مباينا لنص من الكتاب والسنة المتواترة أو الإجماع القطعي حيث لا يقبل شيء من ذٰلك التأويل
"Or it (the fabricated hadith) is such that the senses and observation do not accept it, or it contradicts any part of the Holy Quran, or mutawatir Sunnah, or definitive consensus, which leaves no room for interpretation." (Then understand that the narration is fabricated.)
Reference: Fath al-Mulhim: 43/1
The Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan himself was a muhaddith (hadith scholar). He said: "A flood of hadiths came to us from the East (Iraq, Kufa, Basra, etc.) which we did not recognize."
Reference: Al-Tabaqat al-Kubra by Ibn Sa'd: 233/5
Also, to stop the flood of fabricated hadiths, he had the famous fabricator Harith ibn Sa'id al-Kadhdhab hanged. His son, Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, killed Ghilan al-Dimashqi for the same crime. After that, the famous Umayyad governor Khalid ibn Abd Allah al-Qasri killed a person for fabricating hadith.
After this, during the Abbasid Caliphs' era, a vigorous jihad was launched against fabricated hadiths. Abu Ja'far al-Mansur al-Abbasi had Muhammad ibn Sa'id crucified as punishment for this crime.
Reference: All these incidents are found in Aina-e-Parvezit, p. 594
Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Abbasi killed the famous fabricator Ibn Abi al-Awja.
Qadi Isma'il ibn Ishaq severely beat Pisham ibn Suhail because he was narrating fabricated reports.
In later periods, when the market of fabricated narrations remained active, the scholars of truth adopted such methods against it that fabricators could not succeed before them. These are two types of methods:
1. Theoretical method
2. Practical method
Theoretical Approach
In the theoretical method, there is a type of relation concerning the text of the Hadith, for which they have established eleven principles by which fabricated narrations can be identified:
➊ It is against reason.
➋ It is against observation.
➌ It is against a text of the Quran with definitive indication, or a mutawatir Hadith, or consensus.
➍ There is extreme exaggeration in punishment and reward.
➎ A historical event that occurred in a large gathering but is narrated by only one narrator while others are unaware of it.
➏ Hadiths related to racial and ethnic prejudices.
➐ Sectarian narrations.
➑ It is against authentic history.
➒ The narrator claims an unnatural long life.
➓ Narrations based on spiritual insight and dreams.
⓫ There is coarseness in words or meanings.
These are the principles that indicate a fabricated Hadith. Among these principles, being against reason means it is against the intellect of all rational people. It does not mean it is against the intellect of a few Hadith deniers because they reject authentic Hadiths based on their flawed intellect.
The above eleven principles have been explained with examples by Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani, may Allah have mercy on him.
Reference: Aaina-e-Parveziyat, pp. 597-599
The second type of theoretical method concerns the chains of narration (Isnad). For this, the scholars of the Salaf struggled in four major sciences to pave the way for the scrutiny of chains of narration:
● Ilm al-Jarh wa al-Ta'dil (Science of Criticism and Accreditation)
● Ilm al-Tarikh wa al-Ruwat (Science of History and Narrators)
● Ma'rifat al-Sahaba wa al-Tabi'in (Knowledge of the Companions and Successors)
● Ilm al-Asma' wa al-Kuna (Science of Names and Nicknames)
And the scholars of the Salaf have authored extensive books in these sciences.
Practical Method
Hadith scholars have prepared lists of the names of fabricators and have authored dedicated books on fabricated narrations. Ibn Jauzi, Suyuti, Mulla Ali Qari, and Shawkani, may Allah have mercy on them, are scholars who have written dedicated books on fabricated narrations. In the present era, the honorable Sheikh Allama Albani, may Allah have mercy on him, has rendered a historical service on this subject. Most hadith scholars, in their books, have mentioned the authenticity status of the hadith such as Sahih (authentic), Hasan (good), Da‘if (weak), and Mawdu‘ (fabricated), along with the narrators about whom there is any discussion or who are liars or fabricators.
After this explanation, the suspicion or rather the excuse of the deniers of hadith is completely invalid, who say that fabricated hadiths have been mixed with authentic hadiths in such a way that it has become difficult to differentiate between them, or that a narrator has given the chain of a trustworthy narrator for his fabricated narration. From the previous explanation, it is clear that such excuses of the deniers of hadith can no longer be accepted among Muslims.
