This excerpt is taken from the book by Fazilat-ul-Sheikh Abdul Salam Rustami From Denial of Hadith to Denial of Quran.
Thirteenth Doubt: Abundance of Hadith
Regarding the abundance of hadith, the deniers of hadith strongly object, claiming that where did the muhaddithin obtain such a vast collection of hadith? Then they say that the muhaddithin declared 95 percent of this collection of hadith as fabricated and rejected it, and in the remaining five percent there is so much confusion that separating it individually is beyond any human's capability.
Answer:
Their first astonishment is at the abundance of hadiths, which they use as a reason to deny hadith. After that, they have made a self-asserted claim that 95 percent of these are fabricated narrations. The answer to the first point is presented here, while the answer to the second point, God willing, will be given in response to the fourteenth objection.
The abundance of hadiths is not surprising from a rational perspective. Allama Fazl Ahmad Ghaznavi wrote that linguists acknowledge that a person speaks an average of 36,000 words daily.
Reference: Sahih Maqam-e-Hadith
Parvez and other deniers of hadith consider the words of scientists stronger than the Quran and Hadith.
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, spent the 23 years of his prophethood day and night in invitation and preaching. If you estimate the words spoken in 23 years based on 36,000 words daily, it amounts to 298,080,000 words. The Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, memorized the sayings and actions of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and preserved them through writing and narration. So, what is there to be surprised about? Therefore, denying the abundance of hadiths is not only irreligious but also extremely irrational.
Reasons for the Abundance of Hadith
➊ One of the main reasons for the abundance of hadiths is the existence of multiple chains of narration for the same text. The text of the hadith is the same, but due to different narrators and the multiplicity of chains, the same hadith is counted as several hadiths in the terminology of the muhaddithin (hadith scholars).
Moreover, according to the muhaddithin, the meaning of hadith is broad. They consider the marfu‘ hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ as well as the mawquf (statements) of the Companions رضي الله عنهم as hadith. Some even consider the maqtu‘ narrations of the Tabi‘in as hadith. Thus, there can be no limit to the abundance of hadiths. Especially in some musnads and compilations, such as Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah and Musannaf Abd al-Razzaq, all types of narrations—marfu‘, mawquf, and maqtu‘—have been collected.
➋ When the Companions رضي الله عنهم implemented the marfu‘ narrations of the Prophet ﷺ and began to write down the details and circumstances of those narrations, these few brief instructions turned into large volumes. These hadiths are practical mawquf narrations.
➌ The muhaddithin memorized and recorded the chains and routes of fabricated (mawdu‘) hadiths in their books so that people would be informed that these hadiths are fabricated and they should avoid acting upon them. Collecting such narrations also contributed to the abundance of hadiths, although these fabricated narrations are not hadiths in essence.
