Declarative statements and reports

Imam juwayni writes “a statement of a companion is not a hujjat upon other companions or a single statement” this means the words of the sahaba don’t override each other and this is itifqan there is ijam upn this. This is referring to a companion giving his singular view it does not become a hujjat upon the living companions or those after them. Imam hattabs says “In the older view is that it is a hujjat and this is the view of Imam malik as per the Hadith (My companions are like the stars anyone of them you follow and you shall be guided).” Some of the hadith graders claim this hadith is weak “the mention of one of these aqwal does not “if you have 2 statements of the companions that disagree it overrides your ability to take one as a hujjat.

Imam hattab disagree with Imam Malik

Imam Malik thinks the views and actions of a companion is a proof, the view of Maliksm is the amal of Medina and part of it is the companions themselves. This makes sense as the companions are the people who were closest to the prophet and saw the religions practiced properly on a daily basis but the problem is the companions often disagree upon things. Much of the differing in the modern Muslims originates to the disagreements of the older Muslims (earlier generations). Imam Hattab does not mean that the views of the sahabah are not valid but that it is not a hujjat as the companions are on equal level of authority not one above the other so it would be advisable to follow them not that its obligatory in the sense of hujjat.

The rank of the companions

Some of the companions were higher than others in rank we must remember we are not referring to hadith but the STATEMENTS other than hadith statements of the companions of the prophet and Imam hattab is less able to accept the statements of the companions which differ from one another as a hujjat Imam hattab is resistant to move a singular view of a companion to the level of Ijma in which all of the companions agree upon a thing. If every companion agreed upon a thing then all of the Muslims would agree it’s a hujjat even the dhahiris would agree but in terms of differing statements it would be advisable to take a statement but its not a binding proof until it becomes a ijma.

Imam Hattab on khabr

Imam hattab says “in differing manuscripts this section is different” What is the definition of khubr? “That which is either truth or falsehood exist”. A narration (khubr) can be true or false and they cannot coexist (truth and falsehood) in example qama zaydun (zayd stood) this is true if it matches reality and false if it does not match reality. Imam hattab goes into detail about khubr “The truth of a khubr or its falsehood is affirmed through something external to itself” in one khubr you have the statement of Allah or the prophet that as well as anything you would say that is khubr. The words of Allah do not need external validation as well as the prophet’s statement do not need external validation but the words of men (and women) must be fact checked.

Khabr is of 2 types

1. Singular
2. Mutawatir

What is mutwatir? “That which necessitates knowledge because a large group of people narrated it so that their ability to lie about it would be impossible” Mutawir can be verified by hearing or seeing it, as opposed to philosophers of the world. Mutawatir is likened to reporting a fact that is factual, if all agree the prophet said a thing then you can be certain the prophet said it. Something within the mind such as the mujtahid Imam personal rulings are not inherently factual and not mutawair or if the philosophers say the world is eternal (such as ibn arabi).

What is Singular (ahad) “that which doesn’t reach the level of mutawatir which would require action but may not require knowledge because of the possibility of error in it either through forgetfulness or oversight.” The khabar ahad is 2 types

Khabar ahad is of 2 types

1. mirsal
2.  masnad

Masnad means “is a report which has all of its narrators known and intact” which means a complete change to the source all of the narrators in the sanad

What does Mirsal Mean?

Mirsal means the opposite of that where there is 1 or more are missing from the chain. This is a term used in the hadith studies and there exist many more terms such as if 2person is missing in the chain or beyond that

Interrupted mirsal

If it is a mirsal a interrupted report that is not from the sahaba such as a tabi’I (successor or those after them) this mirsal report is not a hujjat according to Imam Shafi’I and his school. Why is that? It is not from a companion and the narration is mirsal and that causes it to be criticized.

Said ibn al musayyib

Said ibn al musayyib was the greatest of the 7 fuqaha and the great tabi’in and the scholars of hadith considered him exceptionally reliable in hadith May Allah be pleased with him. If someone were to omit a companion in a chain and still attribute it to a prophet such as in the case of Said ibn al musayyib narrating then it would still be valid and a hujjat despite a disruption in the chain but due to his trust worthy status he by passes the normal hadith system. This is because it has been searched and they have found narrations from Said ibn al mussayib can be verified in other sources and other chains fun fact Said ibn al musayyib was married to the daughter of abu hayrara.

Quick recap

The typical rule is that if someone is missing from a hadith chain its weak and not accepted but for Said ibn al musayyib its accepted because of his exception status he narrated from Abu hurarya so even if he does not mention him in the chain, we have an idea from where it would have come from.

Mirsal can be used as a hujjat according to these scholars

Imam Hattab states “According to Malik, Abu Hanifa and ibn Ahmed and other Ulema a mirsal can be a hujjah because a trustworthy narrator will not leave the train interrupted except when confident with the adala (moral uprightness) of the original narrator.” Imaam hattab continues “as for the uninterrupted chains from the sahabi they are hujjah.” If some sahabi says this or the prophet said this or that statement it would be hujjah because they narrated from each other and they are all trust worthy. When Imam Hattab says “they are all trustworthy” he refers to the sunni doctrine of concept of Adala al sahaba which is a rebuttal to the Shiites that state the companions are moral and are a guide to be followed and reliable narrators of hadith.

Shiites narrative

The shia narrative is that the companions are not people of upright moral character, they have a hadith that states only a handful of companion’s apostates from the religion within their hearts and inwardly in their hearts left the religion but were in reality thuggish Arab munafiqun who simply wanted to oppress the Ahlul bayt. “Irtada an-Nas Ba’d an-Nabi Illa Thalath” means only 3 out of the Sahaba did not leave the religion which in the view of the Sunnis is false and even from a perspective of logic is very unrealistic. When we look at the history of Islam it is clear the companions did believe in Islam and lived and died according to the teachings of Islam and spread it far and wide so this is a very interesting point that Imam Hattab eludes too.

Imam hattab on the Mirsal

“We say overwhelming so companions narrated from other companions” what he means when companion recites a mirsal hadith is on the authority on another companion. “There are cases in which a companion is narrated through a tabi’I.” Imam Hattab adds more on this concept “even if a companion did not hear it from the prophet himself it is if he did hear it from it.” This ends off the akbhar

How within the Riwaya

A hadith which is a ananna is a hadith which goes on from one fulan to another fulan. A complete change that is connected there are different terms in Hadith If you hear something being read out to you would not say A from that person you would say hadthani he narrated to me, its like the difference between a hadith that was personal passed down to him that the usual an but if someone narrates to you a narration in which they are not apart of the chain they would say it was narrated to me and so on.

Akbarani and Hadathani

If a narrator recited to a shiekh they would say Akbarani and not hadathani and those are those who do permit it such as malik Sufyan ibn uyana as well as most of the Hijazis which means the early school of Medina and western Arabia. This rest upon the scholars of hadith because the intention it notifying, basically to check the narration with the sheikh. If someone was to say Hadathani he narrated to me through my reading to him then there’s no different to this. If a sheikh gives a jaza in a narration without a reading he would say he gave me ijaza and informed me that the this is permissible in the hadith.

The main point

The main point here is that the terms used in hadith narration based on how it was narrated so a sheikh narrates to you from someone else then you read to him and check with him saying akbarani instead of anama which is person to person in its classic form as well as getting ijaza in hadith and so on.