hadiths

[Iti oj]

why are they so important. if they were meant to be used as religous law and understanding why werent they in the Qur'an? if the Qur'an is perfect why do we need the hadiths? should they be used as a tool to better understand the Qur'an?

How do we know their authenticity? how do we know their context?

What about hadiths the contridict th Qur'an and other hadiths?

Are hadiths ment to be literal or figurative?

how do they compare to the Qur'an?

etc etc etc

 

[Iti oj]

the Qur'an is thw word of Allah but the hadiths are only the words of hid prophet a man? divinely inspired?

 

[Gharib]

let me know if the following doesn't answer your questions:

"And whatever the Messenger gives you, take it, and whatever he forbids you, leave it. And fear Allah: truly Allah is severe in punishment. " [Qur'an 59:7]

In Islam, the Arabic word sunnah has come to denote the way Prophet Muhammad (saas), the Messenger of Allah, lived his life. The Sunnah is the second source of Islamic jurisprudence, the first being the Qur'an. Both sources are indispensable; one cannot practice Islam without consulting both of them. The Arabic word hadith (pl. ahadith) is very similar to Sunnah, but not identical. A hadith is a narration about the life of the Prophet (saas) or what he approved - as opposed to his life itself, which is the Sunnah as already mentioned.

In M. M. Azami's Studies in Hadith Methodology and Literature, the following precise definition of a hadith is given,

According to Muhaddithiin [scholars of hadith -ed.] it stands for 'what was transmitted on the authority of the Prophet, his deeds, sayings, tacit approval, or description of his sifaat (features) meaning his physical appearance. However, physical appearance of the Prophet is not included in the definition used by the jurists.'

Thus hadith literature means the literature which consists of the narrations of the life of the Prophet and the things approved by him. However, the term was used sometimes in much broader sense to cover the narrations about the Companions [of the Prophet -ed.] and Successors [to the Companions -ed.] as well.

The explosion of Islam in the 7th and 8th centuries confronted Islamic scholars with a daunting task: to preserve the knowledge of the Sunnah of the Prophet (saas). Hence the science of hadith evaluation was born. We recommend that you read the "Introduction to the Science of Hadith" below to understand the tremendous efforts that were required to sift the true reports from the false reports. The success of the early scholars is also captured below by some collections of hadith.

Hadith - The Sunnah of the Prophet (saw)

 

[Union]

why are they so important. if they were meant to be used as religous law and understanding why werent they in the Qur'an? if the Qur'an is perfect why do we need the hadiths? should they be used as a tool to better understand the Qur'an?

How do we know their authenticity? how do we know their context?

What about hadiths the contridict th Qur'an and other hadiths?

Are hadiths ment to be literal or figurative?

how do they compare to the Qur'an?

etc etc etc

Man , you really rock . When I heard that GOD started to show you some of HIS signs , I knew that soon you will be among one of the chosen ones .

Hadith were created +200 years after the death of the Prophet and his companions . They better can be called conjectures and guess works . "Prophet said that' , 'Prophet did that' but not the Prophet nor his companions were alive to testify whatever they compiled as Hadeeth . In sunni Islam Saheeh Bukhari and Shahih Muslim believed to be compilation of 100% authentic Hadeeth . Still they contradict one another , for example :


Bukhari Volume 7, Book 72, Number 787:

Narrated Anas bin Malik:
The Prophet was neither conspicuously tall, nor short; neither, very white, nor tawny.His hair was neither much curled, nor very straight. Allah sent him (as an Messenger) at the age of forty (and after that) he stayed for ten years in Makkah, and for ten more years in Medina. Allah took him unto Him at the age of sixty, and he scarcely had ten white hairs on his head and in his beard.

==>> 60 years.


Bukhari Volume 5, Book 58, Number 242:

Narrated Ibn Abbas:
Allah's Messenger started receiving the Divine Inspiration at the age of forty. Then he stayed in Makkah for thirteen years, receiving the Divine Revelation. Then he was ordered to migrate and he lived as an Emigrant for ten years and then died at the age of sixty-three (years).

==>> 63 years .


Muslim, Book 030, Number 5805:

'Ammar, the freed slave of Banu Hashim, reported:
I asked Ibn 'Abbas how old was he when death overtook the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him). He said: I little know that such a thing is not known to a man like you who belong to his people. He said: I asked people about it but they differed with me, and I liked to know your opinion about it. He said: Do you know counting? He said: Yes. He then said: Bear this in mind very well that he was commissioned (as a Prophet) at the age of forty, and he stayed in Makkah for fifteen years; sometime in peace and sometime in dread, and (lived) for ten years after his migration to Medina.

==>> 65 years .


Which one you gonna believe ? If one is right the other two are wrong . Or something like this :

Sahih Muslim Book 001, Number 0322:

It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: When I was taken for the night journey I met Moses peace be upon him). The Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) gave his description thus: He was a man, I suppose-and he (the narrator) was somewhat doubtful (that the Holy Prophet observed): (Moses) was a man erect in stature with straight hair on his head as it he was one of the men of the Shanu'a; and I met Jesus and the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) described him as one having a medium stature and a red complexion as if he had (just) come out of the bath He observed: I saw Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and amongst his children I have the greatest resemblance with him. He said: There were brought to me two vessels. In one of them was milk and in the other one there was wine. And it was said to me: Select any one you like. So I selected the vessel containing milk and drank it. He (the angel) said: You have been guided on al-fitra or you have attained al-fitra. Had you selected wine, your Ummah would have been misled.

Sahih Bukhari Volume 4, Book 55, Number 607:

Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Apostle said, "On the night of my Ascension to Heaven, I saw (the prophet) Moses who was a thin person with lank hair, looking like one of the men of the tribe of Shanua; and I saw Jesus who was of average height with red face as if he had just come out of a bathroom. And I resemble prophet Abraham more than any of his offspring does. Then I was given two cups, one containing milk and the other wine. Gabriel said, 'Drink whichever you like.' I took the milk and drank it. Gabriel said, 'You have accepted what is natural, (True Religion i.e. Islam) and if you had taken the wine, your followers would have gone astray.' "


Sahih Bukhari Volume 4, Book 55, Number 648:

Narrated Ibn Umar:
The Prophet said, "I saw Moses, Jesus and Abraham (on the night of my Ascension to the heavens). Jesus was of red complexion, curly hair and a broad chest. Moses was of brown complexion, straight hair and tall stature as if he was from the people of Az-Zutt."


Now please read the following Hadith from Shahih Bukhari :

Sahih Bukhari Volume 4, Book 55, Number 650:

Narrated Salim from his father:
No, By Allah, the Prophet did not tell that Jesus was of red complexion but said, "While I was asleep circumambulating the Ka'ba (in my dream), suddenly I saw a man of brown complexion and lank hair walking between two men, and water was dropping from his head. I asked, 'Who is this?' The people said, 'He is the son of Mary.' Then I looked behind and I saw a red-complexioned, fat, curly-haired man, blind in the right eye which looked like a bulging out grape. I asked, 'Who is this?' They replied, 'He is Ad-Dajjal.' The one who resembled to him among the people, was Ibn Qatar." (Az-Zuhri said, "He (i.e. Ibn Qatan) was a man from the tribe Khuza'a who died in the pre-lslamic period.")


Some Hadeeth mentioned that Prophet indeed said that the complexion of Prophet Jesus was red while last Hadeeth mentioned that Prophet Muhammad never said that Jesus' complexion was red rather said that his complexion was brown . Now , which one right . Somebody must be telling lies/wrong and put in on the mouth of the Prophet .

 

[A Thousand Suns]

why are they so important. if they were meant to be used as religous law and understanding why werent they in the Qur'an? if the Qur'an is perfect why do we need the hadiths? should they be used as a tool to better understand the Qur'an?

We need Hadith to place the passages of Quran in context. The Quran is collection of smaller passages that were given by revelation to Prophet Muhammad(pbuh) over a period of 23 years, and over that period of 23 years there were all sorts of things happening to Muslims and among Muslims and these individual passages commented on those situations, eventually after the death of prophet Muhammad(pbuh) all of these passages were collected in the same one book without any notation as to what was happening at the time, but one has to go outside Quran to find whatever good historical information does exist to place these revelations within the context of 23 years to find out what was happening to understand what the passages are speaking about. If you reject the hadith, you lose the whole context and order of the Qur'anic revelations :/

 

[neves]

"The Prophet’s death was said to have coincided with the perfection of revelation. But the perfective closure of both the book and the Prophet’s life, though in that sense triumphant, was also onerous, particularly in view of the new changing circumstances, both of space and time, in the geographical expansion of Islām. In all the new pressures of historical circumstance, where was direction to be sought? Where, if not from the same source as the scriptural mouthpiece, who by virtue of that consummated status had become the revelatory instrument of the divine word and could therefore be taken as an everlasting index to the divine counsel? The instinct for and the growth of tradition are thus integral elements in the very nature of Islām, Muḥammad, and the Qurʾān. Ongoing history and the extending dispersion of Muslim believers provided the occasion and spur for the compilation of Ḥadīth."

Hadith (Islam) -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia

 

[Sakeenah]

iti oj I hope you will read the article eselam posted I think that's an answer to your questions I just wanted to add

That in a authentic hadith the prophet (peace be upon him)mentioned:

Soon there will be a time when a man will be reclining on his couch, narrating a hadeeth from me, and he will say, ‘Between us and you is the Book of Allaah: what it says is halaal, we take as halaal, and what it says is haraam, we take as haraam.’ But listen! Whatever the Messenger of Allaah forbids is like what Allaah forbids.”

here the prophet clearly mentioned that there will come a time that certain people wil say to ony follow the Quran but in reality they aren't because in more then 100 verses God tells us to obbey

the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). Obedience to the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is considered in the Qur’aan to be a part of obedience to Allaah, may He be glorified. “He who obeys the Messenger, has indeed obeyed Allaah, but he who turns away, then we have not sent you (O Muhammad) as a watcher over them.” [al-Nisa’ 4:80 )
The Qur’aan, which they claim to follow, denies the faith of the one who refuses to obey the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and does not accept his ruling: “But no, by your Lord, they can have no Faith, until they make you (O Muhammad) judge in all disputes between them, and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions, and accept (them) with full submission.” [al-Nisa’ 4:65 – interpretation of the meaning]

And the last thing is those who say they only follow the Quran..how do they know how to perform ablution, how to pray,how to perform haij..can't this all be found in the ahadith? Or do they take those ahadith because it's suits them but leave others?

For it to be obligatory to follow a hadeeth, it is sufficient for it to be known that it is a saheeh (authentic, sound) hadeeth narrated from the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).

 

[maro]

Bukhari Volume 7, Book 72, Number 787:

Narrated Anas bin Malik:
The Prophet was neither conspicuously tall, nor short; neither, very white, nor tawny.His hair was neither much curled, nor very straight. Allah sent him (as an Messenger) at the age of forty (and after that) he stayed for ten years in Makkah, and for ten more years in Medina. Allah took him unto Him at the age of sixty, and he scarcely had ten white hairs on his head and in his beard.

==>> 60 years.


Bukhari Volume 5, Book 58, Number 242:

Narrated Ibn Abbas:
Allah's Messenger started receiving the Divine Inspiration at the age of forty. Then he stayed in Makkah for thirteen years, receiving the Divine Revelation. Then he was ordered to migrate and he lived as an Emigrant for ten years and then died at the age of sixty-three (years).

==>> 63 years .


Muslim, Book 030, Number 5805:

'Ammar, the freed slave of Banu Hashim, reported:
I asked Ibn 'Abbas how old was he when death overtook the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him). He said: I little know that such a thing is not known to a man like you who belong to his people. He said: I asked people about it but they differed with me, and I liked to know your opinion about it. He said: Do you know counting? He said: Yes. He then said: Bear this in mind very well that he was commissioned (as a Prophet) at the age of forty, and he stayed in Makkah for fifteen years; sometime in peace and sometime in dread, and (lived) for ten years after his migration to Medina.

==>> 65 years .


Which one you gonna believe ? If one is right the other two are wrong .

I guess this was answered by Cordoba before

http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/islam-dir/116559-what-his-age-when-prophet-passed.html

 

[Union]

I guess this was answered by Cordoba before

http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/islam-dir/116559-what-his-age-when-prophet-passed.html

You might have not read brother Cordoba's posts attentively . He admitted that there is really some errors in those Hadeeth . For your ease , here I am quoting them :

When it comes to the dates of historical events, the accuracy of details is an acceptable exception, Union, because this is a community which is not oriented to precise historical record-keeping: they did not have calendars like we have today and the vast majority of people at the time were illiterate.

Also they are not conveying the words of the Prophet, peace be upon him, but they are stating their own personal calculations

One companion calculated that the Prophet spent 10 years in Makkah before migration, while another's calculation was 13 years. The matn and sanad of both narrations were correct, and the error was in the calculation of one of the two narrators: an unintentional human error

The Hadith is not Divine as the Qur'an, there is no doubt about that Union, as there is a human effort made to preserve the authentic sayings of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him

Only The Qur'an is preserved by God and is 100% intact. As for the Sunnah its degree of accuracy may be 95% or more, so yes there is a small margin of error, as in this example due to a calendar miscalculation by one of the narrators

This is a very minor issue, but one which does not lead to "throwing out the baby with the water"

Whether the Prophet lived 60 or 63 years makes no difference whatsoever

If you wish to further debate his matter, I suggest this thread is moved to the (Same Faith Debate) forum as this DIR forum is not for debate

Salam and best regards

Now , you may like to address to reconcile another contradiction where some Ahadeeth say that Prophet Muhammad said that Jesus' complexion was red while other vigorously claimed that he never said that rather he said that Prophet Jesus' complexion was brown ,

 

[Iti oj]

Thank you all for the informative replies. I'm still working on and rereading everything. maybe some follow up questions soon.

 

[Union]

Thank you all for the informative replies. I'm still working on and rereading everything. maybe some follow up questions soon.

You are welcome . I urge you to do a research on Shahih Bukhari , as it is deemed to be the collection of 100% accurate Hadeeth and ranked the highest authority in Sunni Islam, practically . Few points to add , which may also boost your study :

- Though it is deemed to be 100% authentic , it has so many un-authentic Hadeeths , as per the standard of science of Hadeeth.

- There is no original manuscript of Shaheeh Bukhari . All are circulated to day is a latter works , done by some other people . Hence what is belived to be the work Ismael Bukhari , is actually not his ..

- Two major narrartors (e.g., Abu Hurarirah and Ayesha) of Bukhari , from whom some thousands of Ahadeeth were circulated had some serious propblems to be the source of the life of the prophet , specialfially his actions and deeds for 23 years of his prophetic life . Abu Hurairah met Prophet only three years before the death of the Prophet while Ayesha was just a kid during most the Prophetic era . Still they have narrated thousands of Ahdeeth , while his close companions like Abu Bakr , Ali etc. had some few narrations .

So many other issues can be pointed out here , but few as mentioned above may be useful to speed up your study . Thanks.