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Khayal · 07:12 PM

The Isnad II
Part 4 of 8

Concerning when the narrators were forced by the listeners to mention their isnaads, Fullaatah states that Abu Bakr, the first caliph who died only two years after the Prophet, was the first to make the narrator prove the authenticity of his narration as he sometimes would not accept a hadith unless the person presented a witness for his hadith. Umar also followed the same pattern. By doing so they made it clear if the person heard the hadith directly from the Messenger of Allah or through some intermediary source. Their goal was to confirm the correctness of the narration although they were, at the same time, inadvertently making the narrator state the isnaad for his hadith. Therefore, it was during their time (right after the death of the Prophet) that narrators were first being forced to state their isnaads. Ali, the fourth caliph and the caliph during the fitnah, would sometimes take an oath from the person in which the person would swear that he heard the hadith directly from the Prophet. Obviously, then, after the fitnah, the same process of requiring the narrator to state his sources continued.[1]
Concerning when the narrator himself began to insist on mentioning the isnaad of each hadith, Fullaatah states that the need for the isnaad really became apparent after weak narrators and immoral people began to relate hadith. During that time, the narrator himself made sure that he would mention the isnaad of the hadith he narrated. Al-Amash used to narrate hadith and then say, “Here is the head of the matter,” and then he would mention the isnaad. Al-Waleed ibn Muslim of al-Shaam stated, “One day al-Zuhri said, ‘What is wrong [with you people] that I see you narrating hadith without the critical or important part?* After that day our companions [that is, the people of al-Sham] made sure to mention the isnaad.”[2] The scholars would blame their students for listening to hadith from teachers who would mention the hadith without the isnaad.[3] In fact they would reject any hadith which did not have an isnaad with it. Bahz ibn Asad said, “Do not accept a hadith from someone who does not say, ‘He narrated to us..,” that is, without an isnaad. The Muslims even began to insist on the use of the isnaad for people of disciplines other than hadith, for example, history, tafseer, poetry and so on.
Therefore, after discussing the question in detail, Fullaatah could soundly conclude the following:
1. The isnaad was first used during the time of the Companions.
2. Abu Bakr was the first to force narrators to mention the source for their hadith.
3. The narrator himself insisted on mentioning the isnaad of each hadith on the heels of (1) and (2) above.[4]
In conclusion, there was never any time that hadith narrations were completely void of mentioning the isnaad. During the time of the Companions the use of the isnaad was not so obvious as there was (usually) no intermediate narrator between the person mentioning the hadith and the Prophet. (The period of the Companions “officially” ended in 110 A. H. with the death of the last Companion.) Abu Bakr and Umar were scrupulous in checking the authenticity of hadith. Later people like al-Shabi and al-Zuhri appeared and they made the Muslims realize the importance of mentioning the isnaad with the hadith. This was especially manifest after major confrontations (such as the death of Uthmaan) which made the people realize that the hadith narrations were their religion and, therefore, they should look carefully at whom they were taking their religion from. After the early years, the isnaad and its proper use became standardized and its knowledge became an independent branch of hadith. This continued until the major collections of hadith were compiled in the third century.[5]
In reality, Allah blessed the nation of Muhammad with a unique way of preserving its original teachings: the isnaad. Muhammad ibn Haatim ibn al-Mudhaffar wrote:
Verily Allah has honored and distinguished this nation and raised it above others by the use of the isnaad. None of the earlier or present nations have unbroken isnaads. They have [ancient] pages in their possession but their books have been mixed with their historical reports and they are not able to distinguish between what was originally revealed as the Torah or the Gospel and what has been added later of reports that have been taken from untrustworthy [or, most likely, unknown] narrators.[6]

Footnotes: [1] Fullaatah, vol. 2, pp. 20-22.

[2] Quoted by Fullaatah, vol. 2, p. 28.

[3] Ibid., vol. 2, pp. 28-29. See the stories of al-Zuhri, Abdullah ibn al-Mubaarak and Sufyaan al-Thauri on those pages.

[4] Fullaatah, vol. 2, p. 30.

[5] In fact, the tradition of relating hadith by their isnaads continued until the fifth century. After that time books were passed on, mostly by ijaaza (permission given to others to narrate one’s books or hadith), although there are still some scholars today who can narrate hadith with a complete chain from themselves back to the Prophet. Cf., Khaldoon al-Ahdab, Asbaab Ikhtilaaf al-Muhaditheen (Jeddah: al-Dar al-Saudiya, 1985), vol. 2, p. 707.

[6] Quoted in Abdul Wahaab Abdul Lateef, Al-Mukhtasar fi Ilm Rijaal al-Athar (Dar al-Kutub al-Hadithiya, no date), p. 18.

Source.

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Khayal a ThOuGhT Status: Offline Posts: 5,522 Reputation: 19375 Rep Power: 51 Join Date: May 2005 Location: iN ThOuGhTs Way of Life: Muslim	*Re: !* God’s Preservation of the Sunnah ! - 07-17-2007 The Isnad II Part 4 of 8** Concerning when the narrators were forced by the listeners to mention their isnaads, Fullaatah states that Abu Bakr, the first caliph who died only two years after the Prophet, was the first to make the narrator prove the authenticity of his narration as he sometimes would not accept a hadith unless the person presented a witness for his hadith. Umar also followed the same pattern. By doing so they made it clear if the person heard the hadith directly from the Messenger of Allah or through some intermediary source. Their goal was to confirm the correctness of the narration although they were, at the same time, inadvertently making the narrator state the isnaad for his hadith. Therefore, it was during their time (right after the death of the Prophet) that narrators were first being forced to state their isnaads. Ali, the fourth caliph and the caliph during the fitnah, would sometimes take an oath from the person in which the person would swear that he heard the hadith directly from the Prophet. Obviously, then, after the fitnah, the same process of requiring the narrator to state his sources continued.[1] Concerning when the narrator himself began to insist on mentioning the isnaad of each hadith, Fullaatah states that the need for the isnaad really became apparent after weak narrators and immoral people began to relate hadith. During that time, the narrator himself made sure that he would mention the isnaad of the hadith he narrated. Al-Amash used to narrate hadith and then say, “Here is the head of the matter,” and then he would mention the isnaad. Al-Waleed ibn Muslim of al-Shaam stated, “One day al-Zuhri said, ‘What is wrong [with you people] that I see you narrating hadith without the critical or important part?* After that day our companions [that is, the people of al-Sham] made sure to mention the isnaad.”[2] The scholars would blame their students for listening to hadith from teachers who would mention the hadith without the isnaad.[3] In fact they would reject any hadith which did not have an isnaad with it. Bahz ibn Asad said, “Do not accept a hadith from someone who does not say, ‘He narrated to us..,” that is, without an isnaad. The Muslims even began to insist on the use of the isnaad for people of disciplines other than hadith, for example, history, tafseer, poetry and so on. Therefore, after discussing the question in detail, Fullaatah could soundly conclude the following: 1. The isnaad was first used during the time of the Companions. 2. Abu Bakr was the first to force narrators to mention the source for their hadith. 3. The narrator himself insisted on mentioning the isnaad of each hadith on the heels of (1) and (2) above.[4] In conclusion, there was never any time that hadith narrations were completely void of mentioning the isnaad. During the time of the Companions the use of the isnaad was not so obvious as there was (usually) no intermediate narrator between the person mentioning the hadith and the Prophet. (The period of the Companions “officially” ended in 110 A. H. with the death of the last Companion.) Abu Bakr and Umar were scrupulous in checking the authenticity of hadith. Later people like al-Shabi and al-Zuhri appeared and they made the Muslims realize the importance of mentioning the isnaad with the hadith. This was especially manifest after major confrontations (such as the death of Uthmaan) which made the people realize that the hadith narrations were their religion and, therefore, they should look carefully at whom they were taking their religion from. After the early years, the isnaad and its proper use became standardized and its knowledge became an independent branch of hadith. This continued until the major collections of hadith were compiled in the third century.[5] In reality, Allah blessed the nation of Muhammad with a unique way of preserving its original teachings: the isnaad. Muhammad ibn Haatim ibn al-Mudhaffar wrote: Verily Allah has honored and distinguished this nation and raised it above others by the use of the isnaad. None of the earlier or present nations have unbroken isnaads. They have [ancient] pages in their possession but their books have been mixed with their historical reports and they are not able to distinguish between what was originally revealed as the Torah or the Gospel and what has been added later of reports that have been taken from untrustworthy [or, most likely, unknown] narrators.[6] Footnotes: [1] Fullaatah, vol. 2, pp. 20-22. [2] Quoted by Fullaatah, vol. 2, p. 28. [3] Ibid., vol. 2, pp. 28-29. See the stories of al-Zuhri, Abdullah ibn al-Mubaarak and Sufyaan al-Thauri on those pages. [4] Fullaatah, vol. 2, p. 30. [5] In fact, the tradition of relating hadith by their isnaads continued until the fifth century. After that time books were passed on, mostly by ijaaza (permission given to others to narrate one’s books or hadith), although there are still some scholars today who can narrate hadith with a complete chain from themselves back to the Prophet. Cf., Khaldoon al-Ahdab, Asbaab Ikhtilaaf al-Muhaditheen (Jeddah: al-Dar al-Saudiya, 1985), vol. 2, p. 707. [6] Quoted in Abdul Wahaab Abdul Lateef, Al-Mukhtasar fi Ilm Rijaal al-Athar (Dar al-Kutub al-Hadithiya, no date), p. 18. Source. __________________ Say (O Muhammad): ‘Verily, my prayer, my sacrifice, my living, and my dying are for Allâh alone, the Lord of all that exists. He has no partner. And of this I have been commanded, and I am the first of the Muslims Last edited by Khayal; 07-19-2007 at 07:12 PM.. Reason: Adding picture :p