Bismihi Ta’la
Assalam o alaikum.
Here is some further deliberation …
Tradition of the ‘Quran and my Sunnah’
The Sunnis voice their objection to the said tradition of the two weighty things, wording it differently to read, ‘I have left among you the book of Allah and my sunnah’.
Needless to say, both traditions do not contradict one another, because the authentic ‘sunnah’ is preserved with the ahl al bayt, and the residents of the house know better what their house contains.
On tracing the source of this report from Abu Huraira which states “Quran and sunnah” it has not been recorded in any of the six authentic Sunni collections of the traditions (sihah as sitta). Not only that, but also al-Bukhari, al-Nisa’i, and al-Dhahabi and many others rated this report (Quran and sunnah) to be weak because of its weak isnad (as explained by M.M Azami, ‘ isnad, according to Arabic lexicography means the thing on which another relies. As we rely on the narrators for the knowledge of the statement of the Prophet this chain is called isnad.’ Studies in Hadith Methodology and Literature, p32). For a detailed discussion on this aspect refer to The Shia are Ahl al Sunnah, chapter 20: Is it “the Book of Allah and my Progeny” or “the Book of Allah and my Sunnah?”, Tijani al Samawi, Vantage Press.
Moreover, the word “sunnah” in itself does not serve the purpose of knowledge. All muslims irrespective of their persuasions claim that they follow the sunnah of the Prophet. The differences among muslims surfaces from the transmitted Prophetic traditions through different avenues. Such traditions serve as an explanatory means of understanding the Quran, a principle upon which all muslims agree. Thus, a divergence in the transmitted traditions, has led to a differing in the interpretation of Quran and the prophetic sunnah. All muslims, as a result, splintered into different schools, groups, offshoots, which is believed to add up to seventy three groups.
The Prophet as usual thus clarifies:
I am leaving for you two precious and weighty Symbols that if you adhere to both of them you shall not go astray after me. They are: the Book of Allah and my progeny, that is my ahl al bayt. The Merciful has informed me that these two shall not separate from each other till they come to me by the Pool (of Paradise).
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Sahih al-Tirmidhi, v5, pp 662-663,328
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al-Mustadrak, al-Hakim, chapter: Understanding (the virtues) of Companions, v3, pp 109,110,148,533 who wrote this tradition is authentic (sahih) based on the criteria of the two shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim).
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Sunan, Daarami, v2, p432
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Musnad, Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v3, pp 14,17,26,59, v4, pp 366,370-372,v5, pp 182,189,350,366,419
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Fadha’il al-Sahaba, Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v2, p585, tradition: 990
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al-Khasa’is, al-Nisa’i, pp 21,30
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al-Sawa’iq al-Muhriqa, Ibn Hajar Haithami, Ch. 11, section 1, p230
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al-Kabir, al-Tabarani, v3, pp 62-63,137
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Kanz al-Ummal, al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, chapter: al-I’tisam bi Habl Allah v1 p44.
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Tafsir, Ibn Kathir (complete version), v4, p113, under commentary of verse 42:23 of Quran (four traditions).
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al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, Ibn Sa’d, v2, p194, Pub. Dar al-Sadr, Lebanon.
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al-Jami’ al-Saghir, al-Suyuti, v1, p353, and also in v2
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Majma’ al-Zawa’id, al-Haithami, v9, p163
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al-Fatih al-Kabir, al-Binhani, v1, p451
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Usudul Ghaba fi Ma’rifat al-Sahaba, Ibn al-Athir, v2, p12
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Jami’ al-Usul, Ibn al-Athir, v1, p187
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History, Ibn Asakir, v5, p436
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al-Taj al-Jami’ Lil Usul, v3, p308
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al-Durr al-Manthur, al-Hafidh al-Suyuti, v2, p60
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Yanabi al-Mawadda, al-Qunduzi al-Hanafi, pp 38,183
Ahl al Bayt and similitude to the Ark of Noah
The story of the ark of Noah remains a reminder, an everlasting sign and warning to mankind – a sign of deliverance to the righteous. Allah says in the Quran: ‘He (once) set Noah to his people, and he tarried among them a thousand years less fifty: but the deluge overwhelmed them while they (persisted) in sin. But we saved him and his companions of the ark, and we made the (ark) a sign for all peoples!’ (Quran, 29:14-15) and also ‘At length, behold! There came our command, and the fountains of the earth gushed forth! We said: Embark therein, of each kind, two, male and female, and your family – except those whom against the word has already gone forth – and the believers. But only a few believed in him. So he said: Embark ye on the ark in the name of Allah, whether it move or be at rest! For my Lord is, be sure, Oft forgiving, Most Merciful!. (Quran, 11:40-1)
And the words of the Prophet:
Behold! My ahl al bayt are like the Ark of Noah. Whoever embarked in it was saved, and whoever turned away from it was perished.
al-Mustadrak, al-Hakim, v2, p343, v3, pp 150-151 on the authority of Abu Dhar. al-Hakim said this tradition is authentic (sahih).
Fadha’il al-Sahaba, Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v2, p786
Tafsir al-Kabir, Fakhr al-Razi, under the commentary of verse 42:23, Part 27, p167
al-Bazzar, on the authority of Ibn Abbas and Ibn Zubair with the wording “drowned” instead of “perished”.
al-Sawa’iq al-Muhriqa, Ibn Hajar Haithami, Ch. 11, section 1, p234 under verse 8:33. Also in section 2, p282. He said this tradition has been transmitted via numerous authorities.
Tarikh al-Khulafaa and Jami’ al-Saghir, al-Suyuti
al-Kabir, al-Tabarani, v3, pp 37,38
al-Saghir, al-Tabarani, v2, p22
Hilyatul Awliyaa, Abu Nu’aim, v4, p306
al-Kuna wal Asmaa, al-Dulabi, v1, p76
Yanabi al-Mawadda, al-Qunduzi al-Hanafi, pp 30,370
al-Durr al-Manthur, al-Hafidh al-Suyuti, v9, p115
Kanz al Ummal, Muttaqi al Hindi, v6 p216, tradition: 3772
Dhakha’ir al-Uqba, Muhibb al-Tabari, p20
Tarikh, al-Khateeb Baghdadi, v12, p19
The above tradition is also narrated by Ibn Abbas, Anas ibn Malik, Abu Said al Khudri, Abdullah bin Zubair. It affirms the understanding that those who adopt and turn towards the school of ahl al bayt and follow them, will be ranked among the righteous ones.
It is this message that is echoed again by the Prophet,
Do not be ahead of them for you will perish, do not turn away from them for you will perish, and do not try to teach them since they know more than you do!
al-Durr al-Manthur, al-Suyuti, v2, p60
al-Sawa’iq al-Muhriqa, Ibn Hajar al-Haithami, Ch. 11, section 1, p230, quoted from al-Tabarani, also in section 2, p342
Usudul Ghaba, Ibn al-Athir, v3, p137
Yanabi’ al-Mawadda, al-Qunduzi al-Hanafi, p41, and P335
Kanz al-Ummal, al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, v1, p168
Majma’ al-Zawa’id, al-Haithami, v9, p163
Abaqat al-Anwar, v1, p184
A’alam al-Wara, pp 132-133
Tadhkirat al-Khawas al-Umma, Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi al-Hanafi, pp 28-33
al-Sira al-Halabiyya, Nur al-Din al-Halabi, v3, p273
Ahl al Bayt and similitude to the Gate of Repentance
A Quranic reference to this is: ‘And remember when We said: Enter this town, and eat of the plenty therein as ye wish, but enter the gate with humility, in posture and in words, and We shall forgive you your faults and increase (the portion of) those who do good.’ (Quran, 2:58)
The Prophet in his tradition also speaks of in the same vein:
My ahl al bayt are like the gate of repentance of the children of Israel; whoever entered therein was forgiven.
Majma’ al-Zawa’id, by al-Haithami, v9, p168
al-Awsat, by al-Tabarani, tradition: 18
Arba’in, by al-Nabahani, p216
al-Sawa’iq al-Muhriqa, by Ibn Hajar al-Haithami, Ch. 11, section 1, pp 230,234
Another fairly similar tradition was recorded by al-Darqatuni as well as Ibn Hajar in his al-Sawa’iq al-Muhriqa, Ch. 9, section 2, p193 where the Prophet said: “Ali is the gate of repentance, whoever entered therein was a believer and whoever went out was an unbeliever.”
Those of the companions of Moses who did not enter the gate of the repentance were lost in the desert for forty years, while those who did not enter the ark of Noah were drowned. Ibn Hajar concludes that:
The analogy of the ark of Noah signifies that those who love and honor the ahl al bayt and derive from their guidance will be rescued from the darkness of opposition, and those who will turn against them will be drowned in the sea of ingratitude and will perish in the desert of insubordination and rebellion. (al-Sawa’iq al-Muhriqa, by Ibn Hajar, p91)
Different chains of the tradition of two weighty things (al-thaqalayn) prove conclusively that it is a matter very dear to the Prophet and hence, the repetition on the authority of more than thirty of the companions through various sources, attests to its importance. The Prophet repeated these words over and over again (and not merely in one isolated instance but on several occasions) publicly to stress its importance. He made the announcement during the farewell pilgrimage, on the day of Arafat, on the day of Ghadir Khum, on the return from Ta’if, also in Medina from the pulpit, and in his deathbed when the room was packed with his disciples, he said:
O folk! I am soon going to depart from here, and although I have already told you, I repeat once more that I am leaving with you two things, namely, the Book of Allah and my descendants, that is, my Ahlul-Bait." Then he lifted Ali by the hand and said: "Behold! this Ali is with the Quran and the Quran is with him. These two shall never separate from each other until they come to me at the Pool of Kawthar. (al-Sawa’iq al-Muhriqa, by Ibn Hajar, Ch. 9, section 2)
Ibn Hajar al-Haithami wrote:
The traditions of adherence has been handed down through a large number of sources and more than twenty of the disciples have related it.
And further,
Here a doubt arises, and it is that while the tradition has come down through various sources, some say that the words were spoken during the last pilgrimage, others that they were spoken at Medina when he lay on his deathbed and the room was packed with his disciples, yet another saying that he spoke these words at Ghadir Khum, or in another hadith, on the return from Ta’if. But there is no inconsistency in these, since having regards to the importance and greatness of the Quran and the pure ahl al bayt, and with a view of emphasizing the point before the people, the Holy Prophet might have repeated these words on all these occasions so that any one who had not heard them before might hear them now." (al-Sawa’iq al-Muhriqa, by Ibn Hajar al-Haithami, Ch. 11, section 1, p230)
Thus the prophetic instructions were clear in urging muslims to follow the interpretation of Quran and his sunnah as transmitted through the channel of ahl al bayt whose in-errancy, purity, and righteousness is confirmed by the Quran (the last sentence of verse 33:33).
Iltimase duas …
Ali Abbas
www.al-islam.org