IMAAM TIRMIDHI'S CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS HADITH
by Moulana Abdool-Kader Hoosen

Chapter Three

Tirmidhi's Conditions for the Acceptance of a Hadith In comparison with those of Other Traditionists

AllAh says, "He it is Who hath sent among the unlettered ones a messenger of their own, to recite unto them His revelations and to make them grow, and to teach them the Scripture and Wisdom, though heretofore they were indeed in error manifest". (Qur'an 62:2) The four-fold objective of the apostleship of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.), specified by the Qur'an, comprises (a) recital of Divine Revelations, (b) purification of the people from all moral and spiritual filth, (c) teaching of the scripture, and (d) teaching of wisdom.

Need for Traditions

History of religion is a witness to the fact that injunctions and commandments are not sufficient in themselves to make people comply to these commands. These commandments do not create the right conditions and environment conducive to moral behaviour of the people. For example, the command to establish prayer, does not produce the mental awareness and conditions necessary for the preservation of its form. The act of prayer requires rules and formalities to render it effective and meritorious, thus the Qur'an has prescribed cleanliness and ablution for prayer.

Those who have studied the life of the Prophet (S.A.W.) are aware that the exhortations of the Prophet (S.A.W.) coupled with his personal example have exerted such an influence, that prayer has become the most efficacious instrument of self-purification. Likewise, the merits attached to ablution, its performance and intention, the etiquettes of entering the mosque, the blessings of the call to prayer, the reward of keeping the rows straight and many more acts make the prayer a superb and solemn means of inculcating an awareness of Allah in ones' heart. The same will apply to every other act of worship like fasting, payment of poor-due and pilgrimage to Makka. It will be difficult to visualize how these devotional exercises would be able to retain their effectiveness to stir the feeling of reverence, piety and eagerness for attaining divine consciousness, if the events of the Prophets life, his sayings and actions were not preserved. Religion is not a compendium of legal edicts, nor can any faith retain its warmth of feelings without presenting living examples of its teachings which infuse life-blood into its adherents.

The Reliability of the Traditions

Allah states in the Qur'an, "Lo! We, even We, reveal the Reminder (Dhikr), and lo! We verily are its Guardian". (15:9) In this verse the word Reminder (Dhikr) refers to the Qur'an and the Hadith, which is wahi khafi (hidden revelations). Thus, whatever was expounded by the Prophet (S.A.W.) is Divine Revelation. The Qur'an bears witness to this fact: "Nor doth he speak of (his own) desire. It is naught save an inspiration that is inspired". (53:3-4) These verses were revealed to counter the three allegations made by the Quraish of Makka against the Prophet (S.A.W.).

1. He was going astray either through the defect of intelligence or through carelessness.

2. He was being misled or deceived by evil spirits or was possessed by an evil spirit.

3. He was speaking out of his whim or impulse, or from a selfish desire to impress his own personality.

This confirms that the Prophet (S.A.W.) received direct inspiration from Allah which guided all his thoughts and actions. The real import of the above verses is that it shows the significance of the Hadith and the Sunnah in the interpretation of the entire message of the Qur'an. This proves that Allah's promise to safe-guard the Reminder (Dhikr) is applicable to both the Qur'an and Hadith, since both are Divinely inspired.

Methods to Determine the Reliability of the Traditions

According to the traditionists, a Hadith can only be considered reliable when its Sanad offers an unbroken series of credible and veracious authorities till the Prophet (S.A.W.). The critical investigation of the Sanad had caused the Muslim scholars to make thorough research. They endeavoured not only to ascertain the names and circumstances of the narrators in order to investigate where and when they lived, and which of them had been personally acquainted with the other, but also to test their reliability, truthfulness and accuracy in transmitting the texts, to make certain which of them were reliable. This criticism of the narrators was called "disparaging and authentication". The "character and background of the man" was considered indispensable for every student of Hadith, therefore all the commentaries on the collections of tradition contain more or less copious details concerning the narrators. Special works are also devoted to this subject, among them many of the so-called Tabaqat works (that is biographies arranged in Islam & Muslims of various scholars).

Gradually six collections, which were compiled in the third century of Islam succeeded in gaining such general approval that later generations, tacitly accepted them as the six Canonical Collections (Sihah Sitta). They are: Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abu Dawud, Sunan Nasai, Jami' Tirmidhi and Su-an ibn Maja.

In preparing their collections, these traditionists obviously used a critical technique of selection to decide what they would include and what they would reject. Their purpose was to assemble a corpus of traditions which would serve as a code of life for Muslims, so their primary interest was in selecting such traditions that would give clear guidance concerning what Muslim belief and practice should be, which things were permissible and approved, and which were not.

In their attempt to set up tests of authenticity which would exclude unauthentic material, these traditionists chose the Isnad (chains of transmitters) as the testing point and worked out an elaborate system for testing the trustworthiness of these "chains" and of the individuals who formed the links therein, so that a Isnad could be labelled "excellent", "good", "fair", "weak" and the tradition itself rated accordingly.

The primary aim of the reporters was to establish unerring authority for laws and customs; thus the narrators devoted scrupulous attention to the Isnad. Ibn Sirin (d. 110 A.H.), the famous interpreter of dreams, said that the traditionists did not ask about the Isnad, but did so when civil war broke out, and those men who adhered to the Sunna, their traditions were accepted and those who were innovators, their traditions were rejected. 'Abd AllAh b. Mubarak (d. 181 A.H.), a student of Abu Hanifa (d. 150 A.H.), was very outspoken with regards to the importance of the chains of narrators, and this is evidenced in the following statement by him, "The chains of narrators according to me are part of religion. If there were no chains of reporters, anybody would say whatever he liked and about whomsoever he wished". Ahmad Abu Wahb throws more light on the extent to which 'Abd Allah b. Mubarak regarded the Isnad by saying that he ('Abd AllAh b. Mubarak) would consider committing highway robbery rather than narrating from a narrator accused of lying.

Thus, there came into existence the science of criticism on Hadith relating to the Isnad and Matn (text). The following is a summary of the principles of criticism of the Isnad:

1. All the traditions must be traced to their original reporter through a chain of transmitters. These transmitters must be of excellent character, truthful and have a good retentive memory.

2. Every tradition which reports an event that occurred frequently in the presence of a large number of people, must have originally been reported by several narrators.

As far as the Matn is concerned, the following principles of criticism of Hadith are laid down:

1. The Hadith should not be contrary to the text or the teachings of the Qur'an or the accepted basic principles of Islam.

2. The Hadith should not be against the dictates, reasons or laws of nature and common experience.

3. The Hadith should not be contrary to the traditions which have already been accepted by the authorities as reliable and authentic.

4. A Hadith that contains the dates and minute details of future events should be rejected.

5. A Hadith that contains some remarks of the Prophet (S.A.W) which are not in keeping with the Islamic belief of Prophethood or the position of the Prophet (S.A.W.), should also be rejected.

According to the overwhelming majority of the traditionists, the rank of the six canonical works are as follows., (1) Sahih Bukhari (2) Sahih Muslim (3) Sunan Abu Dawud (4) Sunan Nasai (5) Jami' Tirmidhi (6) Sunan Ibn Maja. The relative status of the canonical works on Hadith are determined by the conditions laid down by each traditionist in his method of compiling Ahadith. There is unanimity among the traditionists that every reporter must be a Muslim, sane and a just person. Together with the above qualities a reporter must not be one who commits major sins nor should he be persistent on minor sins. Subsequently, there is a difference of opinion among the traditionists as to what the conditions will be to accept a Hadith.

Bukhari's Conditions

Though Bukhari (b. 194-d. 256-A.H.) in his magnum opus of Hadith literature, the Sahih Bukhari, does not mention any special conditions for the acceptance of reporters or traditions, later scholars such as, Hazami (d.584 A.H.) and Maqdasi (d. 507 A.H.) in their treatises under the title of Shuru al- A'imma (Conditions of the Imams) have deduced such conditions that were strictly followed by Bukhari and the other traditionists in their collections. According to them, Bukhari has maintained the following conditions:

1. All the reporters, beginning from the teacher/s of Bukhari to the companions of the Prophet (S.A.W,), should be reliable and trustworthy to the highest degree. Their reliability should also be agreed upon by the traditionists.

2. Bukhari has given preference to the reporters of higher ranks among the students of any particular teacher. For example, the students of Zuhri (d. 124.A.H.) are classified into five Islam & Muslims according to their credibility and long association with their teachers. It becomes apparent by a perusal of Sahih Bukhari that he mostly reported from the narrators in the first category. He accepted the reports of the second and third Islam & Muslims as well, but only as Mutaba'a (annotations) and not in the actual text.

3. Bukhari followed his teacher, ibn al-Madini (d. 234A.H.) in accepting a narrator reporting by usage of the particle 'an (from), if it was proven that the student had met the teacher.

4. Bukhari does not accept a Hadith with a discontinued Sanad.

5. Earlier traditionists, from among the Kufans in particular, differ about the validity of a Hadith reported by a boy who has not reached the age of Maturity. Bukhari presents his opinion by quoting Ahadith reported by young companions such as 'Abd Allah b. 'Abbas (d. 68A.H.) and 'Abd Allah b. 'Umar (d. 73A.H.), under the heading, "When a child comprehends what he hears, his reporting will be valid".

The Conditions of Muslim

Muslim's collection of Hadith is known as Sahih Muslim. He compiled more than twenty-four books related to Hadith. The principles followed by him in his collection demonstrate his method of discussing Hadith. Some of these principles are discussed by him in his preface to Sahih Muslim which are as follows:

1. Unlike Bukhari, he has given consideration to the distinction between Haddathana (teacher read to us) and Akhbarana (student read to us) following the footsteps of the earlier traditionists.

2. He accepts a narration conveyed by the usage of 'an (from), if the reporter is proved to be the contemporary of the one from whom he is reporting, unlike Bukhari who, as already mentioned, requires the meeting of both persons as well.

3. Muslim has classified the reporters in the following three Islam & Muslims: a) Those with a high standard of memory and credibility; b) Those who are less renowned than the first group in as far as the two qualities of memory and credibility are concerned; c) Reporters accused of lying and being rejected by most of the traditionists. Muslim confirmed that he gave preference to the reporters in the first category and seldom opted for those in the second. As for the third category he did not concern himself with them.

4. Muslim said about his collection: "I have only mentioned those Ahadith on which the consensus of the traditionists was obtained". A general consensus is not meant here, but rather that of eminent traditionists like Yahya b. Ma'in (d. 233 A.H.), Ahmad b. Hanbal (d.241 A.H.), 'Uthman b. Abu Shaiba and Sa'id b. Mansur al-Khurasani as explained by Balqini.

Condition of Abu Dawud

Abu Dawud's collection of Hadith is known as Sunan Abu Dawud. He compiled twenty-one books related to Hadith and preferred those Ahadith which were supported by the practical example of the companions of the Prophet (S.A.W.). As for the contradictory Ahadith, he states under the heading of 'Meat acquired by hunting for a pilgrim': "if there are two contradictory reports from the Prophet (S.A.W.), an investigation should be made to establish what his companions have adopted". He wrote in his letter to the people of Makkah: "I have disclosed wherever there was too much weakness in regard to any tradition in my collection. But if I happen to leave a Hadith without any comment, it should be considered as sound, albeit some of them are more authentic than others". Hadith Mursal (a tradition in which a companion is omitted and a successor narrates directly from the Prophet) (S.A.W.) has also been a matter of discussion among the traditionists. Abu Dawud states in his letter to the people of Makkah: "if a Musnad Hadith (uninterrupted tradition) is not contrary to a Mursal or a Musnad Hadith is not found, then the Mursal Hadith will be accepted though it would not be considered as strong as a Muttasil Hadith (uninterrupted chain)".

The traditions in Sunan Abu Dawud are divided in three Islam & Muslims. The first category consists of those traditions that are mentioned by Bukhari and/or Muslim. The second type of traditions are those which fulfil the conditions of Bukhari or Muslim. At this juncture, it should be remembered that Bukhari said, "I only included in my book Sahih Bukhari authentic traditions, and left out many more authentic ones than these to avoid unnecessary length". He had no intention of collecting all the authentic traditions. He only wanted to compile a manual of Hadith. according to the wishes of his teacher Ishaq b. Rahaway (d. 238A.H.), and his function is quite clear from the complete title of his book Al-Jami', al-Musnad, al-Sahih, al-Mukhtasar, Min 'Umur Rasul AllAh Wa-Sunanihi Wa-Ayyamihi. The word al-Mukhtasar (epitome), itself explains that Bukhari did not attempt to compile a comprehensive collection. Muslim said that he condensed his Sahih from 300,000 Sahih Ahadith. This proves that there are many Ahaadith which are authentic in spite of their not being mentioned in either Sahih Bukhari or Sahih Muslim.

Nasai's Conditions

Nasai's collection of Hadith is known as al-Sunan al-Sughra or al-Mujtaba. He compiled five books related to Hadith. The basic criteria of Nasa'i to evaluate a tradition was as follows:

1. Whenever contradictory remarks are found about a reporter, Nasa'i accepts his veracity until he is sure that all the traditionists have deserted him. What he meant by the consensus of the traditionists on deserting a reporter may be understood in the light of the following explanation; The critics among the traditionists in each period are of two types: The dogmatic and the lenient - for example, Shu'ba (d. 160A.H.) and Sufyan Thawri (d. 161A.H.) respectively in the first period; Yahya al-Qattan (d. 189A.H.) and 'Abd al-Rahman b. al-Mahdi (d.198 A.H.) in the second period; Yahya b. Ma'in (d. 233 A.H.) and Ahmad b. Hanbal (d. 241A.H.) in the third period. Nasa'i omitted a reporter if he happened to be deserted by both the dogmatic and lenient ones of that period. Following this principle, Nasa'i has omitted some reporters who are otherwise accepted by both Bukhari and Muslim. But it does not imply that his collection is more authentic than those of Bukhari and Muslim, as is mentioned by Ibn Kathir (d. 774A.H.), the author Al-Bidaya wa-al-Nihaya.

2. Nasa'i, like Ahmad b. Hanbal declares a Hadith as Munkar (rejected) if a reporter has reported something extra while other reporters have not reported it from the same teacher.

Certain Conditions of Malik

Malik (d. 179A.H.) forbids reporting from four types of people. They are:

1. A man known for his stupidity

2. A man with certain personal motives and engaged in propagating them

3. An ascetic who does not know what he is narrating.

4. A man who speaks lies while reporting from the Prophet (S.A.W.)

Conditions of Tirmidhi

Tirmidhi's collection of Hadith is known as Jami' Tirmidhi or Sunan al-Tirmidhi. According to the commentators of the Jami' and 'Ilal, Tirmidhi has maintained the following conditions:

1. The traditions of any narrator who persistently commits errors in transmitting a Hadith or is considered weak due to his unmindfulness or weak memory, will not be cited in evidence.

2. It is not permissible to narrate a Hadith from persons who fabricate traditions.

3. The Ahadith in the Jami' are divided in four Islam & Muslims. The first category consists of those Ahadith which fulfil the conditions of Bukhari and/or Muslim. The second category consists of those Ahadith which comply with the conditions of Abu Dawud or Nasa'i. The third category are those Ahadith that have certain discrepancies either in the text or Sanad. The fourth type of traditions are those mentioned by Tirmidhi, in spite of their weakness, as some jurists relied on them. Tirmidhi was the only one amongst the six canonical traditionists, who quotes Ahadith from the fourth category unhesitatingly, whilst Abu Dawud also quotes from the fourth category but confines himself to the famous reporters of this category. The reporters who belong to the fourth category are persons who are truthful but have the tendency to speculate.

4. Tirmidhi has applied the term Mursal Hadith where a reporter between the successor and the Prophet (S.A.W.) is missing or where a reporter other than a companion is missing. To the later traditionists, the second type of Hadith is known as Munqati' (broken). Even a Mursal Hadith is valid according to Tirmidhi when supported by a Hadith with an uninterrupted Sanad. In Tirmidhi's opinion the majority of the scholars when classifying a tradition as Mursal consider it as weak. They have done so because Mursal narrations are narrated through either reliable or unreliable reporters and due to this doubt a precautionary stance is taken by classifying Mursal as weak.

5. Tirmidhi accepts a Hadith conveyed by the usage of 'an (from), if the reporter is proved to be the contemporary of the one from whom he is reporting, unlike Bukhari, who as already mentioned, requires the meeting of both persons as well.

6. Tirmidhi did not specify several conditions for the acceptance of Ahadith, since he included those traditions that were utilized by the jurists.

Having discussed Tirmidhi's conditions for the acceptance of a Hadith in comparison with those of other traditionists, the uniqueness of Tirmidhi in the particular terminology used, demands attention. What follows is an exposition on the terminology used by him.

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Tirmidhi .. Chapter 4

 

Source:  Jamiatul Ulama (Kwazulu-Natal)