06-25-2008, 11:29 AM
Examples of situations indicating how keen the companions were to validate the authenticity of narrations after the Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam.
Jaber Bin Abdullah may Allah be pleased with him traveled a trip that consumed one month to meet Abdullah Bin Unais in order to validate the authenticity of one hadeeth.
A grandmother came to Abi Bakr may Allah be pleased with him to inquire about her share of the inheritance from her grandchild. May Allah be pleased with him said: there is nothing in the book of Allah that covers your situation, and I didn’t learn any thing covering your situation in the Sunnah of Rasullah salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam. Thus, go back till I check with people. He inquired to people, Al Mogheerah Bin Shoa`ba said: I attended with the Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam, and he gave her one sixth (this means he attended a similar case when the Messenger Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam allocated to the given person then one sixth).
Abu Bakr said: do you have someone to support your statement, Mohamed Ibn Mosallamah stood up and concurred with what Al Mogheerah stated. Abu Bakr may Allah be pleased with him applied the ruling for her (reported by Ahmed and Nasa`i).
Regardless of Abu Bakr's may Allah be pleased with him well known position, he was not embarrassed to say: I do not know and at the same time he did not take Al Mogheerah's statement unless after Mohamed Bin Mosallamah supported it in order to verify the hadeeth rather than doubting the honesty of the companions may Allah be pleased with them. It is in protection against forgetfulness and faults.
Narrated under the authority of Abi Said Al Khodry may Allah be pleased with him that he said: I was sitting among a group of Al Ansar gathering when Abu Mussa Al Asha`ary came to us frightened or in panic. We said what is wrong with you. He said Omar sent for me to come and see him, I came to his door and said Salam three times. But he did not respond back the Salam. I went back. Omar inquired saying what prevented you from coming to me. I said: but I came and said Salam at your door three times and you did not reply back and the Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam said: When one of you asks for permission three times and was not given the permission, he must go back. Omar said: introduce the evidence for this hadeeth or I will hurt you, Ubay Ibn Ka`ab (who was sitting among the group) said only the youngest among the present group should go with him. Abu Said said: I m the youngest of the people. He said to me: go with him (to Omar) (reported by Muslim).
Women were not less concerned than men to verify the correctness of what is narrated after the Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam. Abdullah Ibn Masoud was giving a lesson. In part of what he presented he said: Allah Curse tattoo makers, those who seek applying tattoo, those who full remove of eye brows, those who seek full removal of eye brows and those who enlarge the gap between the front teeth aiming for beauty changing Allah's creation. Female companions never heard this statement from the Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam or any of the companions before Abdullah Ibn Masoud may Allah be pleased with him. Umm Yaqoub Al Asadia, who was a scholar and Quran reader, went to him and said: what about the statement I heard that you said that you cursed Curse tattoo makers, those who seek applying tattoo, those who full remove of eye brows, those who seek full removal of eye brows and those who enlarge the gap between the front teeth aiming for beauty changing Allah's creation? Abdullah said: how would not I curse this whom the Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam cursed and it is within the book of Allah. She said: I read the two boards of the Mushaf, but I did not find it. Abdulallah replied: if you read it, you would have found it. Allah may He be Glorified Say: And whatsoever the Messenger (Muhammad) gives you, take it, and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain (from it), and fear Allah" (Quran 54:7)
Umm Yaqoub said: I see part of that (of what he described to be prohibited) on your wife. He told her, go and have a look. She went and came back saying: I saw nothing. May Allah be pleased with him told her, if there was any of that, she would not have been with us (reported by Bukhari, Muslim and Abo Daoud). He meant that in case she applied any of those issues, I would have divorced her. Similar examples are numerous that we can not count here.
Companions may Allah be pleased with them developed other standards to verify hadeeth authenticity. Imam Bukhar was capable of crystallizing those standards plus adding more to assess the hadeeth authenticity. Till our present time, those standards are applied. In the following, we are going to present some of the standards:
1.Meeting and hearing:
In case a companion heard another companion narrating a hadeeth after the Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam, the companion who heard goes to meet personally the one who narrated in order to verify the authenticity of the hadeeth. An example to this, Jaber Ibn Abdullah may Allah be pleased with him travelled for one month to meet Abdullah Ibn Unnais to inquire from him about a hadeeth he heard that Abdullah Ibn Unnais narrates after the Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam. Thus, the principle of meeting and hearing was set as a condition to accept the hadeeth according to Imam Bukhari may Allah have mercy on him.
2, Comparing against Allah's book:
In case what was narrated after the Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam contradicted Quranic texts, they used to reject it. During a situation, Omar Ibn Al Khattab may Allah be pleased with him narrated that the Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam said: a deceased is tortured because of his household crying for his death. He understood this hadeeth as a general ruling that a deceased torture occurs because of his household crying his death. Mother of the believers Aaesha may Allah be pleased with her objected to this explanation using the argument that Allah say:
"No bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another Then to your Lord is your return, so He will inform you what you used to do." (Quran 39:7)
In the same context, Omar may Allah be pleased with him heard the hadeeth of Fatimah Bin Qays when her husband divorced her three times, the Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam did not oblige her husband to provide housing or financial support. Omar said: we shall not abandon the book of Allah nor the Sunnah of our prophet salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam because of what a woman says. We are not sure if she memorized well or forgot. She is entitled for housing and financial support, according to what Allah may He be Glorified Say:
"and turn them not out of their (husband's) homes, nor shall they (themselves) leave, except in case they are guilty of some open illegal sexual intercourse." (Quran 65:1) (reported by Muslim).