Are Ahadith Like the Bible?

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Question:

I am a Muslim and I have come to a conclusion that the similitude of hadith is that of bible. There in they are some words of truth and some words of falsehood. And only a man with knowledge and guidance would be able to distinguish between the two. If god Almighty has said that the holy Qur'an is a complete and perfect book then why do Muslims refer to such a book  (hadith) that is nearly made of hearsay?

Answer:

The two primary sources of Islam are the Qur'an and the Sunnah. Both these sources were conveyed by the Prophet (P) to all his companions. They in turn took on the responsibility of passing these two sources to the subsequent generation and the new converts. Since then, these two sources have been transmitted by the whole Muslim community from one generation to the next, verbally (and in writing), in the case of the Qur'an, and practically, in the case of the Sunnah. All of the essential teachings of Islam are entailed in these two sources, which have reached us through the consensus of the companions of the Prophet (P).

The above should clarify that the Ahadith, which are singular reports do not fall under this category. Nonetheless, because of the great importance the Prophet (P) holds, Muslims some time after the Prophet (P) decided that they would like to gather as much information about him as possible. As such, they compiled reports from individuals that were ascribed to the Prophet (P). They undertook a hard task in studying the people that conveyed this information to them, checking whether they were of good character, sound memory and judgment and had actually met the people from whom they heard the particular narration. Only after these compilers of the reports felt safe that they can trust the reports did they compile them and include them in their books. Amongst the most famous of compilers are Imam Malik, Imam Bukhari, Imam Muslim, Imam Abu Dawud, and Imam At-Tirmidhi etc. Despite their hard work, it does not mean that what their books contain is absolutely perfect as they are still humans and a study such as theirs can have various short comings (e.g. in the information that they gather about the people in the chains of narration). However, even if their information gathered was absolutely accurate all the time, it could still be possible for anyone of the narrators in the chain to have misunderstood a particular saying or action of the Prophet (PBUH). It does not require a person to be dishonest to misunderstand and so even honest people could have passed on a wrong narration.

The very mode of the transmission of the Ahadith and the shortcomings that it entails means that it is only a secondary source. However, it is still a valuable tool, especially when it comes to the life of the Prophet (P) and his interpretations of the Qur'an and Sunnan etc. These reports would only be accepted, if their chain is sound and if they are in agreement with the Qur'an, the Sunnah and common sense. Those Ahadith that pass all these criteria, while giving us no reason to doubt it can adequately and rightfully be accepted by us. We should always keep in mind that just because these are words ascribed to the Prophet (rather than quoting him), and just because they are transmitted via individuals rather than the whole generation (as in the Qur'an and the Sunnah), and just because there do exist falsely ascribed narrations doesn't mean that they are all false. There are plenty of Ahadith that are in complete agreement with the Qur'an, the Sunnah and common sense while also having a sound chain that gives us no reason to be doubtful. Thus, why not take advantage of this mass of information and learn more of this perfect example (the holy Prophet peace be upon him)?

Coming to the Bible, although they too are words ascribed to particular Prophets, they do not give us information on the chain of narrators. As such, not only do we have to keep in mind that people could have misunderstood the words of a particular Prophet (e.g. Jesus peace be upon him), but also that we do not know who the narrators of the many reports are. Hence, we do not know whether the people that conveyed the message were of sound character and memory among other things. For the Ahadith, we happen to have a lot of information made about many of the narrators that helps us analyze the authenticity of a particular report, which we lack in the case of the Bible. Apart from that I would agree that they are both micro-history. But I would certainly hold the Ahadith as more reliable. Yet, even the Bible must surely contain a lot of information that is true. As I said, just because a document contains false information doesn't mean that it cannot contain accurate information too. I understand that you realize that.

I hope I was of some help.

Allah (SWT) knows best.

Hischam
May 17, 2004

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