Sunnah & Hadith Mutawatir Ahadith
Question:
Is there any set of Hadith reports/narratives that has been transmitted via tawatur? Or are ALL Hadith (even Sahih Hadith) the results of individual to individual transmission?
Please clarify.
Thank you.
Omar Sarwar
Singapore
Answer:
The definition of 'Akhbar e Mutawatir', as given by Khatib al-Baghdadiy in his "Al-Kifayah fi ilm al-Riwayah" has, generally, been accepted by most of the scholars of the field. Khatib al-Baghdadiy writes:
As for Khabr al-tawatur, it is a reporting of such a large group of people, which, merely because of their extremely large numbers, makes it highly improbable - on the basis of common experience - to believe that they have all agreed upon a lie; And that their collusion on the reported point, within the time that the reported point is spread, is impossible; And that the reported point is absolutely clear of all kinds of confusion and doubt; And that the element of coercion or any other factor, which may have induced them to agree upon a lie is completely absent.
A recent scholar of the field, Tahir al-Jazairiy al-Damishquiy, has spelled out some of the inherent implications of the various parts of this definition in his book "Tawjeeh al-Nazar Ilaa Usool al-Athar". He writes:
As for Khabr al-Mutawatir, it is a reporting regarding an observable phenomenon which is reported by a group composed of such a large number of people that their collusion on a lie is highly improbable - on the basis of common experience. According to this definition, three phenomena are eliminated from Khabr al-Mutawatir: Firstly, reportings regarding non-observable items, as, for instance, a report regarding the creation of the universe or as reporting the fact that justice is a great virtue or that injustice is deplorable; Secondly, Any reporting of an individual; And thirdly, a reporting of a group, which is not composed of such a large number of people about which it is highly improbable - on the basis of common experience - to say that all of them could have colluded on a lie. The last condition holds true even if circumstantial factors evidence the truthfulness of the reporters.
Keeping these two definitions in mind, many Muslim scholars have tried to specify a number of narrators in each chain, which would qualify a narrative to be Mutawatir. However, there is a significant difference in this specification of the Muslim scholars. Al-Suyuti, in his commentary "Tadreeb al-Raviy"1 writes that some Muslim scholars have specified this number to be anything above four, while others have specified this number to be ten, forty, seventy and over three hundred and ten2. Predictably, as a result of this variance in opinion, these scholars also have different opinions regarding the existence of Hadith al-Mutawatir.
However, in my opinion, the correct opinion, in this regard, is the one expressed by Al-Hafiz Zayn al-Deen Abd al-Raheem Al-Iraaqiy, in his commentary on 'Muqaddamah ibn Salah' titled "Al-Taqyeed wa al-Eezaah" in the following words:
... 'Mutawatir', which is generally referred to by the scholars of Fiqh. As for the scholars of Hadith, they do not refer to it in its specific meaning [as implied by the scholars of Fiqh] - even though Al-Khateeb al-Baghdadiy has referred to it in a manner, which shows that he has preferred to follow other than the scholars of Hadith - and probably this [i.e., the reason why the scholars of Hadith do not refer to it in its meaning implied by the scholars of Fiqh] is because this kind of narrative is not included in their field and is almost extinct in their narratives.
I hope this helps.
Regards,
Moiz Amjad
August 1, 2002
[1] Vol. 2, Pg. 176 - 177.
[2] However, Suyuti's own opinion, in this regard, is:
ولا يعتبر فيه عدد معين في الأصح (تدريب الراوي، ح 2، ص 176)
"The correct opinion is that no particular number can be relied upon in this regard."
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