THE SCIENCE OF HADITH VERIFICATION
Prophets of God were not just mere delivery men for scripture; they were also teachers who explainied God’s revelation to mankind. Without this explanation given to them by God, we would have no certainty that we have the correct understanding and interpretation of scripture.
The Qur'an is unique because it is the only Scripture that comes with an explanation of how to interpret it correctly according to the understanding of its messenger. The Sunnah is defined as what the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم said, did, approved, and disapproved of. Along with the Qur’an, the Sunnah is another source of guidance for Muslims. The Sunnah has been captured for us in the collections of hadith.
Thanks to the hadith, we know more about the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم than any other historical figure. Hadiths are of critical importance in preserving the correct understanding and interpretation of the Qur’an. Each hadith consists of two parts: the report and chain of narration.
The report represents what was said or done by the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم, as witnessed by his companions, and the chain is the sequence of people who have passed the report down to us. Knowing the chain that is associated with the report is crucial because without it anyone can make any claim they like about the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم and we would have no way of verifying whether it was an authentic report. Chains allow the scholars of Islam to distinguish authentic hadiths from weak and fabricated ones by scrutinising the individual narrators within the chains. This methodology was pioneered by the early Muslim scholars and is known as the science of hadith verification.
The early scholars and historians of Islam compiled massive biographical works about each of those who transmitted the hadith. They listed the birth/death dates of narrators, descriptions of their lives, the strengths of their memories, their geographical locations, their students and their teachers, among other useful information. Such biographical information is exactly what the scholars of hadith utilise when verifying the reports attributed to the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم.
Here is an example of an authentic hadith about fasting:
Abu Huraira reported the Prophet saying: [God the Exalted and Majestic said] Every act of the son of Adam is for him; every good deed will receive tenfold except fasting. It is [exclusively] meant for me, and I [alone] will reward it. He abandons his food for My sake and abandons drinking for My sake and abandons his pleasure for My sake. When any one of you is fasting he should neither indulge in sex nor use obscene language. If anyone reviles him he should say, "I am fasting." The one who fasts has two [occasions] of joy: one when he breaks the fast and one on the day when he will meet his Lord. And the breath [of a fasting person] is sweeter to God than the fragrance of musk. [98]
Notice that the report starts with the statement “Abu Huraira reported”. Abu Huraira is a famous companion of the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم and he is telling us he heard this statement directly from the mouth of the Prophet. This report reaches us through multiple chains, as Abu Huraira memorised the words of the Prophet and passed them onto the following people (the chart in picture should be read from right to left):
If we focus on the third generation of narrators from Abu Huraira, then there are over twenty narrators from different regions, such as Medina, Basra, Kufa, Mecca, Wasit, Hijaz and Khurasan. But Abu Huraira wasn’t the only companion
who heard the Prophet utter the words about fasting. Other companions, such as Ibn Masud, Uthman and Ali, also reported the same hadith. So, we can see that this hadith has a large amount of attestation.
who heard the Prophet utter the words about fasting. Other companions, such as Ibn Masud, Uthman and Ali, also reported the same hadith. So, we can see that this hadith has a large amount of attestation.
Let’s look at the Bible for the sake of comparison. For example, here is the biblical commandment to keep the Sabbath holy:
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” [Exodus 20:8].
When we search the Old Testament for specific laws regulating how to observe the Sabbath, we will find only basic information. So, the Old Testament alone is not sufficient for daily Jewish life. What is needed is a legal commentary to accompany the Old Testament. Jews claim that this can be found in the Talmud, an oral tradition they say originates from Moses and which they claim has been passed down over the centuries by their scholars. However, unlike the hadith, there is very little information about how the reports have reached us; there are no chains of narration which accompany the oral traditions. Therefore, there is no way of reliably distinguishing the genuine teachings of Moses from fabrications.
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