Authenticity of Ahadith — Essence of Islam Vol. 2
Introduction
In this discourse from Essence of Islam (Volume 2), Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS), the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, expounds upon Authenticity of Ahadith, presenting profound spiritual insights and scriptural verities.
Book Series: Essence of Islam (Volume 2)
Author: Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (AS)
Section: Part 3: Hadith and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (sa)
Navigation: Book Table of Contents | « Previous: Book of Allah to Be Preferred to All | Next: Angels »
ments will they believe? This means that if the Holy Qur’an is conclusive and positive about a matter and its meaning is clear, a believer should not accept a Hadith which is clearly opposed to it. To the same effect is the verse: 31
According to these verses a believer must accept the Book of Allah without condition and should accept a Hadith conditionally. This is my stand.
[Al-Haq, Mubahatha Ludhiana, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 4, pp. 11-12]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 2, p. 134]
A person who is bestowed the understanding of the Qur’an by Divine grace, and who finds that a Hadith is opposed to a verse of the Qur’an, should, out of respect, so far as it is possible, so interpret the Hadith as to bring it into accord with the Holy Qur’an, but if this is not possible and cannot by any means be achieved, he should regard the Hadith as spurious. This is better for us. We should seek an interpretation of a Hadith which is not opposed to the Holy Qur’an, but if this should not be possible it would be heresy and disbelief that we should give up the Qur’an for the sake of Ahadith, which have been conveyed to us by human hands and with regard to which it is not only a possibility, but a certainty, that they have got mixed up with human statements.
[Al-Haq, Mubahatha Ludhiana, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 4, p. 21]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 2, p. 134]
The Ahadith are divided into two parts. One part is that which is completely protected by practice, that is to say 31 ‘In what thing will they believe thereafter?’—Al-A‘raf, 7:186 [Publisher] such Ahadith as are strengthened and are carrying the degree of certainty by the firm and strong and certain method of practice, and which are comprehensive of all religious needs and worship and covenants and dealings and the commandments of the law. Such Ahadith are doubtless certain and are fully proved. The strength of these Ahadith is not derived from the art of compilation of Hadith, nor from their inherent force, nor from the reliability of and confidence in their narrators, but is bestowed by the blessings of practice. I accept these Ahadith so far as they are supported by practice up to a certain degree of certainty. But the other portions of Ahadith which are not related to practice and are accepted on the basis of the truthfulness of their narrators are not held by me as being beyond the status of conjecture. At the most they can be employed as useful conjecture inasmuch as the manner in which they have been compiled is not certain and conclusive, but leaves room for perversion.
[Al-Haq, Mubahatha Ludhiana, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 4, p. 35]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 2, p. 134]
An objector hears from someone that the Ahadith are not reliable and he immediately concludes therefrom that with the exception of the Holy Qur’an all other authorities in Islam are baseless and doubtful and fall far short of certainty and conclusiveness. This is a great mistake, the first result of which is to destroy faith and religion; for if it were true that with the exception of the Holy Qur’an all other sources are false, imposture, conjectures and imagination, then little would be left of Islam for all the details of our faith have come down to us through Ahadith. Our Prayer services have been made obligatory by the Holy Qur’an, but it is nowhere laid down in the Qur’an that the Dawn Prayer (Fajr) comprises two rak’as
[Shahadat-ul-Qur’an, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 6, pp. 298-303]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 2, p. 135]
141
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 2]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 2, p. 139]
Book Series: Essence of Islam (Volume 2)
Author: Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (AS)
Section: Part 3: Hadith and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (sa)
Navigation: Book Table of Contents | « Previous: Book of Allah to Be Preferred to All | Next: Angels »