Hadeeth Literature
The Excellence Of The People Of Hadeeth
The Ahlul-Hadeeth
Author: Muhammad Deeya ar-Rahman al-Azamee
Source: Mujam Mustalah al-Hadeeth wa laataif al-Assaneed
Article ID : HAD010001 [7980]
The Ahl-ul-Hadeeth
By Dr. Muhammad Deeya ar-Rahman al-Azamee
Translated by Abbas Abu Yahya
Ahl-ul-Hadeeth: Shaykh ul-Islaam said:
We do not mean to limit Ahl-ul-Hadeeth just to those who convey
hadeeth, write them or narrate them but we mean by them: everyone who
rightfully memorises the hadeeth, knowing them and understanding their
apparent and hidden meanings and following them in what is apparent and
hidden, and also the people of al-Quraan.
He continues:
The least of their traits is: love of
the Quraan and hadeeth, researching them, seeking their meanings and
practising that which they know is binding upon them. The Fuqaha of
hadeeth are better informed about the Messenger -sallAllaahu alayhi wa
sallam- than Fuqaha other than them.[1]
He mentions:
Ahl-ul-Hadeeth are those about whom
the Messenger of Allaah -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- said: What I am
upon and my Companions. And in another narration: It is the Jamaah,
The Hand of Allaah is over the Jamaah.[2]
Ahl-ul-Hadeeth are the best people of the Duniya, as Hafs bin Ghayaath said.[3]
Shafiee said: If I see a companion of
Hadeeth then it is as if I see a man from the Companions of the
Prophet, sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam, he is of that status.
He also said:
May Allaah reward them with goodness
on our behalf, they preserved the foundation for us so they have an
excellence over us.[4] Alee bin al-Madini said: There are
no people better than the companions of Hadeeth. The rest of the people
were in search of the Duniya while they were establishing the Deen.[5]
i.e. the Sunnah.
Hafidh Ibn Rajab said:
Ahl-ul-Hadeeth are an authority in knowing hadeeth and knowing the authentic
from the weak hadeeth.[6]
The Prophet, sallAllaahu alayhi wa
sallam, supplicated for illumination of the one who busies himself with
the knowledge of hadeeth, memorizing it, conveying it and understanding
it. He, sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam, said: May Allaah illuminate the
person who hears a hadeeth from me and memorizes it until he conveys
it. Perhaps a person who carries Fiqh conveys it to someone with more
Fiqh than that person and perhaps the carrier of this Fiqh is not a
Faqihi.[7]
Hafidh Abu Bakr Ahmad bin Alee
al-Khateeb al-Bagdadi specifically authored a book which he called
Sharf Ashaabul-hadeeth (the nobility of the companions of hadeeth).
In it mentions Ahadeeth and Athaar from the Companions, Tabieen,
kings, ministers and others from those who followed them about the
excellence of knowledge of hadeeth, being busy with it and the nobility
of its people over those of Ahl-ul-Bida and those of misguidance from
the Zinaadiqa (heretics) who concerned themselves with the knowledge of
rhetoric and philosophy. This book is a masterpiece in this subject.
* Taken from Mujam Mustalah al-Hadeeth wa laataif al-Assaneed p.61-63
----
[1] Majmooal-Fatawa (4/95)
[2] Majmooal-Fatawa (3/345-347)
[3] Al-Ilma p.27
[4] Masalat al-Uloo wal Nazool p.45
[5] Masalat al-Uloo wal Nazool p.45
[6] Jama al-Aloom wal Hikam (2/105)
[7] Narrated by Abu Dawood (4/69),
Tirmidhee (5/33) by way of Umar bin Sulayman from the son of Umar bin
al-Khattab, on the authority of Abdurrahman bin Abaan, on the authority
of his father, on the authority of Zayd bin Thabit, RadhiAllaahu anhu,
Marfoo. It was also narrated by Ibn Majah (1/84) a different way on
the authority of Zayd bin Thabit. Tirmidhee said it was Hasan and he
also said: and in this chapter it is also narrated on the authority of
Abdullaah bin Masood, Muadh bin Jabal, Jubayr bin Mutim, Abu Darda
and Anas, RadhiAllaahu anhum Jameean.
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