Hanafi Principles of Testing Hadith by Shaykh Atabek Shukurov (6-Jul-1905) Hardcover

by Shaykh Atabek Shukurov al-Nasafi

In Islam there are many sources of religion, three of them are agreed upon by all groups of Sunni Muslims. In order of priority they are Quran (القران), Hadith (الحديث) and Ijma’a (الإجماع). This book will deal with the thousands of hadith that form part of the Islamic tradition.Hanafi Principles of Testing Hadith is a manual which explains the methodology of the traditional Islamic Hanafi School towards hadith. There are thousands of hadith; the concern of both the scholar and the layman is what their approach should be to these narrations. We know some hadith are accepted into theology or belief, and thus they need to fulfil the highest criteria of validity. Other hadith are accepted into law and everyday practice, but for these the burden of proof required is less than in issues of theology – yet they still require strong evidence in favour of their authenticity, especially when they can result in rulings about legal punishments (and especially capital punishment). Yet others are examples of how to follow the Prophetic tradition or words of wisdom, and consequently the degree of verifiability required for these is much lower. We also have some hadith which are completely rejected based on a variety of principles; which are discussed in detail in the manual. Therefore, succinct principles to be used in the application of hadith are of the utmost importance. These principles were established by great Scholars from the early period of the development of Islamic theology and jurisprudence such as Imam Abu Hanifa (d. 767/148 AH), Imam Malik (d. 795/179 AH) and Imam Shafi’i (d. 820/204 AH).Despite the modern day epistemic confusion when it comes to hadith, these principles were in fact strictly followed by Imam Abu Hanifa and the early Hanafis.AuthorsThe original Arabic text was authored by Shaykh Atabek Shukurov An-Nasafi and the English translation and Commentary was authored by Shaykh Sulaiman Ahmed Al-Hanafi.

Genres: Islam

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2015

Reviews

[Waqar Akbar Cheema · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book may be anything except a fair representation of Hanafi methodology in hadith. Three issues, (i) punishment of apostasy, (ii) niqab or face veil and, (iii) the issue of the Prophet (saaw) being affected by black magic are discussed in the final section titled “Practical Applications of Hanafi Methodology.” However, the author fails to mention a single classical Hanafi scholar who held the views presented by him about the first two aforementioned issues. As for (iii) he mentions al-Maturidi to have rejected the hadith reports on the issue (pp. 4, 242), but contrary to his claim we find al-Maturidi actually counts the said hadiths among evidences of Prophethood (Tafsir al-Maturidi, Vol.10, 654)

The author is too bold to reject hadith reports narrated with authentic chains. Some of the hadith reports he claims are rejected per Hanafi principles of testing hadith are accepted and explained by prominent Hanafi scholars like al-Tahawi and Mulla ‘Ali Al-Qari using interpretive devices such as: taking meanings other than the apparent, specification, invoking the idea of abrogation and, reconciliation. Examples include the hadith about transaction and the right of annulment (pp.10-11), of which only Hanafis interpret differently (and do not reject as accepted by the author himself elsewhere in the book (pp.186-187)), the hadith about an illegal child being worse than his mother and father (p.119) of which Al-Tahawi explains as being specific to a particular individual and not general, and the hadith about killing someone caught for drinking the fourth time (p.121) which has been understood as abrogated.

Some other examples used by the author to emphasize textual criticism are actually weak or altogether fabricated isnad-wise, like the hadith about a horse as the first creation (p.36), and the hadith about the distances between heavens (p.124).

Certain hadith reports are poorly translated, and in some cases it seems to have been done on purpose just to bring a desired outcome and criticize hadith reports, e.g. hadith about twisting beard (p.65) whereas in reality the hadith mentions “tying one’s beard.” The author then claims ‘Umar used to twist his beard (p.65), but the hadith cited mentions mustaches only.

The book is internally inconsistent as well. At times reports given as examples of rejected hadiths are elsewhere mentioned as examples of accepted hadiths, as in the case of the hadith about the right of annulment of a transaction (p.10 vs. p.186), and the hadith about marriage without the consent of the guardian (p.37 vs. p.186).

At one place, Al-Baidawi who was a Shafii scholar has been termed as a Hanafi (p.4).

References are not always right and the index is very poor.

In short this book does not represent the actual approach of Hanafis toward hadith. The author resorts to insinuations and misrepresentations to put the garb of traditional authority over clearly modernist hadith rejecting ideas.

[Refuting Modernists · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a beautiful initiative ruined by a personal modernistic agenda.

There a series of factual errors in this book highlighted over here independent.academia.edu/RefutingMode...

[Arbaaz Nobeebux · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 2021, I had the opportunity to study the revised edition with the author, which was a pivotal moment for me. It opened my eyes to the dangers and problems of absolute hadith acceptance. The book presents alternative perspectives, suggesting that one can adopt a stance of hadith relativism