Understanding the Hadith

by Ram Swarup

Noted Indian writer and polymath Ram Swarup explores the meaning of Islam through the words of the Sahih Muslim, considered by Muslims to be one of the most authoritative of the collections of "traditions" (Arabic Hadith) about the life of the Prophet Muhammad. Like the Koran, these traditions are believed to be divinely revealed by Allah and they complement the verses of the Koran, in many cases expanding upon them and explaining the context of their revelation. As Swarup notes in his introduction, to Muslims the Hadith literature represents the Koran in action, stories of "revelation made concrete in the life of the Prophet." Among the orthodox they are considered as sacred as the Koran itself.Swarup is plainly skeptical of the claim that the Hadith literature is divinely inspired. In the introduction he says, "The Prophet is caught as it were in the ordinary acts of his life - sleeping, eating, mating, praying, hating, dispensing justice, planning expeditions and revenge against his enemies. The picture that emerges is hardly flattering. . . . One is . . . left to wonder how the believers, generation after generation, could have found this story so inspiring. The answer is that the believers are conditioned to look at the whole thing through the eyes of faith. To them morality derives from the Prophet's actions. . . .his actions determine and define morality."The Sahih Muslim, a massive work consisting of 7,190 traditions divided into 1,243 chapters, is hardly accessible to the average reader; so Swarup quotes representative selections that touch upon the main tenets of faith, purification, prayer, fasting, pilgrimage, marriage and divorce, crime and punishment, religious wars (jihad), paradise, hell, repentance, and many other features of the religion.To non-Muslims this work provides many insights into the mindset of the average Muslim who is raised on these traditions about Muhammad. It also underscores the gulf that exists between the sanctum of orthodox Islam and an increasingly secularized Westernized world.

Genres: Islam, History, Religion, Nonfiction, India, Banned Books

266 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1983

About the author

Ram Swarup (राम स्वरूप)(1920 – 26 December 1998), born Ram Swarup Agarwal, was an independent Hindu thinker and prolific author. His works took a critical stance against Christianity, Islam and Communism. His work has influenced other Indian writers.

Reviews

[Vineet Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is first book written by Ram Swarup ji which I have read. In his books Sitaram Goel ji has spoken very high about Ram Swarup ji.
Many a times I come across people who ask question ‘why a non-muslim should know about Islam’? And this book is itself an answer. Because there is very much discussion about non-believers(non-muslims) in Quran/Hadis. And we should know what is written about us in their books.
In true sense, Islam should not be called religion, it is an ‘imperialistic organisation’. There is no self-seeking/self purification, no spirituality in Islam. According to Quran/Hadis, what-ever crime and sin a man commits, if he has brought his faith in Allah and Mohammad, he will go to heaven and hell is for non-muslims only. This in nut-shell gives answer to the question ‘why most of the criminals are muslims? Because by having brought faith to Allah/Mohammad their crimes/sins can be exonerated. Additionally, this book also provides question to an important riddle: “Even after knowing the reality of Mohammad and Islam, why a same people does not leave Islam?”
Ram Swarup ji has done an excellent work that is - by not being sarcastic or critical of Islam and Mohammad and did not put his own thoughts. He has presented facts same as it is in original book only presented the portion which is relevant to non-muslims. A must read for both muslims and non-muslims.

[noone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for us "Kaffir/infidels/non-muslims" He goes step by step through the Hadis and covers almost every point.

I do wish it was longer and covered more material though. Also the annotations are weird. He will give a quote and give a number, but it's not clear what passage the number refers to.

[Anant Mittal · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little obnoxious, a fair bit sarcastic, and sometimes outright critical. But what a read to understand the religion and its choices and beliefs. Outstanding.

[Kushagra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would like to start out by saying that it is difficult to believe that this book was written in the '80s considering the fact that it is still an unspoken taboo to discuss Islamic theology in public today. It is immensely difficult for a non-Muslim to learn about Islam from a neutral point of view. Either there are Islamic preachers who give a hagiographic view about every little aspect or there are critics criticizing every little aspect. Either there are people building false narratives to push a fake positive image or people exaggerating facts to push a fake menacing image.
Ram Swarup Ji does an excellent job at condensing and presenting Islamic theology in a coherent way to a person unaware of even the basic tenets of the religion, without any lens that a believer or a critic may wear.

The sources used by the author are declared early on, all of them the most authentic and most widely used ones. The author relies mainly on the Hadis, with occasional interjections from the Quran and a few from the Sira (biography) for context. Sahih Muslim as the base Hadith, supplemented by Al-Bukhari. Yusuf Ali's English translation of the Quran. The earliest and most extensive biography, ie, Ibn Ishaq's SiratRasulAllah, supplemented by Tabari's Sirat al-Nabi.
The aim of the book, as Swarup Ji mentions in the introduction, is to make an average non-Muslim aware of the basic concepts of Islam. Interestingly, 64% of the Quran, 37% of the Hadis, and 81% of the Sira are devoted to the Kaafirs (a pejorative term for non-Muslims), which makes it all the more important for non-Muslims to know about the theology of Islam.
The structure of the book is simple. It follows the chapters as in Sahih Muslim, often clubbing together the small similar chapters. After a brief introduction explaining the basic framework of the Hadis and Quran, there are 19 chapters dedicated to specific topics. From Iman, Salat, and Hajj to Nikah and Tauba as the religious aspects of Islam, the book also covers the socio-political aspects in the chapters as that of Jihad, Prophet's Companions, and the Munafiqin; in the same order followed in Sahih Muslim.

The book was not an easy read as almost 85-90% of the text is direct quotations. Verbatim quotations from all the 3 sources, with negligible personal inputs by the author. There are no opinions pushed, no conclusions drawn. Only context and quotations, save a few rare comments.

The chapters on the religious aspects provide insight into the reasonings and meaning of the rituals we often see in the public discourse. Iman(faith), Salat(prayer), Hajj(pilgrimage), and Nikah(marriage) are some of the early chapters, followed by chapters on gifts, inheritances, food & drink, clothing, veiling, oaths, etc.
The socio-political aspects are covered in the chapters on al-Imaa(government), Jihad, Talaq, Qasamah-Qisas-Hadud(Crime, punishment and blood money) and the Prophet's companions.
Reading such a detailed account of every issue from authentic Islamic literature automatically busts a lot of fake narratives that are peddled around the religion.

An interesting conclusion that one is bound to draw after completion, which contrary to the popular understanding is - (as the author states in the very beginning) -
Islam is not merely a theology or a statement about Allah and his relationship with His creatures. Besides containing doctrinal and creedal material, it deals with social, penal, commercial, ritualistic, and ceremonial matters. It enters into everything, even into such private areas as one's dress, marrying, and mating.
In the language of the Muslim theologians, Islam is a complete and completed religion. It is equally political and military. It has much to do with statecraft, and it has a very specific view of the world peopled by infidels. Since most of the world is still infidel, it is very important for those who are not Muslims to understand Islam.
- Pg. 3

There are 3 noticeable strands of principles running throughout the Hadis, without any specific chapter dedicated to them.
First, the absence of spirituality or introspection, whether it be in prayer or pilgrimage. Divinity or god is not a personal construct but a social one, relating to society at large which very prominently excludes Kaafirs.
Second, the lowly status of women. In almost all matters such as divorce, inheritance, punishment, or even menstruation, the women are very badly disadvantaged. In a few instances, there is almost a commodification of sorts. Although there are few matters where women have equal status (on the Day of Judgement) or even a higher status (pertaining solely to women who are mothers). As the CSPII calculated, only 19.3% of the theology gives females an equal or higher status, the other 80.7% giving a lower status than men.
Third, the otherization of non-Muslims. There are many terms used such as mushrikeen(polytheist) and ahl al-Kitaab(people of the Book) but the most common being the word Kaafir, an extremely biased pejorative which applies to all infidels. Although the averseness becomes prominent in Mecca itself, it is greatly strengthened after the Hijrat(migration) to Medina. The otherization turns into a vilification of the Kaafirs in all aspects of life, which is prominent in many issues such that of punishment, slavery, social conduct, etc.

One chapter that I found the most interesting was that on the Munafiqin which translates to hypocrites. This might quite possibly be a concept unique to Islamic theology. A Munafiq is a person who is outwardly a believer but inwardly carries doubts about the religion. Such a person will face the wrath of god in the afterlife even if he never shows any outward signs of contempt in his life, let alone criticize the religion. Now this concept becomes interesting because not only does Sahih Muslim have a chapter dedicated to the Munafiqin but also the Quran itself.

Another interesting observation is about Fate and free will. The theology has a dualistic approach to it. Free will exists but at the same time, there is a godly scheme that makes all actions pre-determined. One may ask which is right, free will or pre-determined fate? Both are right, that is the nature of duality.

If I were to pen down all the thoughts I had while reading the book in an academic fashion, this review would turn into a small book itself. The book provides an insight into a multitude of topics, all of which cannot obviously be mentioned here. I wrote such a long review to keep my thoughts documented somewhere and lo, what better place than the Goodreads review section?
Before ending my 'review', I must reiterate the disbelief I felt upon finding out that this book is more than 40 years old and I must also appreciate Ram Swarup Ji's efforts in this book, to present such an immense amount of information in a condensed yet coherent manner, without drawing any conclusions himself.

****

[yoursbibliophilic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Understanding Islam through Hadis by Ram Swarup is a controversial & polemical examination of Islam, grounded primarily in a study of the Hadith literature. The book is based on the English translation by Abdul Hamid Siddiqi's Sahih Muslim. As “Muslim theologians make no distinction between the Quran & the Hadis. To them both are works of revelation or inspiration. In the Quran, Allah speaks through Muhammad in the Sunnah, He acts through him” (Loc:240) Thus presenting from 2nd most important collection, a thematic analysis of various Hadith he argue that Islam is not a spiritual religion, but a comprehensive ideological system characterized by authoritarianism, exclusivism, & legalism. Sahih Muslim contains 7,500 hadith narrations however only 3,033 hadiths are without repetition spread over 56 books.” However, in this book author has “quoted about 675 individual hadis having this representative character. Another 700 of the ahadis we have quoted are group ahadis or their summaries. Portions that deal with mere rituals & ceremonies & have no particular importance to non-Muslims we omitted altogether”(Loc:335)

Swarup’s method involves presenting Hadiths with minimal commentary, “quoted extensively & faithfully from it” as he states, so that texts to speak for themselves. However, this approach is inherently interpretative, shaped by his selection & arrangement of passages. Though largely accurate in textual terms, is heavily weighted toward those that support not only negative portrayal of Islam but also difficult to reconcile with modern ethical norms yet remain part of the doctrinal infrastructure of traditional Islam. 

The book, first published in the U.S. in 1982 & later banned in India by 1991, dares to ask tough questions about faith. Any critique, drawn from Islamic texts themselves, often stirs intense reactions sometimes even unrest. This speaks to how deeply reverence is ingrained in the way many Muslims are taught to engage with scripture. But for any faith to grow, reflection & openness to dialogue are vital not suppression or riots. Unfortunately, while intellectuals believe, “Violence is not the weapon of the wise, but Islam thinks otherwise"

[George Hong · Rating 3 out of 5]

ram swarup is very careful not to get too emotional over islam. you have to read carefully to figure out that islam is good for muslims only. it is bad for non muslims. in case you don't know hadiths are tens of thousands of sayings and actions from muhammad that supposedly were heard and seen by his closest companions. it is an article of faith in islam that muhammad is the perfect man and every muslim needs to read hadiths to copy what he does. even stupid things. that answers the question in the book's title "religious faith or fanaticism?". muslims are religious fanatics who speak nonsense to justify muhammad's bad behaviour and lie to non muslims about what their faith is really like.

[Prashanth Mysore · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you need to understand the basis of Islamic invaders fanaticism, this is a good read. The sources of Islam are two: Quran and Hadis. Quran contains Prophets revelations, while Hadis contains what Prophet said, did, approved or disapproved. Apart from topics of religious faith, Hadis covers topics like Jihad (holy war), jeziya, marriage, divorce, on women and slaves.

[Czarny Pies · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is hatchet job on the Islamic religion written by a Hindu who has read the Hadith in English and in Urdu. Ostensibly Swarup has taken the "key" points from the multiple volumes of the Hadith in order to give the reader an understanding of Islam. The result is a horrifying picture of Islam. Mohammed is presented as lecherous, blood thirsty, opportunistic, superstitious and given to capricious pronouncements that would then become enshrined in fiq (i.e. Islamic Jurisprudence).

The extracts that Swarup pulls from the Haddith are often comical and more often horrifying. The prophet is against chess and dogs. He appears to be obsessed with enforcing his right to choose from war booty before any of his followers. He is an aggressive warrior who often massacres all his prisoners. He prescribes ritualistic prayer but has no notion of using prayer to establish a personal relationship with God. He cheerfully orders hands to be amputated from thieves, fornicators to be whipped and adulteresses to be stoned. Before going to the married bed, the man and wife must bath to be in a state of ritual purity. If they decide to make love a second time that night, they do not need to bathe again but are required to wash their sexual organs before committing a second act. The prophet's last bride was nine years old when he consummated the marriage.

Swarup is a Hindu who appears bent on showing Islam in the worst possible light. His book is a nasty polemic. Other more balanced writers on Islam have acknowledged many of the contentious pronouncements that Mohammed made his life. As a practicing Catholic I feel that the religion which I subscribe to offers a far better means of discerning the will of God and am grateful Jesus for having asked to follow in his footsteps. Thus I am by no means a Muslim but I feel that Swarup's attack on Islam is absolutely scurrilous. However, many people love scurrilous books and you might be one of them.

[George Hong]

how many non-muslims know that Islam has two tiers of justice? Muslims get preferential treatment. even in everyday life. if a muslim encounters another on the road he gives way as good manners. if muslim meets a jew or christian they have to make way for him. so muslim proselytizers are lying when they imply islam is a universalist religion or hide it when trying to make western converts. i should declare muhammad the greatest of deceivers rather than the greatest of men, the best of allah's 124,000 prophets.