Hadith

Ḥadīth (حديث‎ ḥadīth, pl. Aḥādīth, أحاديث, ʼaḥādīth, also "Traditions") in Islam are the record of the words, actions, and silent approval, traditionally attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Within Islam the authority of hadith as a source for religious law and moral guidance ranks second only to that of the Quran.

79096

Hadith . Usul al-Kafi . Polygamy . Divorce

I have heard that there is a narration in al-Kafi regarding Imam Hasan (as) having many wives and divorces. Is that true, and if so, is the narration authentic?

Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answered 6 hours ago

This narration is not authentic because some of the narrators like (Mohammad Ibn Ziyad Ibn Easa) is unknown, hence the narration is not authentic at all.

Wassalam.

76348

Dog . Hadith

I have heard that there is a Sahih Hadeeth that the Prophet (s) commanded us to kill black dogs. Is it true? If so, what is the reason and should the rule be applied generally or in a certain context?

This narration is in Sunni books including Saheeh Muslim (6:2448), Sunan al-Tirmithi (5:52), Sunan Abi Dawoud (8:34), Sunan al-Nasaa'ee 2:705, Ibn Maajah (2:1069) and many other Sunni books.

We, the followers of Ahul Bayt (AS), believe that it is not allowed to kill any animal unless there is a danger from it on us.

Wassalam.

73138

Hadith . Narrations . Praise . Abu Bakr

I have heard that there are many hadith narrations that praise Abu Bakr. Is that true?

Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answered 1 month ago

Sayid Husain Jafri, in his Origins and Development of Early Shi'a Islam, highlights some of the key narrations about Abu Bakr that are mentioned frequently in Sunni circles. Jafri points out that these particular narrations all go back to 'A'isha, who was obviously supporting her father. I can recommend that you get Jafri's book, as he does some good hadith analysis.

Hadith . Narrations . Praise . Abu Bakr

I have heard that there are many hadith narrations that praise Abu Bakr. Is that true?

There are many narrations which were fabricated for political reasons. We care only for the authentic narrations which came through authentic chain of narrators from the Prophet (SAWA). You may refer to some Sunni books of 'Elm al-Hadeeth ( knowledge of Hadeeth) to see hundreds of narrations which were fabricated in praise of well known rulers.

Wassalam.

72974

Maghrib . Hadith . Sunni-Shi'a . Imamah . Salah (Prayers) . Sawm (Fasting)

Is there any narration from the Shia Imams that says that you should pray your Maghrib prayer before breaking your fast?

Yes, it is recommended to pray Maghrib Prayer before breaking fast (Iftar) as Prayers is more important than breaking the fast, but it is not obligatory to do so. It is just recommended if there is no one waiting for you for Iftar and you do not feel weak if you pray before Iftar.

Wassalam.

70789

Du'a (Supplication) . Hadith

How authentic is the transmission in our books of Dua-e-Faraj and Dua-e-Nudba? Have they been recorded through acceptable chains of narration?

Our leading Ulama who have vast knowledge and long experience in Hadeeth believe that Du'a al-Faraj and Du'a al-Nudba are authentic, that is why they read and advise the believers to read these Du'as.

Du'a e Faraj (ALLAHUMMA KUN LIWALIYYAK AL HUJJAT IBN AL HASAN .....) is narrated by the prominent scholar Al-Kulaini. From Mohammad Ibn Easa ibn Obaid through Ali Ibn Ebraheem and all of them are authentic narrators. Mohammad Ibn Easa ibn Obaid is well known narrator from Imam Mohammad al-Jawad (AS).

Du'a e Nudba was narrated by Mohammad ibn al-Mashhadi is his very well known book Al-Mazaar al-Kabeer. He narrated it from Mohammad ibn Abi Qurrah who narrated it from Mohammad Ibn al-Husain al-Bazoofari who is from the teachers of al-Shaikh al-Mofeed, and from the teachers of Ibn al-Ghatha'eri as Ayatullah Khoo'ee mentioned in Mu'jam Rijaal al-Hadeeth.
Wassalam.

Du'a (Supplication) . Hadith

How authentic is the transmission in our books of Dua-e-Faraj and Dua-e-Nudba? Have they been recorded through acceptable chains of narration?

Abbas Di Palma, Shaykh Abbas Di Palma holds a BA and an MA degree in Islamic Studies, and certifications from the Language Institute of Damascus University. He has also studied traditional Islamic sciences in... Answered 2 months ago

as salam alaikum

from an isnad-perspective these invocations are not authentic. However their recitation became popular in the Shi'ah world.

With prayers for your success.

67514

Hadith . Freedom . Speech . Qur'an

Are there any Quranic verses or Hadith that talk about the limit of freedom of speech in Islam?

Yes, of course, the Holy Qur’an and the Hadeeths have many instructions
about the discipline of speech.

1) In Surah 2 : verse 83 Allah (SWT) says : “And speak good to
people”. Which means that the freedom of speech should not harm the
interest or respect of others.

2) In Surah Israa' (Bani Israel) : verse 53 Allah (SWT) says : “And
tell my servants to speak in the best way because Shaitan verily tries
to create conflict among them. Surely Shaitan is the clear enemy of
man”.

3) In Surah 41 : verse 34 Allah (SWT) says : “The good deeds are
never equal to the bad deeds. Repel the evil with the better one”.
Which means that we must avoid talking any bad with the excuse of
freedom of speech.

4) In Surah 16 : verse 125 Allah (SWT) says : “Invite and call
people to the way of your Lord with wisdom and for preaching and have
debate with them in better way which means that we should keep fair
discipline for the freedom of speech.

In Hadith we have:

1) Talk to people in the best way that you like them to talk to you
(Imam Mohammed al-Baqir (AS) in Tafseer al-Ayyashi vol 1 pg 48).

2) Hadith in al-Kafi, vol 2 pg 63, from Imam Ja’far as-sadiq (AS)
that he (AS) said: He is not from us who is not a good companion and
a good friend and who has not good morals with them.

3) “Deal with people as you want them to deal with you and talk to
them as you want them to talk to you” (Jaami' Ahadeeth Al-Shia)

Wassalam.

Hadith . Freedom . Speech . Qur'an

Are there any Quranic verses or Hadith that talk about the limit of freedom of speech in Islam?

as salam alaikum

The Qur'an says:

"...and do not mix truth with falsehood" (2:42)

"...and speak kindly to people" (2:83)

"...and speak to them honorable words" (4:5).

"Allah does not like the broadcasting of anyone's evil in speech except by someone who has been wronged" (4:148)

"Do not abuse those whom they invoke besides Allah, lest they should abuse Allah out of hostility" (6:108)

"And when you speak be fair" (6:152)

"Indeed the hearing, the eyesight and the heart: all of these are accountable" (17:36).

"Tell My servants to speak in a manner which is the best" (17:53)

"Avoid false speech" (22:30)

"Lower your voice, indeed the ugliest of voices is the donkey's voice" (31:19).

"O you who have faith! Be wary of Allah and speak upright words" (33:70)

"How regrettable of the servants! There did not come to them any messenger but that they used to deride him" (36:30)

"O you who have faith! Let not any people ridicule another people: it may be that they are better than they are; nor let women ridicule women: it may be that they are better than they are. And do not defame one another, nor insult one another by nicknames. An evil name is transgression after faith! And whoever is not penitent, such are the wrongdoers" (49:11)

"Do not spy or backbite one another. Will any one of you love to eat the flesh of his dead brother?" (49:12).

With prayers for your success.

64549

Abu Dharr al-Ghifari . Grave . Hadith

Is there an advice the Prophet (s) gave to Abu Dharr where he stated that one should count oneself as the people of the graves? If so, what is meant by that and how should one do that?

Syed Nabi Raza Abidi, Syed Nabi Raza Abidi is based in the US and has a PhD in Theology and Philosophy having attended Howzah in Iran for several years. His research was conducted under the guidance of Ayatollah Ja... Answered 4 months ago

Salamonalaykum

May Allah bless you and your family.

Yes, we have a ḥadīth in that vein:

یَا ابا ذر! کُنْ کَأَنَّکَ فِی الدُّنْیَا غَرِیبٌ أَوْ کَعَابِرِ سَبِیلٍ، وَ عُدَّ نَفْسَکَ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ الْقُبُورِ

“Abū Dharr! Be like a stranger in this temporary life or like you are a mere traveler. And consider yourself like one of the people of the graves.”

This phrase is part of a longer ḥadīth found in Makārim al-Akhlāq of al-Ḥasan ibn Faḍl al-Ṭabarsī, the son of the author of the tafsīr entitled Majmaʿ al-Bayān. You can read a translation of the ḥadīth here: https://www.al-islam.org/articles/advice-prophet-s-gave-abu-dharr

The phrase “count yourself like one of the people of the graves” means to live as if death is imminent—or, more directly, act as if you are about to die. In other words, live a pious life because you don’t know when you are going to die and return to your Creator and be held accountable for your misconduct. Never take a day or even a moment for granted and expect that if you sin, you will have a moment after the sin to repent. Act as if, at any moment, you may be lowered into your grave and have no second chance to live a pious life.

One way to encourage this line of thinking is to visit a Muslim graveyard or the graves of deceased family members and contemplate how close death is and how close the afterlife is—how short our lives are. This should encourage us to, at bare minimum, complete our obligations (wājibāt) and refrain from all that is prohibited (muḥarramāt).

66182

Imamah . Hadith . Tahrif

I understand that the Qur'an is protected by God as He has promised. How do we know that the Hadiths of the Prophet SAW, even the most authentic of them, and the teachings of the Imams haven't been changed or corrupted over time?

The authentic Hadeeths from the Holy Prophet (SAWA) and his holy
progeny, the Ahlul Bayt (AS) are confirmed through a very strict
procedure of checking every narrator and every narration which means
that the scholars check every narrator whether he is trustworthy or
not and up to what extent he is trustworthy according what has been mentioned about him in the books of Rijaal. If all the narrators are
trustworthy then the Hadeeth will be taken as authentic. We also study
the content and the text of the Hadeeth which should not contradict
any Qur’anic verse or any other authentic Hadeeth. By this very strict
procedure our scholars are sure that no unauthentic Hadeeth can be
taken as authentic. Now the question of whether all the authentic
Hadeeth are available or not, the answer is that all the authentic
Hadeeths are with infallible Ahlul Bayt (AS). The Imam (AS) of every
time is the authority and he has all the knowledge about every Hadeeth
from the Holy Prophet (SAWA) and the Ahlul Bayt (AS). We cannot say
now that our knowledge or all our scholars’ knowledge today has all
the Hadeeths but for sure, our Imam, Imam al-Mahdi (ATFS) has all that
knowledge and he is guarding and supervising and supporting the
followers of Ahlul Bay (AS) and guiding the scholars to the real
knowledge of Islam.

Wassalam.

Imamah . Hadith . Tahrif

Zoheir Ali Esmail, Shaykh Zoheir Ali Esmail has a Bsc in Accounting and Finance from the LSE in London, and an MA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University. He studied Arabic at Damascus University and holds a PhD... Answered 4 months ago

Bismillah

Thank you for your question. There certainly was corruption of the hadith from the Prophet (saw) and Imams (as) even during their lifetimes and so at times the companions of the Imams (as) would check hadith that they did not recognise with the Imams themselves. Since the time of the ghayba one of the most important concerns of scholarship is to deal with the corpus of hadith and define benchmarks for deciphering authentic traditions from less authentic ones. There are a number of methodologies for doing that, some of which are quite technical but are discussed in the sciences of usul, hadith and rijal.

May you always be successful