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.

67514

Hadith . Freedom . Speech . Qur'an

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

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... Answer updated 3 weeks ago

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?

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 3 weeks ago

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 1 month 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 1 month 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

66163

Hadith . Qur'an

As a Muslim teen living in the UK could you suggest how I should approach learning Quran and studying Hadith? Are there any quality resources that provide explanations of certain Quranic verses and narrations that are considered controversial?

You can seek help from learned persons who have studied Quran and Hadeeth in the Hawza. Not any student who spent few years in Hawza is a learned person. You must be sure that you refer to really a learned person.

You can also link to useful websites which contain useful knowledge like

and many other websites.

Wassalam.

Hadith . Qur'an

Amina Inloes, Amina Inloes is originally from the US and has a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Exeter on Shi'a hadith. She is the program leader for the MA Islamic Studies program at the... Answered 1 month ago

The teenage years are an excellent time to study because the brain usually has a lot of energy for such things. So use this time well!

The easiest answer is to read a lot. If you haven't read them already, I recommend _The Study Qur'an_ edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr and _The Scale of Wisdom: A Compendium of Shi'i Hadith_.

Beyond that, it depends on your preferred learning style and how deep you want to go. If you prefer listening, there are some excellent tafsir lectures online. (I am quite partial to those of Shaykh Mohammad Saeed Bahmanpour! But your choice, of course.) If you prefer reading, and are up for a challenge, you could always tackle the English translation of Tafsir al-Mizan. Quite a lot of it has been translated. If you do read it, I suggest getting a physical copy because it is easier to read than an e-book.

You could also see if there are any classes or discussion circles around you or online.

Sometimes just reciting the Qur'an and pondering its meanings unfolds meanings, and you could take that approach too.

Hope that helps! I am sure there will be other advice as well.

62762

Hadith . Woman . Sahih Bukhari . Sunni-Shi'a

Are there any Shi'a ahadith or other authoritative historical statements about women being created from a rib or 'like a rib' as is mentioned in the collections of Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim?

Authentic Shia Hadeeths refute the claim of creating Ave( Hawwa) from a rib of Adam. This claim has come to some Muslims from non Muslims as you find it in the Jewish books.

When you find such claim in some Shia books, it means that such books have taken it from Sunni books, as we have many Shia books mentioning Sunni narrations which are not authentic in our books. Such narrations have no value for us, especially when we have authentic narrations refuting the contents of it.

Refuting the "Rib" claim has come very clearly from many Infallible Imams e.g.

1. Imam Mohammad Al-Baqir (AS) who was asked by Amr Ibn Abi Al- Miqdad: From what Allah has created Ave (Hawwa) ? Imam Al-Baqir asked him: What do people say? He said: They say that she was created from a rib of Adam. Imam Al-Baqir (AS) said: They are lying. Was it difficult for Allah to create her but only from Adam's rib? In fact, Allah created Hawwa frm the same clay from which He created Adam. (Biharul Anwaar from Tafseer Al-Ayaashi).

2. Imam Jafar Al-Sadiq (AS) has refuted this false claim in a Hadeeth which was narrated through authentic chain of narrators and mentioned in books like Manlaa Yahdharul Faqeeh 3/379 and 'Elal Al-Shara'i 1/17.

Wassalam.

Hadith . Woman . Sahih Bukhari . Sunni-Shi'a

Are there any Shi'a ahadith or other authoritative historical statements about women being created from a rib or 'like a rib' as is mentioned in the collections of Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim?

Yes, this is mentioned and alluded to in some Shi'i hadith books, but there is also a hadith in Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih, which is considered a strong hadith source, in which Imam al-Sadiq (A) strongly and directly refutes this idea. So, typically, Sh'i scholars hold that (a) women were not created from a rib, or (b) perhaps women were not literally created from a rib but there is some way to integrate this idea into the understanding of how the human being was created. The first view seems to be more dominant today, and it seems reasonable to surmise that hadith about women being created from a rib entered Shi'i books due to the seeping in of material from outside the religious tradition and was not an actual teaching of the Imams (A).

The relevant part of the hadith from Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih reads:

Zurara said to Imam al-Sadiq (A): "Some of our people are saying that Allah, the Mighty and Glorious, created Eve from Adam's shortest left rib."

Imam al-Sadiq (A) said: "May Allah be glorified and exalted above that enormous claim! Does the one who says this say that Allah, the Blessed and High, did not have the capability to create a wife for Adam in any way other than from his rib? They are making a way for the disgraceful theological debater to argue against us by saying 'Allah married part of himself' - if she were created from his rib."

(The narration is rather long and continues with a lengthy discussion of Adam and Eve )

- Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih, vol. 3, p. 379, no. 4336

61562

Hadith . Qur'an

Can you explain the concepts of Wilayat-e-Takvini and Wilayat-e-Tashrihi with examples? How are they supported by the Qur'an and Hadith?

as salam alaikum

Absolute wilayah belong to Allah and He has authority over all His creation. He creates as He wishes and He gives authority to whoever He wills in order to establish His own authority.

In some theological treatises two types of wilayah have been mentioned:

- Wilayah Takwiniyyah: that is creational authority like direct intervention and control over things and affairs in the creation. The human power to walk, to climb, to carry heavy loads, etc. are all examples of this authority.

- Wilayah Tashri'iyyah: that is legislative authority like the right or duty to establish a specific ruling or take a particular decision after a legitimate approval or consultation.

In theological debates the discussion around these arguments focused on the limits of the wilayah in relation to the Prophet and Imams, peace be upon them.

Miracles are instances of wilayah takwiniyyah that Allah bestowed upon His prophets; it is however a divine act beyond ordinary human faculties. As far as the legislative aspect, it is known that the Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, was subject to specific rulings only for him with the exclusion of the rest of the Ummah. Yet, the rule was from Allah and not from himself.

Some scholars have claimed that Allah has given total or partial authority to the Prophet and Imams, peace be upon them, for the administration of the world and that they have control over it, at least partially, with His permission. They base their opinion relying on certain hadith and some intellectual concepts. This is the maximum extent of the concept of wilayah takwiniyya in relation to the Prophet and Imams.

Other scholars however reject such view and consider it against the Qur'an, implicitly or explicitly, based on conjectures and weak ahadith.

With prayers for your success.

62289

Hadith . Sunni-Shi'a

Where can I find the complete list of all Shia Hadith books?

Shia Hadeeth books are in thousands, written along 1400 years. There is no comprehensive full list of Shia Hadeeth books, as there is comprehensive list of all Sunni books of Hadeeths. Nevertheless, there are well known books which contain names of Shia books on different fields of knowledge, including Quran, Hadeeth, Tafseer, Faith, history etc. One of the most famous encyclopedia in this subject is Al-Tharee'ah Ela Tassaneef Al-Shia by Agha Bozorg al-Tehrani who compiled this list of Shia books in more than 25 volumes mentioning 53510 Shia books. The author spent fifty years in compiling this encyclopedia.

We have many old books written in this subject like Fihrist Abi-Jafar Al-Toosi and Fihrist Abil-Abbas Al-Najashi and other old books.

The main books of Hadeeth which are available are:

1. Al-Kaafi by Al-Kulaini compiling 16099 Hadeeths.

2. Manla Yahdharohul Faqeeh by Al-Shaikh Al-Sadooq compiling 9044 Hadeeths.

3. Al-Tahtheeb by Al-Shaikh Al- Toosi compiling 13095 Hadeeths.

4. Al-Estibsaar by Al-Shaikh Al-Toosi compiling 6531 Hadeeths.

5. Al-Waafi by Al-Fayadh Al-Kashani compiling 25703 Hadeeths.

6. Bihaarul Anwar by Al-Majlisi in 110 Volumes.

7. Wasaa'el Al-Shia by Al-Horr Al-Aamili compiling 35868 Hadeeths.

8. Mustadrak Al-Wasaa'el by Al-Noori compiling 23158.

9. Al-Khisal by Al-Shaikh Al-Sadooq.

10. Oyoon Akhbar Al-Ridha by Al-Shaikh Al-Sadooq.

11. Amaali Al-Sadooq.

12. Amaali Al-Mufeed.

13. Jaami' Ahaadeeth Al-Shia in 31 volumes.

14. Basaa'r Al-Darajaat.

15. Qurb Al-Isnaad.

16. Al-Mahaasin by Al-Borqi.

17. Elal Al-Sharaae'.

18. Ma'aani Al-Akbaar.

19. Kaamil Al-Ziyaaraat.

20. Thawab Al-A'maal.

21. Amaali Al-Murtadha.

22. Irshad Al-Qoloob.

23. Tawheed Al-Sadooq.

24. Tohaf Al-Oqool by Ibn Sho'bah.

25. Al-Ehtijaaj by Al-Tabrasi.

26. Tafseer Furat Al-Koofi.

27. Tafseer Al-Qummi.

28. Kifayah ul Athar.

29. Tafseer Al-'Ayyashi.

30. Ma'aani Al-Akhbaar.

and many other books of Hadeeths.

Wassalam.

61943

Hadith . Biography . Prophet Muhammad . Du'a (Supplication)

Can you suggest good books and online resources for accessing collections of the Hadith of our Prophet (SAW), his biography and his supplications?

as salam alaikum

apart from the general books of ahadith, some contemporary scholars have authored specific compilations like "Nahj al-Fasahah" by Abul-Qasim Payandeh and "Sunan al-Nabi" by Allamah Tabataba'i.

Amongst early collections, the "Musnad al-Imam al-Kazim" and the "Sahifah al-Imam al-Rida", reports most of their ahadith on the authority of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his family.

With prayers for your success.