Note: the following are translations of the meanings of the sayings of the Prophet.
Umar ibn al-Khattaab narrated that the Prophet said:
"Actions are by intention, and every person will receive what he intended. So whoever intended to migrate for the sake of Allaah and His Messenger, then his migration will be for Allaah and His Messenger. And whoever intended to migrate for the sake of some worldy benefit or in order to marry a woman, then his migration will be for that which he migrated."
[reported by Saheeh al-Bukhari (v.1 no.1) and Saheeh Muslim (v.3 no.4692) and also Sunan Abu Dawood]
Both Alee and Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet said:
"Part of one's being a good Muslim is leaving that which does not concern him"
[reported in Mishkat al-Masabih (v.2 p.1009), authenticated in Saheeh Sunan at-Tirmithee (v.2 no.886-7)]
Nu'man ibn Bashir reported that the Prophet said:
"The halaal (permissible) is clear, and the haraam (forbidden) is clear, but between the two are matters which are doubtful to many people. Therefore, whoever avoids these doubtful matters clears himself in regards to his religion and his honour, but he who falls into doubtful matters falls into the haram (forbidden). [He is like] a shepherd grazing his sheep at the edge of a sanctuary, about to cross over the boundary. Truly, every king has a sanctuary, and Allaah's sanctuary is His prohibitions. Truly, there is in the body a morsel of flesh, which, if it be wholesome, the entire body is wholesome, and if it is spoilt, the whole body is spoilt. Truly it is the heart."
[reported by Saheeh al-Bukhari (v.1 no.49) and Saheeh Muslim (v.3 no.3882) and also Sunan Abu Dawood]
Aa'ishah reported that the Prophet said:
"Whoever innovates anything into this affair of ours (i.e. Islaam) that which does not belong to it, will have it rejected."
[reported by Saheeh al-Bukhari (v.3 no.861) and Saheeh Muslim (v.3 no.4266) and also Sunan Abu Dawood and Sunan ibn-i-Majah]
Umar ibn al-khattaab narrated:
"One day while we were sitting with Allaah's Messenger a man suddenly appeared before us, wearing a very white dress and having very black hair, without any signs of journey upon him, and none of us knew him. He approached until he sat before the Prophet with his knees touching the Prophet's knees and he placed his hands on his thighs and said "O Muhammad inform me about Islaam." Allaah's Messenger said, "Islaam is to bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped but Allaah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah, to offer the Salaat (five daily prayers), pay Zakaat (annual charity), fast during the month of Ramadhan (fasting from sunrise to sunset), and to make Hajj (pilgrimage to Makkah) if you are able and have the means to make the journey." The man then said, "You have spoken the truth." We were surprised at his asking and confirming at the same time. He said "Inform me about Ihsaan" The Prophet said "Ihsaan (perfection) is to worship Allaah as if you see him; if you can't see Him, surely he sees you." He said, "Inform me about the Hour (doomsday, just before the day of judgment)." He (the Messenger of Allaah) said, "The one asked has no more knowledge of it than the questioner." He said, "(Its signs are) the slave-girl will give birth to her mistress [i.e. the children will dominate their parents] and you will see the barefooted, naked, impoverished sheepherders competing with each other in building tall buildings [i.e. people who where very poor a few years ago will suddenly become so rich that they will start competing with each other in building skyscrapers]." Then the stranger left. The Prophet remained seated for quite a while, then he asked me, "O Umar, do you know who the questioner was?" I said, "Allaah and His Messenger know best." He said , "That was Jibreel (Gabriel), he came to teach you your religion."
[reported by Saheeh Muslim]
More ahadeeth will be added soon (insha-Alaah)
Notes on the Science of Hadeeth Verification
The Religion of Islaam, is based upon two sources, the Qur'aan which is the literal words of Allaah, and the Sunnah, which is the divinely guided lifestyle of the Final Prophet, Muhammad. The Sunnah is collected in the form of narrations (hadeeth, plural: Ahadeeth). These are sayings, actions or silent approvals of the Prophet, which were recorded and memorised by the companions of the Prophet, whom the Prophet described as the best of generations, and then passed on from generation to generation and finally collected in the monumental books of ahadeeth.
Around the narrations of the Prophet developed a science of verification, which has not been equalled in scrupulousness or accuracy for any other documentary evidence ever. With each narration there is an isnad (chain of narrators), the two go together and the collectors and scholars of hadeeth instantly reject any hadeeth (narration) which is not accompanied by its isnad. The isnad is accompanied by the books of rijaal, the books of rijaal are large encyclopaedic books, some of which reach 10-15 volumes, of biographies of the known narrators of hadeeth. These books contain authenticating and disparaging remarks of these narrators by scholars who lived during that person's time or shortly after that time. Everything necessary was recorded from when that person was born and when he died, his ancestry, his name and any nicknames that he might have had, who he narrated from and who he narrated to, upto whether or not he was reliable in memory, whether he was a truthful person or not and whether or not he had any heretical views or beliefs. All of this information was collected and preserved, so that everything that needed to be known about a particular narrator was known.
Along, with this information the chain of narrators (isnad) was thoroughly analysed, every check possible was made in verifying the chain itself, any breaks in the chain, or switching of position of narrators, or partially inverting a chain, were methodically recorded and many terms were used to describe every possible change to a chain of narrators. These strict rules are applied to all narration's of the Prophet, and each recorded hadeeth (narration) is given one of four general rankings of authenticity:-
- Saheeh (or Sahih, most authentic): A hadeeth which has a continuos chain of known trustworthy people, who are known to have sound memory, and which is free from any irregularities in the text or defects in the isnad (chain of narrators).
- Hasan (good, acceptable): A hadeeth with an isnad to the standard of the saheeh ahadeeth (narrations), except that it contains a reporter with a non-serious defect, (e.g. 'his memory and character are good but he is known to make small mistakes on rare occasions' is an example of a non-serious error).
- Da'eef (weak): A hadeeth which does not, for any reason, reach the level of Hasan. For example, the chain contains someone who had a poor memory, or was accused of something serious, or is unknown by the scholars of hadeeth.
- Maudu' (fabricated, forged): A hadeeth which contains a known liar in its chain and contradicts that which is authentic, or one that has a forged chain of narrators or is known through any other means that it is a forgery.
The most authentic collections of hadeeth, by consensus of the Muslims are Saheeh al-Bukhari and Saheeh Muslim, since after careful analysis of the chains of narrators by many scholars over many generations, these books were found to be authentic. As for the other famous collections of hadeeth, they contain a mixture of authentic as well as inauthentic sayings, therefore, each hadeeth should be verified with the scholars of hadeeth, who will explain the authenticity of a particular hadeeth.
As for the reason why people forged or fabricated ahadeeth, then they are many and would require a lengthy discussion, however, it would not be wrong to say that the reasons are similar to the reasons why the Bible was changed and parts of it clearly forged. People wished to support corrupt views and political thoughts by fabricating into the Religion of the Prophets that which did not belong to it. To a certain extent, this has happened in Islaam, by people fabricating ahadeeth to give weight and acceptability to heretical views, but by Allaah's infinite wisdom and power He has allowed what is forged to be distinguished from the true narrations of the Prophet via the sciences of hadeeth verification, Alhamdullillaah (and All praise is for Allaah). As occurs in the authentic saying of the Prophet:-
