HADITHS AND SUNNA

CHAIN OF TRANSMITTERS OF THE HADITHS
We saw that the companions of the Prophet were considered infallible, and that without distinction they were judged to be honest people, worthy to be taken at their word. When the books of hadiths began to be committed to paper, neither a companion of the Prophet nor anyone who had seen any of his companions was alive. From the time of the Prophet to the copying of the hadiths six or seven generations had gone by, so that when one transmitted the hadiths he had to go six or seven generations back. Bukhari was the first person who took up this task systematically and the hadiths began to be transmitted without tracing their origin to a particular person. Given the fact that Bukhari lived in the 200s AH, keeping in mind the chain of transmitters of the traditions without any preset system is illogical. Kasým Ahmad, who criticized the transmission of the hadiths, quotes in his book Hadiths and Islam the following names:

1- The Prophet
2- Omar Ibn Hattab
3- Ibn Vakkas
4- Ibn Ibrahim at Taimi
5- Yahya Ibn- Said al Ansari
6- Sufyan
7- Abdullah Ibn Zubeyr
8- Bukhari

1- The Prophet
2- Aisha
3- Urvan Ibn Zubayr
4- Ibn Shiab
5- Ukail
6- Al Baith
7- Yahya Ibn Bukhair
8- Bukhari

When the hadiths began to be transmitted, even the link that succeeded the link that had followed the generation after Muhammad had passed away. In other words, persons who could check the reliability of transmitters had already died. Assuming, though illogically, that all the companions were indeed truthful, considering that a good many people of the generation that followed the companions’ age had died when the copying of the hadiths began, the checking of their reliability would still be impossible. Therefore, the criteria that the transmitters had adopted are unfounded and in vain.

On the other hand, it is also impossible to control the reliability of those who were living at the time. For, during the copying of the hadiths, Muslims were scattered over a vast geography. It was not practical for the copiers to reach the last links of transmitters by camel. Moreover, one could never be certain that those who might have reached them were reliable. A short visit and interview would not suffice to reveal the character of a man. How can a phenomenon like religion, which must be based on sound principles, be founded on such subjective criteria?

We see in the hadith ,iImams the sectarian mentality in superman’s garb. This hero is supposed to have in his memory hundreds of thousands of hadiths and be able to conjure them up at any given moment deciding on their veracity. There are people whom he had never set eyes on, persons who had already died when he came into the world; yet, he was confidant that they must have been honest and reliable. He had also the power to establish contact with people on camel back and cover distances that not with a helicopter at his command could he have covered such territory. He also had the genius to distinguish the honest and reliable from the unreliable and dishonest. Yet, these were the qualities attributed to the Imams, transmitters of hadiths. We pass over in silence the legend of spiritual supremacy.

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PAGE 2: MULTIPLICITY OF HADITHS
PAGE 3: HAD THE HADITHS BEEN A SOURCE OF ISLAM, THE RELIGION WOULD HAVE BEEN INCOMPLETE
PAGE 4: HOW DID THE HADITHS WHOSE COPYING WAS PROHIBITED BY THE PROPHET TAKE THE SHAPE OF BOOKS?
PAGE 5: ARE COMPANIONS OF THE PROPHET FREE FROM ERRORS?
PAGE 6: MEANING AND METHOD OF TRANSMISSION OF HADITHS
PAGE 8: WE ARE NOT THE FIRST TO ADD WEIGHT TO THESE ARGUMENTS
PAGE 9: REVELATIONS
PAGE 10: SALMAN RUSHDI’S SATANIC VERSES ARE ACTUALLY SATANIC HADITHS
PAGE 11: THE QURAN COMMENTARIES IN THE MARKET
PAGE 12: WHICH HADITH WILL THEY BELIEVE NOW?
PAGE 13: HADITHS ABOUT WHICH THERE IS NO DOUBT AS TO AUTHENTICITY
PAGE 14: OUR AIM IS TO PREVENT PEOPLE FROM DEVIATIONS