The
Weakness of the Ahaadeeth endorsing
ikhtilaaf
(disagreement, differing)
from: Silsilah al-Ahaadeeth ad-Da`eefah
wa'l-Mawdoo`ah (58-62) by Shaykh al-Albaani
1)
"The disagreement among my Ummah is
a mercy."
a)
Laa Asla Lahu (Baseless). The muhadditheen
have tried to find an isnaad for it but
have not found one, to the extent that
Suyooti said in his al-Jaami` as-Sagheer,
"Perhaps it was collected in one of the
books of the huffaadh which did not reach
us"!
This suggestion is very far-fetched,
since it would mean that some of the
sayings of the Prophet (sallallaahu `alaihi
wa sallam) have been lost to the ummah
forever, something which is not permissible
for a Muslim to believe.
Manaawi quoted Subki as saying, "It (i.e.
the saying) is not known to the muhadditheen
and I cannot find any isnaad for it,
whether saheeh, da`eef or mawdoo`", and
this was endorsed by Shaykh Zakareeyyah
al-Ansaari in his notes on Tafseer al-Baidaawi
[92/2].
Further, the meaning of this hadeeth
is also incorrect as shown by the verifying
scholars, hence Ibn Hazm says in al-Ihkaam
fi Usool al-Ahkaam [5/64] after indicating
that it is not a hadeeth,
"This
is one of the most incorrect sayings
possible, since if ikhtilaaf were a mercy,
then agreement would be a punishment,
something which no Muslim would say,
because there can only be agreement or
disagreement, and there can only be mercy
or punishment."
More of Ibn Hazm's words are quoted below.
b)
It contradicts the Qur'aan, which
has condemned ikhtilaaf in many places.
Mawdoo`
(Fabricated). Related
by Ibn `Abdul-Barr in Jaami` Bayaan al-`Ilm
[2/91] & Ibn Hazm in al-Ihkaam [6/82]
via the route:
Sallaam ibn Sulaim, who said: al-Haarith
ibn Ghisseen narrated to us from al-A`mash
from Abu Sufyaan from Jaabir from the
Prophet (sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam).
Ibn `Abdul-Barr said, "Proof cannot be
established with this isnaad because
al-Haarith ibn Ghisseen is majhool (unknown)";
Ibn Hazm said, "This is a fallen narration.
Abu Sufyaan is weak; al-Haarith ibn Ghisseen
is Abu Wahb ath-Thaqafee; Sallaam ibn
Sulaimaan narrated fabricated ahaadeeth
- this is one of them without a doubt."
To judge this hadeeth on Sallaam ibn
Sulaim - also known as Sallaam ibn Sulaimaan
- is better, for he is agreed to be da`eef;
in fact, Ibn Khiraash said about him,
"An utter liar" and Ibn Hibbaan said,
"He narrated fabricated ahaadeeth."
As for Abu Sufyaan, he is not weak as
Ibn Hazm said, but rather he is reliable
as Ibn Hajar has said in at-Taqreeb,
and Muslim narrates from him in his Saheeh.
Al-Haarith ibn Ghisseen is unknown as
Ibn Hazm said, as did Ibn `Abdul Barr,
even though Ibn Hibbaan does mention
him in ath-Thiqaat (The Reliable Narrators)
Hence, Ahmad said, "This hadeeth is not
authentic", as quoted in al-Muntakhab
[10/199/2] of Ibn Qudaamah.
As for the saying of Sha`raani in al-Meezaan
[1/28], "This hadeeth, although debatable
in the eyes of the muhadditheen, is nevertheless
authentic in the eyes of the people of
Kashf", it is completely false and whimsical,
and is not to be given any significance!
This is because authenticating ahaadeeth
by way of Kashf ("unveiling", while in
a state of trance) is a wicked innovation
of the Sufis, and depending upon it leads
to the authentication of false, baseless
ahaadeeth such as this one. This is because,
even at the best of times, Kashf is like
opinion, which is sometimes correct and
sometimes wrong - and that is if no personal
desires enter into it! We ask Allaah
to save us from it and from everything
He is not pleased with.
Similar narrations to the above are as
follows:
2.1)
"The example
of my Companions is that of the stars:
he who follows any of them will be rightly-guided."
Mawdoo`
(Fabricated). Related by Qudaa`i
(109/2) via:
Ja`far ibn `Abdul Waahid, who said: Wahb
ibn Jareer ibn Haazim informed us from
his father from al-A`mash from Abu Salih
from Abu Hurairah from The Prophet (sallallaahu
`alaihi wa sallam).
One of the muhadditheen, either Ibn al-Muhibb
or Dhahabi, wrote in the margin, "This
hadeeth is not at all authentic", i.e.
it is fabricated: the flaw in it is Ja`far
here, about whom Daaraqutni said, "He
used to fabricate ahaadeeth"; Abu Zur`ah
said, "He narrated baseless ahaadeeth";
Dhahabi gave some hadeeth because of
which he disparaged him, among them being
this one, and then said, "This is one
of his calamities!"
2.2)
"Whatever you are given from the Book
of Allaah is to be acted upon; there
is no excuse for anyone to leave it.
If it is not in the Book of Allaah, then
(act upon) a previous example (sunnah)
of mine. If there is no previous example
(sunnah) of mine, then (act upon) what
my Companions say: verily, my Companions
are of the station of the stars in the
sky, so whichever of them you take, you
will be guided, and the disagreement
of my Companions is a mercy for you."
Mawdoo`
(Fabricated). Collected by Khateeb
in al-Kifaayah fi `Ilm ar-Riwaayah [p.48]
and also by Abul-`Abbaas al-Asamm in
the his Hadeeth (no. 142), & Ibn
'Asaakir [7/315/2] by way of:
Sulaimaan ibn Abi Kareemah from Juwaibir
from ad-Dahhaak from Ibn `Abbaas from
The Prophet (sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam).
This isnaad is da`eef jiddan (very weak).
About Sulaimaan ibn Abi Kareemah, Ibn
Abi Haatim [2/1/138] reported from his
father about him, "He is weak in hadeeth."
Juwaibir is Ibn Sa`eed al-Azadee, and
is matrook (abandoned) as Daaraqutnee,
Nasaa`i and others have said, and Ibn
al-Madeeni declared him to be very weak.
Dahhaak is Ibn Muzaahim al-Hilaalee,
and he did not meet Ibn `Abbaas.
`Iraaqi quoted the last part of the hadeeth
in his Takhreej of Ghazaali's Ihyaa'
`Uloom ad-Deen [1/25] and then said,
"Its isnaad is da`eef."
The isnaad is actually very weak due
to what we have mentioned about Juwaibir,
as Sakhaawi said in al-Maqaasid . In
meaning, however, the hadeeth is fabricated,
as is clear from what has preceeded and
what will follow.
Suyooti quoted the hadeeth in its entirety
at the begining of his treatise Jazeel
al-Mawaahib fi Ikhtilaaf al-Madhaahib
from the narration of Bayhaqi in al-Madkhal,
and Dailami related it from this route,
as occurs in al-Mawdoo`aat of `Ali al-Qaari
[p.19]. Once you know this, then the
saying of Suyooti in his aforementioned
treatise is very strange: "... and this
hadeeth contains several points to note;
among them his (sallallaahu `alaihi wa
sallam) informing of the disagreements
between the madhaahib in non-fundamental
matters, and that is one of his miracles,
since it is information about the Unseen;
also, his being pleased with that and
approving of it, since he described it
as a mercy, and that the burdened person
may choose whichever of them he wishes."
It could be said to him: first establish
the throne, and then sit. What he has
mentioned about the choice is false:
it is not possible for the Muslim to
cling to it and act upon its generality,
since it leads to breaking away from
the restrictions of the Sharee`ah, as
is not hard to see. See also the discussion
under 2.4 below.
2.3)
"I asked my Lord about that which
my Companions would disagri about after
me, so Allaah inspired me: O Muhammad!
Your Companions are to Me of the station
of the stars in the sky - some are brighter
than others; so whoever takes from any
of them in those matters where they have
differed, then to Me, he is upon guidance."
Mawdoo`
(Fabricated). Reported by Ibn Battah
in al-Ibaanah [4/11/2], Khateeb, Nizam
al-Malik in al-Amaali [13/2], Diyaa'
in al-Muntaqaa `an Masmoo`aatihi bimaroo
[116/2] & Ibn `Asaakir [6/303/1]
by way of:
Nu`aim ibn Hammaad, who said: `Abdur-Raheem
ibn Zaid narrated to us from his father
from Sa`eed ibn al-Musayyib from `Umar
ibn al-Khattaab from the Prophet (sallallaahu
`alaihi wa sallam).
This isnaad is mawdoo`.
Nu`aim ibn Hammaad is weak: Ibn Hajar
said, "He makes many mistakes."
About `Abdur-Raheem ibn Zaid al-`Ammee,
al-Bukhaari said, "He was abandoned";
Abu Haatim said, "His ahaadeeth are abandoned:
he is unacceptable in hadeeth - he used
to undermine his father by narrating
disasters from him"; Ibn Ma`een said,
"He was an utter, filthy liar."
About his father, Zaid al-`Ammi ibn al-Hawaaree,
Ibn Sa`d said, "He was weak in hadeeth."
Suyooti recorded this hadeeth in al-Jaami`
as-Sagheer through the narration of Sijizzi
in al-Ibaanah and Ibn `Asaakir from `Umar;
Manaawi said in his commentary on al-Jaami`
as-Sagheer :
Ibn al-Jawzi said in his al-`Ilal, "This
is not authentic. Nu`aim has been disparaged;
Ibn Ma`een has described `Abdur-Raheem
as an utter liar; it says in al-Meezaan:
This hadeeth is false."
2.4)
"Verily, my
Companions are like the stars: so if
you accept any of their sayings, you
will be guided."
Mawdoo`
(Fabricated). Ibn `Abdul-Barr reports
it in mu`allaq (suspended, i.e. an incomplete
chain of narrators at the collector's
end) form and Ibn Hazm reports it from
him; the complete chain was provided
by `Abd ibn Humaid in al-Muntakhab min
al-Musnad (86/1):
Ahmad ibn Yoonus informed me: Abu Shihaab
al-Hannaat narrated to us, from Hamzah
al-Jazree, from Naafee`, from Ibn `Umar
from the Prophet (sallallaahu `alaihi
wa sallam).
Also, Ibn Battah narrated it in al-Ibaanah
[4/11/2] by another chain from Abu Shihaab.
Ibn `Abdul-Barr said, "This isnaad is
not authentic; no one acceptable as proof
has reported it from Naafee`."
This Hamzah is Ibn Abi Hamzah; Daaraqutni
said about him, "Matrook (abandoned)";
Ibn `Adi said, "His narrations are mostly
fabricated"; Ibn Hibbaan said, "He would
be alone in narrating things which are
fabricated from reliable narrators, to
such an extent that it is as if he did
so deliberately - it is not permissible
to narrate from him"; Dhahabi quoted
some of his fabricated ahaadeeth in al-Meezaan,
this being one of them.
Ibn Hazm said in al-Ihkaam (6/83), after
declaring that this hadeeth (no. 2, with
all its versions) is undoubtedly a lie
since it also contradicts many aayaat
of the Qur'aan, e.g. Najm (53:3-4), Nisaa'
(4:82), Anfaal (8:46), the following:
"...
therefore, it is absurd that the Messenger
(sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam) would
command us to follow every view expressed
by the Companions, may Allaah be pleased
with them all, for there were among them
those who permitted something while others
prohibited it: if the above were the
case, trading in intoxicants would be
permissible if one followed Samurah ibn
Jundub; it would be permissible for someone
fasting to eat snow if one followed Abu
Talhah, but prohibited by following others
beside him; to not take a bath due to
incomplete intercourse would be obligatory
if one followed `Ali, `Uthmaan, Talhah,
Abu Ayyoob and Ubayy ibn Ka`b, but prohibited
if one followed `Aa'ishah and Ibn `Umar;
all these examples have been related
to us with authentic chains of narration."
He then went on to explain at length
some opinions expressed by Companions
in which they were wrong about the Sunnah,
both during the lifetime of the Prophet
(sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam) and after
his death. He then said (6/86),
"So
how can it be allowable to blindly follow
the opinions of people who make mistakes
as well as get it right?!"
Before that, he had explained, under
the heading Differing Condemned (5/64),
the error of those who say, "Disagreement
is a mercy", using as evidence the hadeeth,
"My Companions are like the stars:
whichever of them you follow, you will
be rightly-guided", by clarifying
that the hadeeth is a lie for several
reasons:
(i) it is not authentic with regard to
its chain of narration;
(ii) further, the Prophet (sallallaahu
`alaihi wa sallam) could not have commanded
us to follow something which he himself
had declared erroneous at times; e.g.
he pointed out Abu Bakr's mistake in
interpreting a dream, `Umar's error in
another interpretation, and Abus-Sanaabil's
going wrong in a verdict he gave; hence,
it is not possible for him to order us
to follow someone mistaken;
(iii) the Prophet (sallallaahu `alaihi
wa sallam) never spoke falsehood; his
words were always truth: the comparison
with the stars is clearly flawed, since
for example, if someone intends to travel
a certain route directed by the stars
in the constellation of Capricorn, but
instead follows the stars in Cancer,
he will not be correctly-guided, but
will stray far away from the correct
path and err tremendously; therefore,
it is obviously false to say that following
any star will guide one correctly.
Ibn al-Mulaqqin gave a summarised version
of Ibn Hazm's words in his al-Khulaasah
[2/175], endorsed it and ended his discussion
of the hadeeth saying: Ibn Hazm said,"This
is an invented, fabricated, false narration,
not correct at all."