Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī Ḥadīth [3461]

Reporting from the children of Isrā’īl such incidents and stories for the purpose of good advice and admonition that are not contrary to the reason and Islāmic texts, and also to tell about it being an isrālite narration, there is no harm in it; but there is no need to derive rules and laws from these narrations.

• Reference: [2669 (5/67), Sunan at-Tirmidhī, Dārussalām (Eng)]

You should know that:
1. Preaching the religion is the duty of every Muslim, as every Muslim has knowledge of at least some Āyāt. Preaching is not only for the scholars, rather anyone who has knowledge of a good matter must pass it on to others.
2. One should be careful when mentioning a ḥadīth. If the ḥadīth is weak, it should not be mentioned. And if for some reason it becomes necessary to mention it, then its weakness should also be mentioned. The lax manner that our preachers have adopted nowadays is undoubtedly harmful to the religion.

• Reference: [559 (1/320-321), Sunan ad-Dārimī, Ansarus Sunnah Publications (Ur)]

Translated by ‘Imrān (Germany)

1. From this authentic ḥadīth, we learn that even if a person knows only one Āyah [verse] of the Qurān, he should pass it on to his brothers. It is important for the preacher to speak based on evidences, but it is not a requirement that he knows everything before he preaches.
2. The word ‘Āyah’ generally has four meanings:
a) A verse of the Qurān;
b) The distinguishing sign between two things;
c) A very strange statement;
d) A great misfortune.
In the aforementioned ḥadīth, the first meaning is meant.
3. Each person has been ordered to propagate the religion according to his abilities.
4. It is permissible to narrate from the children of Isrā’īl as long as the chain to the narrator who said it is backed by a ṣaḥīḥ isnād and it does not go against the Sharī’ah brought by Muḥammad [upon him be Ṣalāt wa Ṣalām like the number of stars in the sky].
5. Lying about the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) is one of the major sins. Rather, according to some scholars, it is kufr [disbelief].
6. It is necessary for every Muslim to learn what is necessary from the religion; knowledge that will help him to correct his beliefs and actions. And if he is not able to learn in-depth knowledge, it is obligatory for him to return to the scholars of truth who are on the correct creed and that he learns from them the knowledge of the Kitāb, the sunnah and ijmā’ (and the āthār of the salaf).
Remember that a layman asking a scholar a question is not taqlīd [blind following]. Otherwise, in this day and age, thousands of Ḥanafīs and taqlīdīs would themselves become imāms from whom taqlīd is made [because they are asked by laymen and they answer]. And it is obvious that no one is of this position.
7. The aḥādīth are ḥujjah [proof].

• Reference: [198 (1/261-262), Aḍwā’ al-Maṣābīḥ fi-Taḥqīq Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ, (Ur)]

Translated by ‘Imrān (Germany)

… then he mentioned the ḥadīth of ‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Āṣ on the authority of his father – may Allāh shower blessings on both of them – that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) said: “Convey from me when even an Āyah.”

“Convey from me” that is, inform people of what I say and do, and all his Sunnah. “Convey from me even an Āyah” from the Book of Allāh. The word ‘law’, meaning even, hints at tiny bit; that is, a person should not say: ‘I will not convey unless I possess a great knowledge.’ No, a person should convey even if it is an Āyah with the condition that he knows it and it is from the words of Messenger of Allāh (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him). Thus, he said at the end of the ḥadīth: “But he who deliberately forges a lie against me, let him have his abode in the Hell.” Whosoever lies against the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) deliberately, knowing that it is a lie, let him have his abode in the Hell, and refuge is with Allāh. That is, he deserves to be one of the dwellers of Hell-Fire.

This is because lying against the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) is not like lying against any other person. Lying against the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) is lying against Allāh, the Mighty and Sublime, and it is also lying against the sharī’ah because the revelation, as narrated by the Messenger, is part of the sharī’ah of Allāh.

Similarly, it is said that lying against a learned person is not like lying against a common man. For example, you said: ‘So and so said this matter is unlawful and that is lawful. This is obligatory and this is Sunnah’ while you are lying, this is worse than forging a lie against a common man. This is because the scholars, being the heirs of the Prophets, convey the sharī’ah of Allāh as a bequest for the Messenger of Allāh. So forging a lie against them by saying: ‘So and so scholar said such and such’, although you are lying, is a great sin, we ask Allāh for well-being.

When some people desire to prevent people from something, they would say, “So and so scholar said such and such is unlawful” although they are lying. However, they know that people would readily accept their statement if they ascribe it to a person, so they fabricate lies. Likewise, they may state that a matter is obligatory while they are liars. This is worse than lying against the common man.

In brief, whosoever deliberately forges a lie against the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) should take up his abode in Hell. Majority of the publication on exhortation and caution are heaps of lies against the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him). However, some industrious but ignorant persons would circulate these publications with huge amount of money would say: ‘We are admonishing the people with it.’ How would you admonish them with forgeries?

Consequently, it is obligatory to warn against these publications which are usually distributed in masājid or hanged on the doors of masājid. These publications may contain forgeries and the one that spreads it would have his abode in Hell if he knows that they are lies, so it is necessary to warn against them.

He (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) said in the ḥadīth of ‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Amr: “Relate traditions from Banī Isrā’īl, and there is no restriction on that.” Banī Isrā’īl are the Jews and Christians. There is no harm in you narrating their statements provided you do not know that is contradicts the sharī’ah. This is because Banī Isrā’īl enjoy lying and changing the word from its right place. So if they tell you what is good, there is no harm for you to relate it on the condition that it does not contradict what is reported in the sharī’ah of the Messenger. But if it opposes it, it is not permissible to relate except to explain that it is falsehood; hence, there is no harm.

Allāh knows best. 

• Reference: [1379-1380 (5/477-479), Riyāḍuṣ Ṣāliḥīn, Dārussalām (Eng)]

This ḥadīth contains the following three important points:

1. It stresses the importance of acquiring knowledge of the Qurān and ḥadīth and imparting it to others. No matter whether one has more or less knowledge, he must communicate it to others. There is no justification to presume that preaching or inviting to the Message of Allāh is the duty of religious scholars and those who are well-versed in this sphere. In fact, it is a duty upon every Muslim, so much so that if a person knows even a single Verse of the Qurān, that is to say if he knows only one injunction of Allāh, he is duty bound to communicate it to other people.

2. It allows the communication of Jewish Traditions but this permission is subject to the condition that such Traditions are not against the elucidations of the Qurān and ḥadīth.

3. There is a stern warning on attributing any false saying to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him). This demands strict scrutiny of aḥādīth. If a ḥadīth does not have a reliable authority or whose chain of narrators has a false link or a person of doubtful integrity, that is to say if it is weak, then it is a serious offense to quote it as a ḥadīth of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him). There are various grades of weakness, and this requires deep knowledge of the narrators and principles of ḥadīth to know them since scholars who are expert in this discipline are few and far. The safest course for ordinary scholars is to refrain from stating such aḥādīth which are weak, no matter whether the weakness is serious or slight. The reason is that although the majority of muḥaddithūn consider the slightly weak aḥādīth acceptable but they cannot be identified by everybody. Thus, every ḥadīth which is marked as weak should not be mentioned. In the present age Shaykh Nāṣir ud-Dīn al-Albānī has done a very remarkable work in this field. He has separated the weak aḥādīth found in the four famous volumes of aḥādīth (Sunan Abū Dāwūd, at-Tirmidhī, an-Nasā’ī and ibn Mājah) from the authentic and prepared separate volumes of authentic and weak aḥādīth. This work of al-Albānī has made it easy for the ordinary ‘ulamā’ to identify the weak aḥādīth. Only a man of Shaykh al-Albānī’s caliber can do research on it. The ordinary ‘ulamā’ and religious scholars of the Muslims are heavily indebted to him for this great work, and they should keep it in view before mentioning any ḥadīth. They should mention only the authentic aḥādīth, and refrain from quoting the weak ones. It is wrong to ignore this work on the ground that Shaykh al-Albānī is not the last word on the subject. There can be a possibility of error in his work because it is after all a human effort, but it will be very unfair to regard his effort of no account merely because of a possible error. It is regrettable indeed that only because of this possible error many people refuse to accept even the correctness of the ṣaḥīḥayn. (i.e., Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim). Should we then accept their view? No, certainly not. So, there is no sense in not making use of Shaykh al-Albānī’s matchless contribution. As muḥaddithūn have done a great service to the Muslim Ummah by collecting and compiling the aḥādīth, similarly in the style of muḥaddithūn, and in keeping with the principles laid down by them, the research carried out to separate the authentic aḥādīth from the weak is in fact an effort to complete their mission. In this age, Almighty Allāh has bestowed this honour on Shaykh al-Albānī. May Allāh protect him, give him the best of the reward and give him a long life.

We now revert to the subject under discussion and say that no such saying and practice should be attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) the authenticity of which is doubtful. On this principle, weak aḥādīth, should not be mentioned. It is very unfortunate indeed that in spite of such a stern warning, many of our ‘ulamā’ are not careful in this matter. Not to speak of weak aḥādīth, they do not hesitate to mention even aḥādīth Mawḍū’ah (forged aḥādīth) only to adorn their speech. May Allāh guide them to the Right Path. In fact, there is a class of religious scholars who try to refute the authentic aḥādīth and validate the weak ones only to add credence to their own juristic school. May Allāh save us from such evils.• Reference: [1380 (2/1024-1026), Riyāḍuṣ Ṣāliḥīn, Dārussalām (Eng)]

1. Whoever has knowledge of a ḥadīth should pass it on to others. Provided he is sure of the authenticity of the ḥadīth.
2. The transmission of Isra’īliyyāt has rules: It is imperative to consider them authentic if they are also found in the Qurān and Sunnah.
3. Isra’īliyyāt that contradict the Qurān and Sunnah must be rejected.
4. If such narrations are neither supported by nor contradict the Qurān and Sunnah, then there is nothing wrong with transmitting them. But it is not correct to derive any judgments or conclusions from them.
5. Ascribing lies to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) is ḥarām and a major sin, and whoever does so will receive Hellfire for his punishment. Therefore, one should narrate aḥādīth only after research (taḥqīq) and scrutinizing them.

• Reference: [78 (1/69-70), Al-Mu’jam aṣ-Ṣagḥīr, Ansarus Sunnah Publications, Lahore (Ur)]

Translated by ‘Imrān (Germany)

• Mukhtaṣar Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (1468 (2/445))
• Sunan at-Tirmidhī (2669)
• Sunan ad-Dārimī (542 (1/91))
• Ṣaḥīḥ ibn Ḥibbān (6256 (14/149))
• Al-Mu’jam aṣ-Ṣagḥīr (462 (1/338))
• Sharḥ as-Sunnah (113 (1/242-243))
• Sharḥ Mushkil al-Āthār (133 (1/125), & 398 (1/360-361))
• Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ (198)
• Riyāḍuṣ Ṣāliḥīn (1380)
• Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmi’ (2837 (1/546))
• Talkhīṣ al-Jāmi’ al-Kāmil (1181 (1/364), 1261 (1/379), 8176 (3/340), & 8275 (3/367))

Grade: Ṣaḥīḥ (Authentic)