THE SUPERIORITY OF FIQH OVER HADITH

by GF Haddad

{He gives wisdom to whomever He will, and whoever receives wisdom receives immense good} (2:269). "He for whom All�h desires great good, He grants him (superlative) understanding in the Religion (yufaqqihhu/yufqihhu f� al-d�n). I only distribute and it is All�h Who gives. That group shall remain in charge of the Order of All�h, unharmed by those who oppose them, until the coming of the Order of All�h."1

Im�m al-Sh�fi`� said: "You [the scholars of h.ad�th] are the pharmacists but we [the jurists] are the physicians." Mull� `Al� al-Q�r� commented: "The early scholars said: The h.ad�th scholar without knowledge of fiqh is like a seller of drugs who is no physician: he has them but he does not know what to do with them; and the fiqh scholar without knowledge of h.ad�th is like a physician without drugs: he knows what constitutes a remedy, but does not have it available."2

Im�m Ah.mad is related by his students Ab� T.�lib and H.umayd ibn Zanj�yah to say: "I never saw anyone adhere more to h.ad�th than al-Sh�fi`�. No one preceded him in writing down h.ad�th in a book." The meaning of this is that al-Sh�fi`� possessed the intelligence of h.ad�th after which Ah.mad sought, as evidenced by the latter's statement: "How rare is fiqh among those who know h.ad�th!" This is a reference to the h.ad�th: "It may be one carries understanding (fiqh) - meaning: memorizes the proof-texts of fiqh - without being a person of understanding (faq�h)."3 The Salaf and Khalaf elucidated this rule in many famous statements showing that, for all the exalted status of the Muh.addith, yet the Faq�h excels him:

* Ibn Ab� Zayd al-M�lik� reports Sufy�n ibn `Uyayna as saying: "H.ad�th is a pitfall (mad.illa) except for the fuqah�'," and M�lik's companion `Abd All�h ibn Wahb said: "H.ad�th is a pitfall except for the Ulema. Every memorizer of h.ad�th that does not have an Im�m in fiqh is misguided (d.�ll), and if All�h had not rescued us with M�lik and al-Layth [ibn Sa`d], we would have been misguided."4
Ibn Ab� Zayd comments: "He [Sufy�n] means that other than the jurists might take something in its external meaning when, in fact, it is interpreted in the light of another h.ad�th or some evidence which remains hidden to him; or it may in fact consist in discarded evidence due to some other [abrogating] evidence. None can meet the responsibility of knowing this except those who deepened their learning and obtained fiqh." Im�m al-Haytam� said something similar.5
Ibn Wahb is also reported to say: "I met three hundred and sixty learned people of knowledge but, without M�lik and al-Layth, I would have strayed."6
Another versions states: "Were it not for M�lik ibn Anas and al-Layth ibn Sa`d I would have perished; I used to think everything that is [authentically] related from the Prophet - All�h bless and greet him - must be put into practice."7
Another version has: "I gathered a lot of h.ad�ths and they drove me to confusion. I would consult M�lik and al-Layth and they would say to me, 'take this and leave this.'"8 Ibn Wahb had compiled 120,000 narrations according to Ah.mad ibn S.�lih..9
Hence, Ibn `Uqda replied to a man who had asked him about a certain narration: "Keep such h.ad�ths to a minimum for, truly, they are unsuitable except for those who know their interpretation. Yah.y� ibn Sulayman narrated from Ibn Wahb that he heard M�lik say: 'Many of these h.ad�ths are [a cause for] misguidance; some h.ad�ths were narrated by me and I wish that for each of them I had been flogged with a stick twice. I certainly no longer narrate them!'"10
By his phrase, "Many of these h.ad�ths are misguidance," M�lik means their adducing them in the wrong place and meaning, because the Sunna is wisdom and wisdom is to place each thing in its right context.11

* Ibn al-Mub�rak said: "If All�h had not rescued me with Ab� H.an�fa and Sufy�n [al-Thawr�] I would have been like the rest of the common people." Al-Dhahab� relates it as: "I would have been an innovator."12

* Im�m Ah.mad's teacher, Yah.y� ibn Sa`�d al-Qat.t.�n, despite his foremost status as the Master of h.ad�th Masters and expert in narrator-recommendation and discreditation, would not venture to extract legal rulings from the evidence but followed in this the fiqh of Ab� H.an�fa as he explicitly declared: "We do not belie All�h. We never heard better than the juridical opinion (ra'�) of Ab� H.an�fa, and we followed most of his positions."13
Similarly, Muh.ammad ibn `Abd All�h ibn `Abd al-H.akam said: "If it were not for al-Sh�fi`� I would not have known how to reply to anyone. Because of him I know what I know."14 As for Muh.ammad ibn Yah.y� al-Dhuhl� (d. 258) of Khur�s�n, whom Ab� Zur`a ranked above Im�m Muslim and who is considered an Am�r al-Mu'min�n f� al-H.ad�th ("Commander of the Faithful in the Science of H.ad�th"), he never considered himself a non-muqallid but said: "I have made Ah.mad ibn H.anbal an Im�m in all that stands between me and my Lord."15 Mis`ar ibn Kid�m said the same with regard to Im�m Ab� H.an�fa.16

* Fiqh is the context of M�lik's statement: "Wisdom and knowledge are a light by which All�h guides whomever He pleases; it does not consist in knowing many things"17 and al-Sh�fi`�'s: "Knowledge is what benefits. Knowledge is not what one has memorized."18
Similarly, al-Dhahab� defined knowledge in Isl�m (al-`ilm) as "Not the profusion of narration, but a light which All�h casts into the heart. Its condition is followership (ittib�`) and the flight away from egotism (haw�) and innovation."19 All this elucidates al-H.asan al-Bas.r� report that the Prophet said: "The purpose and energy of the Ulema is towards addressing needs while the purpose and energy of fools is to narrate" (himmat al-`ulam�' al-ri`�ya wa himmat al-sufah�' al-riw�ya).20

* Wak�` preferred long-chained narrations through the fuqah�' to short-chained ones through non-fuqah�' and said: "The h.ad�th current among the jurists is better than the h.ad�th that is current among the h.ad�th scholars."21
This is a foundational rule in the School of Im�m Ab� H.an�fa. Like Yah.y� al-Qat.t.�n, Wak�` did not make ijtih�d but followed the positions of Ab� H.an�fa.22

* Al-A`mash (Ab� Muh.ammad Sulaym�n ibn Mahr�n al-Asad� the T�bi`� 61/-148) also said: "The h.ad�th that jurists circulate among themselves is better than that which h.ad�th narrators circulate among themselves."23

* Ibn Rajab said that Ab� D�w�d in his Sunan was more concerned with the jurisprudence of the h.ad�th than with its chains of transmission.24

* Sufy�n al-Thawr� used to say to the h.ad�th scholars: "Come forward, O weak ones!"25 He also said: "If h.ad�th were a good thing it would have vanished just as all goodness has vanished," and "Pursuing the study of h.ad�th is not part of the preparation for death, but a disease that preoccupies people." Al-Dhahab� commented: "He said this verbatim. He is right in what he said because pursuing the study of h.ad�th is other than the h.ad�th itself."26

* Sufy�n also said: "The explanation (tafs�r) of the h.ad�th is better than the h.ad�th."27 Another wording has: "The explanation of the h.ad�th is better than its audition."28 Ab� `Al� al-Naysab�r� said: "We consider understanding superior to memorization."29

* Ish.�q ibn R�h�yah said: "I would sit in Iraq with Ah.mad ibn H.anbal, Yah.y� ibn Ma`�n, and our companions, rehearsing the narrations from one, two, three routes of transmission... But when I said: What is its intent? What is its explanation? What is its fiqh? They would all remain mute except Ah.mad ibn H.anbal."30

* The perspicuity and fiqh of Ab� Thawr among the h.ad�th Masters is famous. A woman stood by a gathering of scholars of h.ad�th comprising Yah.y� ibn Ma`�n, Ab� Khaythama, Khalaf ibn Salim, and others. She heard them saying: "The Prophet said," and "So-and-so narrated," and "No one other than So-and-so narrated," etc. Whereupon she asked them: "Can a woman in her menses wash the dead?" for that was her occupation. No one in the entire gathering could answer her, and they began to look at one another.
Ab� Thawr arrived, and they referred her to him. She asked him the same question and he said: "Yes, she can wash the dead, as per the h.ad�th of al-Q�sim from `A'isha: 'Your menses are not in your hand,'31 and her narration whereby she would scrub the Prophet's hair at a time she was menstruating.32 If the head of the living can be washed [by a woman in her menses], then a fortiori the dead!"
Hearing this, the h.ad�th scholars said: "Right! So-and-so narrated it, and So-and-so told us, and we know it from such-and-such a chain," and they plunged back into the narrations and chains of transmission.
The woman said: "Where were you all until now?"33

* Ibn `Abd al-Barr cites Im�m Ah.mad as saying: "From where does Yah.y� ibn Ma`�n know al-Sh�fi`�? He does not know al-Sh�fi`� nor has any idea what al-Sh�fi`� says!"34 Ibn R�h�yah similarly conceded defeat before al-Sh�fi`�'s jurisprudence although himself reputed for fiqh.35

* `Abd al-Razz�q al-S.an`�n�, Sufy�n's contemporary, was the teacher of the pillars of h.ad�th memorization in their time - Ah.mad, Ibn R�h�yah, Ibn Ma`�n, and Muh.ammad ibn Yah.y� al-Dhuhl�. Yet when Muh.ammad ibn Yaz�d al-Mustaml� asked Ah.mad: "Did he [`Abd al-Razz�q] possess fiqh?" Ah.mad replied: "How rare is fiqh among those who know h.ad�th!"36

* Anas ibn S�r�n said: "I came to K�fa and found in it 4,000 persons pursuing h.ad�th and 400 persons who had obtained fiqh."37

* Ibn `Abd al-Sal�m said: "The majority of h.ad�th scholars are ignorant in fiqh."38 A majority of 90" according to Anas ibn S�r�n - among the Salaf!

* Al-Dhahab� said: "The majority of the h.ad�th scholars have no understanding, no diligence in the actual knowledge of h.ad�th, and no fear of All�h regarding it."39 All of the authorities al-Dhahab� listed as "those who are imitated in Isl�m" are Jurisprudents and not merely h.ad�th masters.

* Al-Sakh�w� in his biography of Ibn H.ajar entitled al-Jaw�hir wa al-Durar relates similar views:

Al-F�riq� said: "One who knows chains of h.ad�th but not the legal rulings derived from them cannot be counted among the Scholars of the Law." His student Ibn Ab� `As.r�n (d. 585) also followed this view in his book al-Intis.�r.40

* Ibr�h�m al-Nakha`� said: "Truly, I hear a h.ad�th, then I see what part of it applies. I apply it and leave the rest."41 Shaykh Muh.ammad `Aww�ma said: "Meaning, what is recognized by the authorities is retained while anything odd (ghar�b), anomalous (sh�dhdh), or condemned (munkar) is put aside." Yaz�d ibn Ab� H.ab�b said: "When you hear a h.ad�th, proclaim it; if it is recognized, [keep it,] otherwise, leave it."42

* Ibn Ab� Layl� said: "A man does not understand h.ad�th until he knows what to take from it and what to leave."43

* `Abd al-Rah.m�n ibn Mahd�, the Commander of the believers in H.ad�th, said: "It is impermissible for someone to be an Im�m [i.e. to be imitated] until he knows what is sound and what is unsound and until he does not take everything [sound] as evidence, and until he knows the correct way to infer knowledge [in the Religion]."44

* Al-Sh�fi`� narrated that M�lik ibn Anas was told: "Ibn `Uyayna narrates from al-Zuhr� things you do not have!" He replied: "Why, should I narrate every single h.ad�th I heard? Only if I wanted to misguide people!"45

Shaykh `Abd al-Fatt�h. Ab� Ghudda mentioned some of the above examples and commented: "If the likes of Yah.y� al-Qat.t.�n, Wak�` ibn al-Jarr�h., `Abd al-Razz�q, Yah.y� ibn Ma`�n, and those who compare with them, did not dare enter into ijtih�d and fiqh, then how rash are the claimants to ijtih�d in our time! On top of it, they call the Salaf ignorant without the least shame nor modesty! All�h is our refuge from failure."46

BLESSINGS AND PEACE ON THE PROPHET

his Family, his Companions, the Four Im�ms, and those who imitate them until the Day of Judgment.

1H.ad�th of the Prophet narrated from Mu`�wiya by al-Bukh�r� and Muslim.

2Al-Q�r�, Mu`taqad Ab� H.an�fata al-Im�m f� Abaway al-Ras�l `Alayhi al-S.al�t wa al-Sal�m (p. 42).

3A nearly-mass-narrated (mashh�r) sound h.ad�th of the Prophet - All�h bless and greet him - reported from several Companions by al-Tirmidh�, Ab� D�w�d, Ibn M�jah, and Ah.mad.

4Ibn Ab� H.�tim in the introduction of al-Jarh. wa al-Ta`d�l (p. 22-23); Ibn Ab� Zayd, al-J�mi` f� al-Sunan (p. 118-119); Ibn `Abd al-Barr, al-Intiq�' (p. 61); al-Dhahab�. See Shaykh `Abd al-Fattah Ab� Ghudda's comments on this statement in his notes on al-Lacknaw�'s al-Raf` wa al-Takmil (2nd ed. p. 368-369, 3rd ed. p. 90-91).

5In al-Fat�w� al-H.ad�thiyya (p. 283).

6Narrated by Ibn H.ibb�n in the introduction to al-Majr�h.�n (1:42). He then narrates from Ibn Wahb a similar statement where he adds the names of `Amr ibn al-H.�rith and Ibn M�jish�n.

7Narrated by Ibn `As�kir and al-Bayhaq� cf. Ibn Rajab, Sharh. al-`Ilal (1:413) and `Aww�ma (p. 76).

8Narrated by Q�d.� `Iy�d.. in Tart�b al-Mad�rik (2:427).

9In Ibn al-Subk�, T.abaq�t al-Sh�fi`iyya al-Kubr� (2:128).

10Narrated by al-Khat.�b, al-Faq�h wal-Mutafaqqih (2:80).

11Shaykh Ism�`�l al-Ans.�r� as quoted by `Aww�ma, Athar (p. 77).

12Ibn H.ajar, Tahdh�b al-Tahdh�b (10:449-452 #817) and al-Dhahab�'s Man�qib Ab� H.an�fa.

13Narrated by al-Dhahab� in Tadhkirat al-H.uff�z. (1:307) and Ibn H.ajar in Tahdh�b al-Tahdh�b (10:450). 16Cf. Ibn Ab� al-Waf�, last page of the Karachi edition of al-Jaw�hir al-Mud.iyya.

14Narrated by Ibn `Abd al-Barr in al-Intiq�' (p. 124).

15Narrated by al-Dhahab� in the Siyar (10:205).

16Cf. Ibn Ab� al-Waf�, last page of the Karachi edition of al-Jaw�hir al-Mud.iyya.

17In Ibn `Abd al-Barr, J�mi` Bay�n al-`Ilm (1:83-84), al-Q�d.� `Iy�d.., Tart�b al-Mad�rik (2:62), al-Sh�t.ib�, al-Muw�faq�t (4:97-98).

18"The Knowledge That Benefits is That Whose Rays Expand in the Breast and Whose Veil is Lifted in the Heart." Ibn `At.�' All�h, H.ikam (#213).

19Siyar (10:642).

20Narrated mursal from al-H.asan by Ibn `As�kir in his T�r�kh and al-Khat.�b in al-J�mi` li Akhl�q al-R�w� (1983 ed. 1:88 #27) cf. al-J�mi` al-S.agh�r (#9598) and Kanz (#29337).

21Cited by al-Dhahab� in the Siyar (al-Arna'�t. ed. 9:158, 12:328-329).

22Cf. al-Dhahab�, Tadhkirat al-H.uff�z. (1:307) and Ibn H.ajar in Tahdh�b al-Tahdh�b (11:126-127).

23In al-Sakh�w�, al-Jaw�hir wa al-Durar (p. 21).

24Ibn Rajab, Sharh. `Ilal al-Tirmidh� (1:411).

25Cited from Zayd ibn Ab� al-Zarqa' by al-Dhahab�, Siyar (al-Arna'�t. ed. 7:275).

26Al-Sakh�w�, al-Jaw�hir wa al-Durar (p. 20-23).

27Narrated by al-Haraw� al-Ans.�r� in Dhamm al-Kal�m (4:139 #907).


28In Ibn `Abd al-Barr, J�mi` Bay�n al-`Ilm (2:175).

29In al-Dhahab�, Tadhkirat al-H.uff�z. (2:776).

30Narrated by Ibn Ab� H.�tim in the introduction to his al-Jarh. wa al-Ta`d�l (p. 293), Ibn al-Jawz� in Man�qib al-Im�m Ah.mad (p. 63), and al-Dhahab� in T�r�kh al-Isl�m (chapter on Ah.mad).

31In Muslim and the Four Sunan. 32In al-Bukh�r� and Muslim.

33Ibn al-Subk� in T.abaq�t al-Sh�fi`iyya, al-Sakh�w� in his introduction to al-Jaw�hir wa al-Durar, and al-Haytam� in his Fat�w� H.ad�thiyya (p. 283). Something similar is narrated of Ah.mad by Ibn Rajab in his Dhayl T.abaq�t al-H.an�bila (1:131) and al-`Ulaym� in al-Manhaj al-Ah.mad (2:208).

34Ibn `Abd al-Barr, J�mi` Bay�n al-`Ilm (2:160).

35Ish.�q ibn Ibr�h�m ibn Makhlad, known as Ish.�q ibn R�h�yah or R�hawayh, Ab� Ya`q�b al-Tam�m� al-Marwaz� al-Hanzali (d. 238), one of the major h.ad�th Masters. Ab� Qud�ma considered him greater than Im�m Ah.mad in memorization of h.ad�th, a remarkable assessment considering Ah.mad's knowledge of 700,000 to a million narrations according to his son `Abd All�h's and Ab� Zur`a al-R�z�'s estimations. He once said of himself: "I never wrote anything except I memorized it, and I can now see before me more than 70,000 h.ad�ths in my book"; "I know the place of 100,000 h.ad�ths as if I were looking at them, and I memorize 70,000 of them by heart - all sound (s.ah.�h.a) - and 4,000 falsified ones." [Narrated by al-Khat.�b in al-J�mi` li Akhl�q al-R�w� (2:380-381 #1832-1833).]
He did not reach the same stature in fiqh. Al-Bayhaq� and others narrate that he unsuccessfully debated al-Sh�fi`� on a legal question, as a result of which the latter disapproved of his title as the "jurisprudent of Khur�s�n." To a Jahm� scholar who said: "I disbelieve in a Lord that descends from one heaven to another heaven," Ibn R�h�yah replied: "I believe in a Lord that does what He wishes." [Narrated by al-Dhahab� who identifies the scholar as Ibr�h�m ibn (Hish�m) Ab� S.�lih. in Mukhtas.ar al-`Uluw (p. 191 #234).] Al-Bayhaq� comments: "Ish.�q ibn Ibr�h�m al-Hanzali made it clear, in this report, that he considers the Descent (al-nuz�l) one of the Attributes of Action (min s.if�t al-f�`l). Secondly, he spoke of a descent without `how'. This proves he did not hold displacement (al-intiq�l) and movement from one place to another (al-zaw�l) concerning it." [See post titled, "The `Descent' of All�h Most High".] Sources: Ibn Ab� Ya`l�, T.abaq�t al-H.an�bila (1:6, 1:184); al-Bayhaq�, Man�qib al-Sh�fi`� (1:213) and al-Asm�' wa al-S.if�t (2:375-376 #951); al-Dhahab�, Siyar (9:558 #1877); Ibn al-Subk�, T.abaq�t al-Sh�fi`iyya al-Kubr� (2:89-90, 9:81).

36Narrated by Ab� Ya`l� in T.abaq�t al-H.an�bila (1:329) and cited by Shaykh Ab� Ghudda in his introduction to Muh.ammad al-Shayb�n�'s Muwat.t.a' and his short masterpiece al-Isn�d min al-D�n (p. 68).

37Narrated by al-R�mahurmuz� in al-Muh.addith al-F�s.il (p. 560).

38Ibn `Abd al-Sal�m, al-Fat�w� al-Maws.iliyya (p. 132-134).

39In al-Sakh�w�, al-Jaw�hir wa al-Durar (p. 18).

40Al-Sakh�w�, al-Jaw�hir wa al-Durar (p. 20-23).

41Narrated from Ibn Ab� Khaythama by Ab� Nu`aym in the H.ilya (4:225) and Ibn Rajab in Sharh. `Ilal al-Tirmidh� (1:413).

42In Ibn Rajab, Sharh. `Ilal al-Tirmidh� (1:413).

43In Ibn `Abd al-Barr, J�mi` Bay�n al-`Ilm (2:130).

44Narrated by Ab� Nu`aym in the H.ilya (9:3).

45Narrated by al-Khat.�b in al-J�mi` li Akhl�q al-R�w� (2:109).

46Ab� Ghudda, al-Isn�d min al-D�n (p. 68). He means by his remarks al-Alb�n� and others of his ilk. Ab� Ghudda's student, Shaykh Muh.ammad `Aww�ma, listed several examples of this rule of the Salaf in his Athar al-H.ad�th al-Shar�f f� Ikhtil�f al-A'immat al-Fuqah�' ("The Mark of the Noble H.ad�th in the Differences of the Im�ms of Jurisprudence").

GF Haddad �
[email protected]

As Salamu Alaikum  

 

Can someone explain in layman's terms the difference/similarity between Fiqh and Fatawas

 

Thanks

Bi ismillahir rahmanir raheem

assalamu alaikum

>>>The superiority of fiqh over hadith and hadith over fiqh<<<

That would contradict it self br, esentially yes fiqh needs ahadith but no one is arguing that point becouse that is the lesser danger of the two. The real danger is in trying to interprate the ahadith for your self or even worse come up with your own fatwa by simply reading the hadith and quran with out looking at many other factors like language, context, abrogation, conditions on what rasul allah(sallah llahu alaihi wa sallam) said, how your ruling may contradict other things in the quran and sunnah...etc

>>>Can someone explain in layman's terms the difference/similarity between Fiqh and Fatawas<<<

Fatwa: legal opinion concerning Islamic Law.

Fiqh:The meaning of the word fiqh is understanding, comprehension, knowledge, and jurisprudence (The philosophy or science of law) in Islam. A jurist is called a Faqih who is an expert in matters of Islamic legal matters.

A Faqih is to pass verdicts within the rules of the Islamic Law namely Shariah.

The most famous scholars of Fiqh in the history Muslims are the founders of the four schools of thought in Islam: Imam Malik, Imam Ash-Shafi'i, Imam Abu Hanifah, and Imam Ahmad.

Anything or action in Islam falls within the following five categories of Fiqh:

1. Fardh (Must): This category is a must for the Muslim to do such as the five daily prayers. Doing the Fardh counts as a good deed, and not doing it is considered a bad deed or a sin.

   It is also called Wajib except for Imam Abu Hanifah who makes Wajib a separate category between the Fardh and the Mubah.

2. Mandub (Recommended): This category is recommended for the Muslim to do such as extra prayers after Zuhr and Maghrib. Doing the Mandub counts as a good deed and not doing it does not count as a bad deed or a sin.
3. Mubah (Allowed): This category is left undecided and left for the person, such as eating apples or oranges. Doing or not doing the Mubah does not count as a good or bad deed.

   Intention of the person can change Mubah to Fard, Mandub, Makruh, or Haram.

   Other things could also change the status of the Mubah. For example, any Mubah becomes Haram if it is proven harmful, and any necessary thing to fulfill a Fardh is a Fardh too.

4. Makruh (Hated): This category is a detested and hated such as growing fingernails or sleeping on the stomach. Not doing the Makruh counts as a good deed and doing it does not count as a bad deed.
5. Haram (Prohibited): This category is prohibited for the Muslim to do such as stealing and lying. Doing the haram counts as a bad deed and not doing it counts as a good deed.

Imam Abu Hanifah also puts another category between the Makruh and the Haram. It is called Karahah Tahrimiyyah which means hated almost to the level of Haram.

Basicaly Fiqh is the Philosophy or science of Law it self.

we also have Usul al Fiqh which is Methodology in Islamic Jurisprudence or more simply method of  deriving  islamic law from quran and sunnah ie a set of rules to follow to make islamic rullings (fatawa).


insha allah that was simple.

Edited by rami

"That would contradict it self br..."

It would be no less contradictory as the superiority of fiqh over hadith, as figh is based upon hadith.  In keeping with the analogy of medicine; one may be better off having drugs (hadith).

I do agree wholeheartedly with you of the danger in interpretation, but fear dismissal of hadith.  I sometimes feel, unfortunately, that as an ummah, we lack balance.