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[Response by Mubashir Inayat]

Response by Mubashir Inayat
(On Quransmessage.com Facebook Page)
http://www.facebook.com/Quransmessage

Thanks Brother. Curious to explore it further, instead going through Muhammad Asad's translation (without footnotes) on the web, I picked up a hard copy of his "The Message of the Qur'an" and just read an explanatory footnote that says:

4 The classical commentators assume that the above words are addressed specifically to the Prophet, and that, therefore, they relate to his being taught the Qur'an and being promised that he would not forget anything thereof, "save what God may will [thee to forget]". This last clause has ever since given much trouble to the commentators, inasmuch as it is not very plausible that He who has revealed the Qur'an to the Prophet should cause him to forget anything of it. Hence, many unconvincing explanations have been advanced from very early times down to our own days, the least convincing being that last refuge of every perplexed Qur'an-commentator, the "doctrine of abrogation" (refuted in my note 87 on 2:106). However, the supposed difficulty of interpretation disappears as soon as we allow ourselves to realize that the above passage, though ostensibly addressed to the Prophet, is directed at man in general, and that it is closely related to an earlier Qur'anic revelation - namely, the first five verses of surah 96 ("The Germ-Cell") and, in particular, verses 3-5, which speak of God's having "taught man what he did not know". In note 3 on those verses I have expressed the opinion that they allude to mankind's cumulative acquisition of empirical and rational knowledge, handed down from generation to generation and from one civilization to another: and it is to this very phenomenon that the present passage, too, refers. We are told here that God, who has formed man in accordance with what he is meant to be and has promised to guide him, will enable him to acquire (and thus, as it were, "impart" to him) elements of knowledge which mankind will accumulate, record and collectively "remember" - except what God may cause man to "forget" (in another word, to abandon) as having become redundant by virtue of his new experiences and his acquisition of wider, more differentiated elements of knowledge, empirical as well as deductive or speculative, including more advanced, empirically acquired skills. However, the very next sentence makes it clear that all knowledge arrived at through our observation of the external world and through speculation, though necessary and most valuable, is definitely limited in scope and does not, therefore, in itself suffice to give us an insight into ultimate truths.
-----------------
Wonder if Br Asad has a point here?


Response by Mubashir Inayat
(On Quransmessage.com Facebook Page)
http://www.facebook.com/Quransmessage

‎"The Message of the Qur'an" complete in PDF format can be read here:

http://asadullahali.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/the-message-of-the-quran.pdf


Response by Mubashir Inayat
(On Quransmessage.com Facebook Page)
http://www.facebook.com/Quransmessage

To get another perspective, I also looked up Parwez, who says:

87:7 - If it were the will of Allah, you could have forgotten something from it (or ignore it), but (as has been mentioned earlier in 17:86) that was not His will. That is why you cannot forget or ignore anything from it. This has been so ordained.

The Wahi has been revealed from Allah Who knows what the latent potentialities in a human being are and how these can be developed. (Therefore this Wahi is complete in every way and sufficient for the purpose it has been revealed.) Wahi is revealed for the development of human self (personality).

http://www.tolueislam.org/Parwez/expo/expo_087.htm

[Request received on behalf of a forum reader]

Request received on behalf of a forum reader

Please can any Urdu reader possibly translate the following Fatwa by Muslim scholars with respect to Ghulam Parwez. This is only requested for education purposes to understand content and not as a criticism against Ghulam Parwez.

Thanks - Please see attached.

[From Mubashir Inayat]

From Mubashir Inayat
Sent: 05 June 2012

Salam Brother

Just want to share a comment on Facebook with a Br. Aurangzaib, who was once associated with Dr. Qamaruzzaman's aastan.com (learning Qur'a through dictionary alone).

We were analysing the meaning of Muslim and Momin.

Mubashir

[By Mubashir]

By Mubashir
Sent: 20 April 2012

Salam

Today while reading the Qur'an I came accross the following verse that really struck me:

15:56 [Abraham] exclaimed: "And who-other than those who have utterly lost their way-could ever abandon the hope of his Sustainer's grace?"

It gives us so much hope and to keep on striving for decency, compassion, understanding, tolerance, forgiveness, empathy and the hope that Our Lord will not abandon us inspite of our shortcomings.

Just wanted to share with you.  For some reason, when we go to mosques, some Imams stress the punishment aspect of Allah rather than reminding us that He has willed compassion on Himself !!

Regards,

Mubashir

[Re: Why Do We say 'Qul' (say) in our prayers?]

Dear Brother Joseph,

Asslamun Alikum,

Thanks God for letting you establish such a helpful site from which I have learned a lot. Thanks God.  I have been visiting your site often as well as other Islamic sites.  I have read the following question/answers on your forum :

Re: Why Do We say 'Qul' (say) in our prayers?
« Reply #1 on: November 24, 2011, 05:10:54 PM »
http://quransmessage.com/forum/index.php?topic=159

"The Quran does not define 'utterance'. Please note this very significant point. It leaves utterance open for a 'personal' communion with God"

I would request you place your kind suggestion on one the follwing Salat topics link from another Islamic website  which explains the content of our salat according to The Quran.

http://www.quran-islam.org/main_topics/islam/pillars/salat_words_%28P1199%29.html

Look forward to hearing from you soon.

May God's mercy & blessings be upon us all.

Best regards,

Sallam Joseph

I hope you are well Inshallah and thank you for the articles you are sending through which are always a joy to read.

I wanted to get your opinion on a verse form the Glorious Quran (quite a long verse) which stipulates who you can and cant marry.

I ask this, as it is quite common for Muslims , certainly from the Subcontinent to marry 1st Cousins , Cousins etc. Is it only Muslims (and may be some 'hadith') that this makes it quite common, or is it in other Cultures too?

I was recently in Pakistan and as you may be aware, there are lots of people who marry in to 'families' and I want to know if the Quran allows this?

Look forward to a response.

Peace

Assalamu Alaikum.

Sura 4:101,102, 103 :  Clearly state the condition (element of danger) for shortening of prayers when travelling.  But people shorten the prayers even when going on holiday.  They reason that prophet (Pbh) used to  shorten the prayers when travelling.   My argument is that he was involved in several wars (27) and enemies are always around him during his life time and he never travel and went on holiday. 

What is your comment please.

Salaam,


What are your views of this video in which it is claimed that whatever the Prophet gives you, take it as support for the Sunnah?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9swdWOkGWWA

Regards.

Dear Mr. Joseph,

Salaam

I am really thankful for your substantiated knowledge based on Quran, which really helped me and will help other to know exact the truth.

Thanks very much and praying Allah to bless you with clear and concise details your website providing.

Best Regards

It is very much relieving to me to find the content of your research and experience in the midst of so many clouded information flooded over Internet pertaining to Islam and Quran. May Allah bless you and give you strength to carry on further...

Last year i came 2 know about Islam based on Quran alone via Rashad Khalifa's literature, then came to know about free minders, then quranists, and lastly IPCTV Mohammed sheikh and was shocked and hurt howcome from a single quran such a contradictory theory is being made in the name of quran, i m starting to study quran linguistically now, and hope i will overcome my confusions inshallah. Your site served as an immediate source of solace.

Thanks for the well organised articles. I have some doubt regarding some portions which inshallah i will pose later on...

Plz keep me informed regarding any new updates. Bro if u r on Facebook plz let me know.
May Allah increase our hidayah exponentially.

Hello Joseph Islam, I hope this finds you doing well.

I have happened upon your website and have been reading many of the articles you have provided.

I am Muslim and have been trying to follow the right path of Islam since 2000.

There was also a previous time in my life where I was also trying to follow the right path of Christianity. I was involved with a "sect" of Christianity that did not believe that the "Trinity" was ever mentioned in the Bible and that Jesus(pbuh) was a Prophet and not "god".

I thought I had finally found something that was beginning to make sense to me.

Then I was introduced to Islam. From the beginning of that introduction, it was confusing to me that Hadiths were relied upon more than the Quran and I questioned this. (relied upon by the person who introduced me to Islam).

As of recently, with some hardships I have been facing, I have decided to delve into Islam more deeply, and in doing so, I have been researching online. I have run across websites speaking negatively of the Hadiths. I have visited some of forums on these websites and was actually kind of shocked (in some, not all) at some of the language that was conveyed in these forums. I felt it was like some people were giving their own personal interpretations of what the Holy Quran was saying. There was even mention of "sex before marriage" type of conversations.

When visiting some forums where the Hadiths are reverenced, there was a much more humbling tone and manner in the way people conveyed their beliefs.  Although, there was an undertone of "hate" with regards to someone who didn't see things the way they saw them.

It has left me in a state of a confusion. I am only trying to seek the "right way" and I am finding trouble as to where to seek this information. Reliable information.
I would love to be apart of a community (offline) to help me increase my knowledge, but I know of no such community, except my local Masjid, which I am not apart of, because I have never felt comfortable in going.

Thank you so much for taking the time to write your well-written articles in helping people who are thirsty for the truth to find their way.

Salams,

I came across your website.

I have not read your articles but I read the beginning of the website.

I hope to learn a lot from you.

I am a believing and practicing Muslim.

Some Hadith increase my faith but some cause confusion and decrease my faith....so I thank you for shedding light on hadeeth as a source of Islamic knowledge.

I hope to continue dialogue to learn.

Salams.

Hello,

My name is [name withheld] and I'm from Chile (south america). I'm writing to you because among the vast material there is of Islam yours is (according to me) the most balanced (I think that is the word). I've looked at websites where they hold haddiths as high as the qur'an, others that do not believe in them at all (most of them regarding "code 19" that I do not know if your familiar with) or others where they treasure haddiths but in a specific way (different suffi orders).

[You support the view that the Bible has been altered?]

Greetings,


Joseph I come to you with the greatest gratitude, your work has blessed me tremendously. For the past few weeks I've been struggling with my faith and found myself searching for truth, but your studies, believe it or not, has led me to the Gospels of Jesus Christ. In my perspective, through an abundance of material I've gathered..including yours..I have conclude that Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah indeed. Based on your current studies, I'd assume you have no problem with this since you yourself support the view that The Gospels, Torah, and Qu'ran are One.
So I thank you for confirming Jesus Christ through your works. Especially from a Muslim's (Qu'rans) Perspective which says a Whole lot..But I do have a few questions..

1. You support the view that the Bible has been altered? Under "The People of the book" you state..   
"Note - By the time of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) (Late 6th early 7th century), parts of the Bible had already undergone changes and a creed had developed (The Council of Nicaea congregated in 325AD). The Quran however, is still clearly recognising the text that lay with them". If not..then what kind of changes? And if so..is there evidence to support this view? 

2. Since you support the view that the Gospels is the word of Allah and you believe in Jesus's crucifixion..and you also support the view that Mohammed does not come from a prophetic lineage of any kind...Then why do you believe Mohammed was a prophet? Especially if the Gospel says that Jesus is the LAST/Seal of the prophets? John 6:27  "Do not labor for the food that is perishing, but for the food that is remaining to everlasting life, which the Son of Aḏam(Jesus) shall give you, for the Father, Elohim, has set His seal on Him(Jesus)."
John 3:33 "He who receives His witness(Jesus) has set his seal that Elohim is true."

Anyway, I look forward hearing from you. I thank you again! and may you continue to be blessed with truth!.

[Continued from above ...]

Continued from above ...

II Hadīth Fabrication for Evil Purposes

The above discusses the pious motives for Hadīth fabrication. People have been engaged in fabricating Aḥādīth for evil motives as well. Two evil motives for Hadīth fabrications are prominent; first, seeking fame and prominence, and second, introducing innovations in the religion of God.

Fabrication for Fame

This is known that in the early period of Islamic history a narrator of Aḥādīth commanded great respect. No other accomplishment was considered more respectable. The fame that could be earned by merely narrating a single Hadīth was usually unparalleled. Hadīth narration was, therefore, the most cherished engagement and a very popular vocation. People were greatly attracted to this activity. Those known to have related a Hadīth by a highly valued and rare isnād attracted even more love and respect from people. People would throng towards them and would try hard to meet them. Seekers of Aḥādīth would travel from far off places to visit such people bearing great difficulties. The roads to their hometowns grew busier. These people were respected not only by the students of prophetic Aḥādīth but also by those of the rich and the rulers who had regard for knowledge and wisdom. They too would express reverence for these persons believed to be possessed of great prophetic knowledge. They too would travel to the hometowns of these teachers of Aḥādīth despite physical hardships and financial costs. Something that popular and, hence, a source of respect and reverence attracts all kinds of people, pious and evil. Evil people are attracted towards it with a purpose to earn fame and monitory benefits. This makes it difficult for masses to differentiate between those who seek such a valued thing with purity of intention and those who seek it for mundane purposes.

The author of al-Kifāyah has an interesting story to tell us. Someone invented twelve Aḥādīth. He was a hero. 'From where did you obtain those narratives?' it was asked. The man answered: 'From someone endowed with this knowledge by the Almighty Allah.' He could not name the source. Of course, there was none. It is obvious that in his fervour to earn false fame, he went as far as to inventing Aḥādīth. A person, at this stage, tries to have a narrative related. When he fails to obtain a sound narrative, he opts for a weak. If he fails to obtain even a weak narrative, he forges one. He has to possess himself of a Hadīth by hook or by crook.

Fabrications for Innovations

It was the innovators who benefited from inventing Aḥādīth the most of all. Heretic sects which emerged in the Muslim ummah including Khawārij, Shī'ī, and Murjites6 are examples. Some of them had political motives too. This made them fabricate Aḥādīth expressive of the excellence of their beloved leaders and imāms, and condemnation of their opponents. They heaped up propaganda material for or against certain individuals. Besides, they had developed certain beliefs divorced from the teachings of Islam. When they intended to mix their heretic beliefs in the Islamic faith they had, to their service, the easiest method of Hadīth fabrication. They disseminated the fabrication in order to make the ummah accept their heresies as the part of religion. This was because they had failed to base their innovations on the Qur'ān. They, therefore, disguised in the form of a Hadīth anything they intended to introduce as part of the religion. In this manner, their heresies became popular for it was easy for the generality to accept anything however removed from religion presented in the form of a prophetic Hadīth.

These people successfully pretended that their heresies were based on the Qur'ān. This too was possible only because some of the exegetes mentioned in their commentaries baseless Aḥādīth without bothering to investigate their authenticity. The words and expressions of the Qur'ān are twisted to mean something new and baseless. The innovators could not have used the Qur'ān, had the careless exegetes not opened this door for them. For those who interpret the Qur'ān in accord with their heretic beliefs and innovations are thwarted by the Qur'ān itself. Thus, in order to make the Qur'ānic expressions say that which corroborates their beliefs they resort to esoteric interpretation of the text.

Thus, when heretics found it impossible to incorporate their innovations in religion basing it on the Qur'ān they relied on fabricating Aḥādīth to be welcomed by people. Whatever lies they invented and ascribed to the Prophet (sws) were received by the opportunists and disseminated in the public speedily.

We should not underestimate the fabrications and lies spread in this way. A huge number of fabrications have been incorporated in the Muslim literature. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the number of fabricated Aḥādīth reaches hundreds of thousands. This can be gleaned from the following reports:

Ḥammād ibn Salamah was heard saying: 'The heretics have fabricated and disseminated twelve thousand Aḥādīth.7

Ḥammād ibn Zayd narrated from Ja'far ibn Sulaymān that he heard Mahdī say that one of the heretics confessed that he had fabricated four hundred Aḥādīth which gained currency.8

If a single fabricator can invent four hundred Aḥādīth and successfully disseminate them in public, how dangerous would be the collective result of such endeavours by all the adherents of the strayed and heretic sects. Keeping this situation in perspective, we do not find it strange that Imām Bukhārī and Imām Muslim chose a few thousand narratives out of millions of aḥādīth in circulation.

The Muḥaddithūn on the Innovators

The muḥaddithūn adopted a lenient attitude in response to the efforts of the pious people to disseminate weak and fabricated narratives containing targhīb wa tarhīb. Similarly, they adopted a weak stance regarding the forgeries of the heretics. Instead of curbing the evil, their attitude encouraged it.

Imām Mālik, nevertheless, adopted a sound stance in this regard. According to him, it is prohibited to accept a Hadīth narrated by stray people who lead others into error. He adopted such an uncompromising attitude that he did not even consider it allowable to narrate a Hadīth by meaning (bi al-ma'nā) and accepted verbatim reports only. The following statement ascribed to him truly depicts his unbending attitude in this regard. He said: 'I have met seventy such persons near these pillars [in the Mosque of the Prophet (sws)] who ascribed Aḥādīth to the Prophet (sws). I have not accepted any Hadīth narrated by them. This is in spite of that some among them could be trusted as in charge of the bayt al-māl (treasury). Yet, however, they were not reliable narrators.'9 This was the principle he expressly held and faithfully followed. One may find narratives in his book that do not pass this test. In such cases, one should give him some allowance. He was working in an environment where everyone accommodated falsehood. In such situations, even a very strong person can stumble a little.

Contrarily, Imām Shāfi'ī, Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, Imām Abū Ḥanīfah and Qāḍī Abū Yūsuf adopted an untenable stance on this issue. These people invented strange and queer arguments to accommodate the narratives by the inventors. Some of them held that no body can be declared non-Muslim even if he adheres to waywardness and interprets the sources according to his whims. This leads to the conclusion, they say, that the Aḥādīth narrated by him should not be rejected. Thus, according to them, someone offering wrong interpretation of a religious text may not be condemned as a non-believer. This view is obviously weak and untenable. We know that open and clear rejection of Islam is seldom committed. Mostly people take shelter in baseless reinterpretations of the texts. That is why the Shī''ī, Khawārij, Murjites, Qadariyyah and many other sects give a particular interpretation to the texts which accords to their beliefs and personal leanings and then declare it the true form of religion which they profess and follow. We see that, even in this day, many kinds of waywardness are being adopted which are not declared and professed openly. Nor can such waywardness be considered an open rejection of the faith. Contrarily, all such transgressions are incorporated in religion through reliance on misinterpretation and reinterpretation of the source texts. Therefore, the accommodative attitude our imāms showed in response to the evil of the inventors is obviously naive. These scholars have not fully investigated and properly analyzed the possible consequences and implications of their view.

Some scholars on the other hand differentiate between the innovators who profess their adherence to the innovations they introduce and those who do not openly commit such a transgression. These scholars hold that they would not accept narratives transmitted by a person who calls other people to adopt the inventions in the religion he has introduced or which he adheres to. However, they consider it allowable to accept the Aḥādīth narrated by such a fabricator who himself adheres to heresies but does not call others to follow it. Thus, according to them, a staunch Shī'ī or Khārijī can narrate acceptable Aḥādīth, if he keeps from openly confessing his heresy and calling others to it. A little deliberation shows that this viewpoint is not understandable. For the one who adopts a belief considering it the true religion divulged by God would not narrate anything other than that which corresponds to his personal views. He would only narrate things he hears from his religious leaders. This fact alone renders the stance of the imāms untenable.

Another group of scholars held that we may only reject Aḥādīth by a specific category of religious innovators. As for other innovators, their Aḥādīth may be accepted and reported further. These scholars, therefore, accept Aḥādīth from all innovators with the only exception of a certain group called rawāfiḍ. The question, however, is who would decide which group of the innovators is to be rejected and which is to be accommodated. Who carries a meter measuring the level of heresy? I believe we may only set a concrete principle and apply it to all equally. Either all the innovators are unworthy as narrators or they are acceptable.

The lenient attitude adopted by the above mentioned three views gradually got currency. It reigned on the minds of the believers. What is worse is that even the most expert among the muḥaddithūn accepted narratives from innovators. This is why the works compiled by these muḥaddithūn contain a lot of fabrications and weak narratives. This has made it very difficult for the experts to investigate these narratives afresh and sift the fabrications from the original and the weak from the sound. Al-Khaṭīb Al-Baghdādī quoted 'Alī ibn al-Madīnī:

Had I rejected the narrators of Aḥādīth from the people of Baṣrah considering their view on the issue of qadar (predestination) and had I rejected the narrators from Kūfah doubting their adherence to shī'ism, the Hadīth works would become empty.10

In this connection, another scholar, Muḥammad ibn Na'īm al-Ḍabbī says that when he asked Abū 'Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Ya'qūb about Faḍl ibn Muḥammad al-Sha'rānī, he replied:

He is a ṣadūq.11 However, he was one of the extremist Shī'īs. It was asked: 'You have accepted his narrative and have reported it in your work 'al-Ṣaḥīḥ?' He replied: This is because the book of my teacher is replete with narratives transmitted by shī'ī narrators.12

The teacher here refers to Imām Muslim and the book of the teacher is Ṣaḥīḥ of Muslim.

Evil consequences of accepting Aḥādīth from the shī'ī narrators cannot be discussed in detail here. However, one thing must be kept in mind: those who cannot differentiate between the genuine and the fabricated swallow poison taking it to be elixir.

Conclusion

We can guard the religion only by sound knowledge. The scholars must develop understanding of the basic sources of religious knowledge in Islam, the Qur'ān and the Sunnah. The struggle to safeguard religion demands firm, sound and uncompromising faith as well as commitment to obtain true knowledge.

Aḥādīth help us know the genuine Sunnah of the Prophet (sws). The Hadīth literature is the record of the Sunnah. Muslim scholars have indeed put unparalleled efforts to preserve the prophetic knowledge. At the same time, it is also true that endeavours of evil factions to fabricate Aḥādīth have left their marks on the literature. Fabrication was done for pious as well as evil motives. The muḥaddithūn needed to show more care in closing the door for fabricators. Their weak response to fabricators' efforts made it possible for the latter to disseminate fabrications which found way into all the major Hadīth works.

Presently it is incumbent upon every such scholar as specializes in the Hadīth studies to make sure that the Hadīth he is relying on in an issue is actually the word of the Prophet (sws) and is in accord with the Qur'ānic teachings on the issue. It should not be affected by the onslaughts of the innovators.

(Translated from Mabādī Tadabbur-i Hadīth by Tariq Mahmood Hashmi)