Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (2/602)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

then what about the rampant practice in our own time of multiplying the narration of oddities and objectionable reports, when the chains of transmission have grown lengthy and slips and errors abound? It is only fitting that we rebuke such people. If only they would confine themselves to reporting what is merely singular or weak; instead—by Allah—they circulate outright forgeries, fabrications, and impossibilities touching upon fundamentals, subsidiary rulings, apocalyptic matters, and ascetic teachings. We ask Allah for well-being.

Whoever conveys such material while knowing it to be false and thereby misleads the believers has wronged his own soul and transgressed against the Sunnah and its traditions. He must be summoned to repent: if he returns and desists, all is well; otherwise he is a flagrant sinner. It is sin enough for a man to relate everything he hears. If he is unsure, let him exercise scrupulous caution and seek the help of someone who can assist him in purifying his narrations (1). We ask Allah for protection. Calamity has become widespread, heedlessness has enveloped the people, and intruders have insinuated themselves among the hadith scholars upon whom the Muslims rely; little wonder, then, that jurists and theologians are not reproached.

Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Dhuhli said: Muhammad ibn ʿIsa narrated to us; Yazid ibn Yusuf informed us, from Salih ibn Abi al-Akhdar, from al-Zuhri, from Abu Salamah, from Abu Hurayrah, who said:

“We could not dare to say, ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said…’ until ʿUmar had passed away—"

(1) The leading hadith scholar of Greater Syria in his time, the erudite Shaykh Badr al-Din al-Hasani—may Allah be pleased with him—stated, as cited by the scholar Shaykh Mahmud Yasin in the periodical al-Hidaya al-Islamiyya, 8/264: “It is not permissible to attribute a hadith to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ unless a recognised hafiz (hadith master) has explicitly ruled that the report is sound. Whoever says, ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said…,’ without knowing its authenticity on the authority of one of the huffaz, risks falling under the Prophet’s warning: ‘Whoever knowingly attributes to me what I did not say, let him take his seat in the Fire.’ Preachers, writers, teachers, and public speakers must therefore refrain from ascribing a hadith to the Prophet ﷺ unless they are certain of its soundness as approved by a well-known hadith master. If they lack such certainty, they should mention the report while identifying the book from which they took it—such as al-Tirmidhi or al-Nasa i—thereby discharging their responsibility. As for those who rely on works with no scholarly standing among the experts of noble hadith—like many of the popular books on ethics and exhortation currently in circulation—merely citing those works is insufficient, and the reader will not be absolved of blame.”}

ظَنُّكَ بِالإِكْثَارِ مِنْ رِوَايَةِ الغَرَائِبِ وَالمَنَاكِيْرِ فِي زَمَانِنَا، مَعَ طُوْلِ الأَسَانِيْدِ، وَكَثْرَةِ الوَهْمِ وَالغَلَطِ، فَبِالحَرِيِّ أَنْ نَزْجُرَ القَوْمَ عَنْهُ، فَيَا لَيْتَهُمْ يَقْتَصِرُوْنَ عَلَى رِوَايَةِ الغَرِيْبِ وَالضَعِيْفِ، بَلْ يَرْوُوْنَ -وَاللهِ- المَوْضُوْعَاتِ، وَالأَبَاطِيْلَ، وَالمُسْتَحِيْلَ فِي الأُصُوْلِ وَالفُرُوْعِ وَالمَلاَحِمِ وَالزُّهْدِ - نَسْأَلُ اللهَ العَافِيَةَ -. فَمَنْ رَوَى ذَلِكَ مَعَ عِلْمِهِ بِبُطْلاَنِهِ، وَغَرَّ المُؤْمِنِيْنَ، فَهَذَا ظَالِمٌ لِنَفْسِهِ، جَانٍ عَلَى السُّنَنِ وَالآثَارِ، يُسْتَتَابُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ، فَإِنْ أَنَابَ وَأَقْصَرَ، وَإِلاَّ فَهُوَ فَاسِقٌ، كَفَى بِهِ إِثْماً أَنْ يُحَدِّثَ بِكُلِّ مَا سَمِعَ، وَإِنْ هُوَ لَمْ يَعْلَمْ فَلْيَتَوَرَّعْ، وَلْيَسْتَعِنْ بِمَنْ يُعِيْنُهُ عَلَى تَنْقِيَةِ مَرْوِيَّاتِهِ (١) - نَسْأَلُ اللهَ العَافِيَةَ - فَلَقَدْ عَمَّ البَلاَءُ، وَشَمَلَتِ الغَفْلَةُ، وَدَخَلَ الدَّاخِلُ عَلَى المُحَدِّثِيْنَ الَّذِيْنَ يَرْكَنُ إِلَيْهِمُ المُسْلِمُوْنَ، فَلاَ عُتْبَى عَلَى الفُقَهَاءِ، وَأَهْلِ الكَلاَمِ. قَالَ مُحَمَّدُ بنُ يَحْيَى الذُّهْلِيُّ: حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بنُ عِيْسَى، أَخْبَرَنَا يَزِيْدُ بنُ يُوْسُفَ، عَنْ صَالِحِ بنِ أَبِي الأَخْضَرِ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ، عَنْ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ: مَا كُنَّا نَسْتَطِيْعُ أَنْ نَقُوْلَ: قَالَ رَسُوْلُ اللهِ ﷺ حَتَّى قُبِضَ عُمَرُ -

(١) قال محدث الديار الشامية في عصره العلامة الشيخ بدر الدين الحسني ﵀ ورضي عنه فيما نقله عنه الشيخ العلامة محمود ياسين في مجلة الهداية الإسلامية ٨ / ٢٦٤: لا يجوز إسناد حديث لرسول الله ﷺ إلا إذا نص على صحة هذا الحديث حافظ من الحفاظ المعروفين، فمن قال: قال رسول الله ﷺ، وهو لا يعلم صحة ذلك من طريق أحد الحفاظ يوشك أن يصدق عليه حديث: " من قال علي ما لم أقل، فليتبوأ مقعده من النار "، فليحذر الخطباء والكتاب والمدرسون والوعاظ من إسناد حديث إلى رسول الله ﷺ ما لم يعلموا صحته من طريق حافظ مشهور من حفاظ الحديث، وعليهم إذا لم يعلموا ذلك أن يذكروا الحديث معزوا إلى الكتاب الذي نقلوا منه، كالترمذي، والنسائي مثلا، وبذلك يخرجون من العهدة، أما الذين يحملون بأيديهم الكتب التي لا قيمة لها عند علماء الحديث الشريف ككثير من كتب الأخلاق والوعظ المنتشرة بالأيدي، فلا يكفي عزو الحديث إليها، ولا يخرج القارئ من الوزر.