Shaykh-ul-Islam’s historic lecture on principles of Hadith in Hyderabad Deccan, India

Four-day special lecture of Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri on the subject of the principles of Hadith concluded on March 4, 2012. The lecture was organized in City Convention Centre of Hyderabad (India) under the banner of Minhaj-ul-Quran International (India). This special lecture on such an important but highly technical subject was attended by religious scholars, speakers and students of theology, including Maulana Sayyid Kazim Pasha Qadri, Maulana Sayyid Ghous Mohi-ud-Din Qadri, Azam Shah, Maulana Qazi Sayyid Azam Ali Sufi Qadri, Maulana Habib Mausa al-Husaini, Maulana Hayatullah Qadri, Sayyid Aal-e-Rasool Qadri Husnain Shah Pasha, Dr Amin-ud-Din Owaisi, Abdul Munam Haji Seeta, Naeem Saeeta, Maulana Habib Ahmad, and other scholars.

The first session of two-day lecture on Hadith was held on March 3, 2012. The proceedings of the program got underway with the recitation from the Holy Quran followed by Naat. Muhammad Khan Qadri conducted the proceedings of the programme.

Speaking on the occasion, Maulana Sayyid Alam Mustafa Qadri al-Mausivi said that Allah Almighty ordained the believers in the Holy Quran that those who remember Him, He remembers those. He said that Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri chose the path of propagating the message of Islam in the world and as a result he has become a leading authority on Islam and renowned scholar of his times. He said that thought of Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri has been blessed by the Holy Prophet (SAW). That explains why the hordes of people feel attracted to him. He said that it was wrong to confine him to a particular area and people as he was asset of the entire humanity. He said that it was time we held him high esteem.

Address of Shaykh-ul-Islam

Continuing with his earlier lecture on Hadith he delivered on March 3, Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri continued to speak for four and half hours. He said that all jurists are agreed that it was OK to accept the ‘weak Hadith’. He said that acceptance of ‘weak hadith’ has been regarded as permissible and justified by the Islamic law except for those of Hadith in the same category which deal with issues such as infidelity (Kufr), faith, and what is allowed and what has been forbidden etc. According to Islamic law, one could benefit from the ‘weak hadith’. He said that no school of thought objected to this. He further pointed out that every Jurist on Hadith has maintained that whatever is referred to by name of ‘weak Hadith’ is not because of doubt on its text but because its chain of narration suffers from some kind of weakness or flaw. He said that various commands of the Islamic law emanate from most of ‘weak Hadith’. If one gave up ‘weak Hadith’, then one must also abandon the Islamic injunctions described by them.

Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri said that none had a monopoly on any school of thought and the people who adhere to the Sunni school of thought were being singled out for criticism owing to ignorance and short-sightedness. He said that everyone was staking a claim to being the champion of the Sunni school of thought but none had done anything concrete in this respect. He said that some people were issuing religious edicts and distributing certificates of Sunism among the people.

Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri said that he had come to spread enlightenment and light of knowledge and wanted to demolish the walls of ego-worship and misplaced faith. He said that the Muslims suffered because of lack of real knowledge about Islam and Islamic teachings when they surrendered themselves to fake religious scholars. He said that those religious edicts, which tended to divide Muslims in various sects, needed to be consigned to dustbin. He warned that efforts were afoot to confine the Sunni school of thought into a sect. He categorically stated that no Brailvi sect ever existed as Hazrat Ahmad Raza Khan Brelvi never referred to any sect by name of Brelvi in any of his books.

Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri said that out of over 1.5 million Hadith that Imam Bokhari (RA) collected, he remembered around 0.3 million Hadith by heart. Out of three hundred thousand of Hadith, he regarded one lakh as ‘sahih’ (authentic), while he branded the remaining two hundred thousands of Hadith as a kind of ‘weak Hadith’. Likewise, he collected only seven thousand Hadiths in his book Sahih Bokhari. According to Imam Bokhari, he remembered three lakh Hadith by heart, but he could not collect all of them into Sahih Bokhari.

Shaykh-ul-Islam also referred to example of Imam Ahmad Bin Humbal (RA). Imam Ahmad learnt seven lakh Hadith by heart. He collected 30 thousand Hadith in his book “Masnand Ahmad Bin Humbal”. According to him, these seven lakh Hadith are ‘sahih’ (authentic). Had he compiled all of the Hadith, it would have made 70 volumes.

Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri also cited the example of Imam Ibne Salah who was from among the founders of principles of Hadith. None of religious scholars belonging to any school of thought ever objected to any of his book on Hadith, which are taught in the educational institutions and universities of every school of thought. All Hadith scholars are of the consensus view that one could benefit from the ‘weak Hadith’. Shaykh-ul-Islam recounted hundreds of names of Hadith scholars in this regard.

Referring to Hafiz Ibne Kathir, the student of Allama Ibne Tamaya, Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri said that Ibne Kathir has written that Imam Muslim (RA) and Imam Bokhari (RA) included only selected Hadiths in their books due to space constraint. He said that it was not merely the case with Bokhari or Muslim, rather all the books of ‘Siha Sitta’ have not contained all of the Hadith. Imam Bokhari has mentioned 40 thousand Hadith narrators in his book “Tareekh-ul-Kabeer” and out of these, he regard 30 thousand narrators as authentic. Despite this, he included less than two thousand Hadith narrators in Sahih Bokhari.

Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri said that some people were trying to mislead the Muslims by saying that the authentic Hadith were contained in Sahih Bokhari only. He said that whatever was not mentioned in last 1200 years, the fake scholars of today were churning out lies and half-truths. He said that there was a need to accept ‘Siha sitta’ including Sahih Bokhari and Sahih Muslim as repository of authentic Hadith.

Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri said that many commands and injunctions of Islamic law derived their authenticity from ‘Weak Hadith’, therefore, collecting these Hadith stands established from various books of Imam Bokhari (RA). For example, to further explain his point, Shaykh-ul-Islam cited such matters as commands related to periods of women, two Eid and permissibility of donations, which emanated from the ‘weak Hadith’. He advised the religious scholars and Mashaykh to work hard on matters related to faith, jurisprudence and Hadith etc. in order to be able to serve the Muslims rightly. He said that it was important for the scholars to be acquainted with all branches of knowledge to present correct message of Islam in the world.

Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri said in his message that two-day lecture on Hadith has made history in Hyderabad Deccan, which would benefit millions of the Muslims and strengthen their faith. He said that all of their apprehensions regarding Hadith would stand removed now after the lecture. He urged those who sought to sow divisions among the Muslims and brand others as infidels through their misguided religious edicts to give up their practices and tread on the right path. He said that they should bind the entire world in a bond of love and peace.

On the conclusion of the second session, Shaykh-ul-Islam issued various ‘Asaaneed-e-Hadith’. The programme ended on special dua.