Qur’an, Torah and Gospel (Hadith No. 2348)

Bismillah.

Volume 3, Book 48, Number 850 :
Narrated by Ubaidullah bin Abdullah bin Utba
Ibn Abbas (radiallaahu `anhu) said, “O Muslims? How do you ask the people of the Scriptures, though your Book (i.e. the Quran) which was revealed to His Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) is the most recent information from Allah and you recite it, the Book that has not been distorted? Allah has revealed to you that the people of the scriptures have changed with their own hands what was revealed to them and they have said (as regards their changed Scriptures): This is from Allah, in order to get some worldly benefit thereby.” Ibn Abbas (radiallaahu `anhu) added: “Isn’t the knowledge revealed to you sufficient to prevent you from asking them? By Allah I have never seen any one of them asking (Muslims) about what has been revealed to you.”

Do we believe in the “Holy Books” present today?

We Muslims do not believe that there is any contradiction between the Holy Qur’an and the original Torah and Gospel, because we believe that they are all divinely revealed books that were sent down from Allah, may He be glorified. Thus they came from the same source, and as that is the case there cannot be any contradiction or conflict between them, as Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Do they not then consider the Quran carefully? Had it been from other than Allah, they would surely have found therein much contradictions”

[an-Nisa’ 4:82].

Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, describes the Holy Qur’an as “confirming” the Books that came before it, and that which confirms something cannot contradict or conflict with it. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“It is He Who has sent down the Book (the Quran) to you (Muhammad SAW) with truth, confirming what came before it. And he sent down the Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel).

Aforetime, as a guidance to mankind, And He sent down the criterion (of judgement between right and wrong (this Quran)).”

[Aal ‘Imraan 3:3-4]

“And We have sent down to you (O Muhammad SAW) the Book (this Quran) in truth, confirming the Scripture that came before it and Mohayminan (trustworthy in highness and a witness) over it (old Scriptures)”

[al-Maa’idah 5:48].

As for what we see nowadays of contradictions in the copies of the Torah and Gospel that are extant today, the reason for that is clear and obvious. It is because these two Books have fallen prey to distortion and alteration, with things being taken away, added and changed. That is in addition to the fact that the sources and manuscripts that have come down to us today cannot be trusted. This is what explains any differences that researchers or students find between these two Books and the Holy Qur’an which has been transmitted to us in a mutawaatir fashion (i.e., narrated by so many from so many that it is inconceivable that they could all have agreed upon a lie), as is attested by both believers and nonbelievers.

Can we read them?

Reading these distorted books is not permissible, except for one who has enough Islamic knowledge to be able to distinguish between truth and falsehood in them, and who reads them with the aim of refuting their followers and convincing them that what is in these books is falsehood.

Hence the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) got angry when he saw a book in the hand of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) that he had taken from some of the People of the Book. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Are you in doubt of it, O son of al-Khattab? By the One in Whose hand is my soul, I have brought to you that which is white and pure, and by the One in Whose hand is my soul, if Musa ((peace be upon him) were alive, he could do nothing but follow me.” [Imam Ahmad].

Allah has told us that these people are plotting and that they will do all that they can to take the Muslims away from their religion. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And they will never cease fighting you until they turn you back from your religion (Islamic Monotheism) if they can.” [2:217]

Shaykh al-S’adi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

Allah tells us that they will never stop fighting the believers, and that their aim is not to steal their wealth or kill them; rather their aim is to turn them back from their religion so that they will become disbelievers after having believed, and so that they will be doomed to Hell. So they are doing all that they can to achieve this and striving as hard as they can, but Allah will not allow except that His Light should be perfected even though the Kafirun (disbelievers) hate (it) [9:32].

This description is general and applies to all the disbelievers. They will not cease to fight others until they turn them back from their religion, especially the People of the Book, the Jews and Christians, who set up organizations and send missionaries and doctors, and build schools in order to attract people to their religion and to introduce to them whatever they can of specious arguments which will make them doubt their religion.

But hope comes from Allah Who has blessed the believers with Islam and has chosen for them His true religion, and has perfected His religion for them, and has completed His blessings upon them, and has thwarted everyone who wants to extinguish His light, caused their plans to fail, supported His religion and made His word supreme.

This verse speaks the truth about these disbelievers as it speaks the truth about those who came before them (interpretation of the meaning): “Verily, those who disbelieve spend their wealth to hinder (men) from the path of Allah, and so will they continue to spend it; but in the end it will become an anguish for them. Then they will be overcome. And those who disbelieve will be gathered unto Hell.” [8:36] End quote. Tafsir al-S’adi.

Taken from IslamQA, and this.

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Literature [Contd. 2]

السلام علیکم ورحمته اللہ وبرکاته

بسم اللہ الرحمن الرحیم

Sihah Sittah – صحاح سته

The six major ( الكتب السته; Al-Kutub Al-Sittah‎) are the collection of hadeeth by different Islamic scholars (May Allaah be pleased with them). They are sometimes referred to as Al-Sihah al-Sittah, الصحیه السته  “The Authentic Six”.

The names of books and authors are:

Name of the Book	In Arabic..	Compiled By
Sahih al-Bkhari	صحیح البخاری	Imam Muhammad al-Bukhari
Sahih Muslim	صحیح مسلم	Imam Muslim
Sunan Nisai	سنن نسائی	Imam Ahmad an-Nasai
Sunan Abu Daud	سنن أبی داؤد	Imam Abu Daud
Sunan Tirmizi	سنن ترمذی	Imam Muhammad Tirmizi
Sunan Ibn-e-Maja	سنن ابن ماجه	Imaam Ibn Maajah

There follow brief details about each of them.

1. Imam al-Bukhaari 

His full name was Abu ‘Abd-Allaah Muhammad ibn Ismaa’eel ibn Ibraaheem ibn al-Mugheerah ibn Bardizbah al-Ja’fi al-Bukhaari. His grandfather al-Mugheerah was a freed slave of al-Yamaan al-Ja’fi, the governor of Bukhaarah, so he took his name after he became Muslim. Imam al-Bukhaari was born in Bukhaara in 194 AH. He grew up an orphan and started to memorize ahaadeeth before he was ten years old. When he was a young man he set out to travel to Makkah and perform the obligation of Hajj. He stayed in Makkah for a while, studying under the imams of fiqh, usool and hadeeth. Then he began to travel around, going from one Islamic region to another, for sixteen years in all. He visited many centers of knowledge where he collected ahaadeeth of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) until he had compiled more than 600,000 ahaadeeth. He referred to one thousand scholars of hadeeth and discussed these reports with them. These scholars were people who were known for their sincerity, piety and sound belief. From this huge number of ahaadeeth he compiled his book Al-Saheeh Bukhari, following the most precise scientific guidelines in his research as to their authenticity and in distinguishing the saheeh (sound) from the weak, and in finding out about the narrators, until he recorded in his book the most sound of the sound, although it does not contain all the saheeh ahaadeeth. The book’s full title is “Al-Jaami’ al-Saheeh al-Musnad min Hadeeth Rasool-Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) wa Sunanihi wa Ayaamihi”

The governor of Bukhaara wanted al-Bukhaari to come to his house to teach his children and read ahaadeeth to them. But al-Bukhaari refused and wrote to him: “Knowledge is to be sought in its own house,” meaning that knowledge is to be sought not summoned. Whoever wanted to learn from the scholars should go to them in the mosque or in their houses. So the governor bore a grudge against him and ordered that he be expelled from Bukhaara. So he went to the village of Khartank which is near Samarqand, where he had relatives, and he settled there until he died in 256 AH at the age of 62. May Allaah have mercy upon him.

2. Imam Muslim 

His full name was Muslim ibn al-Hajjaaj ibn Muslim al-Qushayri al-Nisapoori Abu’l-Husayn. He is one of the leading scholars of hadeeth and one of the most knowledgeable. He was born in Nisapoor on the day that Imam al-Shaafa’i died in 204 AH. He studied in Nisapoor, and when he grew up he traveled to Iraq and the Hijaaz to learn hadeeth. He heard ahaadeeth from many shaykhs, and many scholars of hadeeth narrated from him. The most famous of his books is his Saheeh which is known as Saheeh Muslim. This is one of the six reliable books of hadeeth. He spent nearly fifteen years compiling this book, which is second only to Saheeh al-Bukhaari in status and in the strength of its ahaadeeth. Many scholars have written commentaries on his Saheeh.

His books also include Kitaab al-Tabaqaat, Kitaab al-Jaami’ and Kitaab al-Asma’, and others which exist in printed and manuscript form. He died in the city of Nasarabad, near Nisapoor, in 261 AH, at the age of 57. May Allaah have mercy on him.

3. Imam Abu Dawood 

His full name was Sulaymaan ibn al-Ash’ath ibn Shaddaad ibn ‘Amr ibn Ishaaq ibn Basheer al-Azdi al-Sajistani, from Sajistan. Abu Dawood was the leading hadeeth scholar of his age. He is the author of Al-Sunan, which is one of the six reliable books of hadeeth. He was born in 202 AH. He traveled to Baghdad where he met Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal and stayed with him; he also looked like him.  He also traveled to the Hijaz, Iraq, Khurasaan, Syria, Egypt and the borders of the Islamic world. Al-Nasaa’i, al-Tirmidhi and others narrated hadeeth from him. He attained the highest degree of piety and righteousness. His book al-Sunan includes more than 5300 ahaadeeth.

The caliph Abu Ahmad Talhah (al-Muwaffaq al-‘Abbaasi) asked three things of him:

the first was that he should move to Basrah and settle there, so that seekers of knowledge could come to him, thus bringing more people to settle there. The second was that he should teach  Al-Sunan to his children. The third was that he should give exclusive classes to his children, for the children of the caliph should not sit with the common people. Abu Dawood said to him: As for the first, yes; as for the second, yes; as for the third, no way, because all people are equal when it comes to knowledge. So the sons of al-Muwaffaq al-‘Abbaasi used to attend his lessons, and they would sit with a screen between them and the people. He remained in Basrah until he died in 275 AH. May Allaah have mercy on him.

4. Imam al-Tirmidhi

His full name was Muhammad ibn ‘Eesa ibn Soorah ibn Moosa ibn al-Dahhaak al-Salami al-Tirmidhi, Abu Eesa. He came from Tirmidh, once of the cities of Transoxiana, after which he was named. He was one of the leading scholars of hadeeth and memorization of hadeeth. He was born in 209 AH and studied under al-Bukhaari; they had some of the same teachers. He began to seek ahaadeeth by travelling to Khurasaan, Iraq and the Hijaz. He became famous for his memorization of hadeeth, trustworthiness and knowledge.  His shaykhs included Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Abu Dawood al-Sajistani. He compiled Al-Jaami’ which is counted as one of the six reliable books of hadeeth. In this book he examined the ahaadeeth in detail, which is of benefit to students of fiqh, because he mentions the ahaadeeth and most of his ahaadeeth deal with rulings of fiqh. He mentions the isnaads and lists the Sahaabah who narrated the hadeeth, so what he believes is saheeh he says is saheeh, and what he believes is da’eef he says is da’eef. He explains who among the fuqaha’ accepted the hadeeth and who did not. His Jaami’ is the most comprehensive of the books of Al-Sunan, and is the most useful to the muhaddith (hadeeth scholar) and faqeeh. His other works include Kitaab al-Shamaa’il al-Nabawiyyah and Al-‘Ilal fi’l-Hadeeth. He was blind for the latter part of his life, after he had travelled around and compiled saheeh reports from prominent and well-versed scholars. He died in 279 AH at the age of 70. May Allaah have mercy on him.

5. Imam al-Nasaa’i 

His full name was Ahmad ibn Shu’ayb ibn ‘Ali ibn Sinaan ibn Bahr ibn Dinar al-Nasaa’i, Abu ‘Abd al-Rahmaan. He came from the city of Nasa in Khurasaan, after which he was named (Nasawi or Nasaa’i). He was born in 215 AH, and he was one of the leading scholars and muhaddiths of his time. His comments on Al-jarh wa’l-ta’deel (the study of the soundness or otherwise of narrators of hadeeth) are highly esteemed by the scholars.

Al-Haakim said: I heard Abu’l-Hasan al-Daaraqutni say more than once, “Abu ‘Abd al-Rahmaan is the foremost among all scholars of hadeeth, and he is the best evaluator of narrators of his time.” 

He was extremely pious and righteous, and he used to regularly observe the best kind of fasting (the fasting of Dawood), he used to fast on alternate days. He lived in Egypt, where his books became famous and people learned from him. Then he moved to Damascus, where he died on Monday 13 Safar 300 AH, at the age of 85. May Allaah have mercy on him.

6. Imam Ibn Maajah 

His full name was Muhammad ibn Yazeed al-Rab’i al-Qazwayni, Abu ‘Abd-Allaah. His father Yazeed was known as Maajah, so he was known as Ibn Maajah. The name al-Rab’i refers to Rabee’ah, after whom he was named because his father was a freed slave of Rabee’ah . He was a famous hafiz and the author of the book of hadeeth called Al-Sunan. He was born in Qazwayn, after which he was named, in 209 AH. He travelled to Iraq, Basrah, Kufa, Baghdad, Makkah, Syria, Egypt and al-Rai to write down hadeeth. He wrote three books during his travels: a book on Tafseer; a book on History, in which he compiled the reports of men who had written down reports of the Sunnah from the time of the Sahaabah until his own time; and his book Al-Sunan. Ibn Maajah died on Monday 22 Ramadaan 273 AH, at the age of 64. May Allaah have mercy on him.

Ruling on the Ahaadeeth in these books:

With regard to Saheeh al-Bukhaari and Saheeh Muslim, the ummah accepts the ahaadeeth that are contained in these books, and they are agreed that everything in them is saheeh apart from a very few phrases which al-Bukhaari and Muslim narrated in order to explain why they are not sound, either explicitly or implicitly, as the scholars who wrote commentaries on these two books, such as Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him), have explained. With regard to the other books of Sunan, they are not free of some da’eef (weak) ahaadeeth here and there. Some of them are noted as such by the authors themselves, and others have been pointed out by other scholars. They did not point out all the weak ahaadeeth, because they narrated the ahaadeeth with their isnaads, so it is easy for the scholars to tell the saheeh ahaadeeth from the da’eef by checking the chain of narrators and knowing who is reliable and who is weak.

Among the famous scholars in this field were Ahmad, al-Daraqutni, Yahya ibn Ma’een, Ibn Hajar, al-Dhahabi, al-Waaqi and al-Sakhaawi. Among the contemporary scholars in this field are al-Albaani, Ahmad Shaakir and others. May Allaah have mercy on them all.

And Allaah knows best.

Taken from:
Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid

Sanctuary

A book is a sedative,

Putting my troubled mind to sleep.

It takes me right out of chaos,

To another world, so blissfully deep

A book is a haven,

From the stormy seas of contention,

Where my vessel of emotions can wait,

Till sunshine breaks through the clouds of tension.

A book is a secret door,

To a world of tremendous knowledge and beauty,

Where the mind can live and grow and flourish,

Till dragged back by the collar, to duty!

A book is my best friend,

Who in moments of agony holds my hand.

A source of comfort and bittersweet joy;

My stout shield in a cruel and merciless land.