Hatem al-Haj – AM001 Al-Adab Al-Mufrad – Introduction
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
So this is the 2nd session, and,
like we did in the past, the first
session was on. The second session was on
last time, it was it's all tizkhar,
but tizkhar has 3 parts.
1 of it is,
what people would what people would translate as
spirituality.
In Arabic, that would be
or.
Alright.
The second is ethics or morality.
That's.
And the third is al adab or etiquettes.
So al akhlaq would be ethics, morality, or
character.
Al adab would be, ethic,
etiquettes.
And they are certainly related, as we will
see.
So last time,
we had stations of travelers.
That would be under spirituality,
I believe.
Although, it didn't it
does include character because you can't really separate
between the 3. You can't have hard
lines separating
spirituality,
morality,
and etiquettes.
In what?
But this time, inshallah, we will,
we have,
chosen
to go over
an important book
on adab or ebbukits.
As I said,
it's it will entail
a lot of discussion on al akhla,
which is the,
inner state
of being or
character.
Question?
Why did I choose this
particular subject?
And why do I have emphasis on tiskea?
Because,
last time, it was Sheikh and tiskea. This
time, it was.
Why should there be emphasis on tiskea,
also known as the.
Here here's here's the problem.
The problem that we have
in these times
is that
as a Muslim minority,
and
this is basically
my milieu.
I preach. I teach. I live
in a country where Muslims live as a
minority,
so I have to be sensitive to this
fact.
As a Muslim minority,
we are
predisposed
to identitarian
religiosity.
We are predisposed to identitarian
religiosity.
It's it's part of self defense.
It
it is part of self confirmation.
It is part of saying, you know,
this is my religion. This is my group,
and a part of a reaction
to, sometimes
a wider society,
even if the wider society,
most of the time,
you're not encountering,
you're not encountering
much hardship from the larger society, particularly,
here.
But Muslim minorities in general, minorities in general,
they would need
to basically develop
mechanisms
by which they maintain
their identity and their integrity.
And oftentimes, that
leads to
a type of religiosity
that
is stifled,
spiritually and morally,
that is challenged,
spiritually and morally. Identity and religiosity
is very challenged.
You know, how faith develops,
You know, children have faith through association,
and then faith there is faith through persuasion,
and then there is faith
through realization.
When you realize your phase, that's experiential
phase.
That's a phase that you can taste, that
you can find the fruits of in your
heart,
in your
conduct,
in your relationship with Allah, in your relationship
with your surroundings,
in your inner peace, in your contentment,
faith through realization.
But faith starts by association.
So don't tell me that a 4 year
old
is well versed in the difference between
the trinity and the onenity or the unity,
and can make an argument
in defense of,
onenity,
or in defense of the Islamic value system,
Islamic morality, etcetera.
So a 4 year old is likely
Muslim,
or if you ask them, are you Muslim,
they'll still tell you, yes. 6 year old
also, they'll tell you the same thing.
That's through association.
Muslims are my people.
Islam is my religion.
It's faith by association.
And then when you start to become,
you you have concrete
thinking and then when you concrete operation thinking
and then,
abstract operation thinking when you become more operational
in your thought process,
you start to develop faith by persuasion,
faith through
persuasion, conviction.
This is an intellectual
persuasion.
So you become Muslim because you
do actually
find,
oneity
superior to,
trinity.
You do
find the beauty in the Islamic
system of laws
and the Islamic
value system in general.
So
then if we if we stop at our
identitarian
religiosity and,
keep in mind, don't misunderstand
me.
I, you know, I have 4 children. I
wanted my children to identify
as Muslims. I wanted my children to be
comfortable in their Muslim skin,
which which is, you know, it's a colorless
skin, but it is
it is a Muslim skin, you know, Muslim
skin. So I wanted to be I wanted
them to have pride in their,
Muslimness,
but at the same time,
which is good, Islam makes
up much of
our core identity
as Muslims.
So I am not rejecting
identifying as Muslims. I am not rejecting the
identitarian
religiosity,
in totality.
I am just saying
that it is insufficient.
It is insufficient.
You do need to have conviction. You need
to have persuasion,
and you need to realize your faith. You
need to experience your faith. You need to
taste your faith. You need to have
and which is tasting,
your face. The sweetness of face that the
prophet
talked about
will not be will not be experienced by,
those who just
identify as Muslims. And they are comfortable in
their Muslimness
as an as as like
another group.
It's basically identitarian religiosity is another form of
tribalism,
if it is devoid of the spiritual and
the moral aspects of religiosity.
If it is devoid of the spiritual and
moral aspects,
it's simply another form of tribalism.
It all goes back to egotism
because you are defending your religion
because it's yours,
not because,
not because it's God's religion,
because it is your religion.
And that's why most of the time, we
are defending
our religion because it's ours, not because it's
God's,
not because it is superior,
has a moral value system,
but because it is,
it is ours.
Yeah.
So
Like, Nash? If there's anyone on the Wi
Fi, can you please,
get off the Wi Fi because it's affecting
the stream.
It's causing the stream to drop. A lot
of people are not able to watch back
home. So if you're connected to the Wi
Fi, can you just please
disconnect or forget the network so that it's
not affecting the stream?
Mhmm. You're helping her? It's ready?
Was that
Okay.
What I wanted to say is some of
you may be converts.
You're not immune to this.
When you convert,
you have chosen this group. You have chosen
Islam,
and most of the time, you have chosen
Islam for a good reason.
When you chose Islam, you had a good
reason.
But then can you fall in the same
trap?
Yes.
You know, you could basically, afterwards,
identify
with this group, with this religion,
and it becomes identitarian religiosity.
If you are not aware
of the parents of identitarian religiosity and you
don't try to grow your spirituality,
your morality,
your love for Allah and his messenger,
your, basically,
commitment your religious commitment to the value system
of Islam,
internally
and externally.
You you are not immune to this. If
you're in a conference because many times, Converse
think
I can simply never
have an identity identity and religiosity.
I have
basically sacrificed. I have,
sacrificed my family, my career, my this, my
that
for Islam. How could I have? How could
I basically
regress into identity and religiosity? People can regress.
People can regress if you're not
basically actively working to enhance, promote,
your faith and your spirituality,
you can regress.
Yes, sir.
So having said that, you know, there there
is a need
for us,
particularly as a minority,
to focus
on the scale.
The scale
has
those 3 different
elements
to it, and we started last time by
spirituality
because this is
the basic foundation for anything else, for everything
else.
It is basically
your
inner state
as it pertains to your relationship with Allah
You know, stations like
Tawakkul, Reliance,
or Tawwid,
delegation,
or Yaqaba, Wakefulness,
all of these stations that we have
discussed in,
Munazar al Saladin
are essential
as a foundation
to build on then
your,
basically, ethical value
the ethical system
or your value system,
or your akhlaq.
And your akhlaq will manifest as your adab,
your etiquette,
or,
etiquettes.
And and let me tell you that,
the, you know, spirituality how to translate spirituality?
Korob? Near
Yeah. It could it could sir it's certainly
yeah. But so so usually, we this would
be called the
and,
we could say,
but I can put it.
So
is
not,
is not a bad word.
Some people are sensitive to the word the
rabhanayah.
It's not a bad it's a it's a
good word,
and it has been used by our righteous
predecessors as well. Do you remember when we
talked in Banaz al Saharin about this meeting
that had happened between Muhayb ibn Nuwad and
Yusuf ibn Asbod and Sofia Niztawri,
When,
Yousef Ab Nasbadd,
Sofiane Saori said,
I did I used to not like
I used to not like sudden death,
but now
I used to not like sudden death, but
now
I wish I were dead.
That's a few minutes already.
So, Joseph Nasvat
said to him, why?
He said, because I fear from.
You know, there were hardships, you know, the
political unrest, the hardships fitan,
happening,
during their time. So he wanted to die
to save himself from fitna,
from,
to the the trials and and to meet
his lord in the state of,
iman.
And,
Yusuf Nasrabad said to him, but as for
me, I don't mind living longer.
So he Sofia said to him, why do
you hate death? Why do you dislike death?
And as Rasbal said, maybe
I will,
basically,
find
an opportunity
to repent. Maybe if I live longer,
I will find an opportunity
to repent to Allah
and to do better?
Then
so that was the the discussion between Subhiana
Sahuri and Yisrael Nasfat.
Waibat Nawar
didn't say anything,
so they looked at him, and they said,
it's all about you.
He said,
So he said,
what is more beloved to him is more
beloved to me.
So what I you know, I I don't
mind dying. I don't mind living. I I
don't mind anything. So we discussed this when
we thought when we discussed the station of
what? Tafwid
delegation. Tafwid
or delegation.
What's more beloved to him is more beloved,
to me.
Ken? And then Sofiane Saohiri,
stood up
and kissed the white blood on his forehead
and said,
So the the word is
has been used.
So or,
spirituality
is,
certainly,
the basis for
and adab. The basis for and
It is about your inner state as it
pertains to Allah, your relationship
with Allah.
Hflak also is about your relationship with Allah.
It's about your your
character
as it pertains
to Allah. But the foundation for all of
this is or,
the spiritual stations,
that we talked about before.
And ahuaz
that we talked about,
before.
So now you move from spirituality
to character. Al Afla,
character
or,
ethics.
Could usually be translated as
ethics.
And,
you know, certainly, that's an integral part of
Islam, but the first 1 to write on
akhlaq
separately,
and comprehensively
was,
who died in 412
after Hijra, Ibn Miskaway.
So the definition of akhlaq, and I'll read
some of this because it is important to
that we,
we don't
change the definition they gave.
So they they said,
whenever they talk about definitions and we didn't
get to the definition of aqaad al shakayyah,
but next time we'll get to it. Whenever
they talk about definitions, they talk about
the the,
the linguistic definition first, and then
the,
the terminology of the definition. So I'll read
this because it is important that we get
it right.
When it comes to the linguistic definition for
akhlaq,
they said,
Okay.
So the translation for this. The word ethics
or akhlaq is the plural of ethic or,
which refers to the character and nature of
a person as they were created.
It's the inner image. You have an inner
image, and you have an outer image.
Your outer image is your.
Your inner image is your.
That's the difference between falq and. It's the
outer image. It's the inner image.
So he says that plural of ethic,
khulok, which refers to the character and nature
of a person as they were created. The
manzur
said, khulok,
with a damma on the land and with
sukoon,
or
or to the or the Matein,
is nature and the disposition.
Its true essence is that the error
It's
Yeah. So it's it's either.
He says it is its true essence is
that the inner image of a person, which
is their soul attributes and inherent qualities, qualities
is akin to the outward form and attributes
perceived by sight.
So 1 is perceived by eyesight, 1 is
perceived
by insight.
So
I can perceive your
by my eyesight and your by
my insight.
The author of the Khamuz adds, Khuluq with
a damma and with 2 dammas means disposition,
nature,
and
religion.
Harra'atib
said, khuluq, and halq,
were
originally
1, like drinking, you know, you know,
like sharban shar.
But was specified,
for the forms
and shapes perceived by the by eyesight
while
was I'm sorry
was specified,
for the forms and shapes perceived by eyesight
while
was specified
for the powers and dispositions and qualities perceived
by
insight.
That's the linguistic definition.
In the terminological
definition, and I will give you Bemini's Kawaii,
but certainly there are other definitions,
after Ibn Khosai.
Al Jurjani, for instance, says,
So, he said,
which means established,
state
in the soul.
A
A translation.
So
he defined,
in his book
or refinement of character refinement of character Explode.
As,
a state of the soul that prompts
it prompts it prompts
to perform
its actions without thought or deliberation.
Like a kind person
seeing a thirsty dog
will not think about it.
A kind person seeing a thirsty dog will
not think about it, will not deliberate,
will not think,
will find
water for the dog.
So
perform,
its actions without thought or deliberation.
This state is divided into 2 parts. Some
of it is natural from the origin of
temperament,
such as a person who is easily moved
to anger by the slightest thing,
becomes agitated by the smallest cause,
or a person who is easily frightened by
the slightest sound that reaches their ears, or
who is alarmed by news that any news
they hear,
or who laughs excessively
at the slightest thing that pleases them,
or who becomes deeply saddened by the smallest
thing that happens to them.
So this you know, people
some people have this tendency.
It's a pre it's it's a predisposition
or a disposition or, you know, personal
disposition or inclination or tendency.
He says Thank you for the And this
this is the important part now because
our prophet
taught us that
we can change.
Knowledge is by
Pursuing knowledge, seeking knowledge, learning, you know.
Is forbearance,
the hardest
character to change.
Angry people
would relate.
People who are prone to anger would relate
to this. The hardest character to change or
the hardest quality to acquire,
forbearance,
The prophet said, you know,
because all people recognize that
can be attained through learning.
But people argue about
being attained through practice.
So the prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam wanted
to say to them, as you recognize that
can be attained through learning,
also recognize
that
can be attained through practice.
So this is the important part
in, the definition that Ibn U. S. Qayhi
mentions. The other
part, he says, is acquired through habit and
training,
habit and training,
which may initially come from thought and the
deliberation.
So is
when you
don't they say fake it until you make
it?
Interesting. So
sometimes you need, basically
like, you're you're you're not a forbearing person,
but you need to remind yourself, no. I
I will be able to handle this, you
know, and you control yourself. And it takes
a lot of deliberation and a lot of
effort.
This is the 2nd time, 3rd time, 10th
time,
100th time,
then it becomes
a habit, a second nature.
Then
you're not triggered by every,
slight by the slightest thing,
and you're not easily,
agitated.
So he says that,
which may initially come from salat and deliberation
is and and, certainly, if you do it
for the sake of Allah,
2 things will happen. You will be rewarded,
and it will be facilitated
for you. You'll be rewarded,
and it will be made easy for you.
Some people can do this for different reasons.
Some people can do this for different reasons.
But the people who do this for the
sake of Allah
will get rewarded
and will have their paths facilitated for them
to improve and to refine
their, character.
Then he said, then gradually becomes a natural
disposition
and a a personal characteristic.
So,
now what is the difference between aflak and
adab?
And and many times when people write,
they don't basically separate them because
they are
intertwined.
Are
intertwined.
However,
there are differences.
So
when when we see someone given a lot
of sadaqah and a lot of, or
gifts,
that person
is
generous.
Right?
So generosity is the character,
and the the adab the the adab is
giving. You know?
When you see someone
lowering their gaze, that points to
chastity as a character.
When you see someone being nice, kind, and
humble,
while talking to people,
that points to humidity
as a character, like
their inner image,
the inner state of being.
However,
can there be
separation at times between haluk and adab?
Yes.
Adab could always be faked.
Holuk is the inner image. It's your, it's
your inner image.
Someone
can be as a strategy,
tactic.
You know? He he found that
that works.
You know, at work, for instance, if you're
nice to people,
you get ahead.
If you're not nice,
you,
you suffer the complications of that.
So
your niceness
is not
basically
a natural
progression from,
an inner state of being, or it's not
like
it's not
it's not naturally flowing from
that
spring inside.
It is actually a calculated,
practice
or strategy
that
you acquire
or that you adhere
to because it's helpful
because it's helpful.
So, certainly,
what we want to do
That that's awesome.
What's eudaimonia?
It's the final equilibrium, the ultimate balance. It's
the happy life that is
based in
balance.
So fulfillment
of your potential and and Akhlaq
will get you there,
will will get you to that
point where you have fulfilled,
your potential in life.
Because our prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, said
it clearly.
I have been commissioned or sent
to fulfill,
you
know,
good
good good character, good manners,
you know, akhlaq.
Shmakadem alkhlaq, noble,
character.
And
so
so if if this
you know, if has
this much importance
in,
in our dean,
then we should certainly
pay attention
to Aflac
and adab
and make sure
that our adab is coming from the right
place.
It's coming from
the right adab,
You know, not just strategy or tactic.
And make sure that our akhlaq
are also coming from right the right place.
The foundation is spirituality,
the stations that we talked about,
when we talked about Manazul Rasarin,
your relationship with Allah,
your aqqlaq
have been refined
because
of your religious commitment,
because of your relationship with Allah
This is how you were able to refine
your aqlaq,
and
then
the adab
or your etiquettes
are basically the external manifestation
of your akhlaq or your inner image.
Your outer image
does not matter to Allah at all. Right?
Allah does not look at your forms.
But Allah looks at your hearts and your
deeds. Your hearts and your deeds.
So
your
and adab,
are
what Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, would be looking
at your inner image, not your outer image.
So etiquettes point to the underlying ethical framework,
which we will try to address,
Okay. So so that is
that is why, you know, that's why we
have to focus on
the scale,
which is an all encompassing word for
the 3 elements,
spirituality,
ethics,
and etiquettes.
We have to focus on pescale
where they have to. Anyone who teaches here,
they they they have to understand people's need
for a
test scale.
So why I chose this particular book?
Well, because it's by the Imam al Bukhari.
That's enough,
but, you know, you know, because the choices
of Imam al Bukhari are are great.
This book is comprised of 644
chapters,
1322
Ahadis,
644
chapters.
He gave every chapter a title.
And you know how clever Ibn al Bukhari
in giving titles to chapters.
If we have studied his Sahih, his most,
his greatest
work,
Sahih al Bukhari,
They would have recognized
that he is the most clever person given
titles.
And so
it's all, you know, a hadith from the
prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. So we would
be saying
so many times,
that's enough.
Like, and that is why,
the people of hadith the people who study
hadith and read hadith,
they have this
light on their faces,
because they they say, and
they send blessings and peace on to the
practitioner.
Very often. So,
so who's Imam Bukhari quickly?
Imam Bukhari was born in Bukhara in
194. And and then you want if you
want to expand,
on on this on your own, then do
it. But I will briefly,
tell you a little bit about Imam Bukhari.
He was born in 194 in Bukhara. He
died in
Samarkand,
or like a village close to Samarkand
in 256,
from 194
to 256.
It's not that long of a life, but
certainly,
It's it's
very,
long and if you look at his accomplishments.
And I just wanted to say that,
because this is, this is something that
I will talk about a little bit later.
But, Buhari had
22 ahadith,
that he reported from the prophet
through 3 narrators only. They're called Suratihatul Bukhari.
Suratihatul Bukhari are the hadith that the Bukhari
reported through
3,
narrators,
only.
Because he was born in 194,
he couldn't get to report to that many
of those,
sarasiat.
Do you know how many ahadith rima Mahmed
reported through 3 narrators only?
It's more than 300.
More than
300.
Do you know how many akhadees al imam
Malik
reported
through 2 narrators only?
Like, when did Imam Malik report? They didn't
know we did always hear Malik Nafar and
Abdu'ammar, Malik reports from Nafar from Abdu'ammar. So
these are 2 narrators between him and the
prophet, Nafar and Abdu'ammar,
And then he would be reporting through 2
narrators only,
148.
148.
So
why am I saying this? Because I'll come
back and talk about the revisionists,
when it comes to Islamic history.
So they're a revisionist school of Islamic history.
Okay.
So what is this book, you know, that
Rehman Buhari wrote, and why did he call
it Al Adib al Mushrut?
So, of of course, I you know, Rehman
Buhari is the greatest mohaddis,
Mujadis.
There is a, you know, no,
basically,
collector of Hadith that is greater than Imam
Bukhari.
People argue whether he was Arab or, from
Bukhara originally,
but he's he's likely from Bukhara. He's likely
not Arab, but this is a bit controversial
because his last name is Al Jafi'i,
Al Jafi'i.
And Al Jauffi is
Kabila. It's a tribe,
from Yemen.
So why was he called Al Jauffi?
You know? Muhammad ibn Isma'id ibn Ibrahim ibn
Mughaira
ibn Bardizaba
or Al Ahnaf.
Bardizaba
Al Ahnaf
is is the same person.
Is his name Bardizaba or Rad Akhnef?
They they argue about this,
So his father was Muslim,
so Isma'il, who's Muslim.
His grandfather, Ibrahim, was Muslim.
His great grandfather,
was
Muslim,
and
his
great great
grandfather,
was he al Akhir or Bardizaba?
So that's a little controversial,
but
but, honestly speaking, we know more about the
Bukhari than the people in the book know
about the disciples
of Jesus, peace be upon him. You know,
we know
a lot
more about Bukhari.
But, anyway so he was born in Bukhari
in 90 well, 194. We we all know
this,
and we all know that his his father
and grandfather and great grandfather
were were Muslims.
It is said that Barbe Zaba, his great
great grandfather,
who was called al Akhnef and and, by,
some scholars,
is the,
was not Muslim.
And the first Muslim,
in the family is Al Mubeera,
his son, Al Mubeera,
Father of Ibrahim, father of Isma'il, father
of.
And he was called the
because when someone converted
to Islam,
they took the name of the person who
invited them to Islam. They took the
tribe's name or the family name of the
person who invited them to Islam. So,
by allegiance.
Allegiance which type of allegiance? Allegiance through conversion.
Not allegiance through emancipation because we know that
there is allegiance through emancipation.
So when someone is emancipated
by someone,
they took the name,
they took their their family name.
And when when the the it was not
forced.
It was not forced, but they
took they often took their their family name
through these allegiances through emancipation.
But we have allegiance through conversion.
And it is said, you know, none of
the ancestors of al Bukhari
were were were slaves, but it was said
that
he, that in Mavira,
when he accepted Islam
from Yemen in Jaffi,
took the name in Jaffi,
for himself.
It is through conversion. So it's through conversion.
You're talking about it? Al Bukhari
the
the the intelligence of Al Bukhari,
basically, retention of al Bukhari
is
is miraculous.
You know? Like, almost miraculous. You know the
story
of
being tested in Baghdad when he came to
Baghdad and people came around and wanted to
test him and to see, you know, this
is the guy that people are talking about,
and scholars came and mixed the s and
e for him.
So 10 scholars mixed 100 s and e
for him. Hadith was mixed s and e,
You know, mixing the
to put the narrators in the incorrect place,
and then to to give a chain
for different hadith,
an entire chain for different hadith, or to
mix between the narrators between the different hadith.
And they basically
gave him 100
hadiths,
and he heard all of them. He heard
that he did not use the right,
And, when they blamed him for not writing,
he would say to them,
So show me what you have written.
You know? So when he went out on
a trip with friends,
you know,
co learners,
and
they would be writing, writing, writing,
and then he would not write anything.
And then they would tell him, like, you
know, that's, you know, inappropriate. Like, why are
you not writing? He used to go back,
like, to his hometown and and write everything,
but he would not write on his trips.
So
they would blame him. Why are you not
writing?
How do you retain knowledge without writing?
And and, certainly, for you, please write.
Please.
How do you retain knowledge without writing?
And then he would say to them,
You just like,
you're you're just too much.
Show me what you have written, and he
would basically,
you you sang.
What is it?
Correct.
Now he recited to them.
Yeah. So let's say he would recite to
them,
what he had memorized,
and they would be holding the books, and
he would recite to them. And when they
compared what he,
recites
to their writings,
they would correct their writings,
you know,
by by, yeah, a cross examination of the
different scriptures they add
and his memorization,
they would correct his writing,
writings
to conform with his,
memorization.
So, anyway, al Bukhari
was
certainly a giant in in in our history,
and the piety of the Bukhari also, because
this is,
this is something that is almost
always forgotten.
You can't be this accomplished
if it is not for Allah.
You know? You don't go you can't get
there
if it's not, for for Abba. So when
in Bukhari
So when he wanted to to, write down
the Hadith of Asahi,
he went to Masjid al Nabawi
between
the the Kaaba and the Midburnt.
And every hadith that he wrote down,
he would be he he he would be
in a state of Budu, and he would
pray to rakahas
before
he before writing any hadith down
and as,
So, certainly,
it it is not just,
it is not just his his intellectual capacity,
but also,
his his piety
that made him
who he was,
you know, to the point that there there
is no book that Muslims value after the
Quran
than his book. So his his book comes
second to the Quran.
Of course, a
distant second, but
it's still second
in in the
to the Quran.
Now
so this book at Adab al Mufrad, we
said it has 64 it's 444
chapters with 1322
Hadith.
Why did he call it Adab al Mufrad?
So Al Mufrad means what?
Single doubt? Stop, bro, kalik. Yeah. Separate.
Separate.
Yeah.
Stinguished.
Stinguished? Okay.
So why did he call it?
Because he had a chapter, he had a
book
a book in his Sahih
called
Al Adab.
In his Sahih collection, he had a book
called Al Adab.
So he wanted to say that this is
separate,
a separate book,
Am and
Adam, different from the 1 in Sahih.
So what is the difference between
this book
and that book in his Sahih?
No. This book is a lot more comprehensive.
It's larger,
1322
ahadith
in this book.
And
this book
is not necessarily
authentic,
and meaning that,
not every hadith is necessarily
authentic in the sense of
according to the scholars of hadith.
But
why should you be comfortable
with pretty much, you know, the default?
We will mention when the scholars of hadith
basically, you know, pointed out the weakness in
some of these hadith, we will talk about
this,
but why should you be comfortable
accepting those a hadith
without much without reservations?
Why should you put your guards down?
Why should you put your guards down? Because
every hadith here
was deemed by al Bukhari
either
acceptable
or suitable for the subject.
You know, either,
sahiyah,
you know, authentic,
or
suitable for the subject of adab or etiquettes.
What do I mean by suitable for the
subject of adab or etiquettes?
If it
has slight weakness,
not
extreme weakness,
if it has slight weakness,
the majority of the scholars
accepted them
with certain conditions.
Why?
You you point out the weakness
or you,
hint to the weakness.
2,
it is not in akham but in, you
know, akhlaqanhadabfadahhidadahamah,
you know, verses.
3,
it
is it is not in conflict with an
Islamic principle,
with another established Islamic principle.
Okay.
And did we say it's not too weak?
Yes. We said it's not too weak.
So
so in this particular
when we come to this particular topic,
a little bit of weakness
is not
a problem.
Now
the vast majority
of the Hadith in this book, the very
vast majority of the Hadith in this book
are authentic
are authentic.
There are a few that are not. We
will point to them out,
but still
they should be acceptable.
They should be accepted.
It's the only rule.
And when I say that
they should be accepted,
So
why why why should they be accepted?
If if we have,
if they if they don't come up with
a new principle or a new concept in
Islam,
why should the Sahih be insufficient?
Maybe because they
have, like, a different wording
that is more motivating,
that that is clearer
for the listener
to grasp
or more motivating
for the listener,
they decided
that these Hadith
should be still
accepted.
They are not adding to the din a
concept
that is
that is foreign to it,
that's new to it. And
and this is important because our dean is
evidence based. Right?
Our dean is very evidence based,
and we are completely committed
to, you know,
practicing,
you know,
the deen in in this way and approaching
the deen in this way. Lovely.
So in my approach to teaching this book,
inshaAllah,
we will recite the hadith,
and give a commentary
that is not too brief or too detailed
because we want to finish 1322
hadith.
And if we want to finish 1322
hadith,
1 year has 52 weeks,
2 years would have a 104 weeks,
and if we want to finish this book
over 2 years, because
legal maxims would take about 2 years to
finish,
so if we want to finish the these
2 books over,
the next 2 years, then
we have to at least cover
about 13,
hadith
every time,
at least to cover about 13. On average,
13 hadith every time. So to cover 13
hadith,
we cannot be too detailed,
but we will try to not be too
brief either.
So I will occasionally comment on the chain
of narration for 2 main reasons.
Okay. And Abu al Mufrad has the chains
of narration.
It's Bukhari.
You know? It's it was only later scholars
who removed the chain of narration and kept
only the name of the Sahabi.
But during the time of al Bukhari
and for a couple of 100 years after
al Bukhari,
they were keeping the chains of narration,
in in their hadith collections.
So,
like, if you read about Biden and Waya,
for for instance,
During the time of Rehman al Nahoyi,
they started to walk away from,
and a little bit before Rehman
even now we also, they started to walk
away from
writing the chains of narration
because the books of sunnah have already
been
preserved,
and they can refer you to the book.
You know, this is in Sayyid Bukhari,
in Muslim, in
and so on and so forth. But during
the time of Bukhari, of course, they were
writing the chains of narrations.
So why will I mention the chain of
narration
and comment on,
some of the narrators
and things of that nature?
Because some familiarity with the science of hadith
would be helpful.
It will give us confidence
in the preservation of our adi and particularly
the preservation of the sunnah.
Keep in mind,
the sunnah is preserved in its entirety.
That does not mean that each and every
hadith
is certain in its transmission.
No.
The vast majority the majority of Muslim scholars
consider the sunnah to be
certain in its entirety, you know,
the body of the sunnah.
But individual hadith,
if the hadith is not mutawatir,
it does not confer certainty.
If the hadith is not mutawatir,
it does not confer certainty.
What does that mean for you?
It's gone.
What does that mean for you?
God.
Should you still act on it if the
scholars of hadith told you it's authentic or
acceptable,
it's,
whether
it's, Hasen
Yeah. Who's, you know, authentic or sound or
whichever way you translate them?
Of course.
And,
you know,
however however
are you certain the prophet, salaam,
spoke of these words?
No. You're not 100 percent certain,
but since when do human beings
rely only on certainty
versus
propensity.
If you rely only on
certainty, as in this is
100% what the prophet
said in this exact wording,
you will freeze.
In in which,
basically,
realm of life
do you only rely
on complete certainty in that sense?
When you get to see
how much effort was placed into the preservation
of the sunnah,
you will be confident enough
to act on the sunnah, and certainly if
you don't hear,
of course.
But you should be confident enough to act
on the sunnah.
However,
if a particular hadith,
a particular
word in a hadith,
You just couldn't wrap your head around it.
Someone,
you know, for many people, they are
then they never have a problem wrapping their
head around anything.
But
for certain, like,
some
person out there
would encounter a Hadith
or are aware than a Hadith that they
just can't
wrap their head around them.
You have to understand that
it does not confer certain certainty if it's
not without meaning,
and this is basically
sort of
an apologetic
approach to the issue.
But it is important to mention it even
here when we're talking about Elad Abid Mufrad,
because it's it is essential for some people's
faith.
You do it?
Suspend judgment.
Suspend judgment.
Non
stay noncommittal.
Suspend judgment.
That's that's it.
However,
don't unravel your because
of this
sort of less than.
Oh, is that? So when we say that
this hadith is authentic
and someone cannot wrap their head around it,
You are required to act on it,
but you are not required to believe that
this is for certain coming from the prophet,
You're required to act on it big by
a little bit of.
That's propensity,
the higher likelihood,
and yet you are not required to believe
that this is 100%
coming from the Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,
unless it is mutawatir.
That is why there is this distinction between
the Quran and the sunnah, and there will
continue to be a distinction between the Quran
and sunnah.
The Quran is not only certain in its
entirety,
but every single verse, every single word.
That is why it should always be the
foundation of our worldview.
It is the exact word of God transmitted
to us with complete
certainty.
So so familiarity with the sciences of hadith
would be important, and it would give you
comfort, and it will give you confidence, and
you will know that
enormous efforts
were placed into the preservation of the sunnah
by
great giants,
in in in our history.
Secondly, showcasing
this characteristic of the,
which is the characteristic of a isnaad.
We have isnaad for everything that is part
of our deed.
There there are no gaps.
So if you look at if you compare
and I don't do this for identitarian or
religiosity, but these are the beauties of our
deen
and the strengths of our deen that we
have to point out. It's not a matter
of identitarian or religiosity or trying to basically
under
the the the be that of, other religious
traditions,
but I'm trying to show the superiority
of this thing. So if you read if
you compare
the gospels,
the books of the Bible,
to the weaker hadiths that we have, our
weaker hadiths are more verifiable.
It has been.
I would lie.
You know, we we consider a hadith weak
because someone and,
you know, someone, you know, whatever,
not because of a gap in the chain
of narration,
but because a person in that chain
used to have many errors, like,
when they got older and they heard this
hadith from them when they got older, and
when they got older, they got a little
bit less sort of
less competent.
You know?
So we would consider Hadith week for something
like this.
So
if you compare
the the the gaps that are present in
the transmission
of the the biblical
books
to the weaker hadith, the weaker hadith are,
more verifiable.
Great hat. Which takes us
I was listening to Jordan Peterson the other
day talking about the difference between Islam and
Christianity.
It's it's
he's such a character. You know? He has
good motives. He has good motives.
He wants
to save,
civilization that he believes
to be,
endangered.
So he has good motives, but he's certainly,
particularly when it comes to Islam, he's just,
like, in a different world.
You know, the the inconsistency,
the glaring inconsistency,
is is just
unbelievable.
So he was basically saying that, you know,
the good thing about Christianity
is
that, you know, you could claim whatever the
bottom line, he was not saying this and
then this and this certain exact wording. You
could claim whatever you want about the Bible.
You could consider part of it mythology, part
of it this, part of it that. So
you have the flexibility to claim whatever you
want. However, Muslims say that the Quran is
the exact word of God. So what's up?
What are you gonna do with this?
You know, if this is the exact word
of God, you can't play around with it.
It's just like the exact word of God.
And if you if you listen to his
basically tafsir of the bible,
you know, any
biblical scholar in his right mind would consider
this to be heresy.
You know, it's like
and no matter how liberal they are, no
matter how flexible they are, no matter how
much they count on sort of the allegorical
or speak
SP's,
you know, speech,
But anyone I've been a bit of a
scarce car in this. Right? My mind will
consider this to be just complete theorists.
But
then,
because,
you know, because everybody knows that this, you
know, that that this book
has been
manipulated
as you know, it is not the exact
word of God. Certainly, biblical scholars would say
that it's exact Christians all over the place,
evangelicals all over the place, they wouldn't disagree
with him. They are saying it's exact that
it's the word of God. But, anyway, so
he has come to the conclusion
it is not the exact word of God.
It's just like mythology and different stories and
stuff like this that people put together,
and then we can do with, with it
whatever we want. We can reinterpret it. We
can do with it.
That's not a religion.
That's that that is basically you know, that
is not a religion
that that guides you.
You
are making
your own religion, and everyone can make their
own religion, and that's
probably what he believes as well.
You know?
Because, certainly, if he thinks that his
funny interpretations
are binding on the rest of the people,
then that's just extremely arrogant.
So
the the it it is just amazing.
The Quran is the exact word of God.
The sunnah of the prophet, the traditions that
come from the prophet,
some of them would come in the certainty
of their transmission
very close to that, if not there.
But certainly,
most of it would rank higher than
the
the the biblical books in the definitiveness and
the certainty
of their transmission,
including
the weak
ones, the weak Hadith.
So why am I going to mention Isnad,
and why am I making a big deal
out of Isnad when the
the focus of this should be on spirituality,
ethics,
and etiquettes, isn't it?
So why
this this sounds like a distraction,
and it is not going to be excessive,
So it is not going to be excessive.
But it is important because some Muslims
is the revisionists of Islamic history. You know
the revisionists of Islamic history?
The the the certainly the most famous 1
or the
the
the founder of this revisionist
high school
is, is an American person, John Wansbrough.
And then Michael Cook and Patricia Crowan are
his, 2 disciples.
And Michael Koch and Patricia Kroen
recanted many of their positions,
which which tells you that they
they may be good people.
They may be good people, not necessarily,
but the description that befits them, they may
be good people. They may be,
sincere people. They may have integrity
and so on, but the description
that befits them is
which means they shoot
from a far distance
blindfolded.
They shoot their arrows
from a far distance,
blindfolded.
They have not been exposed to the entirety
of,
you know,
the Islamic history,
and
they insist
that
since
we have
we have this revision statute that's due towards
the Bible,
We we have to and we can replicate
the same with the Quran. We have to
and we can replicate the same with the
Quran.
So they would have
prepositions
as insane
as Mecca was not in Mecca,
and the Quran developed over 200
years. It's not Muhammad.
And then some of them said Muhammad did
not exist,
And when the, you know, Arabs conquered
the Levant, they were not Muslim,
and Islam developed over time afterwards.
So how do you
so what is the
separation between calling someone
insane
and calling someone
as, you know,
a researcher,
scientist.
They grad he he they graduated from Harvard.
You know? So he graduated from Harvard.
He was teaching
at SOS.
That's the School of Oriental
and African,
Studies
in in London,
and that is the separation
between other insanity,
and science.
Okay. Yes, sir.
So they made a big splash,
and, unfortunately,
some Muslims
were affected by this,
which tells you how
far removed that we are from our tradition.
Some Muslims and when when you hear this
hadith,
when
when you see the connection,
these are the narratives of this Hadith.
We know
what they liked for
breakfast.
So
and these are people who saw each other,
Malik Al Nafaa Al Nafaa Al Nambar.
Malik used to live
in a house that belonged to Abdullah ibn
Mas'ud.
He lived in a house that belonged to
Abdullah ibn Mas'ud.
So, anyway,
when you when you see that the chains
of narration, when you see the connection
between,
those scholars and you when you see how
the books would later preserve
this very book of Adam al Mufrad, InshaAllah,
when we start next time, we will see
how it was
preserved,
by people
not
only through documentation,
but through audition
as well.
And when we see the connectedness
of that shade until our time. And inshaAllah,
when we finish
this this class
and it comes time for the ijazah,
you know, we will
connect you
to Ilham Al Bukhari through a connected chain,
connected all the way to Ilham Al Muhari,
solidly connected connected to Ilham Al Muhari up
until now.
Now, certainly,
the the the books of hadith
have been
documented,
reproduced,
verified, and we're not counting on these chains.
But The SNADs that we have nowadays,
we're not counting on them for verification,
but this is a characteristic
of the ummah that we want to symbolically
preserve,
symbolically preserve
to show,
and and also to to earn the blessings
of being connected to these
we call,
you know, chains of light.
But it is certainly the books that have
been preserved, and the books of Sunnah have
been preserved.
So some of the these,
people in in
the in the the the chain
may not be as verifying
or as,
recognizable
as a Bukhari or Shoaba or or these
original narrators,
but we were trying to continue the sunnah
of in this ummah or this characteristic
of
this ummah. So
it
is
this is the reason why we will address
the chains, and we will comment on the
narrators. But I wanted
to admit,
which is important because
a person who pretends to have that which
that which or to possess that which they
don't have,
is somewhat is like, 1 who
wears 2 garments of falsehood.
Hadith
in this sense hadith sciences in this sense
of
and
and
so on is not an area of expertise
for me.
My,
my focus has been always,
on Czech,
then al Qaeda, then taskea,
and and the Quran and the sunnah. I
approach them for and
the so I am more inclined
to studying
the meanings and the tafsir of the Quran
and the sunnah for worship and 'aqid
and this kayah. The other sciences,
you know, I I just learned them because
you need to learn them,
for familiarity,
but certainly it's not a area
of,
expertise for me. So when I talk about
the narrators,
I am not a Mujadist.
Don't count on me for this.
This is for familiarity.
This is for familiarity
and to show ourselves,
you know,
the
the the authenticity
of this tradition
and the
greatness of,
the tradition.