Blindspot!
From Issue: 667 [Read full issue]
Hadith Forgery
[continued from previous issue]
History and Context
5. Storytellers and preachers
Known among the classes of forgers are also professional storytellers and preachers whose urge for popularity through arousing an emotional response in the audience led them to indulge in forgery. They made up stories and attributed them to the Prophet. Included in these are so-called hadith:
- The first thing that God created was the light (nur) of the Prophet Muhammad.
- God revived the Prophet's parents and they embraced Islam before him.
- Intercession is obligatory for one who is named by the name Muhammad.
- There is no tree in Paradise without the following being written on every one of its leaves: la ilaha illallah, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, Umar al-Faruq wa Uthman Dhul-Nurayn.
6. Juristic and theological differences
Juristic and theological differences constitute another theme of forgery in hadith. The ulama were thus divided into Ahl al-Sunna, Mutazila, Jabriyya, Murjia, etc., and they disagreed over many issues, such as the attributes of God, the definition of faith (iman), whether faith is only a state of mind or that it relates to both belief and conduct, whether faith is liable to increase or decrease, whether the Quran is created or uncreated and so forth. Some of these differences are known to have led to exaggerated statements, even forgery of hadith. This may be illustrated by the following statement attributed to the Prophet that "Whoever raises his hands during the performance of salah, his salah is null and void." In yet another statement, we read: "Whoever says that the Quran is the created speech of God becomes and infidel ... and his wife stands divorced from him as of that moment."
[to be continued ...]
Compiled From:
"A Texbook of Hadith Studies" - Mohammad Hashim Kamali, pp. 69, 70