The claim that al Bukhari made taweel of the attribute of “laughter” to mean “mercy”

Bismillah

Some have claimed that  Imam al Bukhari -rahimahu Allah-  has made ta’wil of the attribute dahik “laughter”, and explained it as meaning “mercy- rahma”.  They use as evidence what al Bayhaqi -rahimahu Allah- quoted in his book “al Asma’ was- Sifat” (2\186): قال الشيخ: وأما الضحك المذكور في الخبر فقد روى الفربري عن محمد بن إسماعيل البخاري رحمه الله أنه قال : » معنى الضحك فيه الرحمة « 

“The shaikh said: As for the laughter that is mentioned in the report, al Farbari narrated that Muhammad bin Isma’il al Bukhari – rahimahu Allah- said: “the meaning of laughter in it is mercy.” And in Fath al Bari, Ibn Hajar quotes Abu Sulaiman al Khattabi attributing it to al Bukhari rahimahu Allah.

The answer to this is: 

1_ The chain of narration is incomplete, for Abu Sulaiman al Khattabi -rahimahu Allah-  didn’t hear it directly from al Farbari, because al Khattabi (born 319 A.H.) was 1 years old when al Farbari died (d. 320 A.H.), and al Bayhaqi also didn’t hear it from him, as he came even later than al khattabi. so unless we have a complete chain of narration we can’t know of its correct attribution to al Bukhari.

2_ Ibn Hajar rahimahu Allah said, after quoting al khattabi, in his book “Fath al Bari” (Book of Tafsir, sharh of hadith # 4510):  قُلْت : وَلَمْ أَرَ ذَلِكَ فِي النُّسَخ الَّتِي وَقَعَتْ لَنَا مِنْ الْبُخَارِيّ

“I said: and I have not seen that (al Khattabi’s quote of Imam al Bukhari) in the copies that fell into our hands from (Sahih) al Bukhari.” end of quote

And Ibn Hajar -rahimahu Allah- had a huge library with manuscripts of different narrations of sahih al Bukhari.

Hadeeth Collections from the First Century of Hijrah

Are There Any Early Hadiths?

M S M Saifullah & Imtiaz Damiel

© Islamic Awareness, All Rights Reserved.

1. Introduction
It is frequently claimed by the Christian missionaries that there are no hadith collections from the first century of hijra. According to them the first hadith collections were written around 250 years after hijra.
We will show the evidence of existence of hadith collections from first century of hijra.

2. Examples Of First Century Hadith CollectionsThe Sahifa Of Hammam bin Munabbih: This is perhaps one of the earliest known hadith collections. Hammam bin Munabbih was a student of Abu Hurrairah and well-known among the scholars of the hadith to be trustworthy. According to the book Arabic Literature To The End of Ummayyad Periodt:

An example is the Sahifah of Hammam bin Munabbih, (d. 110/719), a Yemenite follower and a disciple of companion Abu Hurrayrah, (d. 58/677), from whom Hammam wrote this Sahifah, which comprises 138 hadith and is believed to have been written around the mid-first AH/seventh century.[1]

The author went on to say:

It is significant that Hammam introduces his text with the words: “Abu Hurrayrah told us in the course of what he related from the Prophet”, thus giving the source of his information in the manner which became known as “sanad” or “isnad”, i.e., the teacher of chain of teachers through whom an author reaches the Prophet, a practice invariably and systematically followed in Hadith compilations.[2]

We can see that of the 138 narrations in the Sahifa, 98 of them are faithfully witnessed in the later collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim, both through narrations of Abu Hurrairah and witnessing narrations from other Companions.
We also see that all but two of the narrations are found in one section of the Musnad of Imam Ahmad, again witnessing the preservation of hadith and that earlier works were faithfully rendered in later documents.[3]Using the first century Sahifa of Hammam bin Munabbih as a “control group” Marston Speight compared it (i.e., the Sahifa) with about the 1500 variant readings of the same ahadith found in the collections of Ibn Hanbal (Musnad), al-Bukhari (Sahih) and Muslim (Sahih); the last three collections date from 3rd/9th century. Speight says:

… the texts in Hammam and those recorded in Ibn Hanbal, Bukhari and Muslim with the same isnad show almost complete identity, except for a few omissions and interpolations which do not affect the sense of the reports. On the other hand, the same ahadith as told by other transmitters in the three collections studied show a rich variety of wording, again without changing the meaning of the reports.[4]

Further he comments about the reports of Hammam found in the later compilations of Ibn Hanbal, al-Bukhari and Muslim by saying that:

… I have found practically no sign of careless or deceptive practices in the variant texts common to the Sahifa of Hammam bin Munabbih.[5]

In other words, it shows the meticuluous nature of hadith transmission as well as high moral and upright characters of the transmitters as well as collectors of the hadith; a fact that Islamic traditions had always asserted and now the western scholarship endorses it.

The Musannaf of `Abd al-Razzaq al-San`ani:[6]
An article by Harald Motzki appeared in the Journal of Near Eastern Studies that mentioned about the the Musannaf of `Abd al-Razzaq al-San`ani as a source of authentic ahadith of the first century AH. Since the article is quite huge (21 pages), we will deal with only the conclusions of the author.

While studying the Musannaf of `Abd al-Razzaq, I came to the conclusion that the theory championed by Goldziher, Schacht, and in their footsteps, many others – myself included – which in general, reject hadith literature as a historically reliable sources for the first century AH, deprives the historical study of early Islam of an important and a useful type of source.[7]

Some important hadith collections from second century of hijra are the following:[8]

The Muwatta’ of Malik bin Anas:
Malik bin Anas (d. 179/795) was the founder of Maliki school of jurisprudence. The Muwatta’ of Malik was compiled in mid-second century AH. It is not a corpus of hadith in a true sense but a collection of practices of people of Madinah.
Musannaf of Ibn Jurayj (d. 150 AH)
Musannaf of Ma`mar bin Rashid (d. 153 AH)

References
[1] A. F. L. Beeston, T. M. Johnstone, R. B. Serjeant and G. R. Smith (Ed.), Arabic Literature To The End of Ummayyad Period, 1983, Cambridge University Press, p. 272.
[2] ibid.
[3] More information can be obtained from the book Sahifa Hammam bin Munabbih: The Earliest Extant Work On The Hadith, 1979, M. Hamidullah, Centre Cultural Islamique.
[4] R. M. Speight, “A Look At Variant Readings In The Hadith”, Der Islam, 2000, Band 77, Heft 1, p. 170.
[5] ibid., p. 175.
[6] `Abd al-Razzaq b. Hammam al-San`ani (ed. Habib al-Rahman al-A`zami), Al-Musannaf, 1970-72, 11 Volumes, Beirut.
[7] H. Motzki, “The Musannaf Of `Abd al-Razzaq Al-San`ani As A Source of Authentic Ahadith of The First Century A.H.”, Journal Of Near Eastern Studies, 1991, Volume 50, p. 21.
[8] Beeston et al., Arabic Literature To The End of Ummayyad Period, op.cit, pp. 272-273

Sunnah & Hadith written during Time of the Prophet (S.A.W) and Sahabah (companions)

The following are just some examples and not everything that was recording during that time.

A- What has been written by the command of the Prophet peace be upon him

1- The books of the Prophet peace be upon that were written to the kings and rulers of his era.

The Prophet peace be upon him sent numerous books to the kings of the Arabs and non Arabs of his era, inviting them to Islam and showing them the foundations of the creed of this new religion, and the texts of these books have been discovered in several hadith records and historical books. And the most famous of these books are:

His book to Heraclius, Emperor of Byzantine
His book to Chosroes, King of Persia
His book to Muqawqas, the king of Egypt
His book to Negus, the king of Abyssinia
His book to the King of Oman
His book to ‘Eyaahala, King of Humayr
His book to Hilal, Governor of Bahrain
His book to Al Haarith ibn Abi Shamar, King of the Ghassanids

2. The Treaties, Covenants, and Agreements

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, ordered a number of these treaties to be written according to need, and among those are:

– The agreement with the tribe of Dhamrah upon their security and the safety of their individuals and property in return for their assistance in repelling the enemies from Madeenah, and that is in the 1st year Hijri (abbreviated as. H.)
– The treaty with the tribe of Ghatfaan during the course of the battle of Khandaq (the trench) in year 8 H.
– The treaty of Hudaibiyah between the Muslims and the Kuffaar of Quraish, the year 6 H.
– The treaty between the Messenger of Allaah, peace and blessings be upon him, and the ruler of Doomat Al-Jandal, the year 9 H.
– A peace treaty with the people of Aylah during the course of The Battle of Tabook.
– The peace treaty with the tribe of Baariq when they visited the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.
– The peace treaty with the tribe of Aslam regarding cooperation against the external enemies of both sides.
– A treaty of alliance with the tribe of Juhainah.
– A peace agreement with Bani Habeebah.
– The treaty with Thaqeef.
– The treaty with Bani Ghaffaar.
– The treaty sent to the people of Jarbaa’ and Athrah and some of them came and visited the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, the year 9 H.
– The treaty with the Christians of Najraan regarding protecting them and their obligation of paying the Jizyah (taxes).
– The paper of treaty between the Jews in Madeenah in the beginning of the Hijrah.

3. The Agreements, the Decisions of Pardoning, and Giving Lands

A number of documents have been written by the order of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, among them are:

– The pardoning of Suraqah Bin Maalik
– His agreement with Al-Azraq bin `Umar regarding his residence in Makkah and his right of marriage to Quraish.
– The contract of giving Zaid Al-Khair some lands.
– The contract of giving Tameem Ad-Daari some lands.
– The contract of giving some land to `Abbaas As-Sulami (or Silmee?)
– The contract of giving some lands that have water springs and trees and palm trees to `Aqeel bin Ka`b.
– The contract of giving a farm to Riqaad bin Rabee`ah in Yemen.
– The contract of giving the tribe of Bani Qushair some lands.
– The contract that has the righst and obligations of Wafd bin Qais.
– The contract of giving Bilaal bin Al-Haarith Al-Mazani some farms of the tribe.

4. The writing of speeches and varying Ahadeeth, such as:

– The writing of Khutbah (speech of) Al-Wadaa` by Abee Shaah, and it is narrated in the Saheehain (Bukhari and Muslim).
– The writing of a Hadeeth by `Utbaan bin Maalik,as in Musnad Ahmad (a collection of hadiths) and others.

B. the writers of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him (1).

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, had a group of writers that reached sixty writers, and they had different specialization:

1. The writers of the Holy Qur’an when it was revealed unto the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.
2. The writers of what the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, orders.
3. The writers of the letters to the kings and leaders.
4. The writers of treaties, pacts, trusts and other than that.
5. The writers of correspondence with the Arabs.
6. The writers of the religious matters.
7. The writers of the records of battles and war-spoils.
8. The writers who write what is between the people from agreements and actions.
9. The writers who replace the regular writers of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, once they are absent.

C. What the Sahabah (companions of the Prophet) wrote during the time of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him:

A number of Sahaabah have recorded hadeeths from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, with the purpose of memorization or taking benefit from it, and among those:

1. The genuine journal of `Abdullaah bin `Amr bin Al-`Aass, and it contained one-thousand Hadeeths.
2. The books of Sa`d bin `Ubaadah.
3. The book of Mu`aath bin Jabal.
4. The book of Abee Raafi`, the supporter of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.
5. The journal of `Ali bin Abee Taalib.
6. The journal of Jaabir bin `Abdullaah Al-Ansaari.

__________________________________________________ ______________
Footnote:
(1) Kuttaab Al-Wahi by Dr. Ahmad `Abdur-Rahmaan `Eesa, and Kuttaab An-Nabi, Salla-llaahu `alaihi wa sallam, by Al-A`dhami.

Examples of the writings of the Sahaabah

1. The book of Abu Bakr, may Allaah be pleased with him, to Anas bin Maalik, his worker in Bahrain, which begins with, “In the name of Allaah, the most merciful, the giver of mercy: This is the obligation of charity that the Messenger of Allaah, peace and blessings be upon him, ordered with, and what Allaah ordered His slave with”, and it is a long Hadeeth that was collected by al-Bukhari and others.

2. The book of `Umar, may Allaah be pleased with him, to `Utbah bin Farqad, his worker on Bahrain, Imaam Ahmad narrated from Abi `Uthmaan an-Nuhdi, who said, “We were with `Utbah bin Farqad, so `Umar wrote to him things narrating from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him..
And it was found in the base of `Umar’s sword a journal about the charity of as-Sawaa’im (1).

3. and al-Baraa’ bin `Aazib used to narrate Hadiths to the Taabi`een and they used to write his Hadeeth from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him; for on the authority of `Abdullaah bin Khanees he said, “I saw them with al-Baraa’ writing on their hands with cane.” (2)

4. And Anas bin Maalik used to dictate the Hadeeths to his students, until if the people overwhelmed him, he brought some journals of books and he layed them, and then he said, “These are hadeeths that I have heard and written from the Messenger of Allaah, peace and blessings be upon him, and I showed them to him.” (3)

5. And `Abdullaah bin Mas`ood had a book that has hadeeths, and it was with his son after that, for on the authority of Ma`n he said, “`Abdur-Rahmaan bin `Abdullaah bin Mas`ood brought out a book and he swore that it was the handwriting of his father.” (4)

6. And Mu`aawiyah bin Abee Sufyaan wrote to al-Mugheerah bin Shu`bah and said, “Write to me with something that you heard from the Messenger of Allaah, peace and blessings be upon him, so al-Mugheerah wrote to him [and mentioned], ‘That he (the Prophet, salla-llaahu `alaihi wa sallam) used to forbid Qeel and Qaal (gossip), asking many questions, and wasting money.” (5)

7. And al-Hasan bin `Ali used to tell his children and his brother’s children, “Learn, Learn, for indeed you are the youngsters of today’s people, and tomorrow you will be their elders, so whoever from among you does not memorize then let him write and keep it (meaning the writing) in his house.” (7)

8. And Ibn `Abbaas had some boards that he used to write on Hadeeths from the Sahaabah, and he ended up with a collection of many books and journals, and Salmaa, the wife of Abee Raafi`, the supporter of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said : “I have seen `Abdullaah Ibn `Abbaas come to my husband, Abee Raafi`, carrying wooden boards to write [on them] the hadeeths of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.” (8) 9. Ibn `Umar had some books; he would not come out of his house before looking at them. (9)10. Samrah bin Jundub had a copy that had many hadeeths, that arrived with his son, Sulaimaan, and [as well as] al-Hasan al-Basree, and both of them narrated from it. (10)11. Sa`d bin `Ubaadah was one of those who obtained the nickname of “Kaamil” (complete man) in Madeenah before Islaam because of his knowledge in writing, and he had recorded many hadeeths in a book, and his son narrated from it. (11)12. Mu`aath bin Jabal had a book that contained some hadeeths, it ended up in the possession of Ibn `Aa’ith, and he had another book that went to Musa bin Talhah” (12)13. And Abee Raafi`, the supporter of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, had a book that had hadeeths, he gave it to Abi Bakr bin `Abdur-Rahmaan bin Hishaam. (13) 14. And Ka`b bin `Amr had a collection of Hadeeth journals. (14)

15. The books of Abu Hurairah, may Allaah be pleased with him:
Abu Hurairah passed through two phases with regards to writing Sunnah, for he was abstaining in the beginning, and later he began writing, and in his house were many books; a number of his students narrated from him, such as Hammaam bin Munabbih and Muhammad bin Sireen and Sa`eed al-Maqbaree, and others. (15)

16. And Jaabir bin `Abdullaah had a journal that `Abdur-Razzaaq benefited from in his Musannaf . (16)

17. And Raafi` bin Khadeej had a collection of written Ahadeeth. (18)

18. And Sham`oon al-Azdee had journals that had his Hadeeths in them, and it is said that he is the first one who wrote on the surface of paper. (19)

These are examples from eighteen Sahaabis who wrote Ahadeeth, and it is enough proof of the many writings of the Sahaabah, and whoever wanted to examine he would find many [examples] other than these.

————————————-
1. al-Kifaayah, 353
2. Jaami` Bayaan al-`Ilm, 1/81
3. Taareekh Baghdaad, 8/258
4. Jaami` Bayaan al-`Ilm, 1/42
5. Al-Bukhari Ma` al-Fat-h, 4/104, Hadeeth number (abbr. Ha.), 1477
7. Al-Kifaayah, 229, Taqyeed al-`Ilm, 1/91
8. Tabaqaat Ibn Sa`d, 2/123, and look to Saheeh Muslim, 1/7, and al-Kifaayah, 384
9. Al-Aadaab Ash-Shar`iyyah, 2/125
10. Tabaqaat Ibn Sa`d, 7/115, and, Tathkirah al-Huffaadh, 2/268, 4/236
11. Al-Umm, 7/112, and, Mashaaheer `Ulamaa’ al-Amsaar, 130
12. Musnad Ahmad, 5/228, and, Seerah Ibn Hishaam, 886, 956
13. Al-Kifaayah, 39
14. Look to: Dalaa’il at-Tawtheeq al-Mubkir, 425
15. Look to: Saheefat Hammaam, 27, and, Dalaa’il at-Tawtheeq, 436
16. Look to: Saheefat Hammaam, 27, and, Sunan At-Tirmithee, 6/52
18. Dalaa’il at-Tawtheeq, 452
19. Al-Isaabah, 2/156

Translated from “Hujjiyat as Sunnah” by Dr Houcine Chouat, with slight editing.

Scholars of (200 to 300 A.H.) confirming Allah being over Throne above the Heavens

1. Abu Isa at Tirmidhi (d. 279 H.) – rahimahu Allah- said in “sunan Tirmithi” (Book of Tafsir \ chapter Al-Hadid):
وَعِلْمُ اللَّهِ وَقُدْرَتُهُ وَسُلْطَانُهُ فِي كُلِّ مَكَانٍ وَهُوَ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ كَمَا وَصَفَ فِي كِتَابهِ
“And the knowledge of Allah, his ability, and his sovereignty is everywhere,  and He (Allah) is above the throne  like He described Himself in His book.”  

———————————————————-
2. Muhammad bin Yazid al Mubarrad (d. 286 A.H.) said in his book “al Muqtadab“: والسؤال عن كل ما يعقل “من”  كما قال عز وجل: ” أأمنتم من في السماء أن يخسف بكم الأرض ” . من لله عز وجلrough translation:
like Allah azza wa jal said: (Do you feel secure that Who is over the heaven…)[Quran 67:16] ,  “who” is for Allah azza wa jal.———————————————-

3. Imam Abu Ja’far Ibn Jarir At-Tabari (d. 310 H.) – rahimahu Allah-:  CLICK HERE.

(More will be added in future insha Allah)

Muhammad bin Yazid ibn Abdel Akbar al Mubarrad (286 A.H.)

Abu al Abbas Muhammad bin Yazid bin Abdel Akbar al Mubarrad (some say “al Mubarrid” with kasra), an Imam of Nahw (Arabic grammer) of his time.

He took (his knowledge) from Abu Uthman al Mazini, and Abu Hatim as-Sijistani; he worked in Baghdad,  and he was a trustworthy big scholar.
(Al Ibar fi Khabari Man Ghabar, Adh Dhahabi -rahimahu Allah-)

Al Khateeb and a group of scholars also considered him trustworthy.
(Lisan al Mizan, Ibn Hajar al Asqalani -rahimahu Allah-)

Born in Basrah and died in Baghdad in 286 A.H.

Quran tells us to follow the Sunnah (Hadith) = Obey the Messenger

1st point = Obediance of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam)

• Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and beware (of evil): if ye do turn back, know ye that it is Our Messenger’s duty to proclaim (the Message) in the clearest manner. (5: 92).
• O ye who believe! obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you. If ye differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to Allah and His Messenger, if ye do believe in Allah and the Last Day: that is best, and most suitable for final determination. (4: 59).
• Say: “Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger: but if ye turn away, he is only responsible for the duty placed on him and ye for that placed on you. If ye obey him, ye shall be on right guidance.(24: 54).
• And whoever obeys Allâh and His Messenger, Allâh shall admit him in the Gardens underneath which rivers flow. (4:13)
• And whoever obeys Allâh and His Messenger, he has won a great success. (33:71)
• And we sent no messenger, but that he should be obeyed by the leave of Allâh. (4:64)

These are only a some of the verse ordering to obey the Messenger of Allah :s: They are many. Now, you might say: “that is not evidance for following his sunnah, obeying the prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) means obeying what is in Quran that he came with from Allah” That is incorrect, becasue the Quran is Allah’s words not the Prophets (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) words, so obeying the what is in the Quran is obeying Allah ‘azza wa jal. It can’t mean obeying the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) because it is not his words, so it is not his commands. Here is a scenerio to make it more clear: Ms A. told Ms B. : ” Your mother says: clean your room or no watching TV for a whole month”. Ms. B goes and cleans her room. Now Ms. B cleaning her room was obediance to who? her mother or Ms A.? of course she would be obeying her mother, because her mother is the one who ordered her to clean her room, Ms. B is just a conveyer of the mother’s words\her orders. But, when the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) himself (with his words) orders the believers to do something or forbids them from something, then doing what he says would be called obediance to him, because the words are his. There are even more clear evidances for that, which I will put in next post insha Allah. also, u notice in some verses, the word “obey” is repeated, first “obey Allah” then “obey” again before mentioning the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, which is to stress that we must obey the Messenger himself, in what he tells us.  

 Point 2

1. Sunnah is revelation from AllahThe Prophets commands by his words are revelation itself, and they are the commands of Allah by meaning sent down to the Messenger to be delivered to the believers by the Messenger’s words.So the Quran is revelation by meaning and wordand the Sunnah is revelation by meaning only. Evidance of that is:And whoever obeys the Messenger, thereby obeys Allâh. (4:80) It is obediance to Allah because: 

1. Allah has commanded us in Quran to obey the Messenger, so obeying him would be obeying Allah’s command
2. The Prophet’s (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) teachings are not from himself, but from Allah, He is the one who tought him to teach the believers, so obeying the Prophet’s teachings would be obeying Allah.

Also, some points regarding this

1. The Messenger of Allah would not make up his own commands, and he wouldn’t know what Allah wants us to do unless Allah tought him what He wants, and to say that the Messenger of Allah made up things from himself without the command of Allah, would be saying that the Messenger of Allah betrayed the Message and that Allah choose an untrustworthy man to deliver His message, and that would be an attack on Allah and His Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
2. The Messenger is sent to deliver the book and explaing it to the people, and Allah states clearly that he sent Prophet Muhammad sallallau alayhi wa sallam to explain to people what Allah has sent to themAnd We have also sent down unto you (O Muhammad SAW) the reminder and the advice (the Qur’ân), that you may explain clearly to men what is sent down to them, and that they may give thought. (16:44)

Also, check the part of the ayah that is in color blue (above)