Holding Fast: Principles for Understanding Prophetic Guidance on Fasting
Session 1: Sunna and Hadith
Cambridge Muslim College Ramadan 2020 Series
Dr. Mariam Sheibani
1 Lesson 1 • Overview
1. How does hadith relate to the Sunna?
2. What are the grades of a hadith’s authenticity?
!2 Lesson 1 • Overview
1. How does hadith relate to the Sunna?
2. What are the grades of a hadith’s authenticity?
!3 What is a Hadith?
Bukhari > His Shaykh > Successor 2 > Successor 1 > Companion > “The Prophet said: ‘X’.”
The Prophet • A hadith is a statement from the (saws) Prophet, or a report of his action or
approval Companion
• Comprises: • a report (matn) + Successor (tābiʿī) • a chain of transmitters (isnād) Successor 2 (tābiʿī) • A hadith is a single anecdote or data point. It is a historical source for uncovering the Sunna. Bukhārī
!4 What is the Sunna?
• The Sunna is a revelatory source
• Represents the Prophet’s normative and authoritative precedent
• Sunna is identified by considering ALL relevant evidence
!5 How does the hadith relate to the Sunna?
• The body of Hadith is the main source to determine the Sunna.
• What are other sources of Sunna? • Practice (ʿamal) of the early Muslim communities • Understandings of the Companions • Consensus (ijmāʿ) of the scholars • Principles (uṣūl, qawāʿid)
!6 Muḥaddith vs. Jurist
How does X relate to A, B, C…? ?say X ﷺ Did the Prophet ?normative practice ﷺ What is the Prophet’s
!7 “You ḥadith scholars are the pharmacists, we jurists are the physicians.” (Imām al-Shāfiʿī)
How does X relate to A, B, C…? ?say X ﷺ Did the Prophet ?normative practice ﷺ What is the Prophet’s
!8 !9 Lesson 1 • Overview
1. How does hadith relate to the Sunna?
2. What are the grades of a hadith’s authenticity?
!10 Hadith Authentication:
?say X ﷺ Did the Prophet
!11 Grades of Authenticity
?say X ﷺ Did the Prophet
Mutawātir (massively transmitted) — 100%
!12 E.g. of Massively-transmitted (mutawātir) Hadith
مَنْ كَذَبَ عَلَىَ مُتَعَمِدًا فَلْيَتَبَوَأْ مَقْعَدَهُ مِنَ النَارِ
“Whoever lies about me intentionally, let him prepare a seat for himself in the fire.”
!13 Grades of Authenticity
?say X ﷺ Did the Prophet
Mutawātir (massively transmitted) — 100% Āḥād (solitary) — 1-99%
!14 Grades of Authenticity
?say X ﷺ Did the Prophet
Mutawātir (massively transmitted) — 100% Āḥād (solitary) — 1-99%
Ṣaḥīḥ (authentic) — 99-90%
!15 E.g. of Authentic (Ṣaḥīḥ) Hadith
عن أنس بن مالك رضي ال عنة قال: قال رسول ال صلى ال عليه وسلم:
تَسَحَرُوا فانًّ في السُحورِ بَرَكَةٌ.
Anas reports that the Prophet Muhammad (saws) said:
“Have suḥūr for in the suḥūr there is blessing.”
(Bukhārī and Muslim)
!16 E.g. of Massively-transmitted (mutawātir) Hadith
Meaning of: Insistence on having suḥūr and rushing to break the fast.
!17 Grades of Authenticity
?say X ﷺ Did the Prophet
Mutawātir (massively transmitted) — 100% Āḥād (solitary) — 1-99%
Ṣaḥīḥ (authentic) — 99-90%
Ḥasan (fair) — 90-80%
!18 E.g. of Sound (Ḥasan) Hadith
التَسبِيحُ نِصفُ الِيزانِ، والمدُ لِ يَلؤُهُ، والتَكبِيرُ يَلُ ما بي السماءِ والرضِ، والصومُ نِصفُ الصَبرِ، والطُهورُ نِصفُ اليانِ.
‘Subhān Allāh’ fills half the scale, ‘alḥamdulillah’ fills it completely, and ‘Allāhu akbar’ fills what is between the heavens and earth. Fasting is half of patience, and purification is half of faith. (Tirmidhī, Ibn Mājah)
!19 Grades of Authenticity
?say X ﷺ Did the Prophet
Mutawātir (massively transmitted) — 100% Āḥād (solitary) — 1-99%
Ṣaḥīḥ (authentic) — 99-90%
Ḥasan (fair) — 90-80%
Ḍaʿīf (weak) — 80%-1%
!20 E.g. of Weak (Ḍaʿīf) Hadith
نومُ الصائم عبادة.
The sleep of the fasting person is an act of worship.
!21 Grades of Authenticity
?say X ﷺ Did the Prophet
Mutawātir (massively transmitted) — 100% Āḥād (solitary) — 1-99%
Ṣaḥīḥ (authentic) — 99-90%
Ḥasan (fair) — 90-80%
Ḍaʿīf (weak) — 80%-1%
Mawḍūʿ (fabricated) — 0%
!22 E.g. of Fabricated (Mawḍūʿ) Hadith
«اعتكاف عشر في رمضان كحجتي وعمرتي»
“Iʿtikāf for ten days in Ramadan is equivalent [in reward] to performing two hajjs and two ʿumras.”
!23 Lesson 1 • Overview
1. How does hadith relate to the Sunna?
2. What are the grades of a hadith’s authenticity?
!24 Lesson 1 • Takeaways 1. A hadith is a single anecdote. The Sunna represents .ﷺ the normative precedent of the Prophet
2. Hadiths are categorized by definitiveness into mutawātir and āḥād.
Āḥād is further categorized by authenticity into ṣaḥīḥ, ḥasan, ḍāʿīf, mawḍūʿ.
3. The authenticity of a hadith does not tell us how it is applied. Division of labor between the muḥaddith and jurist.
!25 Hadith & Sunna
How does X relate to A, B, C…? ?say X ﷺ Did the Prophet ?normative practice ﷺ What is the Prophet’s
!26 Grades of Authenticity
?say X ﷺ Did the Prophet
Mutawātir (massively transmitted) — 100% Āḥād (solitary) — 1-99%
Ṣaḥīḥ (authentic) — 99-90%
Ḥasan (fair) — 90-80%
Ḍaʿīf (weak) — 80%-1%
Mawḍūʿ (fabricated) — 0%
!27 Lesson 2 • Overview
1. How is a hadith authenticated?
2. Are authentic hadiths always applied literally?
3. Are weak hadiths always discarded?
!28