Siraj-ul-Absar (English) - Khalifatullah Mehdi (AHS)

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hadis does not give the benefit of its being correct by itself. Then, how can it be of
benefit to the belief in other matters?
Then, know that the text of the hadis does not enter the domain of credence, except in
rare cases. On the other hand, the attribute of weakness or strength or a state
between the two extremes is envisaged with reference to the attributes of the
narrators, that is, their sense of justice and equity, zab’t [control and discipline],
memory, etc. Or [it is judged] in respect of its credentials, like ittisal [being adjacent],
inqita’ [separation or amputation], irsal [dispatch] and iztirab [impatience].
And the sahih hadis is the one, whose chain of authority is unbroken and is narrated
by a person who is disciplined as a Just Man and he narrates it from a person who
has similar qualities and it has remained free of irregularities and defects. It is of
seven kinds: (1) the best and the highest is that hadis which has the consensus of
Muslim and Bukhari; (2) Then comes the hadis, which has been narrated only by
Bukhari; (3) Then comes the hadis that has been reported only by Muslim; (4) Then
comes the hadis that satisfies all the conditions of both Bukhari and Muslim, even if
both have not described it with authorities; (5) Then comes the hadis that satisfies the
conditions of Bukhari; (6) Then comes the hadis that satisfies the conditions of Muslim;
and finally (7) comes the hadis, which has been treated as correct by imams of hadis,
other than Bukhari and Muslim. Hence, the hadis that has been narrated with
grammatical patterns, like ‘said so-and-so’ or the verb or the command or [prefixed
by] ‘narrated by’ in the ma’roof [active] tense also is treated as sound. And the hadis
that has been narrated in a majhool [passive] tense is not considered to be sound. It
has been described in books of principles like the Husami and others that:
If the reporter of the hadis is well known in Fiqh and ijtihad [in the exercise of
judgment] – like the Khulafa-e-Rashidin [the first four orthodox Caliphs of
Islam] or the Ibadilah-e-Salasa [the three Abdullahs] 16 and Zaid ibn Sabit,
Mu’az ibn Jabal, Abu Musa Ash’ari and Ayesha RZ and others who are wellknown
in Fiqh and judgement –, the hadis reported by these personalities is
treated as hujjat [incontrovertible proof] and qiyas [analogy] is abandoned.
Hence, the Sheikh [Muttaqi] who is inclined towards devious ways and who has
deviated from justice and equity should establish the soundness of the hadis and then
make allegations against us.
Whereas the fact is that this hadis is not from the Sihah 17 and a hadis similar to it has
been narrated by Kalbi that: The kingship of the whole world will be given to none
but three virtuous men – Suleiman, Zul-Qarnain and Abu Karb; and three infidels –
Namrood [Nimrod], Bakht Nasr and Zahaak. This hadis is taken from the book,
Sharah-e-Shifa. Hence, this hadis requires that the masters of the world should be six,
16 The three Abdullahs are: Abdullah ibn Masud, Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas and Abdullah ibn Umar RZ .
17 Sihah-e-Sittah are the six famous Sunni collections of the sayings of the Holy Prophet SLM , made by
Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmizhi, Abu Dawood, Nasai, and Ibn Majah.