Muhammad al-Amin
The Consensus Amongst the Companions That the One Who Does Not Pray Is A Disbeliever
1 - Mujahid bin al-Hajjaj (the noble Tabi’i) asked Jabir bin ‘Abdillah (the noble Companion): “What actions did you use to differentiate between belief and disbelief during the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)?” He replied: “The prayer.”
[al-Maruzi in ‘Ta’dhim Qadr as-Salah’ (2/877) and al-Lalaka’i in ‘I’tiqad Ahl as-Sunnah’ (4/829), by way of Ya’qub bin Ibrahim, who is known as a trustworthy narrator]
2 - The noble Tabi’i ‘Abdullah bin Shaqiq al-’Aqili said: “The Companions of Muhammad did not see the abandonment of any actions as consituting disbelief except for the prayer.”
[at-Tirmidhi (2622) and al-Hakim (1/1248) by way of Bishr bin al-Mufaddal. al-Hakim declared it to be authentic on the conditions of al-Bukhari and Muslim]
al-Mubarakfuri commented on this in ‘Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi’ (7/370) by saying: “This saying of ‘Abdullah bin Shaqiq - in its apparent meaning - proves that the Companions of the Messenger of Allah believed the abandoment of prayer to be disbelief. What is apparent from this statement is that the Companions were all agreed in this, since he said: “The Companions of Muhammad…,” which is a collective attribution.”
3 - The noble Tabi’i al-Hasan al-Basri said: “It has reached me that the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) used to say: “Between a servant and his falling into polytheism and disbelief is that he leaves the prayer without a valid excuse.”
[al-Lalaka’i (4/829, 1539), Ibn Battah in ‘al-Ibanah’ (p. 87), and al-Khallal in ‘as-Sunnah’ (4/124 and #1372)]
4 - Hammad bin Zayd narrated from Ayyub (a well-known Tabi’i) that he said: “To leave the prayer is disbelief. There is no difference of opinion on this.”
[al-Maruzi in ‘Ta’dhim Qadr as-Salah’ (2/925 and 978)]
5 - al-Maruzi also mentions that he heard Ishaq bin Rahwiyah (the well-known trustworthy narrator, the companion of Ahmad bin Hambal) say: “It has been authentically narrated from the Prophet (peace be upon him) that the one who leaves the prayer is a disbeliever. Likewise, this has been the opinion of the people of knowledge since the time of the Prophet up until our times: that the one who leaves the prayer beyond its proper time - intentionally and without a valid excuse - is a disbeliever.”
6 - al-Maruzi also mentioned in ‘Ta’dhim Qadr as-Salah’ (2/925): “We mentioned the reports narrated from the Prophet (peace be upon him) regarding the disbelief of the one who leaves the prayer, and his leaving the creed of Islam, and the permissibility of fighting the one who refuses to establish it. Then, we received similar reports from the Companions, and we did not come across any difference from this opinion from a single one of them. However, the people of knowledge began differing in this afterwards…”
And it is well-known that Muhammad bin Nasr al-Maruzi was famous for his vast knowledge of the sayings and opinions of the people of knowledge in the area of agreement and differing on various legal issues, as was mentioned by al-Khatib al-Baghdadi in ‘Tarikh Baghdad’ (3/315): “He was from the most knowledgable of people of the differences of opinion amonst the Companions and those who came after them.” Also, adh-Dhahabi supported this saying in ‘Siyar A’lam an-Nubala” (14/34): “It is said: “he was - by far - the most knowledgable of the scholars regarding the differences of opinion between the scholars.”"
7 - Ibn Taymiyyah mentioned in ‘Sharh al-’Umdah’ (2/75), as did Ibn al-Qayyim in ‘as-Salah’ (p.67) that this is the consensus of the Companions, due to the saying of ‘Umar, in the presence of the Companions, without any of them opposing his saying: “There is no share of Islam for the one who leaves the prayer,” or: “There is no Islam for the one who does not pray.”
8 - With all of this, nobody who says that the one who does not pray is not a disbeliever can find a single Companion who holds their opinion. In fact, they cannot find even a single Tabi’i except az-Zuhri, who was himself a minor Tabi’i.
Ibn Hazm says in ‘al-Muhalla’ (2/242): “We do not know of what we have mentioned from the Companions any difference of opinion amongst them, and the followers of the four madhahib are very eager to hold onto the difference of opinion from a Companion if this is in accordance with their desires. And it has been narrated from ‘Umar, ‘Abdur-Rahman bin ‘Awf, Mu’adh bin Jabal, Abu Hurayrah, and other than them from the Companions that the one who leaves a single obligatory prayer - intentionally and beyond its proper time - then he is a disbelieving apostate.”
And al-Mundhiri mentioned in ‘at-Targhib wat-Tarhib’ (1/393) additional Companions who reported this: “…’Abdullah bin Mas’ud, ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abbas, Jabir bin ‘Abdillah, and Abu ad-Darda’ - may Allah be pleased with them all.” And from other than the Companions: “…Ahmad bin Hambal, Ishaq bin Rahwiyah, ‘Abdullah bin al-Mubarak, Ibrahim an-Nakha’i, al-Hakam bin ‘Utaybah, Ayyub as-Sakhtiyani, Abu Dawud at-Taylasi, Abu Bakr bin Abi Shaybah, Zuhayr bin Harb, and other than them.”
And this is the saying of the majority of the people of Hadith, and this was the opinion of Sa’id bin Jubayr, al-Hasan al-Basri, al-Awza’i, and Muhammad bin al-Hasan. It is the authentically narrated opinion of ash-Shafi’i, as Ibn Kathir mentioned in his ‘Tafsir’ (in his explanation of verse 59 in ‘Maryam’) and at-Tahawi narrated from ash-Shafi’i personally.
Final benefit: Ibn al-Qayyim said, in ‘as-Salah’: “The Muslims do not disagree that the intentional abandonment of the obligatory prayer is from the greatest and most major of sins, and that the sin of such a person is greater in the Sight of Allah than the sin of the one who commits murder and steals wealth, and commits fornication, and drinks alcohol, and that he is exposing himself to the punishment and anger of Allah, and humiliation in this life and the next.”
Original Arabic: http://www.ibnamin.com/salat_zakat.htm
Five Points and Statements of Benefit
1 - The Shortcomings of the Scholars in Regards to Worldly Knowledge
al-Imam al-Qurafi said:
“…and how many scholars and judges have had the truth hidden from them in many issues because of their ignorance regarding mathematics, medicine, engineering, etc.? So, it is a must for those who have high ambitions that they do not abandon the effort to attain this knowledge as long as it is within their reach, as I do not consider any fault in the people to be as bad as the shortcomings of those who are able to attain perfection.”
[‘adh-Dhakhirah’; 5/502]
2 - The Tolerance of the Companions and Those After Them And Their Distance From Harshness and Extremism
‘Umayr bin Ishaq said:
“I saw from the Companions of the Messenger of Allah more than I had not seen of them, and I have never seen people greater in softness than them, and I have never seen people less in harshness than them.”
[Narrated by ad-Darimi in his ‘Sunan’ (1/63), Ibn Abi Shaybah in his ‘Musannaf’ (7/228), and Ibn Sa’ad in ‘at-Tabaqat’ (7/220)]
Ibn Mas’ud said: “The one who makes forbidden what Allah has made permissible is like the one who makes permissible what Allah has made forbidden.”
[Narrated by at-Tabarani in ‘al-Mu’jam al-Kabir,’ and it is authentic]
3 - The Permissibility of Not Writing Out the Peace and Blessings After Mentioning the Prophet
al-Khatib al-Baghdadi said:
“I saw the handwriting of Abu ‘Abdullah Ahmad bin Hambal of many ahadith in which the Prophet was mentioned, and he would not write ’sall Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam’ after his name. I was informed that he used to invoke peace and blessings upon the Prophet by his tongue and not in writing.”
[‘al-Jami’ li-Akhlaq ar-Rawi wa Adab as-Sami”; 1/271]
4 - Do Not Burden People With More Than They Can Handle of the Rulings of Islam
‘Abd al-Malik, the son of ‘Umar bin ‘Abd al-’Aziz, said to his father: “O father, why are you not forthcoming in people’s affairs? By Allah, I do not care about anything else when it comes to implementing the truth, even if everyone were to despise us for it.” So, ‘Umar said to him: “O son, do not be hasty! For Allah - the Exalted - discouraged the consumption of alcohol in the Qur’an twice, and finally forbade it the third time, and I am afraid that I would burden the people with all of the truth at once, causing them to reject it, and this would be a trial for them.”‘
5 - The Preoccupation of Some Scholars With The Worldly Life and Their Amazament At Their Own Knowledge
Ibn al-Jawzi said:
“I saw most of the scholars preoccuppied with the outer appearance of knowledge, rather than the understanding of its reality. For example:
a) The recitor of the Qur’an is busy with the different modes of recitation, eager to learn the strange and rare ones. They do this thinking that the purpose of the Qur’an is to simply recite it, forgetting about the Greatness of the One whose Speech it is, and the warnings and threats contained in it. Sometimes, they might even think that mere memorization of the Qur’an will protect them from these warnings, so, you see such people being lax in regards to certain sins! If they truly understood, they would know that the proof against him is greater than it is against the one who has not recited as much as him!
b) The scholar of Hadith gathers the narrations and memorizes the chains without reflecting on the intended message of the narration, and he assumes that he has therefore preserved the Sunnah for the people, so he becomes lax in making mistakes, assuming that his supposed service of the Shari’ah will protect him.
c) The scholar of Fiqh thinks that with what he knows of the arguements that strengthen his position, or the issues that he knows of a particular school of thought, that he has acquired that which will raise his status and erase his sins. So, he might be bold in falling into sin, thinking that he will be protected from punishment. He might even put aside memorization of the Qur’an and knowledge of Hadith, while these forbid him from these sins with admonishment and softness. In addition to this, he acquires love and desire for leadership and being seen in arguement, which increases his heart in hardness.
…and most people are like this, thinking that knowledge is like a production factory! These people do not understand the meaning of knowledge. Knowledge is not simply the outer appearance and speech. Rather, what is desired by it is to understand the intended meanings contained therein. This is what implants submissiveness and fear!”
[‘Sayd al-Khatir’; p. 384]
Original Arabic: http://www.ibnamin.com/fawed.htm
How Many Authentic Ahadith Are There?
The scholars of Hadith differed over the number of authentic ahadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him). The strongest opinion is that which Ibn Hajar al-’Asqalani reported in the book ‘an-Nukat ‘Ala Ibn as-Salah’ (p. 992): “Abu Ja’far Muhammad bin al-Husayn mentioned in his book ‘at-Tamyiz’ that Shu’bah, (Sufyan) ath-Thawri, Yahya bin Sa’id al-Qattan, Ibn al-Mahdi, Ahmad bin Hambal, and other than them mentioned that all of the hadith narrated directly from the Prophet - without repetition - number around four thousand four hundred (4,400) hadith. al-Hafidh Ibn Rajab said in ‘Jami’ al-’Ulum wal-Hikam’ (p.9): “Abu Dawud said: “I looked at the narrated ahadith, and I found them to be four thousand in number.”"
We also know that the reliable scholars of hadith are agreed upon the authenticity of all which has come in the two ‘Sahih’s (of al-Bukhari and Muslim), with a few exceptions. So, if all that is in the two ‘Sahih’s - without repetition - numbers 2,980 ahadith (or, if you wish, say 3,000), with the conclusion that the total number of authentic ahadith are 4,400 in number, we can then conclude that the two Shaykhs (al-Bukhari and Muslim) reported roughly three-fourths of all of the authentic ahadith narrated from the Prophet, with around 1,400 authentic ahadith left over that they did not narrate in their books. The vast majority of these remaining ahadith can be found in the collections of at-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, an-Nasa’i, etc., as an-Nawawi mentions in his explanation of ‘Sahih Muslim.’
As for the most important ahadith which involve issues of halal and haram, we can say with nearly all of them are in the two ‘Sahih’s, and some of numbered such ahadith to be around five hundred (500). al-Bayhaqi narrated in ‘Manaqib ash-Shafi’i’ (1/915 - with the verification of Ahmad Saqr): “al-Imam ash-Shafi’i was asked about the number of ahadith dealing with the foundations of the rulings found in the Sunnah. So, he said: “Five hundred.” It was then asked of him how many of them were found in the books of al-Imam Malik, so, he replied: “All except for thirty-five.”" And it is known that the majority of ahadith narrated by Malik in his ‘Muwatta” are also narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim in their collections, and because of this, Ibn Daqiq al-’Id authored a book collecting the ahadith related to rulings from only those found in the ‘Sahih’s of al-Bukhari and Muslim.
Facts and figures:
As we stated earlier, the total number of ahadith in the two ‘Sahih’s - without repetition - number roughly 2,980.
Abu Dawud reported 2,450 ahadith not found in the Sahihayn.
at-Tirmidhi reported 1,350 ahadith not reported by Abu Dawud, and not found in the Sahihayn.
an-Nasa’i reported 2,400 ahadith not reported in the four collections mentioned above.
So, the total number of ahadith reported in the ‘Sunan’ (of Abu Dawud, an-Nasa’i, and at-Tirmidhi) that are not reported in the two ‘Sahih’s number around 6,200.
So, the from the five collections mentioned above which attempted to collect the authentic ahadith gathered a total of 9,180 ahadith, most of them being weak.
Ibn Majah collected 600 ahadith not reported in the five collections mentioned above, with approximately 500 of those ahadith being weak.
Malik’s ‘Muwatta” contains 50 ahadith that are not found in the collections mentioned above.
ash-Shawkani’s ‘Nayl al-Awtar’ (which contains mostly ahadith well-known amongst the later scholars of Fiqh, and most of which are found in the ‘Sunan’ of ad-Daraqutni and the ‘Mu’jam’ of at-Tabarani) contains about 500 ahadith not found in the collections mentioned above.
The ‘Musnad’ of Ahmad bin Hambal contains about 1,500 ahadith not found in any of the collections mentioned above.
So, the total number of ahadith contained in all of the well-known collections are 11,830 in number, and - as mentioned earlier - about 4,400 of these are authentic.
And Allah Knows best.
Original Arabic: http://www.ibnamin.com/num_hadith.htm