Allama Shabbir Meeruthi Found Many Ahadith in

Bukhari Concocted and Fabricated

 
By Dr. M. Ghitreef Shahbaz Nadwi, New Age Islam
10 June 2012
Allama Shabbir Ahmad Azhar Meeruthi (1921-2005) was a great
scholar of Islamic Sciences, Quran, Hadith, Fiqh and all traditional
Arabic Sciences and related arts. Born at a village in Ghaziabad UP,
to a very humble religious family, he got his early education in
various madrasas of Meerut city, then he admitted to Imdadia
seminary of the same city. Where he was taught by a very learned
Alim Maulana Shah Akhtar Khan of Amroha. Alim Maulana Shah
Akhtar was very loving and caring to this student of his. The disciple
was brilliant, hardworking and intelligent as well as a curious boy.
 His beloved teacher Shah Akhtar Khan, noticed this shy, hard-
working boy, always deeply immersed in thought, not very
interactive with people and yet argumentative. He found his student
always engaged in his studies, exploring new meanings and new
ideas. No wonder he used to say that “this boy is a sign of God”.
After completing his formal education, on the reference of his
affectionate teacher, Allama Azhar Meeruthi, went to Darul Uloom
Deoband from where he graduated with distinction. And having a
Fazilat degree from this reputed seminary, he engaged himself in
teaching Hadith and Tafsir in various reputed seats of Islamic
learning all over India including Nadwatul Ulma Lucknow. He spent
his whole life time in this otherwise sacred profession, which has
been hijacked now by the ulema of a lover quality.
As a senior teacher (Shakhul Hadis) he was well known in the
country, but since he did not entertain any bias for any prevailing
school of thought, he could not achieve success in the worldly sense,
so much so that he could not even afford to publish his valuable
research work properly. A courageous scholar that he was, he was
very blunt in expression of his views. Time and again this would go
against the vested interests of so-called Ulama and religious
sectarian groups. No wonder he was virtually sidelined by the clergy.
His writings:
Allama Shabbir Ahmad Azhar Meeruthi has to his credit several
seminal works on Quran, Hadith and theology and Islamic history,
most important among them are:
Miftahul Quran (key to the Quran) written in Urdu is a remarkable
work on Quranic exegesis.. Only a few chapters of this work have
been published so far.
Dictionary on Quran (unpublished). Sharah Musnad Ahmad Bin
Hanbal: (Urdu) a well researched work and in fact a combination of
Hadith criticism research and exponent of Ahadith of the book e.g.
Fiqhe hadith. (Understanding of Hadith)
Tuhfatul Qari Sharah Sahihul Bukhari (Arabic) It is a full exponential
work on Bukhari, a masterpiece in Hadith literature, based on the
same methodology set by Bukhari and other Muhaddisun (Hadith
scholars) in research and exploring new meanings and ideas of the
Ahadith of the book. The marked feature of this work is that the
writer criticised many Ahadith of the book, so far considered
untouched, on Riwayat (tradition) as well as Dirayat (reasoning)
basis, and thus dared to breaking a centuries-old taboo among
Ulama. For the majority opinion of Muslim Ulama (Sunni trend) is
that everything in Bukhari is true, so it cannot be touched or
criticised. The work running into at least 10 lengthy volumes remains
so far unpublished.
Bukhari ka Mutalaa (3 volumes, out of which only 2 parts are
published (2003) by Foundation for Islamic studies New Delhi in
Urdu. The book’s second part is a critical study of 150 traditions of
Bukhari (pages 350 price: Rs 150, while the first part consisting of 30
Ahadith) basically deals with a most controversial discussion about
the book of Bukhari. Bukhari is considered a most credible and
authentic collection of Ahadith, compiled by a great Imam and
Muhaddis, Imam Mohammad bin Ismail Al-Bukhari. It has always been
an agreed upon belief among Muslim scholars of various schools of
thought, more specifically among Sunnis, that in Bukhari there is no
concocted or even a weak Hadith.  Only a very few minor mistakes,
regarding the chains of a few Ahadith are supposed to be there.
Notwithstanding that, in recent times there are some challenging
voices that questioned this popular notion and the credibility of a
set of Ahadith of the book. Among them are some Ulama, thinkers
and writers who are claiming that there are several shortcomings
and if studied and analysed with open mind, many errors could be
found in the book.
Allama Meeruthi not only claimed this very loudly and clearly, he
proved his viewpoint with abundant reasons and sufficient
evidences. He was a great Alim of Hadith art, having a vast
knowledge of chains of narrators of Hadith literature as well as a
vast erudition of Hadith's texts and
particularities of significant books and methods and styles of them,
like Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmizi, Nasai, Musnad Ahmad and other major
works in the field.
He decided to write the book in three volumes, in first volume he
was to discuss only the Ahadith that were totally wrong in his view.
The second volume was to consist on Ahadith which were partly
false and partly true, and the third volume was to examine some
Ijtihadat and opinions of Imam Bukhari and other Muhaddisun .When
he prepared the draft to be published, it was containing only 30
Ahadith, but latter on when he went on his research he found that
there were many more Ahadith which come under this first
category, then he was compelled to divide the volume1 into two
parts. The third part of the book is yet to be published.
A few examples from his work will illustrate the point Allama
Meeruthi is trying to make:
The truth of Ahadith regarding Dajjal
Ahadise Dajjal ka Mutalaa, a critical study of Ahadith regarding
Dajjal.Second coming of a Messiah( ‫مسيح‬ ), emergence of imam
Mahdi, and resurging of Dajjal (Behemoth) or a supernatural man are
also, falsely, a part of Muslim mythology. 6 These have become a
part of Muslim belief and their psyche. Be they Sunni or Shia, they
deeply believe in miraculous things to happen in future, especially
when doomsday will come close. The fact of the matter is that all
these notions have no basis in Islam.
Quran does not refer to them even in allusion, and no true Hadith
proves them either. In fact some people belonging to clergy or
secret groups in early period of Islam invented these false
narrations, so that in the long run they could exploit them for their
vested interests. We see throughout the long Muslim history that
there was a long list of aspirants who came up with the big claim to
be a Mahdi appointed by God. I will just name a few. In Sudan, in
recent history, there was a movement called “Mahdi Movement”
stirred up by a man Mahdi Sudani. Even in the Indian sub continent
centuries ago there was a movement motivated by Mahmood
Jaunpuri, who still has a thin following in southern India.
Maulana Meeruthi made an exclusive study of all the narrations in
this regard, reported in Bukhari, Muslim, Musnad Ahmad and other
major Hadith works. He examined all these Hadiths one by one, on
the same pattern evolved and used by Muhaddisun themselves.
Applying the same method and tools of Hadith criticism he refuted
all these Ahadith as baseless. He found that these had been
concocted in latter periods of Islamic history. Then he published his
findings in one volume named Ahadees Dajjal ka Mutalaa ( a critical
study of Ahadithe dajjal ) The book was published by Foundation for
Islamic Studies, New Delhi, and is now out of stock but republished
in Pakistan also by Daruttazkeer, Lahore.
Now you cannot understand and evaluate the achievement of Allama
unless and until I give you an insight, giving some details, into the
nature and vitality of the work he accomplished. For this purpose we
take some examples of his studies that show his wisdom and sound
reasoning.
Did the Prophet have the sexual prowess of 30 men?
For instance there is a narration that the prophet of Islam had made
sexual intercourse in one go ,with all his wives, who were 9 at that
time, and bathed only at the end. Not only that but it is also
reported it was his usual practice. Prima-facie, it is impossible for
any human being to have sex with so many women in one go,
however stout and physically strong he may be. So sensing the
absurdity of this event reported in Bukhari, traditionalists, who are
blindly following their predecessors, were compelled to invent
another narration in order to justify the first, that the prophet was
given the sexual prowess of 30 people.
Maulana Meeruthi’s view about the incident is that: first of all there
is no proof from the Holy Quran or any true Hadith to this effect
that Mohammad was given an extra sexual strength of 30 people. In
sharp contrast to that in Quran in many places it is mentioned very
clearly that Mohammad is but the messenger of God, and he is a
humble slave of his Lord Allah. Secondly the Allama pointed out,
“the wording of the Hadith is true but it is utterly misunderstood,
because in Arabic it reads:‫أنس بن مالك حدثهم أن النبي صلى هللا عليه وسلم كان يطوف‬
‫على نسائه في الليلة الواحدة وله يومئذ تسع نسوة صحيح البخاري كتاب‬
785 ‫النكاح‬
The correct translation is that Anas reported that the prophet used
to make rounds of all his wives, who were nine women at that time.
It means that the prophet used to see them every day, to look after
them and to ask them if they had any problem and so on, so as
usual, he, one night might have gone around to meet all his wives,
then he stayed with the last one whose turn ,that day, was .
Because he had scheduled their turns on a daily basis, and he then
might made love with her and bathed only one bath which was due.
In fact it was a simple matter but the narrators made a sexual
miracle out of so simple an event”.
Maulana’s point of view is supported by the fact that in the wording
of the said narration there is no word referring, even remotely, to
any sexual activity, the word ‫طاف عليه‬ means only to make round, to
walk about and to roundabout and other similar meanings. The
second point he made is that “Anas was a very young boy who was
living as a slave in the prophet's house. How can a boy of a younger
age, come to know these secret things between a husband and his
wives. It cannot be imagined that the prophet himself revealed all
this to a young boy. How could then, Anas tell these things to other
narrators? Meeruthi wonders. He explained all this saying:“ It seems
that Anas only reported the event of prophet making rounds to see
the respected wives, and some narrators of later period foolishly
took the incident as the Prophet going on a sexual spree''. (See
Bukhari ka Mutaala p: 201-208 volume 1)
Was the Prophet’s armour in mortgage with a Jew at the time of his
death?
There is a narration in Bukhari that when the prophet died his
armour was kept on mortgage with a Jew. Now Meeruthi says: “It is
totally wrong on the premises that the prophet had died in 10 AH
and after the suppression of Banu Quraiza in 5 AH, no Jew had
remained in Madina, because the two other Jewish clans namely,
Banu Canucaa and Banu Nazir too had been expelled from the city
long ago”. The second reason to refute this narration is that when
the prophet died all of Arabia was under his rule. Makka, Taif and
other major cities of Arabia were conquered, things had changed
and economic hardships and financial difficulties had disappeared.
Where then does the question of keeping his armour on mortgagee
to borrow money from a Jew arrive? ''
Was Hazrat Aisha (RA) married to the prophet in her childhood?
It is also generally believed that Aisha (RA) was married to the
prophet in her childhood as it is reported by herself in Bukhari, She
said : I was married to prophet when I was only of six and he had
sexual relations with me when I was of nine. 4 ( ‫تزوجني رسول هللا وأنابنت‬
‫ست ودخل علي وأنابنت تسع‬ ) Maulana Meeruthi accepted the wordings of
the narration, yet he criticised and rejected its interpretation saying
that'' it is a common style to shorten a sentence in all languages
when there is a connection to link the mind of the addressee to it
instantly, and if he catch the purport easily. It was common with
Arabs also and more specifically they do so when it comes to
numerical statements, so when Aisha told that I was of six, she was
meaning six after ten, that is 16 and that when the prophet did
consummate with her she was nine after ten, that is 19.So the exact
wording of the Hadis should be considered as:
)‫تزوجني رسول هللا وأنابنت ست ( أي بعد العاشرة) ودخل علي وأنابنت تسع (أي بعد العاشرة‬
When I was married to prophet I was six (after ten;16),and when he
had intercourse with me I was nine (after ten:19)
To prove his point he cited an example from the Hadis itself. So he
quoted the narration reported by Bukhari himself on the blessed
night ( ‫ليلة القدر‬ ) as prophet said :  ‫فالتمسوها في التاسعة والسابعة والخامسة(أي بعد‬
271 ‫العشرين) بخاري كتاب الصيام ص‬ (Seek this night in ,25,27,29 of the
month of Ramadhan)
AS it is crystal clear that he shortened the sentence to say,  ‫في التاسعة‬
‫والسابعة والخامسة‬ e.g. in the ninth night after twenty and in the seventh
night after twenty and so on. ''So the argument is that Muhaddisun
and their blind followers of all shades, do not give the Hadis the
required thought and they did not ponder upon the Arabic stylish
phrasing and took it in verbatim. And thus made the issue of Aisha’s
age on marriage time an emotional one''. This also supported on
another count, for some may say that because the Arabia is a very
hot country so it is possible for a woman to reach puberty at the age
of nine or so.
But fact of the matter is that Aisha’s case is a singular one of this
kind, if her marriage could be justified on tropical ground, then
there should be some other similar cases too, which are not there
because if there were any history will must tell us. Meeruthi also
refuted this narration on historical basis,'' for Aisha’s elder sister
Asma daughter of Abu Bakar was older to her by ten years, as it is
reported by Tabari:  ‫هي أكبر من أختها عائشة بعشر سنين وتوفيت أسماء سنة ثالث‬
‫( وسبعين وقد جاوزت مئة سنة‬346 ‫ص‬8 ‫ البداية والنهاية‬،‫ابن كثير‬ and see also Bukhari
ka Mutalaa, vo 2 p.254)
The translation says: She (Asma) was older than Aisha by ten and
died in 73 AH in the age, exceeding to 100. It means that she surely
was of 27 years on the eve of Hijra, and Aisha respectively should
have been of 17 years then. According To Tabari, all the children of
Abu Bakar were born before the advent of Islam, in a time which is
called in Islamic parlance as Jahillia period.(  ‫فكل هوالء األربعة من أوالده‬
‫ عبد الرحمن وعائشة ) من زوجتيه اللتين سميناهما في الجاهلية (ابن جرير طبري‬،‫ أسماء‬،‫(عبد هللا‬
)50‫ص‬4‫ ج‬See also Bukhari ka Mutalaa. P.254 The messenger of Allah
had migrated to Madina when the 14th year of his mission was
started, and since he had married with Aisha before his emigration,
so it is very likely that she was 16 years old then, and after coming
to Madina and settling therein when she was brought to her
husband’s house, she was then 19 years old''.
Was the Holy Quran revealed in seven dialects?
It is also a common belief among Muslims that the Holy Quran was
revealed in seven dialects ( ‫)سبعة أحرف‬, because it is reported in
Bukhari and other Hadith works. It means that you can recite the
Quran in seven different ways. The reason they give is that Allah
made this provision on the request of the prophet himself, in order
to make things easy for his Ummah. ‫أقرءني جبريل على حرف فلم أزل استزيده‬
427‫فيزيد لي حتى انتهى إلى سبعة أحرف (بخاري كتاب فضائل القرآن ص‬
Angel Gabriel taught me Quran in one word (dialect) but I kept
insisting that the number of dialects be increased, so he kept
increasing it till he reached seven words (dialects). Now Maulana
Meeruthi wonders “how can the matter be easy when you spell a
verse or a sentence in seven different ways? Nay, even is it be
possible for a man to spell and recite a word so to say, in seven
ways? Take a word or a phrase, for example ‫أنعمت‬
If you recite it in one way, it will be very easy but if you recite it in
seven ways, how can it be easy? Moreover is it almost impossible to
recite, any word, say, Quran, Allah, Rabb, Alhamd etc in seven
ways”. On this sound ground Meeruthi rejected this Hadith too.
In fact it is the tip of the iceberg. There are many more Ahadith of
this kind, reported by Bukhari, whom Maulana Meerithi vehemently
rejected on viable reasoning and after a thorough study of their
chains of narrators and inconsistency of various versions of their
statements. He also closely checked whether they made any sense
at all. He also verified whether they were in conformity with the
general spirit of Islam.
Allama Meeruthi had great respect for Imam Bukahri and Imam
Muslim
Here I must clarify that Meeruthi never meant to be, in person,
against Imam Bukahri and Imam Muslim. Both were in his eyes great
persons, who served Islam well and set a model of Hadith criticism
to be followed by the coming generations. Not only that but he gave
them due respect and high regards. (See his preface for the first
part of his book, p.1) In fact he was a true follower of them,
imitating their footsteps in vast reading, hard research and
correcting the narrations and thus reviving their methodology
without any bias for this Islamic sect or that school of thought. (See
his preface P.1).
Why did Allama Meeruthi criticise and reject so many Ahadith of
Bukhari? Clearly because, after his vast research into it, he
concluded that it contains concocted stories and they are aplenty.
So he deemed the book fit to be re-examined. After a thorough
reassessment, he criticized and eventually rejected many traditions
of the same. And this because, in his opinion these false Ahadith,
are either causing great damage to Islam or are creating a hindrance
to a correct understanding of the holy Quran.
With these few examples, one can understand the enormity,
intensity, significance and necessity of the work Meeruthi tried to
do. It is imperative that this work is continued. For, the reform of
the Muslim mind wedded to stereotypes, cannot be effected without
this hammering job.
Dr. M. Ghitreef Shahbaz Nadwi is the director, Foundation for Islamic Studies C-303/3 Shaheen
Bagh Jamia Nagar New Delhi 25 and can be reached at: mohammad.ghitreef@gmail.com.
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