Q1.

Choose any two of the following hadith and:

(a) Describe their teachings about what Muslims believe,
(b) Explain how Muslims can put these teachings into action

Ans (iii):
(a): Modesty is a force which prevents a believer from falling prey to urges of indecency and
obscenity. Modesty is behavior, manner, or appearance intended to avoid impropriety or
indecency. It protects him from all evils prohibited by Islam. This Hadith teaches us that
modesty is source and is a way to earn the happiness and blessings of God. From the hadith,
we come to understand that modesty is the quality of the person who has the best behavior
and it is the quality of the person who shuns anything the displeases God and produces a
feeling of disgust at anything which is displeasing to God. The hadith also tells us that
modesty protects us from evil and from all acts of wrong and satanic and helps us create a
moral, pious and respectful society.
“Do not go near shameful deeds, whether open or secret.”
(b): Muslims should be modest not only towards to God but also towards their fellow beings.
Muslims, both men and women, should practice modesty towards each other in their clothing,
words and actions. They should behave properly and respectfully and should not cause
discomfort for one another.
Modesty should also be practiced to friends at school, or coworkers/colleagues at work, by
respecting the differences of opinion and not being biased of their own opinions. Prophet
Muhamad was a role model for Muslims in all aspects of life, including modesty. He never
spoke loudly or in a disrespectful manner and when he heard anything that was against his
own opinions and beliefs in the assembly, he did not speak against it out of respect for the
people.

Ans (iv):
(a): This hadith teaches Muslims the importance of looking after the needs of others,
especially the weak and the vulnerable. Islam consistently promotes the concepts of social
welfare in the society and constantly reminds Muslims to be caring and sympathetic to those
who are less gifted and suffer. It encourages us to extend help to the deprived and the down
trodden so that the social equilibrium is maintained and the connection between each Muslim
is strong and unbreakable, making the whole Muslim community and brotherhood strong and
unbreakable. Poor and weak people should always be treated with kindness and all needful
assistance and provisions should be provided to widows. Holy Prophet is reported to have
said, “He who fulfills the need of any my people to please him, has pleased me.”
This hadith also demonstrates that the worship of Allah is not just restricted to a few rituals
only, like prayer and fasting. Rather, all our efforts to alleviate someone’s misery promises
Allah’s pleasure with us. Rather, all our efforts to alleviate someone’s misery promises Allah’s
pleasure. It guides us that the reward of being helpful to the widows and the orphans is
equivalent to prayer, fasting and striving in the way of Allah.
(b): Muslims today should play a constructive role in the society by ensuring a respectable
standard of living for those who are less fortunate. They must be social and generous enough
to help the poor and needy so that Muslim may not feel that they are less fortunate or
helpless. Muslims should realize that the reward of being helpful to the widows and the
orphans is the equivalent of practicing three of the most important practices in Islam: prayer,
fasting and Jihad.
The Prophet (SAW) always showed concern for the widows and the poor and many a times he
donated his own share to them. Once Abu Bakr got angry and Salman and Bilal who were poor
companions. The Prophet (SAW) and became angry and told Abu Bakr: Did you not hurt them?
On hearing this Abu Bakr went to them and asked for forgiveness.
Q2: (a) Give a detailed account of the checks made on the text and narrators of Hadiths
(b) In your opinion what are the main advantages of carrying out checks to confirm the
reliability of hadith.
Ans (a): The first part of Hadith is the chain of narrators (Isnad). It is called Sanad (plural
Isnad) which means support as it is authority for genuineness of Hadith. Number of authorities
can vary depending on how far away was the compilers time leading up to the Prophet.
An example of Isnad can be, Imam Malik relates a Hadith from his teacher Nafi who relates it
from his teacher Abdullah bin Umar who says he heard it from the Holy Prophet (SAW).
Methods to check authenticity of Isnad:

 First transmitter in chain must be a companion of Prophet (SAW). This means that he
could have heard the Prophet speak or could have seen him perform various actions.
Rigorous testing of the links between individuals has helped Muslims to be certain of
the genuineness of Hadith.
 Each transmitter in the chain must be known as an honest and upright individual
meaning that he could be trusted to report exactly what he has learned from his
teacher and not alter the hadith.
 Transmitters must be of an age in which they can understand the Hadith and
understand what they are delivering. He should be mature because he should
understand what he reports and know how a change of words can change the ideas in
it. Therefore, Hadith reported by children were not accepted.
 Transmitter must be known to have a good memory which is to ensure that he delivers
the exact words of the Prophet (SAW).
 The dates of birth and death of each transmitter should be overlapping with the
person before and the person after him so that it can be ensured that the two or more
transmitter in the chain have actually met each other in their lifetime to ensure that
the Hadith was personally transmitted. Thus, there must be no breaks or gaps in the
chain.
The second part of the Hadith is matn which means the content of the Hadith which is the
words of the Holy Prophet (SAW) himself. An example is “Pray as you have seen me praying”.
The matn acts as a report or an act or statement of the Prophet (SAW) which helps to build
the picture of his teachings and thus a base for Islamic rites and beliefs.
Methods to check the authenticity of Matn:

 Matn is not accepted as authentic if it contradicts more authentic Hadith, verses of

the Holy Quran or main principles of Islam.
 It should not be against comment sense, laws of nature and/or historical facts.
 It should not be against Prophet’s family or Companions and it should not praise
certain people or tribes.
 Matn should not be accepted if one narrator himself confesses of its falsehood.
 It should not contain such an event that if occurred would have been reported by
other Companions but was only reported by him.
 It should not promise high rewards for small deeds or huge punishments for the
smallest of mistakes.
 It should be in Arabic dialect of Quraysh and should not contain language and
vocabulary that is uncharacteristic to the Prophet for example abusing and cursing.
Different traditions have been classified according to rank and degree of reliability. Thus,
hadith have been divided by Muslims scholars into four types:
1. The Saheeh Hadith (Authentic): If all narrators in the chain fulfill all the conditions
the Hadith is classified as accurate. This means we can be certain that the Prophet
(SAW) did actually say or do whatever was reported in the tradition. Matn should also
follow all conditions to clarify that these were truly the Prophet’s words.
2. Hasan (Approved): It is similar to Saheeh Hadith but some of the narrators have been
found defective in memory in comparison with narrators of Saheeh hadith. Ibn
3. Daeef (Weak): If any of the narrators in the chain was found to be a liar or with bad
memory or he was known to not have met the person who he was supposedly narrating
from.
4. Maudoo(Fabricated): Sometimes Hadith are fabricated, sayings and doings were
attributed to the Prophet(SAW) even though he had never done or said them. These
cannot be used to prove any point of law.
Mardoo hadith are further subclassified in regards to their acceptance.
Mutawatir: A fabricated hadith reported by a large number of people in different times
and many people’s agreement on a lie made the falsehood of the hadith inconceivable,
making the hadith authentic.
Ahad (Single or Isolated): These were Hadith whose Isnad was broken or traditions were
less widely accepted therefore they were less authentic. If the narrators were truthfulm
the Hadith would be accepted, if not, then no.
Ahad has three subdivisions:
Mashur: It is a hadith with three narrators at every stage.
Azeez: Two narrators ,, ,,
Ghareeb: Rests on the evidence of a single narrators at any time.
Ans (b): The Prophet is an excellent role model for all Muslims for all time thus his words and
teachings are of utmost importance as they help us understand how to be a better Muslim and
a better person. Muslims need to know what the Prophet said as his words explain the
teachings of the Qur’an and help not only in daily life but in formulating laws etc. Moreover,
if authentic Hadiths were mixed up with the weak or fabricated Hadiths than the Muslims
would be led astray. It was therefore important to verify the authenticity of the Hadiths so
that Muslims could live their lives in line with the correct teachings of the Prophet.