ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Light On the Muhammadan Sunnah Or Defence of the Hadith Narrating Hadith By Meaning and Disagreement Among Scholars: The ulama’ disagreed regarding narration of hadith by meaning, with some holding it to be absolutely impermissible, among whom being Ibn Sirin, Tha’lab and Abu Bakr al-Razi, beside Ibn Umar 120 according to some narrations.

But the majority of ulama’ permit it, on condition that the narrator being aware of the minutest words, able to discern the amount of difference between them, experienced in their denotations. That is when exchanging any word of the hadith reported to him with another one identical to it in meaning, this would be permissible for him. 121 This issue was tackled by usul scholars, and due to its extreme importance I would like to cite here excerpts of their statements for readers’ satisfaction.

In al-Luma’, Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi is reported to have said: Ikhtiyar in narration is to narrate the report by its original wording, in accordance with the Prophet’s hadith: “May Allah bless whoever hears my utterance and comprehends it, delivering it as he heard it. Holder of fiqh may convey it to that who being more knowledgeable than him. 122 When he citing any riwayah, it should be deliberated!

If he being of those unaware of the meaning of the hadith, his narration is impermissible, since he is not immune against changing it. And if he be among those recognizing the meaning of the hadith, it should be deliberated! If it be a probable report (khabar), he is not permitted to narrate by meaning since he may relate it with words not indicating the meaning intended by the Messenger, so he is not permitted to inflect with it.

But if it be a conspicuous report, there would be two views regarding it: Some of our scholars hold that: It is impermissible, as worship may be fulfilled through uttering some words like takbirah of prayers. Some others believe in its permissibility, which is more preponderant as it indicates its denotation, according to a hadith reported from the Prophet (S): No harm will befall you if you hit the mark.