154 The Messenger of Allah (S) has drawn the attention...

154 The Messenger of Allah (S) has drawn the attention toward what we referred to by saying: “You will be confronted with a multiplying number of traditions after me. Therefore, when a hadith is narrated to you, compare it with the Book of Allah; accept that which agrees with it and reject that which contradicts it.

It is reported that a group of Persians and Jews 155 and others, when noticing emergence of Islam and its spread everywhere, with vanquishing and subduing all nations, realizing their inability to challenge or oppose it, resorted to trickery and intrigue, showing off, unwillingly, Islam and faith, engaging themselves in devotion and abstemiousness.

When their conduct and practices found way among people, being approved by them, they embarked on fabricating traditions and reports, causing thus people to be divided into several groups and parties.

When Umar ibn Al-Khattab be so strict in approving the hadith, threatening to punish whoever abundantly narrating it during his time, with presence of many , before the appearance of the heresies, at a time praised by the Messenger of Allah (S), so how would be the case with the times censured by him! with multiplication of heresies and scarcity of trusteeship and honesty.

Second Defect: Which is reporting the hadith on the basis of its meaning without caring for the very words uttered by the Prophet, in which a great number of errors are found. Out of this practice horrible seditions were originated, as most of the narrators used to disregard the words uttered by the Prophet (S) with conveying to their successors the meaning intended by him through other words and expressions.

Hence we may notice the same hadith, having the same meaning, reported with miscellaneous words and different expressions, with some of them having additional words. But divergence of the hadith words may emerge due to the Prophet’s reiterating it in several various occasions. Such kind of hadith is out of scope of our discussion, but that which matters here is the divergence among the words used in transmitting the hadith according to its meaning.

The faulty aspect in this regard lies in the fact that people differ in their shapes and complexions and other aspects and conditions. It may happen that the narrator hearing the hadith from the Prophet (S) or from other than him, may portray its meaning in his mind in a way contrary to that intended by the Prophet.