Fatma: How did equivocal references appear in Islamic resources?

Fatma: How did equivocal references appear in Islamic resources? How do Islamic scholars determine whether references have enough substantial evidence to be considered reliable? Sayyid: Elaborating and defining all Islamic resources that scholars rely on would be too extensive.

In brief, I will mention two of the most predominant Islamic sources: the Qur’an and the hadiths[^3] (traditions of the ).[^4] All Muslim scholars, regardless of their school of thought, agree upon the authenticity of the Qur’an.[^5] There is no dispute among the schools regarding the immaculateness and flawlessness of the Qur’an. The Qur’an is exactly the same text today as it was when it was revealed to over 1400 years ago.

However, the interpretation of the Qur’an becomes problematic when Islamic scholars attempt to explain the Qur’an. One scholar may elucidate or perceive a verse one way while another scholar may view it from a different perspective or interest. When it comes to examining traditions of the Prophet, Muslim scholars are very careful about ensuring authenticity. Scholars do not accept every tradition as genuine.

First, scholars closely study and thoroughly examine the credibility and reliability of the chain of narrators, as well as, what exactly the narrators said. If scholars discover any author or narrator to be unreliable or not trustworthy then the traditions of that narrator will be disregarded. At the same time, if scholars perceive authors or narrators to be even somewhat questionable, they will refer to their traditions as being “weak.” The acceptance of a tradition depends on two things.

First, the tradition must be validated through the household of the Prophet, the twelve infallible Imams,[^6] or through the trustworthy companions of the Prophet. Second, their traditions must not contradict the Qur’an. Once these two criteria are met, then scholars are certain that the tradition is authentic.

In Islamic literature, there is an abundance of unauthentic traditions referred to as “Israelites.”[^7] In the history of Islam, there were some people who, upon converting to Islam, were truly incognizant and unacquainted with Islamic ideology, yet still wrote unwarranted traditions. Some of these people started to propagate traditions that were unfounded; for instance, indoctrinating traditions that allege some prophets as sinning, committing adultery, and being drunk.

Such outlandish lies are alien to the Islamic creed.