(Series of Answers by the Eminent Scholar Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah, Ameer of Hizb ut-Tahrir, to Questions from Visitors to his Facebook Page "Fiqhi")
Answer to Question
"The Recurrent Actionable Sunnah"; One Thing? Or Two Different Things?
Question:
Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh,
Two questions, if you please, may Allah grant you success...
- It was mentioned in the book, The Islamic Personality, Volume 3 (p. 82) the following:
"The Mutawatir (recurrent) Hadith is definitive in its authenticity (qat’i al-thubut) from the Prophet ﷺ; thus, it yields certain knowledge and must be acted upon in everything, whether it is from the verbal, actionable, or silent Sunnah. Among the recurrent verbal Hadiths is his ﷺ saying: 'Whoever deliberately attributes a lie to me, let him take his seat in the Fire.' And among the recurrent actionable Sunnah are the five daily prayers and the number of their units (rak’ahs), as well as what has been reported regarding the manner of prayer, fasting, and Hajj."
The question is about the "recurrent actionable Sunnah"—what is it? Is it the recurrence of reports about an action performed by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ? Or is it the recurrence of actions performed by people generation after generation from his ﷺ time until today?
Some researchers have categorized what they call "tawatur al-amal" (recurrence of practice) or "tawatur al-tawaruth" (recurrence of inheritance) as a type of recurrence. For example, Sheikh Shabbir Ahmad Usmani said in the introduction to Fath al-Mulhim (p. 18):
"The third type: recurrence of practice and recurrence of inheritance. This means that in every century from the time of the Lawgiver until our day, it is practiced by a vast multitude of practitioners, such that it is habitually impossible for them to have conspired on a lie or an error, such as using the siwak during wudu for example; for it is a Sunnah, and believing in its Sunnah status is an obligation; because it is established by practical recurrence, and denying it is disbelief... Among this are the five daily prayers, for no believer or disbeliever differs, and no one doubts that he (the Prophet) prayed them with his companions every day and night at their known times, and everyone who followed him in his Deen prayed them likewise wherever they were every day, and so on until today. No one doubts that the people of Sindh pray them as the people of Andalusia pray them, and that the people of Armenia pray them as the people of Yemen pray them..." End quote.
So, is this and what we call "recurrent actionable Sunnah" one thing? Or two different things? If they are two different things, do we accept what they call recurrence of practice or do we reject it?
- Researchers among the scholars of Hadith like Ibn Hajar, al-Nawawi, al-Suyuti, and others categorized accepted Hadith into Sahih li Dhatihi (Authentic by itself), Sahih li Ghayrihi (Authentic by others), Hasan li Dhatihi (Good/Fair by itself), and Hasan li Ghayrihi (Good/Fair by others), while in the books The Islamic Personality Volumes 1 and 3, we suffice with Sahih and Hasan. Is this a difference in terminology only while agreeing on the meaning or the named entity, or is it a difference in meaning as well? Barakallahu fikum.
Answer:
Wa Alaikum Assalam Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh,
1- The recurrent Sunnah (al-Sunnah al-Mutawatirah), whether it is a statement, an action, or a tacit approval of a statement or action, does not become recurrent unless it is transmitted through a recurrent transmission (naql mutawatir) from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. As for the claim that actions become a recurrent actionable Sunnah if a group performed them in the era of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, followed by a group in the era of the Tabi’in (Successors) and the successors of the Tabi’in, without it being proven through tawatur (recurrence) that those actions were performed or approved by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ—this claim is incorrect. It does not become recurrent unless it is proven from the Prophet ﷺ through recurrence (tawatur) that he performed it or approved its performance.
What the proponents of this view say falls under the category of hypothetical matters. The evidence for this is that the examples they mentioned, such as the five daily prayers, are established by recurrence from the Prophet ﷺ. As for the siwak, there are authentic Hadiths from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ regarding it; the judgment on the recurrence of these Hadiths depends on the chain of narration (sanad) of these Hadiths. If they were transmitted through a recurrent transmission, then they are mutawatir; however, if they were transmitted through solitary (ahad) chains in the sanad, then they are not mutawatir. That is, the criterion is the sanad from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Their statement that the five prayers are performed in Sindh, Andalusia, Yemen, and Armenia as five prayers, and they do not differ that they are five... all of this does not make them recurrent if they were not transmitted from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ through recurrence... What made them recurrent is the proof of their transmission from the Messenger ﷺ through tawatur.
In summary, recurrence (tawatur) depends on the sanad. If it is a recurrent transmission, it is relied upon. If it is not a recurrent transmission, its sanad is studied and a decision is made based on it. As I said previously, their statement is hypothetical because they cannot mention a single example that was not proven from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ yet its recurrence was decided based on the practice of Muslims.
2- As for Sahih li Dhatihi, Sahih li Ghayrihi, Hasan li Dhatihi, and Hasan li Ghayrihi... this is a matter involving various studies. I will clarify the subject briefly without entering into some aspects of the disagreement:
The Sahih Hadith is that which is transmitted from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ by an upright narrator (adl) of complete accuracy (tamm al-dabt), with a continuous chain (muttasil al-sanad), which is not defective (ghayr mu'allal) nor odd (shadh). This is the Sahih Hadith or what is called Sahih li Dhatihi. Its ranks vary according to the variation of these descriptions; hence, Sahih al-Bukhari is prioritized, then Muslim, then those meeting their conditions... etc.
If the accuracy is slightly less (khaffa al-dabt) while the rest of the aforementioned conditions for Sahih are met, it is Hasan li Dhatihi.
If its authentic paths (turuq) increase, the Hasan increases in authenticity and is called Sahih li Ghayrihi.
If the sanad does not fulfill the conditions of Sahih and Hasan, it is Da’if (weak).
If it is supported by other weak narrations with the same meaning, some apply the term Hasan li Ghayrihi to it.
Naturally, we do not consider weak plus weak plus weak... to be Hasan; rather, it remains weak.
This classification of "Hasan li Ghayrihi" was not circulated in the early ages of Hadith science. The first to speak of it, as mentioned by some sources, was Imam al-Bayhaqi (may Allah have mercy on him) in parts of his books.
There has been disagreement regarding "Hasan li Ghayrihi"—meaning the strengthening of a weak narration by another weak narration—in terms of acting upon it. Some took it, and others did not accept it and counted it as weak, which is the preferred view (al-rajih) as we mentioned earlier.
This does not make the classification of Hadith different from what we mentioned in our books because the Hadith they call Hasan li Ghayrihi is a weak Hadith relative to its sanad; therefore, Hasan li Ghayrihi is not a new type.
Your brother, Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah
Link to the answer from the Ameer’s Facebook page