(Series of Answers by the Scholar Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah, Amir of Hizb ut-Tahrir, to Questions from Visitors to his Facebook Page)
To Muhammad Adeeb Khalil
Question:
Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu. May Allah reward you with the best of rewards, support you with His victory, and delight your eyes with the establishment of the Khilafah State at your hands. My question, our honorable Sheikh—I had asked it to the brothers, and they answered me that this Hadith is present in the depths of the books of Fiqh and that this is sufficient. However, we have learned that we must be scrutinizers and searchers for the strongest evidence in our thought and the rulings we adopt. This Hadith is found in The Islamic Personality (Ash-Shakhsiyyah al-Islamiyyah), Volume 3, page 294, regarding the praise of the Sahaba: "My Companions are like the stars; whichever of them you follow, you will be guided." It was extracted by Razin. Upon searching in the Dorar Saniyah encyclopedia, it appeared that the Hadith is fabricated (mawdhu'). Who is Razin, and is there a Musnad by the name of Razin? Your brother, Abu Ahmad.
Answer:
Wa Alaikum Assalam Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu.
This Hadith has been reported in some books of Hadith, including:
1- Al-Ibanah al-Kubra by Ibn Battah, who is Abu Abdullah Ubaydullah bin Muhammad bin Muhammad bin Hamdan al-'Ukbari, known as Ibn Battah al-'Ukbari (d. 387 AH). This is his text: Abu Yusuf Yaqub bin Yusuf narrated to me, saying: Abu Yahya Zakariya bin Yahya al-Saji narrated to us, saying: Musa bin Ishaq al-Anwari narrated to us, saying: Ahmad bin Yunus narrated to us, saying: Abu Shihab narrated to us, from Hamza bin Abi Hamza, from Amr bin Dinar, from Ibn Abbas, who said: The Messenger of Allah (saw) said:
إِنَّمَا أَصْحَابِي كَالنُّجُومِ فَبِأَيِّهِمُ اقْتَدَيْتُمُ اهْتَدَيْتُمْ
"Indeed, my Companions are like the stars; whichever of them you follow, you will be guided."
2- Jami’ Bayan al-Ilm wa Fadlihi by its author Abu Umar Yusuf bin Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Abd al-Barr bin Asim al-Namari al-Qurtubi (d. 463 AH). This is his text: Ahmad bin Umar narrated to us, saying: Abd bin Ahmad narrated to us, Ali bin Umar narrated to us, Judge Ahmad bin Kamil narrated to us, Abdullah bin Rawh narrated to us, Sallam bin Sulaym narrated to us, al-Harith bin Ghusayn narrated to us, from al-A'mash, from Abu Sufyan, from Jabir who said: The Messenger of Allah (saw) said:
أَصْحَابِي كَالنُّجُومِ بِأَيِّهِمُ اقْتَدَيْتُمُ اهْتَدَيْتُمْ
"My Companions are like the stars; whichever of them you follow, you will be guided." Abu Umar said: "This is a chain of narration that cannot be used as proof because al-Harith bin Ghusayn is unknown (majhul)."
Neither of these two Hadiths is free from criticism; therefore, some Hadith scholars classified it as weak (dha'if). However, we consider the Hadith to be Hasan (fair) because it appeared in the books of the jurists (fuqaha) and they used it to derive rulings. As stated in our definition of Hasan in the book The Islamic Personality (Ash-Shakhsiyyah al-Islamiyyah), Volume 3:
("The Hasan Hadith is of two types:
1- A Hadith whose narrators' chain is not free from a mastur (one whose internal state is unknown) whose eligibility has not been fully verified, yet he is not negligent or prone to frequent errors in what he narrates, nor is he accused of lying in Hadith.
2- That its narrator be among those known for truthfulness and honesty, yet he did not reach the degree of the narrators of Sahih (authentic) because he falls short of them. The Hasan Hadith is used as proof just like the Sahih Hadith. The Hadiths that appear in the books of the Imams, their students, and other scholars and jurists are considered Hasan Hadiths and are used as proof; because they cited them as evidence for a ruling or derived a ruling from them, it is a Hasan Hadith, whether it appears in the books of Usul al-Fiqh or Fiqh, provided that they are authoritative books like Al-Mabsut, Al-Umm, Al-Mudawwanah al-Kubra, and the like...") End quote.
This Hadith has appeared in a number of books by jurists, including:
1- Al-Mabsut Author: Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Abi Sahl Shams al-A’immah al-Sarakhsi (d. 483 AH). It states the following regarding the subject of Judiciary (Qada):
"...And he should judge by what is in the Book of Allah. If something comes to him that he does not find therein, he judges by what came to him from the Messenger of Allah (saw). If he does not find it therein, he looks at what came to him from the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (saw) and judges accordingly. We have explained this previously. The result is that if a saying is proven to him from one of the well-known Companions (ra), he judges by it and gives it precedence over analogy (qiyas) due to his (saw) saying:
أَصْحَابِي كَالنُّجُومِ بِأَيِّهِمْ اقْتَدَيْتُمْ اهْتَدَيْتُمْ
'My Companions are like the stars; whichever of them you follow, you will be guided.' And because in what reaches him from the Companion (ra) is the possibility of hearing [directly from the Prophet], for they used to hear from the Messenger of Allah (saw) and then issue fatwas based on it at times and narrate at others..."
2- Hashiyat al-Tahtawi ‘ala Maraqi al-Falah Sharh Nur al-Idah Author: Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Ismail al-Tahtawi al-Hanafi (d. 1231 AH). It states the following regarding the Sunnah:
"...And the Sunnah according to the Hanafis is what he (saw) did as mentioned before, or his Companions after him. It says in Al-Siraj: 'What the Prophet (saw) did or one of his Companions.' This is because the Sunnah of his Companions is something he (as) commanded to be followed by his saying (as): 'You must follow my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs after me,' and his (saw) saying:
أَصْحَابِي كَالنُّجُومِ بِأَيِّهِمُ اقْتَدَيْتُمُ اهْتَدَيْتُمْ
'My Companions are like the stars; whichever of them you follow, you will be guided.'"
3- Al-Bayan wa al-Tahsil wa al-Sharh wa al-Tawjih wa al-Ta’lil li Masa’il al-Mustakhrajah Author: Abu al-Walid Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Rushd al-Qurtubi (d. 520 AH). It states the following regarding the issue of 'two groups of believers fighting each other':
"...Because Allah the Almighty has praised them in His Book and upon the tongue of His Messenger. He, the Mightiest Speaker, said:
كُنْتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ
'You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind.' (Surah Ali 'Imran [3]: 110) And He said:
وَكَذَلِكَ جَعَلْنَاكُمْ أُمَّةً وَسَطًا
'And thus we have made you a just community.' (Surah Al-Baqarah [2]: 143), meaning chosen and upright. And He said:
مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ وَالَّذِينَ مَعَهُ
'Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah; and those with him...' (Surah Al-Fath [48]: 29) until the end of the verse. And the Messenger of Allah (saw) said:
أَصْحَابِي كَالنُّجُومِ بِأَيِّهِمُ اقْتَدَيْتُمُ اهْتَدَيْتُمْ
'My Companions are like the stars; whichever of them you follow, you will be guided.' And he said: 'Ten from Quraysh are in Paradise,' and he named Ali, Talha, and al-Zubayr among them. What the Imams of the People of Sunnah and Truth say is that Ali (ra) and those who followed him were on the side of correctness and truth, and that Talha and al-Zubayr were in error, except that they saw that through their Ijtihad (independent legal reasoning), so their obligation was what they did, as they were people of Ijtihad."
4- Al-Dhakhirah Author: Abu al-Abbas Shihab al-Din Ahmad bin Idris bin Abd al-Rahman al-Maliki, known as al-Qarafi (d. 684 AH). It states the following when researching the foundations (Usul) of Malik:
"...Because the principle of Malik is to give precedence to practice over the solitary report (khabar al-wahid), and similarly analogy (qiyas) is given precedence over solitary reports according to what al-Abhari followed. If he does not find the Sunnah, then [he follows] the sayings of the Companions (ra). If they differed, then he follows those sayings that were accompanied by practice, otherwise they choose from their sayings and do not contradict all of them. It was said to him that he may perform Ijtihad even if he contradicts all of them. The evidence for the first [view] is his (saw) saying:
أَصْحَابِي كَالنُّجُومِ بِأَيِّهِمُ اقْتَدَيْتُمُ اهْتَدَيْتُمْ
'My Companions are like the stars; whichever of them you follow, you will be guided.' If that is absent, then he builds upon the foundations after consulting the scholars."
5- Al-Hawi al-Kabir fi Fiqh Madhhab al-Imam al-Shafi’i which is a commentary on Mukhtasar al-Muzani. Author: Abu al-Hasan Ali bin Muhammad bin Muhammad bin Habib al-Basri al-Baghdadi, known as al-Mawardi (d. 450 AH). It states the following when researching the Companions:
"Section: The Fourth Category. As for the fourth category, who are the Companions, following them (taqlid) varies according to the variation of their circumstances in what they said, and they have four states: The third state: That one of them says a statement whose spread is not known and no contradiction to it appears from them, so it is not a consensus (ijma’). Is it a proof that must be followed or not? There are two opinions: One of them: He said it in the Qadim (Old School), and it is the school of Malik and Abu Hanifa, that it is a proof that must be followed due to his (as) saying: 'My Companions are like the stars; whichever of them you follow, you will be guided,' and because some of the Companions used to take a saying without seeking evidence, which indicates that the saying of an individual among them is a proof."
6- Kashshaf al-Qina’ ‘an Matn al-Iqna’ Author: Mansur bin Yunus bin Salah al-Din ibn Hassan bin Idris al-Bahuti al-Hanbali (d. 1051 AH). It states the following in the chapter on the Penalty for Hunting:
"....And it (meaning hunting) is of two types: (The first: that which has an equivalent) meaning a likeness (from the livestock in form, not in value; thus its equivalent is obligatory regarding it). This was specified because of the verse. (And it)—meaning that which has an equivalent—(is of two types: the first is what the Companions have judged)—meaning even some of them, not all—(so in it is what they judged). The definition of a Companion was provided in the introduction, due to his (saw) saying:
أَصْحَابِي كَالنُّجُومِ بِأَيِّهِمْ أَقْتَدَيْتُمْ اهْتَدَيْتُمْ
'My Companions are like the stars; whichever of them you follow, you will be guided.' And due to his (saw) saying:
عَلَيْكُمْ بِسُنَّتِي وَسُنَّةِ الْخُلَفَاءِ الرَّاشِدِينَ الْمَهْدِيِّينَ عَضُّوا عَلَيْهَا بِالنَّوَاجِذِ
'Hold fast to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs after me; bite onto it with your molars.' Narrated by Ahmad and al-Tirmidhi, who classified it as Hasan. And because they are closer to correctness and more knowledgeable about the contexts of the address, their judgment was a proof over others, like the scholar with the layperson. (Thus, for an ostrich, a camel is due). Umar, Uthman, Ali, Zayd, and most scholars judged this way, because it resembles the camel in its form, thus it was an equivalent for it and enters into the generality of the text..."
7- Al-Mughni by Ibn Qudamah Author: Abu Muhammad Muwaffaq al-Din Abdullah bin Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Qudamah al-Jama’ili al-Maqdisi then al-Dimashqi al-Hanbali, known as Ibn Qudamah al-Maqdisi (d. 620 AH). It states the following in the chapter: "The sixth section: The penalty for what was a beast of prey from the game, its counterpart from the livestock."
"...Malik said: The judgment regarding it is initiated anew, because Allah the Almighty said:
يَحْكُمُ بِهِ ذَوَا عَدْلٍ مِنْكُمْ
'Two just men from among you shall judge it.' (Surah Al-Ma'idah [5]: 95). For us, the evidence is the saying of the Prophet (saw):
أَصْحَابِي كَالنُّجُومِ، بِأَيِّهِمْ اقْتَدَيْتُمْ اهْتَدَيْتُمْ
'My Companions are like the stars; whichever of them you follow, you will be guided.' And he said:
اقْتَدُوا بِاَللَّذَيْنِ مِنْ بَعْدِي: أَبِي بَكْرٍ، وَعُمَرَ
'Follow those who come after me: Abu Bakr and Umar.' And because they are closer to correctness and more perceptive in knowledge, their judgment was a proof over others, like the scholar with the layperson. What has reached us of their judgment regarding the hyena is a ram; it was judged by Umar, Ali, Jabir, and Ibn Abbas."
As you can see, the Hadith is used in the authoritative books of the jurists—the Hanafis, Malikis, Shafi’is, and Hanbalis—therefore it is considered Hasan.
As for the mention of "Razin," we will re-examine his subject after exerting effort in searching for him, Allah willing.
Your brother, Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah
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