Maulana Shibli Naumani-notes.docx

MAULANA SHIBLI NAUMANI – NOTES – SEPI       

Seerah is a mix of authentic and weak narrations Critical of the Seerah literature Criticism of the traditional Seerah tradition Compares hadith literature authenticity and Seerah literature authenticity Pointed out some criticisms on isnaad Pointed out criticisms in the matn/diraya of the ahadith If the hadith was against logic, an essential Quranic principle, a more reliable hadith then it would be discarded or criticized

Islamic Method of Judging the narrators  If a hadith were to be accepted the person narrating the hadith should have been present at the time and witnessed the Prophet narrate the hadith.  If this is not possible the narrator must present a chain of narrators from whom he/she has heard the hadith and must go all the way up to the eyewitness.  The reporter’s character  Their ideological affiliation  Their mental capacity of memorization and judgement  Reliable or not  Keen intellect or shallow mind  Well informed or ignorant  All this gave birth to Asma-ul-Rijal – biographies of the narrators of the Prophet’s sayings  Any shortcomings or moral weaknesses were taken into consideration as well  It should have been physically possible for the narrators to meet  The narrators should be mature, at least mentally Diraya  The teaching of the hadith must not contradict common knowledge  The teaching of the hadith must not contradict accepted principles

 The teachings of the hadith must not contradict the teachings of the Holy Quran  Any hadith promising severe punishment for a small error should not be accepted  Any hadith promising great rewards for a rather small good should not be accepted  Any hadith that is down-right absurd should not be accepted  Any hadith that contradicts common or well-known observations or experiences should not be accepted  Any hadith that predicts the future down to the date and time should not be accepted Sira in comparison with Ahadith  Sira are less authentic than the ahadith  Life and virtues of the Prophet were not strictly scrutinized  Weak traditions were often quoted even by renowned traditionalists when concerning the accomplishments of the Prophet and his companions  Scrutiny was weak because these cases did not concern the paradigm of haram and halal  Sira books usually contain fabricated reports