Question :

We often hear some people talking about the Ahad Hadith and its binding force in Aqida (Islamic creed) and the Ahkam (commandments). However, they don`t take the Ahad as evidence in Aqida matters and this is contradictory because, for example, they confirm the issue of intercession although it is based on an Ahad Hadith. Could you kindly elaborate on this?

The Answer :

Praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds.

Scholars of Hadith, Fundamentals of jurisprudence and Aqida acknowledge that what is stated in the Prophetic Sunnah varies according to the degree of the Hadith`s authenticity and implication. Therefore, a Mutawatir (Consecutive) Hadith isn`t like an Ahad Hadith in terms of the definitiveness of its text (Matn) and making it one of the pillars of faith whose disavowal renders a person an apostate. A Muslim must believe in the content of an Ahad text so long as it is Sahih (Sound) and it isn`t allowed to reject that. Rather, it must be acknowledged and believed in.

According to scholarly terms, Aqida refers to two matters: First: Matters whose disavowal renders a person an apostate and these can only be established through an evidence of definitive authenticity and implication.

Second: Matters believed by the heart. A Muslim must believe in every matter that was reported from the Prophet (PBUH) with Sahih (Sound) or Hasan (Good) Isnad (Chain of reporters), in addition to Mutawatir Hadith.

This means that we must believe in the Mutawatir, the Sahih and the Hasan. However, the person who disavows the Mutawatir, which has only one interpretation, is considered an apostate.

As for Ahkam (Commandments), the Hasan, the Sahih and the Mutawatir must be taken as evidence. Once the aforementioned terms are understood, the problem is eliminated. According to Ahlu's-Sunnah wa'l-Jama'ah-from Al-Asha'erah and Maturdiya-this classification of Hadith aims to avoid tagging Muslims with disbelief whenever there is disagreement about an issue of Aqida. According to them, persons are tagged with disbelief only according to evidence of definitive authenticity; namely disavowal of that which was definitely reported from the Prophet (PBUH). Whereas, other sects have expanded the circle of tagging people with disbelief (Takfir).

According to Al-Asha'erah and whoever agrees with them, one who is born to two Muslim parents is definitely a Muslim and so is the one who professes the testimonies of faith (Shahadah), and they can`t be driven out of the fold of Islam save with the denial of that which made them enter into it in the first place.

We pray that the above clarifications suffice enough to clarify problematic matters to the reader of scholarly books and end most disputes amongst Muslim sects. And Allah The Almighty Knows Best.