Transcript Islamic Studies Courses in De Anza, Chabot, Ohlone, and Mission Colleges Designed and Taught by Hafiz M.

Islamic Studies Courses in De Anza,
Chabot, Ohlone, and Mission
Colleges
Designed and Taught
by
Hafiz M. K . Siddiqi, Ph.D.
Second Major Source of Islam
Hadith or Sunnah
The Tradition of Prophet
Muhammad pbuh
Hadith
 Hadith, literal meaning: Communication,
story, modern, recent, message, Qur’an,
historical or worldly conversation, secret
 Use of the word Hadith in the Qur’an: Allah
(God) has revealed the most beautiful
message in the form of a book. 39/23
 Then leave me alone with such as reject
this Qur’an. 68/44
And whenever you see people engaged in
vain discourse about our signs, turn away
from them until they begin a different
conversation. 6/68
 Has the story of Moses reached you? 20/9
 When the Prophet confined a secret to
one of his wives. 66/3
 The prophet pbuh has used the word
Hadith in his sayings: He said: the best
religious communication is the book of
Allah (Bukhari)
Prophet Muhammad said: May God forgive a
person who hears from us a Hadith, then he
memorizes it, and conveys it to someone, for
some recipient are more attentive than the
one who heard it. (Ahmad)
 Term meaning of Hadith: Sayings, actions
and approvals of Prophet Muhammad
pbuh
 Sunnah, literal meaning: established
course of rule, mode of life, and line of
conduct.
Term meaning of Sunnah: Model
behavior of Prophet Muhammad.
 Sunnah also means: non-compulsory religious
practice which Prophet himself performed
regularly, and instructed his followers to perform,
like Sunnah prayers.
 Prophet’s status: 1. The expounder of the Holy
Qur’an:
 “We have revealed unto you the message
(Qur’an) that you may explain clearly to the
humankind what is sent for them and that they
may give thought”. 16/44,
 He did explain in words and actions the verses
of Qur’an.
2. The Prophet as a Legislator
 “He will make lawful for them all good
things and prohibit for them all indecent
things and will relieve them of their burden
and fetters which they used to wear” 7/157
 3. A role Model for Muslims: “Verily, in the
Messenger of Allah you have a beautiful
model for anyone whose hope is in God
and the Final Day and remembers God
more frequently” 33/21
Three Essentials
 These three essentials combined in
the person of Prophet Muhammad
pbuh, lead to the inevitable
conclusion that Muslims must follow
him in every walk of their life. It is the
case with all the prophets and
messengers pbut, let us refer to:4/64,
3/32, 3/132, 4/80, 4/59,65, 59/7
The Methods of Teaching
 1. Verbal: A. Prophet Muhammad pbuh,
repeated himself 3 times to make the
understanding and memorization easy,
B. He used to listen to what his
companions had learned C. He provided
for them training in the Qur’an and Sunnah
D. He used to ask questions to discover
the extent of their learning.
Written Method
 2. Written Method: 1. He sent letters to:
A. Kings B. Rulers C. Leaders of tribes
D. Muslim Governors 2. He gave dictation to his
companions on: A. Daily important topics B.
Answers to various questions
C. Fulfilling a particular request of written
guidelines by a delegation’s head or member 3.
His order to write his Friday sermon for Abu
Shah Yamani or Malik son of Huwayrath.
Teaching by Demonstration
 1. He taught his companions: A. How to
perform Wudu (Ablution) Salah (Prayers)
and other important devotional deeds by
practical demonstration B. He taught them
how to design a marriage, employment,
and business cotract C. He taught them
how to perform the pilgrimage. He used to
say to them:” learn by observing him.
The diffusion of the Sunnah
 Prophet Muhammad had taken measures to
diffuse his Sunnah by: 1. Establishing Islamic
Centers, Schools, and training Centers for the
teachers and preachers.
2. He used to say whenever he taught any thing:
“ Take from me to convey to others even if it is
one (Little) thing”. 3. He said in his Farewell
pilgrimage: “those who are present should
convey the message to those who are absent”.
(Bukhari).
4. He
reminded the delegations on their
departure to teach their people after
returning home, as a duty
 5. He created incentives for teachers and
students. He stated that learning and the
pursuit of knowledge is obligatory on every
Muslim (Ibn Majah). He had said: He who
conceals the knowledge is liable to go to
hell (Ahmad) this fact is mentioned in the
Qur’an in 2/159, 174.
A. Rewards for the Students: He said if anyone
pursues a path in search of knowledge, Allah will
thereby make easy for him a path to paradise, and
the angels spread their wings from the good
pleasure with one who seeks knowledge, and all
the inhabitants of the heaven and earth, even fish
in the depths of water ask forgiveness for him
(Ahmad)
 B. Rewards for the teachers: He said:
“When a person dies, his acts come to an
end except for three things; 1. Sadaqah
Jariyah 2. Beneficial knowledge 3. Pious
offspring.
C. Threat of Punishment: Those who
refused to educate themselves were told by
the Qur’an: “Had we but listened or used our
intelligence, we should not be among the
companions of the blazing fire. 67/10
 Prophet Muhammad pbuh said: the people
will only be rewarded for the actions they
have performed with full use of intellectual
understanding.
How did the companions received
the Sunnah?
 It was very warmly received by the
companions of Prophet pbuh, it was
practiced by them immediately. They had
learned Hadith/Sunnah through all three
following methods: 1.Memorization: They
used to listen to every word with utmost
importance. They attended the teaching
circles of Qur’an and Sunnah in shifts and
turn by turn. They used to memorize in
group.
2. Learning through writing
 There were good number of companions
who learned by writing the Hadith/Sunnah.
 3. Practicing the Sunnah: they practiced
what ever they learned through 2 methods
mentioned above: memorization and
writing.
 Islamic teachings are not merely for
knowledge, but it has to be practiced. Ibn
Umar learned Suratul Baqarah in 10 years.
Official Patronage
 In the lifetime of Prophet pbuh, he founded
training centers for Qur’an and Hadith in
both Makkah and Madinah.
 The Caliphs especially first four made sure
that there are enough schools, institutions
and training centers everywhere in the
Muslim world. They also appointed
inspectors to visit them and report back to
Caliph.
Non-Official Patronage
 The companions of Prophet may be
divided into two groups: 1. Joined these
Institutions as teachers 2. Became source
individuals ready to travel anywhere as
and when required to teach short term
courses or give lectures and seminars. As
a result, Islam reached within 25 years of
the death of Prophet to as far as Russia
and Afghanistan.
Famous Narrators of Hadith who
used to spend 1/3rd of night in
recording the Hadith
 Abu Huraira 1236,Ibn ‘Umar 2630, Ibn
Malik 2286, Ayesh 2210, Ibn ‘Abbas1660,
 J. Ibn Abdullah 1540, A.S. Al-Khudary
1170, Ibn Masood 748, A.A. Ibn ‘As 700,
‘Umar Farooq 537, Ali Ibn Abi Talib 536,Ibn
‘Azib 305
Six Most Authentic Books
 1. Bukhari
 2. Muslim
 3. Tirmidhi
 4. Abu Dawud
 5. Ibn Majah
 6.Nasa’I
 Hadith: Sanad/Isnad, Matn, Darajah
Classification of Hadith
 Qudsi: Gods message in Prophets words
 Mutawatir: Continuously narrated by a
large number of people
 Sahih: Most authentic with perfect chain of
Narrators reaching the Prophet
 Muttasil: Re ported by successive
narrators
 Daeef: Weak due to defective Isnad
Examination of Hadith
 There are basic rules, regulations and
principles for scrutinizing the Hadith:
The following were rejected: 1. Illogical
2. Contrary to Islamic principles
3. Contrary to the realities 4. Contrary to
Qur’an 5. Contrary to Mutawatir Hadith
6. Contrary to consensus 7. like a fairy tale
and many more.
Sample Hadith and true stories
 Story of Huququl-’Ibad
 Story of a youth’s question
 Story of 3 travelers
 Story of trial of three people
and many more.