4. Prevalence of Hadith tendency

Another cause of non-establishment of Islam after the Messenger of God was the prevalence of Hadith tendency after him. What is meant by Hadith tendency is to base beliefs and deeds on sayings and actions attributed to the Messenger of God in a non-mutawatir manner by men whose lie, mistake, or forgetfulness is probable, and therefore, their authenticity is not certain; because it is perceptible that the narration of a fallible person may be correct or may be incorrect, even if he appears to be truthful; considering that there is usually no definite knowledge about the truthfulness of a person in the past; regardless of the fact that the truthfulness of a person in the past does not mean his truthfulness in future; regardless of the fact that the truthfulness of a person in the past and future does not stop his forgetfulness and oversight. In addition, the contradiction between wahid narrations and reality is prevalent and predominant, especially in cases where there is a large time interval between them; to the extent that there is hardly a wahid narration that completely corresponds to reality; as God Almighty has said: ﴿وَقَالُوا آمَنَّا بِهِ وَأَنَّى لَهُمُ التَّنَاوُشُ مِنْ مَكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ﴾[1]; “And they said: ‘We believed in it,’ but how can they reach it from a faraway place?!” Therefore, it becomes clear that ahad narrations do not lead to certainty, but in the best possible scenario they lead to conjecture, and this is a matter agreed upon among Muslims who possess opinion, but rather among all intellectuals. While conjecture is certainly not adequate to be the basis of Muslims’ beliefs and deeds, and Islam is based only on certainty; as God has said repeatedly and emphatically: ﴿إِنَّ الظَّنَّ لَا يُغْنِي مِنَ الْحَقِّ شَيْئًا﴾[2]; “Indeed, conjecture is not sufficient for (proving) the truth,” and it is clear that this is a real rule, in the sense that it informs about reality, and therefore, it does not accept nominal specification, as its context does not tolerate specification; because conjecture, due to the possibility of a contradiction in its essence, is not proof in reality, and considering authority for a thing that is not proof in reality is useless, like considering burning for ice;