Of course, this approach of theirs was certainly never due to their dislike of the statements and actions they had heard and seen from the Messenger of Allah . Rather, it was solely because they knew that the foundation of Islam is certainty, that certainty cannot be attained through solitary Hadith, and that, therefore, paying attention to such Hadith is not appropriate and may even be harmful, as it prevents paying attention to certainties and, accordingly, causes divergence in the opinions and actions of Muslims in the future. That is exactly what happened, and after some Umayyad rulers permitted the compilation and promotion of Hadith, Muslims turned to collecting solitary reports from here and there and wrote down anything—sound or baseless—under the name of the Hadith of the Prophet in their books[1]. In doing so, they paved the way for the formation of the greatest deviations among Muslims and became among those about whom Allah has said: ﴿قُلْ هَلْ نُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِالْأَخْسَرِينَ أَعْمَالًا ۝ الَّذِينَ ضَلَّ سَعْيُهُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَهُمْ يَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُمْ يُحْسِنُونَ صُنْعًا﴾[2]; “Say: Shall We inform you of the greatest losers in deeds?! Those whose efforts in the life of the world were misguided while they thought they were doing good work.”

For a long time now, the Ahl al-Hadith have been attributing beliefs and deeds to the Prophet from a distant place, while being absent from him; as Allah Almighty has said: ﴿وَيَقْذِفُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ مِنْ مَكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ﴾[3]; “And in absence, they attribute from a distant place.” They also listen to what others attribute to him from a distant place; as Allah Almighty has said: ﴿أُولَئِكَ يُنَادَوْنَ مِنْ مَكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ﴾[4]; “They are called from a distant place.” This is an unrighteous deed that Satan has made seem fair to them in order to turn them away from the right path; as Allah Almighty has said: ﴿وَزَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَعْمَالَهُمْ فَصَدَّهُمْ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ فَهُمْ لَا يَهْتَدُونَ﴾[5]; “And Satan has made their deeds seem fair to them and thus has turned them away from the path, so they do not find the path.”

In any case, there is no doubt that the solitary reports found in the books of the Ahl al-Hadith—given the lack of authenticity and precision in many of them, as well as their widespread contradictions and inconsistencies—have been among the most significant causes of deviation and discord among Muslims from early times to the present.

↑[1] . It has likewise been narrated that the first to record hadiths was al-Zuhri (al-Tarikh al-Kabir by ibn Abi Khaythamah [third book], vol. 2, p. 250), who was among the supporters of the Umayyads, and he did not do so until Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik compelled him. After that, people began to write down hadiths (see Hilyat al-Awliya’ Wa Tabaqat al-Asfiya’ by Abu Nu‘aym al-Asbahani, vol. 3, p. 363). Al-Zuhri said: “We used to dislike writing down knowledge—meaning hadith—until the ruler compelled us to do so; then we disliked preventing anyone from it” (Musnad of al-Darimi, vol. 1, p. 392). As a result, the writing of hadiths became widespread among people, and they began to compete in collecting solitary reports, including those that contained fabrications and lies. Hammad ibn Zayd said: “The zanadiqah fabricated twelve thousand hadiths against the Messenger of Allah and spread them among people” (al-Tamhid by ibn Abd al-Barr, vol. 1, p. 44), and Shu‘bah ibn al-Hajjaj said: “I know of no one who has scrutinized hadith as I have, and I have realized that three-quarters of it is lies” (al-Jami‘ Li Akhlaq al-Rawi Wa Adab al-Sami‘ by al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, vol. 2, p. 295).

↑[2] . Al-Kahf/ 103-104

↑[3] . Saba/ 53

↑[4] . Fussilat/ 44

↑[5] . An-Naml/ 24