Muslim's preface on hadith methodology, distinguishing trustworthy narrators from weak ones.
191 · Hadith
Zaid b. Khalid al-Juhani reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) was asked about picking up of stray things, whereupon he said:Make announcement of that for one year, but if it is not recognised (by the owner), then recognise its big and strap, then eat it; and if its owner comes, then give that to him. This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Al-Dahhak b. Uthman with the same chain of transmitters but with a slight variation of words
It has been reported from Sulaiman b. Buraida through his father that when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) appointed anyone as leader of an army or detachment he would especially exhort him to fear Allah and to be good to the Muslims who were with him. He would say:Fight in the name of Allah and in the way of Allah. Fight against those who disbelieve in Allah. Make a holy war, do not embezzle the spoils; do not break your pledge; and do not mutilate (the dead) bodies; do not kill the children. When you meet your enemies who are polytheists, invite them to three courses of action. If they respond to any one of these, you also accept it and withhold yourself from doing them any harm. Invite them to (accept) Islam; if they respond to you, accept it from them and desist from fighting against them. Then invite them to migrate from their lands to the land of the Muhajireen and inform them that, if they do so, they shall have all the privileges and obligations of the Muhajireen. If they refuse to migrate, tell them that they will have the status of Bedouin Muslims and will be subjected to the Commands of Allah like other Muslims, but they will not get any share from the spoils of war or Fai' except when they actually fight with the Muslims (against the disbelievers). If they refuse to accept Islam, demand from them the Jizya. If they agree to pay, accept it from them and hold off your hands. If they refuse to pay the tax, seek Allah's help and fight them. When you lay siege to a fort and the besieged appeal to you for protection in the name of Allah and His Prophet, do not accord to them the guarantee of Allah and His Prophet, but accord to them your own guarantee and the guarantee of your companions for it is a lesser sin that the security given by you or your companions be disregarded than that the security granted in the name of Allah and His Prophet be violated. When you besiege a fort and the besieged want you to let them out in accordance with Allah's Command, do not let them come out in accordance with His Command, but do so at your (own) command, for you do not know whether or not you will be able to carry out Allah's behest with regard to them
It has been reported from Sulaiman b. Buraida through his father that when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) appointed anyone as leader of an army or detachment he would especially exhort him to fear Allah and to be good to the Muslims who were with him. He would say:Fight in the name of Allah and in the way of Allah. Fight against those who disbelieve in Allah. Make a holy war, do not embezzle the spoils; do not break your pledge; and do not mutilate (the dead) bodies; do not kill the children. When you meet your enemies who are polytheists, invite them to three courses of action. If they respond to any one of these, you also accept it and withhold yourself from doing them any harm. Invite them to (accept) Islam; if they respond to you, accept it from them and desist from fighting against them. Then invite them to migrate from their lands to the land of the Muhajireen and inform them that, if they do so, they shall have all the privileges and obligations of the Muhajireen. If they refuse to migrate, tell them that they will have the status of Bedouin Muslims and will be subjected to the Commands of Allah like other Muslims, but they will not get any share from the spoils of war or Fai' except when they actually fight with the Muslims (against the disbelievers). If they refuse to accept Islam, demand from them the Jizya. If they agree to pay, accept it from them and hold off your hands. If they refuse to pay the tax, seek Allah's help and fight them. When you lay siege to a fort and the besieged appeal to you for protection in the name of Allah and His Prophet, do not accord to them the guarantee of Allah and His Prophet, but accord to them your own guarantee and the guarantee of your companions for it is a lesser sin that the security given by you or your companions be disregarded than that the security granted in the name of Allah and His Prophet be violated. When you besiege a fort and the besieged want you to let them out in accordance with Allah's Command, do not let them come out in accordance with His Command, but do so at your (own) command, for you do not know whether or not you will be able to carry out Allah's behest with regard to them
It has been narrated on the authority of Anas that, on the Day of Hunain. Umm Sulaim took out a dagger she had in her possession. Abiu Talha saw her and said:Messenger of Allah, this is Umm Sulaim. She is holding a dagger. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) asked (her): What for are you holding this dagger? She said: I took it up so that I may tear open the belly of a polytheist who comes near me. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) began to smile (at these words). She said: Messenger of Allah, kill all those people-other than us-whom thou hast declared to be free (on the day of the Conquest of Mecca). (They embraced Islam because) they were defeated at your hands (and as such their Islam is not dependable). The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Umm Sulaim. God is sufficient (against the mischief of the polytheists) and He will be kind to us (so you need not carry this dagger)
It has been narrated on the authority of Anas that, on the Day of Hunain. Umm Sulaim took out a dagger she had in her possession. Abiu Talha saw her and said:Messenger of Allah, this is Umm Sulaim. She is holding a dagger. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) asked (her): What for are you holding this dagger? She said: I took it up so that I may tear open the belly of a polytheist who comes near me. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) began to smile (at these words). She said: Messenger of Allah, kill all those people-other than us-whom thou hast declared to be free (on the day of the Conquest of Mecca). (They embraced Islam because) they were defeated at your hands (and as such their Islam is not dependable). The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Umm Sulaim. God is sufficient (against the mischief of the polytheists) and He will be kind to us (so you need not carry this dagger)
This tradition has been narrated through more; than one chain of transmitters
This tradition has been narrated through more; than one chain of transmitters
It has been narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Holy prophet (ﷺ) said:Whoso obeys me obeys God, and whoso disobeys me disobeys God. Whoso obeys the commander (appointed by me) obeys me, and whoso disobeys the commander disobeys me. The same tradition transmitted by different persons omits the portion: And whose disobeys the commander disobeys me
It has been narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Holy prophet (ﷺ) said:Whoso obeys me obeys God, and whoso disobeys me disobeys God. Whoso obeys the commander (appointed by me) obeys me, and whoso disobeys the commander disobeys me. The same tradition transmitted by different persons omits the portion: And whose disobeys the commander disobeys me
This tradition has been narrated on the same authority through a different chain of transmitters. Another version of the tradition narrated on the authority of Shu'ba does not include the words:" He took the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) aside
This tradition has been narrated on the same authority through a different chain of transmitters. Another version of the tradition narrated on the authority of Shu'ba does not include the words:" He took the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) aside
It has been narrated on the authority of Sa'id b. Musayyab who said:My father was one of those who swore fealty to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) near the tree. When we passed that way next year intending to perform the Hajj, the place of the tree was hidden to us. If you could point out clearly, you would (certainly) be knowing better. It has also been narrated on the authority of Sa'id b. Musayyib who learnt from his father that they were with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) in the year of the Tree (i. e. in the year of the fealty of God's pleasure sworn under the tree at Hudaibiya), but next year they forgot the spot of the tree
It has been narrated on the authority of Sa'id b. Musayyab who said:My father was one of those who swore fealty to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) near the tree. When we passed that way next year intending to perform the Hajj, the place of the tree was hidden to us. If you could point out clearly, you would (certainly) be knowing better. It has also been narrated on the authority of Sa'id b. Musayyib who learnt from his father that they were with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) in the year of the Tree (i. e. in the year of the fealty of God's pleasure sworn under the tree at Hudaibiya), but next year they forgot the spot of the tree
The above tradition has also been narrated through two different chains of transmitters on the authority of Abu Sa'id Khudri and Yahya, respectively
The above tradition has also been narrated through two different chains of transmitters on the authority of Abu Sa'id Khudri and Yahya, respectively
The above tradition has been narrated through another chain of transmitters
It has been narrated (through a different chain of tranmitten) on the authority of Jabir who said:The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade that a man should come to his family like (an unexpected) night visitor doubting their fidelity and spying into their lapses
This tradition has been reported through anothee chain. 'Abdurahman, one of the sub-narrators, said "I do not know if it in the hadith or not", meaning (the words) "doubting their fidelity and spying into their lapses
A version of the tradition narrated on the authority of Jabir (but through a different chain of transmitters) mentions the undesirability of coining to one's house like a night visitor, but does not contain the words:" Doubting their fidelity or spying into their lapses
Thauban, the freed slave of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ), reported:Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said to me on the occasion of Hajjat-al-Wada' (the Farewell Pilgrimage): Make the flesh usable. So I made it usable (for him) and he ate it constantly until he reached Medina. This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Yabya b. Hamza with the same chain of transmitters, but he did not say: On the occasion of Hajjat-al-Wada