# How should Muslims decide which hadith to accept and which to reject?

*Back to Imam Malik's method: accept some hadith and reject some, by reason, Quran and practice*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/7img-l3vbcy/s/4/
- Date: 2018-08-03 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Reply to Sunni (Wahhabi) Defence Pt. IV -Mufti Abu Layth (15:35–19:01)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IMg-l3vbcY&t=935s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/7img-l3vbcy/

**Topics:** Hadith in legal reasoning and hadith absolutism; The Maliki school; Text criticism, reason and the Quran

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Follow Imam Malik: accept some hadith and reject others. A report is accepted if it does not clash with reason, the Quran, the transmitted and corroborated Sunnah such as the practice of Madinah, or a principle of Islam; otherwise it is treated with caution.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth holds that the ummah must return to Imam Malik's method of accepting some hadith and rejecting others, accepting a report only if it does not clash with reason, the Quran, the corroborated Sunnah such as the practice of Madinah, or a principle of Islam.

**Evidence, his words at 16:00:** “the reason I'm doing this is to show we need to return to the methodology that was taught to us by Imam Malik” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IMg-l3vbcY&t=960s)

## Longer summary

Finishing the Bukhari point, Mufti Abu Layth says al-Mustamli reported that the students placed chapter headings themselves, which he says undermines claims about Bukhari's fiqh in his headings, and that Sahih Muslim has its own problems since it rests on an Istanbul manuscript. He explains why he opens this can of worms: to show the need to return to the methodology Imam Malik taught in the Muwatta and through fiqh, the practice of Madinah, namely that one is never sound in the deen until one learns to accept some hadith and reject others; Malik places a hadith in the Muwatta and says it is not accepted, and is reported to have said that following every isolated narration would snatch the whole deen away. He says the deen was already preserved through how Islam is practised, so hadith are not to be discarded: they add colour and detail, and corroboration through independent sources and agreement with the Quran and the principles of Islam show that not all are false. Citing Ibn al-Jawzi [?] and other early hadith scholars, he gives the test: a report on rules or practice is unproblematic if it does not clash with reason, the Quran, the clear transmitted sources or the corroborated Sunnah such as the practice of Madinah, and does not uproot a principle of Islam; otherwise it is taken with a pinch of salt, since some reports insult Islam and cannot be authentic.

## Sources and names cited

- Imam Malik
- al-Muwatta
- 'amal ahl al-Madinah (practice of Madinah)
- Sahih al-Bukhari
- Sahih Muslim
- al-Mustamli
- Ibn al-Jawzi [?]
- a hadith must not contradict reason, the Quran and established Sunnah, or uproot a principle of Islam
- The deen reaches us through continuous living practice

## Transcript (machine tier, 15:35–19:01)

[15:22] cut and paste job going on how many hands are copying we've got no idea his own probably student saying by the way he his copy was incomplete we used to move things around in it we used to place chapter headings all this nonsense about Bo Hardy's fifties in his chapter headings more suddenly says we used to make some people somebody might ask here what is that why am i opening these kind of worms to do with body and

[16:00] this isn't just Bihari the other books as well by the way Sahib Muslim and these have problems as well because I saw Muslim is based on the Istanbul transcript which has its own problems but right now we want to focus on body because the reason I'm doing this is to show we need to return to the methodology that was taught to us by Imam Malik and Imam Malik tortoise in his motto he taught us through faith this was the practice of Medina he taught us that we will never be sound in this Deen until

[16:39] we learn to accept and reject honey so you must accept some and you must reject some this is the way this is the balanced path of this Ummah in my Malik places and Ethan is more tough and says we don't accept this hadith Imam Malik himself says if you start accepting everyone after one of these isolated narrations he says the entire Dean will be snatched from me this is the teaching of Imam Malik the other interesting thing is that the

[17:16] Dean who was already preserved through that how you practice Islam was already preserved and is this an attempt somebody may say well why don't we just get rid of all of Hadi the question is hadith contain a lot of useful detail that add color to this theme and they are important and we know through corroboration that not all hadith are false we know that because they corroborate through independent sources and they fit in with the Quranic teachings with the

[17:55] principles of Islam so if hadith come to us and the hadith are about simply about rules and things like these or how to practice Islam if they do not go against reason as if nor Josie and all these scholars before us in hadith had said if nizam that they do not clash with reason they do not go against the Quran they do not go against are the clear sources that have been transmitted the corroborated sooner sooner that has come through like the Amal of Almudena and Imam Malik oh that has been preserved through faith or

[18:35] through corroborated hadith and they do not approve a principle of Islam then they have no problem okay they have no problem otherwise it is a problem and we need to take them with a pinch of salt okay because some of these Deen in some of these hadith insult Islam and they cannot be authentic so okay so

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment 7IMg-l3vbcY/s/4. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/7img-l3vbcy/s/4/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.