The Importance Of Quoting Only The Authentic Ahaadeeth...

بسم الله والحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله ، وبعد

Nowadays a lot of people quote/post things and then attribute it to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. They do not verify its authenticity nor do they quote the references. Moreover, they do not even mention the name of the companion who narrated that Hadeeth. Before quoting any Hadeeth, its authenticity should be verified, because people in the past have concocted/fabricated many narrations of their own and then attributed it to Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم for various reasons. The following Ahadeeth convey to us the gravity of the sin for quoting a Hadeeth before verifying its authenticity.

Narrated Ali: The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, "Do not tell a lie against me for whoever tells a lie against me then he will surely enter the Hell-fire.” [Bukhari]

Narrated Abdullah bin Az Zubair: I said to my father, "I do not hear from you any narration (Hadeeth) of Allah s Messenger  as I hear (his narration) from so and so?" Az-Zubair replied: "I was always with him (the Prophet) and I heard him صلى الله عليه وسلم saying 'Whoever tells a lie against me then (surely) let him occupy his seat in Hell-fire.’” [Bukhari]

Narrated Anas: The fact which stops me from narrating a great number of Hadeeths to you is that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: "Whoever tells a lie against me intentionally, then (surely) let him occupy his seat in Hell-fire.” [Bukhari]

Narrated Salama: I heard the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم saying, "Whoever ascribes to me what I have not said then (surely) let him occupy his seat in Hell-fire.” [Bukhari]

Narrated Abu Hurayrah: The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said “whoever tells a lie against me (intentionally), then (surely) let him occupy his seat in Hell-fire.” [Bukhari]

From the above mentioned Ahadeeth, we get to learn the following things, firstly, the gravity of the sin on making false claims from the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. Secondly, the extreme fear of the Companions of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم on avoiding what the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم had prohibited.

Firstly: The gravity of the sin on making false claims from the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم:

The severity of ascribing a lie on the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is not like making a false statement on any other human being.

Narrated Al Mughira: I heard the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم saying, “Ascribing false things to me is not like ascribing false things to anyone else. Whosoever tells a lie against me intentionally then surely let him occupy his seat in Hell-Fire.” [Bukhari]

The severity of punishment for ascribing a false statement on the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is plain and clear. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم narrates from Allah.“Your Companion is neither astray nor being misled, nor does he say (aught) of (his own) desire. It is no less than inspiration sent down to him.”[Surah al-Najm (53): 2-4]. So, whosoever ascribes a false statement to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has ascribed a false statement on Allah: “Who is more unjust than one who invents a lie against Allah or rejects his signs?” [Surah al-A`raaf (7): 37]. Thus, there have come the strong warnings on ascribing a false statement on the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in his صلى الله عليه وسلم saying:  “Whoever tells a lie against me (intentionally) then (surely) let him occupy his seat in Hell-fire.”

This is the reason why every Muslim, male or female, should take strong precautions while narrating the Hadeeth of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, i.e. by verifying its authenticity, so that he or she may not unintentionally tell a lie against the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. The above mentioned Ahadeeth forbids a person from narrating fabricated narrations, or concocting anything new. It is the duty of each and every Muslim to check the status of every narration before narrating. They should also take precautions while narrating; the words, the sentences and the sequence should not change, so as to change the meaning of the Hadeeth, and as such fall into the category of the liars.

The above mentioned Ahadeeth on this topic clearly prohibit a person from narrating a fabricated Hadeeth, or from concocting a fabrication from himself, or from narrating a Hadeeth, the status of which is unknown to the narrator. The person who intentionally fabricates, or narrates a Hadeeth, but does not check the status of the Hadeeth (regarding its authenticity, whether Sahih or Da’eef), falls within this category, and as such liable for punishment.

Narrated Mughira: the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, “whoever narrates from me a narration, knowing that it is a lie (i.e. not my statement), then he is one of the liars.” [Tirmidhi]

This is the reason why the scholars have said that those who want to narrate a Hadeeth, should see that it is Sahih (authentic) or Hasan (good) before saying: “The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said…”, “The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has done…”, or “The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم had prohibited…”. The Hadeeth should also be quoted accurately as found in the books of Hadeeths. But, if the Hadeeth is Da’eef,one should not say: “The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم had said or done or enjoined or prohibited…”

Secondly: The extreme fear of the Companions of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم on avoiding what the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم had prohibited:

There are many narrations of the Companions which showed their fear in narrating what they heard from the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, of the fear that they might add something in the narration of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. The example of Zubair bin ‘Awaam, when he said: “I was always with him (the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم) and I heard him saying: ‘Whoever tells a lie against me, then (surely) let him occupy his seat in Hell-Fire.’” And Anas bin Malik, when he said: “The fact which stops me from narrating s great number of Ahadeeth to you is that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: ‘Whoever tells a lie against me intentionally, then (surely) let him occupy his seat in Hell-Fire.’” are sufficient enough as a proof. Their only fear was that they might make an error or addition while narrating the Hadeeth, even though they were the foremost and the strictest of people in putting into practice the commandments of Allah and his Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم.