بـسـم الله والحـمـد لله والـصلاة والـسـلام عــلى رسـول الله، وبـعـد
Several causes have been attributed to the two kinds of forgeries, the intentional and the unintentional. In what follows we shall discuss the intentionally forged Ahaadeeth.
The Shi`a (originally, those from among the political supporters of `Ali who were a little more zealous about `Ali than `Ali himself) were the first to invent Ahaadeeth in favor of `Ali and his family. Shurayk bin `Abdullah the chief judge – himself a Shi`i, but a moderate one – said, “I pass on everyone’s report except those of the Shi`a. They fabricate Ahaadeeth and then treat them as religious injunctions.” Imam Shaafi said, “I have not found among those who succumbed to base desires, anyone worse than the Shi`a in deceit.” One such forgery runs like this, “The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: “Whoever wished to look at Adam’s knowledge, Nuh’s piety, Ibraheem’s patience, Musa’s God-consciousness, and Isaa’s devotation combined in a single individual, may look at `Ali.”
Another Shi`i fabricated report says that `Umar once whipped Fatimah so hard that the strikes left marks on her body. Then he tried to crush her between the door and the wall. Fatimah cried out, “Oh, my father!” `Umar then threw a rope around `Ali’s neck and dragged him around with Fatimah shrieking behind him and Hassan and Hussein weeping. Obviously, nobody but hardcore fanatics ever lent credence to this kind of fib about a person as remarkably courageous as Ali.
Some of the fanatical people were not to be left behind in reciprocation. They too invented Ahaadeeth in favor of those they supported. For instance, one forged narration says, “There isn’t a leaf in Paradise but the names of Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthmaan are inscribed on it along with the testimony, ‘There is no God worthy of being worshipped except Allah.’” This was an answer to the Shi`a who cursed the three.
The Heretics
The early heretics were individuals, rather than organized groups, known as Zanaadiqah (sing. Zindeeq: Atheist, heretic.) who could not fight Islaam openly and so took shelter under the cloak of piety. They could not introduce anything into the Qur’aan – literally a locked book – so they fabricated Ahaadeeth and spread them amongst the masses. The aim was to cast doubts and create divisions. A couple of the most mischievous ones were identified, tried in the courts, and executed. Muhammad bin Sa’eed As-Shami for instance, who was finally executed, fabricated Ahaadeeth which reported as having said, “I am the seal of the prophets. There will be no prophets after me unless Allah wills otherwise.” The obvious aim for adding the last few words, to an otherwise authentic statement, was to open a door for future mischief.
Some others were heretics, plain and simple, with no special objectives. One of them invented a Hadeeth, “Allaah appears in the night of `Arafah on a verdant camel. He shakes the hands with the mounted and embraces those on foot.” Or, “I saw my Lord without a veil between me and Him. I saw every detail down to the crown that was stuffed with pearls.” Some of the Abbasid caliphs pursued them and punished them. However, the pursuit was not vigorous and so they came alive every now and then. The Muslims have been, throughout their history. The problem of these heretics still exists now.
Prejudicial
Racial, national and tribal prejudices also gave birth to forgeries. For instance, non-Arabs forged the following Hadeeth, “When Allah is angry, He reveals in Arabic and when He is pleased he reveals in Persian.” Profanity for profanity, they were answered by the Arabs with such forgeries as, “If the Arabs are disgraced, Islaam will be disgraced.” A few Ahaadeeth were fabricated against blacks. One such said that the blacks were no good for anything except for their bellies and sex. Another fabrication said, “The `Azd (tribe) has come to you. They are the best looking people, the sweetest of word and the truest upon meeting the enemy.”
Story Tellers
Of the many kinds, the story tellers, professional speech makers, halaqah conductors (circlists), and the street preachers were the most prolific contributors. They were known in the past times as “Story-Tellers” (Qassaas), A weak-minded people. They forged Ahaadeeth with good intentions. When one of them spoke of paradise he would say on the authority of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم that it had Houries made of musk and saffron, kept in palaces made of white pearls of seventy thousand divisions, each division with seventy thousand domes, each dome with seventy thousand....” Obviously, not for long they could pass on such stuff as authentic reports. Repetition of the figure “seventy thousand” might have evoked the interest of the imbecile but attracted attention of the critics too.
Latter-day juridical divisions also gave rise to a few forgeries executed by their ignorant followers. For instance, “Whoever did not raise his hands in the prayer, did not pray at all.”
The Ascetics
With the passage of time, the ascetics also joined in, and contributed a few of their own fabrications. Mostly, they fabricated Ahaadeeth concerning virtues of good deeds, especially those pertaining to rituals of worship. One of the best known was Ghulam Khalil. He was so revered for his ascetic ways that Baghdad market closed down in mourning the day he died. None the less he was an unabashed forger. When asked where he got all those reports from, he replied, “I forged them to soften the hearts of the people.”
When this class of people were reminded of the Prophet’s صلى الله عليه وسلم words, “Whoever a forged a lie on me will have his resort in hellfire”, they replied that they were not fabricating Hadeeth against him, rather, in his favor. Some of them were quite funny. When they saw that people were showing greater interest for Law (fiqh) then the Qur’aan, they forged Ahaadeeth speaking of the great virtues of the Qur’aanic chapters. Yahya bin Sa’eed Al-Qattan, a Hadeeth critic said, “I have not observed more falsehood in anyone than those who have a reputation for goodness.” This class of people in fact last to this day. They were stubborn carriers of forged and weak Ahaadeeth.
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