25. THE HADITH SCHOLAR MUST BE A JURIST
Know that if one’s age was prolonged; I would not mind delving into each branch of knowledge to its end. Instead, life is short and knowledge is plentiful—man must therefore restrict himself; memorizing the Noble Qur’an to the ten qiraat (modes of recitation). In hadith, he should restrict himself to the Sahih, the Sanaa’2 and the classified Musnad. The hadith sciences have extended and methods have differed.
The hadith science is self-related and is desirable. Jurists call it ‘the science for the lazy’, because they occupy themselves with hearing and writing it and find almost no difficulty memorizing it, while missing out on the most important aspect, which is understanding it.
In the early days hadith scholars were the jurists, then jurists started to become ignorant of hadith and hadith scholars started to become ignorant of jurisprudence. Therefore, whoever had the resolve and wisdom occupied himself with the most important of each science, and made jurisprudence his top priority, for it is the greatest and most important science.
Abu Zur’ah said that Abu Thawr wrote to him, ‘This hadith was narrated through ninety-eight routes of narration from the Messenger, yet only a few routes are authentic thereof.’ Thus, occupying oneself with what is not authentic prevents paying attention to what is more important.
If life was long enough for one to learn all the routes of all hadith, then it would be excellent, but life is short.
When someone like Yahya ibn Ma‘ln occupied himself with the chains of transmission of hadith, he missed out on a lot of jurisprudence (fiqh), so much so that he was asked whether the menstruating woman could give burial baths to the dead and he did not know! Until Abu Thawr came and said, “She can, because ‘A’ishah (radiyAlldbu ‘anha) said, “I combed the hair of the Messenger while I was menstruating.”14 Yahya was more knowledgeable of hadith than Abu Thawr, but he did not busy himself with understanding it.
I thus warn people of hadith to become occupied with the many routes of transmission. It is very unbecoming for a scholar who has been recording hadith for sixty years, to be asked about a matter without knowing Allah’s Judgment therein.
Additionally, I warn whoever is occupied with asceticism fiuhd) and solitude (khalwa) not to turn away from the pursuit of knowledge (talab al-‘ilm). He must have a sufficient portion to know, so that when he slips, he knows how to release himself.
(Source: al-Hafiz Abu’l-Faraj ibn al-jawzl [d. 597AH] “CAPTURED THOUGHTS being” a translation of his masterpiece ‘Sayd al-K hatir)
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