. JI ದ : ; (cont.)

.) .r.I' On the authority of Abu Saeed Saad ibn Maalik ibn Sinaan al-Khudri, may Allah be pleased with him: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "There is not to be any causing of harm nor is there to be any reciprocating of harm." This is a hasan hadith. It is recorded by ibn Maajah, al­ Daaraqutni and others with a complete chain back to the Prophet (peace be upon him). Malik also recorded it in his Muwatta with a chain missing the name of the Companion, from Amr ibn Y ah ya from his father from the Prophet (peace be upon him). Abu Saeed is dropped from the chain. It has other chains that strengthen one another. Selected Vocabulary - "hann," the opposite of what is beneficial - "causing of hann between two [individuals]," or "reciprocating of harm," as shall be discussed below - "other than those two," the W. at the end makes it a dual reference. - this is a technical tenn referring to the narrating of a hadith with a complete chain all the way back to the Prophet (peace be upon him). - this is also a technical tenn referring to the narrating of a hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him) mentioning the Follower's name but without Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi mentioning the name of the Companion who narrated the hadith from the Prophet (peace be upon him). "-:!;I - "his father" t.:;_;b - literally, "paths," here it means other chains for the hadith c;ා - "strengthen" ז ח "one another" Takhreej This hadith is hasan. This hadith has been recorded through a number of chains that support one another and raise it to the level of hasan. It was recorded by al-Daaraqutni, al-Baihaqi and al-Haakim through a chain which contains Uthmaan ibn Muhammad ibn Uthmaan ibn Rabeeah, who was a weak narrator. Ibn Abdul Barr also recorded this hadith with a separate chain in al­ Tamheed. However, his chain contains an unknown narrator. Malik, al-Shafi'ee in al-Umm and al-Baihaqi record this hadith with a chain that has trustworthy narrators. The only problem with the chain is that it is mursal or, in other words, the name of the Companion who originally passed on that hadith is missing. The same hadith has been recorded from other Companions, such as ibn Abbaas, Aisha, Jaabir, Ubada ibn al-Saamit, Abu Huraira, Abu Lubaabah and Thalaba ibn Abu Maalik. In general, the chains from those Companions all have some problems with them, sometimes minor problems and sometimes major problems. However, this hadith has enough chains with only minor problems to it to remove any concern that a mistake has been made in its transmission. Hence, it is raised to the level of hasan lighairihi. This was the conclusion of al-Nawawi, as he stated here, and also of ibn Rajab,1 al-Alai, al-Albaani,2 al-Arnaoot and Baajis,3 ibn Muhammad4 and al-Hilaali.5 General Comments About the Hadith This hadith mentions one of the most important principles in Islamic law. Its lesson or ruling virtually touches upon every aspect of fiqh. Abu Dawood stated that this is one of the hadith around which all of fiqh revolves, as was quoted earlier. 1 Ihn Rajah, Jaami, vol. 2, p. 2 1 0. 2 Al-Alaai and al-Alhaani are quoted in ihn Muhammad, p. 191. 3 Al-Arnaoot and Baajis in ihn Rajah, Jaami, vol. 2, p . 207. 4 Ihn Muhammad, p. 1 87. 5 Al-Hilaali, Eeqaadh, p. 4 19. Hadith #32: "There is not to be Causing of Harm . . . " About the Narrator: Abu Saeed al-Khudri Abu Saeed al-Khudri was from the tribe ofKhazraj in Madinah. On the Day of Uhud, he presented himself to the Prophet (peace be upon him) to join the army but the Prophet (peace be upon him) rejected him because of his youth. He was about thirteen years old at that time. His father took part in the fighting and became a martyr. After that battle, Abu Saeed took part in all the battles of the Prophet (peace be upon him). He was one of the most knowledgeable of the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him). He passed on that knowledge to the following generation and was one of the most important teachers of hadith among the Companions. He died in the year 64 in Madinah. 1 , 1 70 hadith have been attributed to his authority. Al-Bukhari and Muslim both recorded forty-six of those hadith. Al-Bukhari recorded an additional sixteen hadith not found in Sahih Muslim while Muslim recorded another fifty-two hadith from Abu Saeed that al­ Bukhari did not record. "There is not to be any causing of harm nor is there to be any reciprocating of harm." One could literally translate the Prophet's statement as, "[There is] no dharar and no dharaar." From the Arabic structure, the Prophet (peace be upon him) stated a fact. However, as al-Zarqaani points out, this statement of a fact is understood to mean prohibition.