. J "" (cont.)

In reality, though, that supporting evidence was not the hadith that al-Nawawi quoted but it was another version of the above referred to hadith from al-Bukhari and Muslim. In that case, without checking the original source, the reader may be misled into thinking that the same hadith had been recorded by ibn Adi with the chain that ibn Muhammad mentioned. Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi is no mention of mistake, forgetfulness or coercion m that supposed "supporting evidence". Fourth, the study of this hadith also highlighted the importance of studying particular narrators in detail and not relying on general, one-word statements about them. Some people in the field of hadith today sometimes rely solely on ibn Hajr' s very important and excellent Taqreeb al-Tahdheeb.1 However, that work does not always give the researcher enough detailed information about the narrator. 2 Furthermore, sometimes upon closer inspection, ibn Hajr's conclusions do not always seem strong and sometimes contradict other information that ibn Hajr himself gave about the narrator in his Tahdheeb al-Tahdheeb.3 Three examples of this nature have already been noted in the above discussion. (They were Hishaam ibn Hasaan, Ayyoob ibn Suwaid and Shahr ibn Haushab.) General Comments About the Hadith This hadith is extremely important to the topic of personal responsibility. In the way that it is understood by some, it has ramifications for virtually every area of fiqh. It demonstrates that Allah does not consider people sinful when their actions are not representative of their intentions. In general, a sin is something done against the shareeah, knowingly and willingly. Al-Haitami argued that this hadith spans the entire gamut of human action. By its stated meaning, it shows that man is not responsible for what he does out of forgetfulness, mistake or coercion. By implication, then, it means 1 Ibn Hajr's biographical dictionary Taqreeb al-Tahdheeb is a very useful and important reference. In it, ibn Hajr gives a very brief description of the narrators of the famous "six books". He states in which book a particular narrator may be found. He gives some information as to which historic category the narrator belongs. And he also gives a one or two word description of the grade of the narrator, for example, "trustworthy," "weak," "acceptable [if supported by others]" and so forth. 2 A classic example of this nature is the case of Saeed ibn al-Basheer. lbn Hajr's Taqreeb simply mentions that he is weak. Based on that, one may raise his hadith with supporting evidence. A modern day scholar did such that with respect to a hadith that be quoted on the authority of Qataadab. Had that scholar checked other works, like Tahdheeb al-Kamaal, he would have found that, in particular, Saeed's narrations from Qataadah are not accepted as he reports strange and unsupported reports from him. For more on this point, see this author's "Well-Known but Non­ Authentic Hadith and Stories (VI)" Al-Basheer (vol. 8, no. 2, July-August 1994), pp. 3-4. 3 Ibn Hajr's Tahdheeb al-Tahdheeb is basically the source for Taqreeb al-Tahdheeb. lbn Hajr greatly condensed the information in Tahdheeb and, instead of quoting different scholars about a particular narrator as found in Tahdheeb, he simply gave his own conclusion about the narrator in Taqreeb. Of course, this author is not the only one or the first one who has noted these problems with Taqreeb. This is one of the reasons why Maroof and al-Arnaoot published their critical edition of Taqreeb, entitled Tahreer Taqreeb al-Tahdheeb. Another important work of a similar nature is Ataa ibn Ahmad, lmaan al-Nadhar ft Taqreeb ibn Hajr (Cairo: Maktaba al-Ilm, 1994). Hadith #39: "Allah has pardoned . . . " that man is responsible for everything else that he does. Hence, it covers all of the acts of the shareeah. 1 This hadith is also one of the manifestations of the shareeah' s removal of hardship from the people. Allah states in the Quran, c.. ,.,,, J ... // ,. ..u1 . s /c: __ q/ ࣋.r u-: '! / Ĝ u-;- :) "He has not placed upon you in the religion any hardship" (al-Hajj 78). To hold a person sinful and completely responsible for acts that he did by mistake, out of forgetfulness or while being coerced would entail a great deal of hardship and difficulty. Ibn Humaid points out that such could reach the level of burdening a person beyond what he can bear which is categorically denied of the shareeah.2 Therefore, the shareeah has lessened the burden and held humans free of sin in those cases. About the Narrator: ibn Abbaas lbn Abbaas was discussed in the commentary to Hadith Number 19. "Allah has pardoned" This hadith demonstrates the great mercy and compassion that Allah has for the followers of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). No one can force Allah to judge in a particular fashion or decree a particular matter. But this hadith points to Allah's wisdom, justice and mercy.