Thread by @IsmailIbrahimMS

1a. For Hadith students: This is a thread on Muhammad Awwamah’s book حكم العمل بالحديث الضعيف. It is a small addition to the criticisms already levelled at it, by Salaf Center, S. Hatim and others, as well any other ones that will be released in the future.

1b. It seems Awwamah was making up stuff that may sound nice in a vacuum with plenty of quotations, but much of it is not based on any sound principle or rationale. One example of this will be discussed later (re: the issue of الستارة)

2a. Awwamah’s argument is that anything above the level of fabrication (lies or mistaken narrations) is usable. This has major ramifications in Islamic law and the Islamic entity as a whole, which has not been properly studied. Awwamah himself cannot know the negative impact.

2b. Fiqh would have to be rewritten based on his laissez faire attitude to weak Hadith. If the floodgates of weak Hadith are opened, every weak Hadith would require adoption or a reply. It may never be dismissed on the basis of weakness unless contradicted by something stronger

3a. What is استثنى من الحديثِ الموضوعِ الحديثَ الضعيفَ supposed to mean? Maybe Awwamah was not satisfied that Ibn 'l-Salah considered Mawdu` to be one of the categories of weak Hadith, so he conjured up this استثناء منقطع expression, which is wholly inappropriate.

3b. Besides, it seems Ibn 'l-Salah made the exception (bi-khilaf ghayrihi) from الأحاديث الضعيفة, not الحديث الموضوع.

4a. Awwamah says مسامحة الإمام الدارمي مع من يروي ما لا أصل له. How on earth did Awwamah deduce that? Al-Darimi was only explaining what he thought was the correct interpretation of the Hadith concerned.

4b. Just because al-Darimi did not believe إسناد المرسل or قلب الإسناد is not included in the severe threat of that Hadith (فهو أحد الكاذبين) does not mean al-Darimi believed it is ok to pass off a Mursal as a Musnad, or to narrate a Maqlub narration without stating it is Maqlub.

4c. Using this same Hadith, Ibn Hajar argues the following, diametrically opposed to Awwamah:

4d. تبيين العجب
لئلا يعمل المرء بحديث ضعيف، فيشرع ما ليس بشرع، أو يراه بعض الجهال فيظن أنه سنة صحيحة، وليحذر المرء من دخوله تحت قوله صلى الله عليه وسلم "من حديث عني بحديث يرى أنه كذب فهو أحد الكاذبين" فكيف بمن عمل به؟ ولا فرق في العمل بالحديث في الأحكام أو في الفصائل إذا الكل شرع

5a. Just look at how Awwamah framed and worded that first paragraph: “An authentic Hadith won't be accepted unless it is free from Nakarah in Sanad and Matn, and a weak Hadith will not be rejected when its weakness has strengthening narrations by Sanad and Matn”.

5b. This really smacks as desperation, in which ِAwwamah portrays the asl of weak Hadith to be acceptance, so much so that he contrasts it with authentic Hadith and portrays its asl to be rejection! A wholly inappropriate manner to frame the statuses of authentic and weak Hadith.

6a. It is clear that Awwamah’s hatred of al-Albani, and Salafis in general, has blinded him. In fact, he started this book by having a dig at al-Albani, and that undertone remains throughout. In fact, he started the book by pitting al-Nawawi and al-Albani against each other.

6b. I should admit that Awwamah did land some justified criticisms on al-Albani in the book, but this was a very poor introduction to what was supposed to be an academic book.

7a. An example of poor deduction by Awwamah. How can one deduce from THIS that al-Bukhari considered it desirable to act on weak Hadith? Yes, the Hadith of Anas (Thigh isn't awrah) is stronger by chain, but that doesn’t render the Hadith of Jarhad (Thigh is awrah) to be weak.

7b. Even if the Hadith reported by Jarhad is weak according to al-Bukhari, he wasn’t trying to make the point that it is weak therefore it is desirable to act on it. What al-Bukhari said it is ‘safer’ - it is desirable to take the safer option.

7c. Bearing in mind this (thigh being awrah) is also the position of many other jurists, al-Bukhari said it is desirable to cover the thigh due to this reason, not because it is a weak Hadith that should be acted on.

8a. According to Awwamah, Imam Muslim’s expression والستارة في ناقليه effectively means مجاهيل!!! This is gross incompetence.

8b. Abd 'l-Karim al-Khudayr provides its correct meaning
والستارة في ناقليه يعني الصيانة، صيانة النفس عما يخرم التقوى والمروءة وليس المراد بذلك قبول حديث المستور في اصطلاح المتأخرين لأن المستور ضرب من المجهول، نوع من المجهول فلا يقبل حديثه إلا ما عرف صحة مخارجه والستارة في ناقليه

8c. Later in the book, Awwamah’s blunder on Imam Muslim’s statement والستارة في ناقليه got exponentially worse. He said, “Look at my book دراسات الكاشف to see what sitr means.

8d. Yet he contradicted himself in his حكم العمل بالحديث الضعيف book where he told the reader to refer to دراسات الكاشف, where he said المستور عند المحدثين العدل الظاهر الخفي الباطن – that a Mastur according the scholars of Hadith is an apparent upright.

8e. Then Awwamah had the audacity to say والله أعلم, adding أرجو من الله أن يكون صوابا, meaning he himself was unsure, and that he really was making things up as he went along.

9. What a ridiculous criticism by Awwamah against Shawkani, on his expression جاز العمل به. It is clear al-Shawkani was merely contrasting acceptable narrations with unacceptable narrations, not that acceptable narrations are unable to mandate legislation.

10. Awwamah criticises al-Shawkani for using the term Haqq in expressing his position. Whereas this criticism would be warranted in an ideal world, many scholars and jurists have used the word Haqq in matters that are legitimately differed over. So this is no without precedent.

11a. Awwamah criticised Siddiq Hasan Khan over the same wording as al-Shawkani. In fact, Awwamah then got personal with Siddiq Hasan Khan, like some Pakistani molvi in a debate, by trying to link him to the British colonialists in order to discredit him.

11b. It is not the first place Awwamah perpetrated an ad hominem in the book. In addition to the anti-Albani undertone throughout the book and his various unjustified put downs of al-Shawkani, check Awwamah’s takedown of al-Dawwani as an example of discrediting.

12a. Awwamah refuted Tahir al-Jaza'iri, who wrote against the acceptance of weak Hadith in his masterpiece Tawjih 'l-Nazar. What must really have burned Awwamah up from the inside was the fact that Abd 'l-Fattah Abu Ghuddah edited and published al-Jaza'iri’s book.

12b. AFAG has no criticism against al-Jaza'iri for saying this. In fact, Awwamah was already burned up from the fact that Muhammad Zahid al-Kawthari attributed the anti-weak Hadith position to al-Bukhari, Muslim, Ibn 'l-Arabi, Ibn Hazm and Abu Shamah, which Awwamah tried to undo.

12c. Note that Awwamah disagreed and refuted the positions of both AFAG and MZK in this book. I for one have read both MZK and AFAG in the subject area of weak Hadith: Their discourses starkly differ from that of Awwamah. Most certainly, they weren't preoccupied like Awwamah is.

12d. In refuting Tahir al-Jaza'iri, Awwamah got a book wrong here. It is not al-Ikhtilaf Fi al-Lafz; rather al-Jaza'iri said وقد ذكر ابن قتيبة في مقدمة كتاب تأويل مختلف الحديث ما قاله المتكلمون من القدرية في ذلك. There is no mention of al-Ikhtilaf Fi al-Lafz. A strange blunder.

12e. It wasn’t only the Qadariyyah mentioned in the intro of تأويل مختلف الحديث; rather it was all deviated sects and those afflicted with malpractices like Kharijites, Murji'ites, Qadariyyah, Jabriyyah, rich, poor etc.), and the types of Hadith they used to support their agendas

13a. Awwamah has a very peculiar and unprecedented understanding of the term احتجاج: For him, it means وجوب العمل. So according to Awwamah, when the scholars say “We don't do احتجاج”, then all that means is they allow practice on those Hadith without actually making it obligatory

13b. I’m unsure who in the history of Islam made the claim that Awwamah made here, re: the meaning of احتجاج and عدم الاحتجاج.