1. How can I start to seek knowledge of hadeeth?

1.
What do you say about the one who wants to seek knowledge of hadeeth?
How should I start? Please note that I have studied 'aqeedah (beliefs)
in depth, praise be to Allah, and now I findmyself inclining a great
deal towards studying hadeeth. I want to start and I need your advice.
Praise be to Allaah.
We may sum up our advice concerning the methodology of seeking
knowledge of hadeeth as follows:
Firstly:
Paying a great deal of attention to memorising the texts of the
Prophet's Sunnah, because this is theaim and purpose for whichthe
scholars established allthe sciences of hadeeth. Soit is not
permissible for theseeker of knowledge to bedistracted from the aim
bythe means.
Memorising the texts of the Prophet's Sunnah begins with memorising
the hadeeths on which there is agreement between the two Saheehs
(al-Bukhaari and Muslim), then by memorising thosewhich were narrated
only by al-Bukhaari, then by memorising those that were narrated only
by Muslim. This will lead to accomplishing the first and most
important stage in forming the hadeeth mentality in the one who is
seeking knowledge of hadeeth.
After that, he moves on to memorising hadeeths thatare extra to those
of the two Saheehs, which are to be found in the six books and the
well-known Musnads. He may seek help in doing so by means of many
books in which these extra reports (zawaa'id) are compiled and
classified.
The best ways of memorising include repeating the text to be memorised
for a few days after the day on which he memorises it. This methodwas
recommended by az-Zarnooshi (may Allah have mercy on him) when he
said:
The seeker of knowledge should recite the text repeatedly because he
willnot be able to memorise properly until he dies that.He should
repeat what he memorised on the previous day five times, and repeat
what he memorised the day beforethat four times, and repeatwhat he
memorised on the day before that three times, and what he memorised on
the day before that two times, andwhat he memorised before that one
time. This will help him to memoriseand repeat. End quote.
Ta'leem at-Ta'allum, p. 60
If the student is not able to memorise completely, then he should do
no less than reading these hadeeths often, so that he will be able to
call them tomind and have a full comprehension of them.
This topic has been discussed in detail previously in the answer to
question no. 113469
Secondly:
It is essential for the seeker of hadeeth knowledge to memorise
different types of isnaads and whatever he can memorise of the names
and biographies of narrators. The isnaads of the Prophet's Sunnah can
be divided – in terms of how well known they are – into three
categories:
1.
Well known isnaads, through any of which hundreds of hadeeths were
narrated and they are regarded as one of themain channels through
which the Prophet's Sunnah came to us. Indeedthere is no book among
the six books that did not rely on them and narrate from many of them.
Examples include:
The isnaad of al-A'mash from Dhakwaan Abu Saalih al-Sammaan, from Abu Hurayrah
The isnaad of az-Zuhri from Abu Salamah ibn 'Abd ar-Rahmaan from Abu Hurayrah.
The isnaad of Hammaad ibn Salamah, from Thaabit ibn Aslam, from Anas.
The isnaad of 'Ubaydullah ibn 'Umar al-'Umari, from Naafi', from Ibn 'Umar.
It is possible to find out about these chains of narration, through
which hundreds of reports were narrated, from the book Tuhfat
al-Ashraaf by Imamal-Mazzi.
The student may also seekhelp in memorising the narrators of these
isnaads from the book Tabaqaat al-Mukthireena min Riwaayat al-Hadeeth
by Shaykh 'Aadil az-Zarqi, with a introduction by 'Abdullah as-Sa'd
(published by Dar Tuwayq).
If the seeker of hadeeth knowledge pays attention to these isnaads and
memorises them, then start to connect these isnaads to the texts that
he has previously memorised from the books of Sunnah, he will thus
have instilled in his mind hundreds of hadeeths with their isnaads. In
this way he willhave started a new stage of acquiring deep knowledge
of this noble science.
2.
The second category is isnaads that are less well-known, through which
dozens of reports were narrated, but they include some well-known
issues such as interruptions in the chain of narration, ambiguity,
omission of the name of the Sahaabi (mural report)and so on. The
student may study some of these isnaads in the book Tuhfatal-Tahseel
by al-'Alaa'i.
If the seeker of knowledgepays attention to these isnaads too, and
learns theproblems associated with these types of isnaads, then he
will achieved a great deal in this branch ofknowledge. :->

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Flavour of Faith

It is related by Abbas bin Adbul Muttalib that he heard the Apostle of
God say: "He tasted the flavour of Faith and experienced itssweetness
who agreed with a truthful heart to accept God as His Cherisher, Islam
as his religion, and Muhammad as his Prophet." [Bukhari]
Commentary:
Just as all delicious foods posses a flavour but can beperceived only
when one's faculty of taste has not been lost or become perverted due
to illness or any other cause, there is also a special sweetness in
faith which can be enjoyed by those alone who have, willingly and
earnestly, made Allah their Lord and Master, Muhammad (PBUH) their
prophet and guide, and Islam their religion and way of life, and whose
hearts have bowed in submission to God and yielded in obedience to
theprophet and assented to bethe adherents of the path of Islam. In
other words, their bond with God, the prophet and Islam is not merely
formal, hereditary or intellectual but real, sincere and genuine.
Anas related to us that "Only he will taste the sweetness of faith who
hasthese three qualities: the love of God and the prophet that comes
to him before everything else, he loves whom he loves solelyfor the
sake of God, and theidea of going back to apostasy after he has
embraced Islam is as repugnant to him as being thrown into fire."
[Bukhari and Muslim]
Commentary:
The subject matter of this tradition is almost identicalto that of
proceeding one. It says that the sweetness of faith can only be
perceived by him whose love for God and the Apostle is stronger that
for anyone or anything else in the world, so much so that when he
loves somebody, it is wholly for the sake of God, and who is so deeply
devoted to the Islamic faiththat the very idea of leaving it and
reverting back to the apostasy is as painful to him as being castinto
fire.

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Anti-Islam film: US condemns Pakistan minister's bounty

The US state department has condemned a Pakistani minister's offer of
$100,000 (£61,600) for the death of the American maker of an
anti-Islam film.
It said the step was"inflammatory and inappropriate".
Railways Minister Ghulam Ahmad Bilour made the offer after a wave of
protests against the film across Pakistan and the wider Muslim world.
Dozens have died in clashes between police andprotesters in Pakistan
and countries such as Tunisia and Sudan.
Sunday saw a fresh round of protests over the film in Pakistan,
Nigeria, Greece and Turkey.
Most passed off peacefully, but in the Greek capital Athens, riot
police and demonstrators clashed. Six people were arrested.
A state department official told the BBC: "The president and secretary
of state have both said the video at the core of this is offensive,
disgusting, and reprehensible - but that is no justification for
violence,and it is important for responsible leaders to stand up and
speak out against violence.
"Therefore we find Mr Bilour's announcement is inflammatory and
inappropriate. We note that the prime minister's office has
dissociated itself from his comments."
In hiding
The exact origins of Innocence of Muslims, the low-budget film that
has prompted the unrest, are unclear.
The alleged producer of thetrailer of the film, Nakoula Basseley
Nakoula, is in hiding.
Anti-US sentiment grew after a trailer for the film dubbed into Arabic
was released on YouTube earlier this month.
US citizens have been urged not to travel to Pakistan, and the US
embassy has paid for adverts on Pakistani TV showing President Barack
Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemning the film.
Although US targets have borne the brunt of protestsagainst the film,
anti-Western sentiment has been stoked further by caricatures of the
Prophet Muhammad published this week in the satirical Frenchmagazine,
Charlie Hebdo.
France shut embassies and other missions in about 20 countries across
the Muslimworld on Friday.
An 18-year-old man who threatened the magazine's editors on Facebook
has been charged with terrorism-related activity following his arrest
in the southern French city of Toulon, a judicial source told AFP news
agency on Sunday.

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He wants to study genetics; is there anything wrong with that in shar‘i terms?

I am a student in the faculty of sciences and I want to choose a
specialtythat will not conflict with Islam. What do you think of
specialising in genetics?Is it permissible for me to choose this
specialty?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Every branch of knowledge that people need in their religious or
worldly affairs is not forbidden in and of itself with regard to
studying, learning and understanding. But what is of concern is how
this knowledge is used and applied. There is nothing wrong with
studying accountancy – for example– but the problem is with the
practical application ofit in the real life financial world, such as
working in riba-based banks and other institutions. The same may also
be said concerning medicine. It is a branch of knowledge that is very
important and people cannot do without it, but sometimes in real life
it is used for things that are forbidden in Islam, such as cosmetic
surgery for the purpose of beautification, abortions, and so on.
The same may be said concerning the science of genetics, which is
defined in al-Mu'jam al-Waseet (2/1024) as the science which examines
the transmission of characteristics in living beings from one
generation to another andexplaining the way this occurs. It is an
important branch of knowledge, one of the greatest benefits of which
is knowledge of hereditary diseases and how to protect against them
and treat them. It may also be used for beneficial purposes in plants
and animals. But at the same time there is room for those who are
toying with what is called cloning. We have discussed a little about
what is permitted and what is forbidden with regard to cloning and
genetic engineering in the answers to questions no. 103335 and 21582 .
What matters then is not the theoretical study of genetics; rather it
is the practical application thereof. Whatever is permissible and
beneficial is encouraged by Islam, and whatever is haraam and harmful,
is forbidden by Islam.
In a conference of the Islamic Association of Medical Sciences in
Kuwait,which was held under the heading, "Genetics,
GeneticEngineering, the Human Genome and Gene Therapy: an Islamic
View," with the participation of the Islamic Fiqh Council in Jeddah,
the Local Chapter of the World Health Organization in Alexandria, and
the IslamicOrganization for Education, Science and Culture, which was
held during the period 23-25 Jumaada al-Aakhirah 1419AH/13-15 October
1998 CE,the following statement was issued:
Islam is the religion of science and knowledge, asit says in the verse
in which Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the
meaning):
"Say: 'Are those who knowequal to those who know not?'"
[al-Zumar 39:2].
Islam does not hold the human mind back from beneficial scientific
research, but it is not permissible for the results of this research
to be put into practice until they have been measured against Islamic
guidelines. Whatever is in accordance with sharee'ah is permitted, and
whatever goes against it is not permitted. The science of genetics
with its various aspects – as with all additions to knowledge – is
something that Islam encourages and Muslim scientists should be in the
forefront of it.
End quote.
And Allah knows best.

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