In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, without partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger ﷺ.
Continuation of the chapter on the solitary report:
In this section Imam al-Shafi’i continues his discussion of the authority of the solitary report (khabar al-wahid). He shows that it was relied upon by the early generations (Salaf) and the generations after them, explains the conditions for accepting the mursal hadith, and answers some doubts about acting on hadith.
The main points Imam al-Shafi’i addressed in this section:
- The authority of the solitary report among the Salaf: Imam al-Shafi’i stresses that the way of the Salaf and the generations after them was to affirm the solitary report and rely on it as proof, and that this was the practice of the scholars in the various lands, in both knowledge and practice. He mentions examples of this from the practice of Sa’id ibn al-Musayyab, ‘Urwa ibn al-Zubayr, al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn, Muhammad ibn ‘Ali, and others among the scholars of Madinah, Makkah, Yemen, Syria, Kufa, and the Ansar.
- Examples of the Salaf acting on the solitary report: Imam al-Shafi’i mentions examples of the Salaf acting on the solitary report:
- The hadith of Abu Sa’id al-Khudri on currency exchange (sarf): Sa’id ibn al-Musayyab affirmed the hadith of Abu Sa’id on currency exchange and regarded it as Sunnah.
- The hadith of ‘A’isha on al-kharaj bi-l-daman: ‘Urwa ibn al-Zubayr affirmed the hadith of ‘A’isha that “entitlement to revenue goes with liability for loss” and regarded it as Sunnah.
- The hadiths of Usama ibn Zayd and ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar: ‘Urwa affirmed their hadiths and regarded them as Sunnah.
- The hadith of Khansa’ bint Khidam: Her report was affirmed, though she was a single woman, and regarded as Sunnah.
- The hadith of Usama ibn Zayd that a Muslim does not inherit from a disbeliever: ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn affirmed this hadith and regarded it as Sunnah.
- The hadiths of Jabir and Abu Hurayra: Muhammad ibn ‘Ali affirmed their hadiths and regarded them as Sunnah.
- Imam al-Shafi’i’s conditions for accepting the mursal hadith: Imam al-Shafi’i explains that the mursal hadith is not a proof in itself, but it may be accepted subject to conditions and controls:
- Reliable memorisers sharing in it: If precise memorisers (huffaz) share with the one who narrated it as mursal in the meaning of what he narrated, that indicates the soundness of the hadith’s source and the narrator’s retention.
- Agreement with another mursal not from the first narrator’s teachers: If the mursal agrees with another mursal from another Successor, that is a further indication of the hadith’s soundness.
- Agreement with the statement of some Companions: If the mursal agrees with the statement of some Companions, that indicates the hadith’s soundness.
- Agreement with the fatwa of the generality of the people of knowledge: If the mursal agrees with the fatwa of the generality of the people of knowledge, that indicates the hadith’s soundness.
- That the narrator narrates from someone trustworthy, neither unknown nor abandoned in narration: If the one who narrates mursal names his teacher, that teacher must be trustworthy and known for narrating from trustworthy narrators.
- That the mursal does not contradict a connected hadith or one more reliable than it: The mursal must not contradict a connected (muttasil) hadith or a hadith more firmly established than it.
- That the narrator is not a mudallis: The narrator must not be one who practises tadlis, that is, one who drops his weak teacher and makes it appear that he narrated from a trustworthy teacher.
- The difference between the mursal reports of the senior and the junior Successors: Imam al-Shafi’i explains that the mursal reports of the senior Successors (Tabi’un), who saw most of the Companions, are stronger than the mursal reports of the junior Successors, who saw only a few of them. This is because the senior Successors usually narrate directly from the Companions, while the junior Successors usually narrate from Successors, so the gap in the chain is greater and weaker.
- Response to those who say that the jurists narrate hadiths but do not act on them: Imam al-Shafi’i responds to those who say that the jurists narrate hadiths but do not act on them, and explains that the jurist does not abandon acting on an authentic hadith except for a reason that requires it, such as another hadith that conflicts with it, a weakness in the hadith’s chain, or an ambiguity in its meaning.
- The difference between proof and supporting illustration: Imam al-Shafi’i explains the difference between their saying “this hadith is a proof (hujja)” and their saying “this hadith is cited in support (yusta’nasu bihi).” A proof is something binding that must be acted upon, whereas supporting illustration (isti’nas) is citing the hadith to strengthen an opinion or an understanding, not to act on it as binding.
- The difference between rejecting the Qur’an and the mass-transmitted Sunnah, and rejecting the solitary report: Imam al-Shafi’i explains that rejecting the Qur’an or the mass-transmitted (mutawatir) Sunnah is disbelief (kufr), whereas rejecting the solitary report is not disbelief, though it may be a reprehensible innovation (bid’a) if the hadith is authentic and firmly established and there is no valid ground for rejecting it.
- An example of a mursal hadith that the jurists did not act on unrestrictedly: Imam al-Shafi’i mentions the hadith “You and your wealth belong to your father,” explains that it is a mursal hadith, and that the jurists did not act on it unrestrictedly but restricted it to the case of the father’s need.
- An example of a mursal hadith accepted when a connected hadith supported it: Imam al-Shafi’i mentions the mursal hadith of al-Zuhri on repeating ablution and prayer because of laughing during prayer, and explains that it was not accepted until a connected hadith came supporting it, from Sulayman ibn Arqam, from al-Hasan, from the Prophet ﷺ.
Additional clarifications:
- Al-kharaj bi-l-daman: It means that whoever benefits from a thing bears liability for it if it perishes, so he is entitled to benefit from it in return for his liability for it.
- Al-mukhabara: A type of sharecropping; the Prophet ﷺ prohibited one form of it.
- Al-mursal: A hadith that a Successor attributes to the Prophet ﷺ without mentioning the Companion from whom he narrated it.
- Al-muttasil: A hadith whose chain is connected from the narrator to the Prophet ﷺ without a break.
Final summary:
In this section Imam al-Shafi’i sets out the authority of the solitary report among the Salaf, clarifies the conditions for accepting the mursal hadith, answers doubts about acting on hadith, and stresses the obligation to act on the authentic hadith and not to contradict it by opinion, analogy, or the practice of some people.
All parts of Summary of the Explanation of al-Shafi'i's al-Risala by Dr. Yasir Burhami