Sunday, October 10, 2010

"Study hadith and strive to revive sunnah" - Shaykh Sayyid Salman Al-Hussaini

Bismillah.

Alhamdulillah wa shukrulillah for the golden opportunity to sit before the honorable muhaddith Shaykh Sayyid Salman Al Hussaini An Nadwi. MashaAllah tabarakallah it was such a blissful gathering which would not have been possible without the barakah of Shaykh Salman's own mureed, Shaykh Fahmi Zamzam Al-Maliki.

With a beaming smile, Shaykh Fahmi introduced his guru, under whose guidance he studied hadith in India circa 1981. "That's 29 years ago!" said Shaykh Fahmi who was clearly delighted about their reunion. Shaykh Salman was earlier taken to visit Shaykh Fahmi's hometown in Banjarmasin, Indonesia where thousands of people had gathered to welcome Shaykh Salman. It was indeed a rare occasion that Shaykh Salman came on a tour to this region to give ijazah for hadith with sanad from Imam Al-Bukhari, Imam Muslim, Imam Abu Daud, Imam Al-Tirmidhi, Imam An-Nasai' and Imam Ibnu Majah.

Shaykh Salman in his address reminded the audience to not feel proud about the ijazah. He urged everyone, the young, the old, the learned ones and even those who do not understand Arabic, to play a part and do something. "You must work hard. This is a big amanah from Allah. Study the hadith and strive to revive the sunnah. Accept it with taqwa and sincerity" said he.


Shaykh Salman stressed the importance of acquiring knowledge especially hadith that is supported by sanad (chain) from a guru, to his gurus, to the mu'allif (author i.e. Imam Al-Bukhari) and ultimately to Rasulullah s.a.w. What makes Islamic scholarship unique is the sanad. It is a pertinent feature of Islam so that people cannot simply 'create' knowledge as they like based on their own ideas and creativity.

The orientalists tried but failed to manipulate and cause confusion to the Qur'an because Allah Himself has guaranteed to protect the ummul kitab. So they turned to hadith. The ummah's aqidah is becoming shaky on account of their propaganda. Sahih Bukhari is the most reliable kitab after the Qur'an, and yet people are trying to cast doubt on its authority.

We cannot possibly understand the Qur'an without making a reference to hadith or sunnah, for example, solat. The Qur'an does not provide detail description on its methods so we learn from sunnah Rasulullah  s.a.w. How can we limit ourselves to the Qur'an when the Qur'an itself asked us to follow sunnah?

If you wish to study religion you must follow traditions as practiced by ulama salaf  (ulama in the olden days). Imam Malik once said: 'Ummah living in the end times can never be righteous unless they emulate the ummah from the past.' And as advised by Muhammad bin Sirin, we must be careful from whom we acquire knowledge. He said, 'knowledge is religion, so beware who you take your religion from.' As we have said, your knowledge must be supported with a proper sanad to Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.

Shaykh Fahmi then introduced his newly published booklet An-Nafahat Ar-Rahmaniyah fi awa-il Salamiyah containing six selected hadith and their sanad. The first hadith quoted in the little booklet is the opening hadith from Sahih Imam Al-Bukhari on 'The Book of Revelation':
Innamal a'maalu bin niyyaat
wa innamaa likullim ri'in maa nawa
Fa man kaanat hijrat hu ila dunya yusi buha

au ram atin yan kihuha
fahijratuhu ila ma hajara ilaih
"It was related that Umar ibn Khattab r.a said: "I heard the Messenger of God saying: 'The reward for any deed depends upon the intention and everyone will be rewarded according to his intentions. So whoever emigrates for a worldly benefit or to marry, his emigration is for what he emigrated for."

Shaykh Fahmi concluded the majlis by reminding the audience to be wary of their intentions and to be sincere in acquiring knowledge.
Wallahu a'lam.

Shaykh Fahmi (standing) introducing his guru Shaykh Sayyid Salman al-Hussaini at KL Ba'alawi last night (9 Oct 2010).
The event was hosted by Bro. Ben & Sis. Ina

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