Question:
Is jarh wa ta’deel only specific for the science of narration (hadeeth), and only for the muhaditheen (scholars of hadeeth)?
Answer:
No, as long as truth and falsehood is present and Islam and disbelief, and the people of desires and the saved sect, as long as all of that is present then so is jarh wa ta’deel, out of compulsion not out of choice!
The Qur’an is filled with jarh wa ta’deel, Allah has cursed the disbelievers in numerous verses, this is jarh (disparagement)! And he humiliated and detested them, he called them the worst of the creatures!
“The worst of the creatures” is this a jarh or not?!
(إِنَّ شَرَّ الدَّوَابِّ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ الصُّمُّ الْبُكْمُ الَّذِينَ لَا يَعْقِلُونَ)
“Verily! The worst of (moving) living creatures with Allah are the deaf and the dumb, those who understand not (i.e. the disbelievers).” [Surat Al-Anfal 22]
This is a severe, strong jarh.
Allah said:
(إِنَّ شَرَّ الدَّوَابِّ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فَهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ)
“Verily, The worst of moving (living) creatures before Allah are those who disbelieve, – so they shall not believe.” [Surat Al-Anfal 55]
(أَمْ تَحْسَبُ أَنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ يَسْمَعُونَ أَوْ يَعْقِلُونَ ۚ إِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا كَالْأَنْعَامِ ۖ …)
“Or do you think that most of them hear or understand? They are only like cattle…” [Surat Al-Furqan 44]
If someone said, “this innovator is like a cow”, Is this a jarh or not?!
A severe jarh! Allah has said about the disbelievers that they are like the cattle, the beasts of the cattle from cows, goats and camels.
(… ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ كَالْأَنْعَامِ بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلُّ ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْغَافِلُونَ)
“They are like cattle, nay even more astray; those! They are the heedless ones.” [Surat Al-A’raf 179]
And also:
(مَثَلُ الَّذِينَ حُمِّلُوا التَّوْرَاةَ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَحْمِلُوهَا كَمَثَلِ الْحِمَارِ…)
The likeness of those who were entrusted with the (obligation of the) Taurat (Torah) (i.e. to obey its commandments and to practise its legal laws), but who subsequently failed in those (obligations), is as the likeness of a donkey… [Surat Al-Jumu’ah 5]
Is this a jarh or not?! Like a donkey! For example, If someone said: “so and so is like a donkey” they will regard this something very big.
Allah has described the disbelievers which did not carry the religion of Allah, like a donkey.
He said:
(وَاتْلُ عَلَيْهِمْ نَبَأَ الَّذِي آتَيْنَاهُ آيَاتِنَا فَانْسَلَخَ مِنْهَا فَأَتْبَعَهُ الشَّيْطَانُ فَكَانَ مِنَ الْغَاوِينَ)
And recite to them the story of him to whom We gave Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.), but he threw them away, so Shaitan (Satan) followed him up, and he became of those who went astray. [Surat Al-A’raf 175]
(..الْغَاوِينَ)
“Those who are astray”
This is a jarh.
Is this word a jarh or not?!
(وَلَوْ شِئْنَا لَرَفَعْنَاهُ بِهَا وَلَٰكِنَّهُ أَخْلَدَ إِلَى الْأَرْضِ وَاتَّبَعَ هَوَاهُ…)
“And had We willed, We would surely have elevated him therewith but he clung to the earth and followed his own vain desire…” [Surat Al-A’raf 176]
(The statement) “So and so follows his desires” is a jarh. And that which is more severe than that:
فَمَثَلُهُ كَمَثَلِ الْكَلْبِ إِنْ تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْهِ يَلْهَثْ أَوْ تَتْرُكْهُ يَلْهَثْ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ مَثَلُ الْقَوْمِ الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا ۚ فَاقْصُصِ الْقَصَصَ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ
“…So his description is the description of a dog: if you drive him away, he lolls his tongue out, or if you leave him alone, he (still) lolls his tongue out. Such is the description of the people who reject Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.)…” [Surat Al-A’raf 176]
All of this is a jarh.
وَاسْأَلْهُمْ عَنِ الْقَرْيَةِ الَّتِي كَانَتْ حَاضِرَةَ الْبَحْرِ إِذْ يَعْدُونَ فِي السَّبْتِ إِذْ تَأْتِيهِمْ حِيتَانُهُمْ يَوْمَ سَبْتِهِمْ شُرَّعًا وَيَوْمَ لَا يَسْبِتُونَ ۙ لَا تَأْتِيهِمْ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ نَبْلُوهُمْ بِمَا كَانُوا يَفْسُقُونَ
“And ask them about the town that was by the sea, when they transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath (i.e. Saturday): when their fish came to them openly on the Sabbath day, and did not come to them on the day they had no Sabbath. Thus We made a trial of them for they used to rebel.” [Surat Al-A’raf 163]
This is a jarh. He ruled them as rebels/ disobedient .
Up until he said:
(… قُلْنَا لَهُمْ كُونُوا قِرَدَةً خَاسِئِينَ)
“… We said to them: “Be you monkeys, despised and rejected.” [Surat Al-A’raf 166]
So the word “monkeys” and the word “despised and rejected” is a jarh for them.
(وَالَّذِينَ كَسَبُوا السَّيِّئَاتِ جَزَاءُ سَيِّئَةٍ بِمِثْلِهَا وَتَرْهَقُهُمْ ذِلَّةٌ..)
“And those who have earned evil deeds, the recompense of an evil deed is the like thereof, and humiliating disgrace will cover them…” [Surat Yunus 27]
They are humiliated.
Allah said:
(إِنَّمَا يَفْتَرِي الْكَذِبَ الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ ۖ وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْكَاذِبُونَ)
It is only those who believe not in the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of Allah, who fabricate falsehood… [Surat An-Nahl 105]
He called them fabricators, which is a jarh.
So how many Evidences can you count….
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ تَبَّتْ يَدَا أَبِي لَهَبٍ وَتَبَّ * مَا أَغْنَىٰ عَنْهُ مَالُهُ وَمَا كَسَبَ * سَيَصْلَىٰ نَارًا ذَاتَ لَهَبٍ
وَامْرَأَتُهُ حَمَّالَةَ الْحَطَبِ * فِي جِيدِهَا حَبْلٌ مِنْ مَسَدٍ
“Perish the two hands of Abu Lahab (an uncle of the Prophet), and perish he!, His wealth and his children (etc.) will not benefit him!, He will be burnt in a Fire of blazing flames! And his wife too, who carries wood (thorns of Sadan which she used to put on the way of the Prophet (Peace be upon him), or use to slander him). In her neck is a twisted rope of Masad (palm fibre).” [Surat Al-Masad 1 – 5]
This is a jarh for him and a dua’a upon him for failure.
And how much jarh do you find for shaytaan and the disbelievers and the liars and the hypocrites?!:
(إِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ يُخَادِعُونَ اللَّهَ وَهُوَ خَادِعُهُمْ وَإِذَا قَامُوا إِلَى الصَّلَاةِ قَامُوا كُسَالَىٰ يُرَاءُونَ النَّاسَ وَلَا يَذْكُرُونَ اللَّهَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا)
“Verily, the hypocrites seek to deceive Allah, but it is He Who deceives them. And when they stand up for As-Salat (the prayer), they stand with laziness and to be seen of men, and they do not remember Allah but little.” [Surat An-Nisa’ 142]
This is all jarh for them and a clarification of their heedlessness.
(.. ۚ نَسُوا اللَّهَ فَنَسِيَهُمْ ۗ إِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ)
“They have forgotten Allah, so He has forgotten them. Verily, the hypocrites are the Fasiqun (rebellious, disobedient to Allah).” [Surat At-Tawbah 67]
(إِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ فِي الدَّرْكِ الْأَسْفَلِ مِنَ النَّارِ وَلَنْ تَجِدَ لَهُمْ نَصِيرًا)
“Verily, the hyprocrites will be in the lowest depths (grade) of the Fire; no helper will you find for them.”[Surat An-Nisa’ 145]
So all of this is jarh. The Qur’an is jarh wa ta’deel!
Jarh for the disbelievers, the hypocrites, the people of falsehood etc..
And ta’deel (praise) for the righteous ones, the people of tawheed and the believers.
So all of it is tawheed, either by mentioning the evidences of tawheed, or by praising the people of tawheed and what Allah has prepared for them. And praising the people of tawheed is ta’deel for them.
(إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ كَانَتْ لَهُمْ جَنَّاتُ الْفِرْدَوْسِ نُزُلًا)
“Verily! Those who believe (in the Oneness of Allah Islamic Monotheism) and do righteous deeds, shall have the Gardens of Al-Firdaus (the Paradise) for their entertainment.”
[Surat Al-Kahf 107]
And praising them by mentioning they are mutaqoon (pious) those who seek repentance in the last hours of the night etc…
Allah has praised the prophets and the companios, his book is filled with ta’deel.
With that being said, So long as the truth and falsehood is present, then so is jarh wa ta’deel from the book of Allah and the sunnah of the prophet ﷺ, it remains so long as the dunya remains.
The companions passed by a janaaza so they praised it with good, and another janaaza passed by them however they only mentioned bad about it, the prophet ﷺ said:
“وجبت وجبت”
It has become waajib, it has become waajib.
The companions said “oh messenger of Allah ﷺ, what has become waajib?”
He ﷺ said: ” the janaaza which you praised with good, jannah has become waajib for him, and the one whom you mentioned with bad, the fire has become waajib for him, you are the witnesses of Allah upon his earth”
(Muslim, Abu Hurayrah)
This is in respect to the people of justice and righteousness, and this is being said about the one who has passed away ( so how about the one who is still alive) so this indicates that ta’deel is beneficial even for the one who is in his grave.
Whoever is mentioned with good and is made dua’a for, the angels say :
“Ameen and for you is the same”
[Muslim, Abu dhardaa]
So ta’deel which comes from the righteous is good and beneficial:
“..تلك عاجل بشرى المؤمن”
“That is the believers glad tidings hastened for him”
(Muslim, Abu tharr)
Is this ta’deel or not?!
The praise which is mentioned with good, is this ta’deel or not?!
It is ta’deel and it is the believers glad tidings which has been hastened for him. And this is why you find many of the people, due to the severe love for ta’deel they love to be praised and they love exaggeration in it etc… So he becomes deviated because of that.
The summary of this is that negating jarh and ta’deel except for the science of hadeeth, this is not correct, even the books of ‘aqeedah are filled with jarh wa ta’deel ( you will find being mentioned:)
“So and so is misguided.
The mu’tazilah are deviants
The kullaabeeyah are deviants
The jahmeeyah are deviants”
They would even mention someone specifically by name and that he is such and such and he used to be a deviant, rather they may even mention that he reached the point of apostasy. They would disparage him!
So some of them would be disparaged due to their ‘aqeedah or due to their heedlessness in hadeeth and some due to their corruption on the earth and other than that.
(Jarh wa ta’deel) is not restricted to the science of hadeeth, it was not restricted before nor is it now, rather jarh wa ta’deel is even found in the markets where they sell cattle.
The one who says it is specific for the science of hadeeth, say to him, if you were to go and buy a cow, are you going to ask someone to praise it and find a good one for you or not?!
Does it bear milk, does it run or not?
You are in need of someone to describe this cow for you if it bears milk, it runs, it is guaranteed, if they praise it then you end up buying it.
Then if someone comes and disparages it and says this one runs and it doesn’t have milk etc… (What do you do?) You stay away from it and search for another one.
Even in the cattle markets!
And like this (you find jarh wa ta’deel) in all of the markets, the car markets etc… You’ll find jarh wa ta’deel.
So refuting the presence of jarh wa ta’deel in totality is incorrect, rather what is said is that it is waajib that jarh wa ta’deel is established by the legislative criterion in every time and place. Restrict it with its evidences, as for denying it except for narrations, this individual himself will be establishing jarh wa ta’deel, the person of this statement, whether he is sunni or not you will find him using jarh wa ta’deel.
Look at the people of desires how they complain about ahlus sunnah and (try to) refute them.
Even shaytaan uses jarh wa ta’deel:
(قَالَ أَنَا خَيْرٌ مِنْهُ ۖ …)
Iblis (Satan)] said: “I am better than him..”
[Surat Sad 76]
He praised himself.
And fir’aun used jarh wa ta’deel:
(… ۚ قَالَ فِرْعَوْنُ مَا أُرِيكُمْ إِلَّا مَا أَرَىٰ وَمَا أَهْدِيكُمْ إِلَّا سَبِيلَ الرَّشَادِ)
Fir’aun (Pharaoh) said: “I show you only that which I see (correct), and I guide you only to the path of right policy!”
[Surat Ghafir 29]
(.. ۖ إِنِّي أَخَافُ أَنْ يُبَدِّلَ دِينَكُمْ أَوْ أَنْ يُظْهِرَ فِي الْأَرْضِ الْفَسَادَ)
…I fear that he (i.e Musa) may change your religion, or that he may cause mischief to appear in the land!”
[Surat Ghafir 26]
He praised himself and disparaged Musa, he disbelieved and he’s using jarh wa ta’deel, shaytaan and other than him.
If jarh wa ta’deel is left off, the people of falsehood will use it against the people of truth, going astray and misguiding others.
However when using it, then it is a must to have fear of Allah and to be just.
Any speech or action which lacks justice, truth, it does not establish the religion of Allah by way of it, then consider it to be a failure. Whether it be speech or an action.
Allah does not aid except the truth!!
(… ۚ فَأَمَّا الزَّبَدُ فَيَذْهَبُ جُفَاءً ۖ وَأَمَّا مَا يَنْفَعُ النَّاسَ فَيَمْكُثُ فِي الْأَرْضِ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ يَضْرِبُ اللَّهُ الْأَمْثَالَ)
…Then, as for the foam it passes away as scum upon the banks, while that which is for the good of mankind remains in the earth. Thus Allah sets forth parables (for the truth and falsehood, i.e. Belief and disbelief).
[Surat Ar-Ra’d 17]
The heavens and the earth stand due to the truth, the truth is the religion of Allah.
So any speech or action that does not rely on the truth, even if shaytaan beautifies it for the individual, then consider it a failure and harmful for the individual.
It is obligatory in jarh wa ta’deel to take concern in the truth and to use its legislative principles, and the scholars of jarh wa ta’deel are well known in the books of hadeeth etc…
“Tahtheebul kamaal”
“meezan Ali’tidaal”
Etc…and like this an entire library, you will find a section from one side to another all in jarh wa ta’deel, the books of ‘aqeedah are all books of jarh wa ta’deel and other than that.
To say this is just specific for the narrations (is not correct), in addition to that, has the narrations stopped?! I.e: is it not found up until this date someone who lies in hadeeth, and someone who changes the hadeeth, and someone who plays with the hadeeth and someone who plays about when using it as evidence etc..?!?
The later generation of this ummah will not become upright except by that which the earlier generation of this ummah became upright with.
(The Shaykh then began to read through a book that was handed to him:)
Ibn hibbaan said in “Athiqaat”:
“…jareer bin yazeed bin Haroon said:
My father sent me to ja’far Ad-duba’ee so I said to him:
“It has reached me that you curse Abu bakr and ‘Umar”
So he (ja’far) said:
“As for cursing them, then no, however as for hating them then yes, say what you want”
“So there he was, a raafidhi the likes of a donkey”
[End of transmission from the book]
He said this about ja’far Ad-duba’ee and he was from the muhaditheen.
(The Shaykh then read from saheehul Bukhaari)
“The chapter: the praise of women for one another”
And this is not linked to the chain of narration rather it is regarding bareerah when she praised ‘Aaisha in the incident of the lie.
Al-Bukhaari based a chapter upon this story and entitled it:
“The chapter of the praise of women for one another”
In summary the prophet ﷺ asked her about ‘Aishaa so she (bareerah) praised her and mentioned her with good in her religion and that at times she may have some heedlessness where she sleeps and the domestic goats come and eat the family’s dough etc…
This is ta’deel in other than narration.
Anyone who proposes to a woman, will he search for one who will praise her or not?!
How is her household like, How is the woman’s Deen etc… He will ask and then he will propose to her.
So if they say she has some heedlessness etc.. he will refrain from her.
All of this is reality, whether he is the one getting married or the one marrying her off, both of them ask questions about the religion as it comes in the hadeeth:
“إذا خطب إليكم من ترضون دينه وخلقه فزوجوه…”
If someone who’s religion and mannerisms comes to you asking for your daughter in marriage then marry him off…
[At-tirmithee, Abu hurayrah]
This cannot occur except by asking about how this man’s religion and mannerisms is etc… Like this by jarh wa ta’deel.
Otherwise he will be deceitful:
(… قُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ وَأَهْلِيكُمْ نَارًا وَقُودُهَا النَّاسُ وَالْحِجَارَةُ…)
…Ward off from yourselves and your families a Fire (Hell) whose fuel is men and stones…
[Surat At-Tahrim 6]
If he marries her off to a raafidhi, he doesn’t know who he is, i.e: someone comes along and proposes so he (the wali) says: “
go ahead” and he turns out to be a raafidhi!
Is this man decietful to this woman or not?!
Has he warded her off from the fire or thrown her into: tomorow comes and there she is cursing Abu bakr and ‘umar?!?
He throws her to someone who turns her into a raafidhi.
This is not appropriate! It’s a must that he asks: what his is creed/belief, is he upright?! and likewise she is to ask about whether he is upright upon his religion or not.
Otherwise how can you select someone pious? From where can you come to know about selecting someone who is pious As it has come in the hadeeth:
“…فاظفر بذات الدين تربت يداك”
“…choose the one who is pious, may your hands cleave to dust (i.e choose the one who is pious and prosper)”
[Al-Bukhaari and Muslim, Abu hurayrah]
How will you know this except by asking about her religion, and by knowing the condition of those who raised her in the house and about their religion etc… And like that.”
Answered by: Shaykh, the Allamah, the Trustworthy Advisor, Abu Abdirrahman Yahya bin Ali Al-Hajuri – may Allah preserve him
Source: https://t.me/sh_yahia_duroos/9775
Translated by: Abu Huthayfah Saamy Atwal