Saudi Journalist: “Hadiths which contradict the Koran should be removed from school cirriculum”

MEMRI

Special Dispatch No. 8258 | September 4, 2019

Saudi Journalist: The Hadith Which Instructs Us To Fight Unbelievers Until Islam Is The Religion Of The Entire World Contradicts The Quran And Is Exploited By ISIS, Should Be Removed From The School Curriculum

Saudi Arabia recently published its new school textbooks for the 2019 school year. Following the publication of the books Dr. Suhaila Zain Al-‘Abidin Hamad, a researcher of Islam and the daughter of Sheikh Zain Al-‘Abidin Hamad (d. 1975), a former imam and preacher at the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, published an article in which she opposed the inclusion in the high school curriculum of a hadith (tradition attributed to the Prophet) which calls for fighting the non-Muslims until they convert to Islam. Writing in the Al-Madina daily, she argued that the hadith is not authentic because it contradicts the Quran, and said that it has been included in the curriculum only because it is quoted in the two most important Sunni collections of hadiths, Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, which grants it credibility in the eyes of many.

Hamad noted that Muslim jurisprudents have used this hadith to issue fatwas condoning the killing of all non-Muslims, and of Muslims who do not fulfill all the commandments of Islam, and calling to fight them until Islam is the religion of the entire world. Furthermore, she said, the Islamic State (ISIS) has used it and the fatwas based upon it to justify its acts of terror.  

The following are translated excerpts from Hamad’s article.

“[According to a hadith, the Prophet said:] ‘I have been commanded to fight against people until they testify that there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and fulfill the obligation of prayer, and pay the zakat; and if they do it, their lives and property are guaranteed my protection on condition that [they conduct themselves] according to the law of Islam, and [on Judgement Day] Allah [will determine] their fate.’

“This hadith contradicts the Quran, according to which Allah says:

“1. ‘And had your Lord willed, those on earth would have believed – all of them entirely. Then, [O Muhammad], would you compel the people in order that they become believers? And it is not for a soul to believe except by permission of Allah, and He will place defilement upon those who will not use reason.’ [Quran 10:99-100]

“2. ‘And if your Lord had willed, He could have made mankind one community; but they will not cease to differ. Except whom your Lord has given mercy, and for that He created them. But the word of your Lord is to be fulfilled that, “I will surely fill Hell with jinn and men all together.”‘ [Quran 11:118-119]

“3. ‘There is no coercion in religion.’ [Quran 2: 256]

“4. ‘Not upon you, [O Muhammad], is [responsibility for] their guidance, but Allah guides whom He wills.’ [Quran 2:272]

“5. ‘Indeed, [O Muhammad], you do not guide whom you like, but Allah guides whom He wills. And He is most knowing of the [rightly] guided.’ [Quran 28:56]

“Presenting [Quran] 8:39 – ‘And fight them until there is no fitna and [until] the religion, all of it, is for Allah. And if they cease – then indeed, Allah is Seeing of what they do’ – as proof [of the need to force non-Muslims to convert] is [also] inappropriate, for this verse descended in the context of the infidels of Mecca, who led the Muslims astray and tormented them, forcing them to emigrate to Al-Habash [a region in the Horn of Africa] and later to Al-Madina, after they conspired to kill the Prophet Muhammad. It did not [descend] in the context of fighting all non-Muslims until they convert.

“Although this [hadith] contradicts all of these Quranic texts, it turns out that those in charge of our religious studies insist on including it in the high school curriculum on the topic of tawhid, or the oneness of God…, because it appears in the [major collections of hadiths considered authentic in Sunni Islam], Sahih Bukhari… and Sahih Muslim… [Bukhari and Muslim, who compiled these collections] apparently failed to notice that this hadith contradicts the Quran, [but 8th century theologian] Imam Malik [ibn Anas] omitted it from his [compilation of hadiths,] the Muwatta… because it contradicts the Quran. Hadith scholars agree that texts which contradict the Quran must not be accepted as authentic, for [whoever does so] attributes greater sanctity to the books of Bukhari and Muslim than to the Quran.”

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