Hadiths in Islam
Salaam Alaikum. I want to speak about the place of Hadiths in Islam, especially as we grow more educated and learn about them. It's my opinion that Hadiths are generally the part of the religion that pushes away people from Islam, and that has led to many outright rejecting them. To those who do reject them, I want to say that I understand where you are coming from, and to not lose hope and succumb to what the "Salafis" say about following Hadiths word for word. However, I must say that Hadiths should not be completely disregarded as they are very important to the religion, and I believe that there is much, much nuance to the whole Hadith business than what either side says.
I was drawn to Islam first because of the simplicity and beauty of it, and how equality is radiated from the religion. That no one is worthy of worship but God, and that all are equal in the eyes of him. I loved that there was no caste coming from a Hindu background, and I loved the theology of it coming from the US because the Trinity to me makes less sense than Tawhid in Islam. I loved that it encourages kindness and feeding to animals. That even when slaughtering for meat you must ensure the animal had a nice life and give gratitude as humans cannot create life and we must show our thanks to the Creator for letting us end a creation of his for our sustenance. How it stopped wasting food and taking lives for no reason by sacrificing animals to gods that the meat wouldn't reach. Even as a male who witnessed mistreatment of women, after decades of being told that Islam hates women, I came to understand how the Prophet never hit any of his wives and discouraged it, how Islam had women's rights in inheritance and divorce woven into the religion before any other. How it ended the practice of burying female infants and how it elevated women to above their physical beauty. To anyone studying Islam or wanting to become Islam, I first want to encourage these themes to be explored before any rulings, especially from the Hadiths.
However, as time went on I was disillusioned by Salafis, those who said they were following the way of the Sahaba by following the Hadiths word for word. First, I disagreed with them. How can a religion such as Islam which encourages freedom of religion say that apostates and gays should be executed? How can a religion such as Islam that says women are equal to men have it so that men can have 4 wives and more women in Jannah while women don't have a prescribed reward? All these questions pushed me away from Islam as my mind swayed from the spirituality to the seeming unfairness of it all because of the rulings. I slipped away from Islam more and more, until my eyes were opened.
What I have realized is that it is impossible to be a salafi because you cannot recreate how Arabia was one thousand years ago. These people will say they are following the right way, the way of the sahaba. However, is it possible to live like people did thousands of years ago? No. Not even for these salafis, wahabbis, and dawah bros. My number one argument for their hypocrisy is their use of social media and photography in general. If they followed the way of the salaf that they espouse, following of the hadith word for word, then they should think about this hadith everytime they open social media like Instagram, watch TV, or click a photo:
Ibn Abbas reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Every maker of graven images will be in Hellfire. Every image he made will be given a soul to punish him in Hell.” Ibn Abbas said, “If you must do so, make images of trees or whatever does not have a soul within it.”
Source: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2110
However, even people like Assim Al Hakeem(who's rulings are genuinely extreme btw) break this because they say that photography is capturing light, not creating images. Well, that sounds like a loophole, doesn't it? Either way, you are preserving a moment in time and creating an image of something. According to this hadith, we shouldn't have driving licenses or passports right? But these so-called "followers of the sahaba" will say that breaking this hadith comes out of necessity. What necessity is this, may I ask? Humans were fine for millions of years without passports. But modern governments need documentation for efficiency. So they can sponsor and support scholars who will say that photography is halal now. How is this not following one's nafs? Is this a medical emergency? A civilizational threatening ruling? NO. This hadith was revealed in a time when idolatry was common, and it should be reinterpreted to mean that it was only said because people would worship images. Now, why can't this type of rationality be applied to other hadiths?
My opinion is that they are not re-interpreted and close the door to re-interpretation because these extremists are the ones that benefit from the unfair implementation of hadiths and will close all discussion to them. For example, misogynists who view women as lesser need to support infallibility and timelessness of hadiths to exist so that they can exert their views and will against sisters. Now, if that argument was made for photography, I have two other topics to talk about which push many people away from Islam.
If we changed that ruling, why can't rulings change on music and dogs? Why can't we say that music in the time of the Prophet was linked with dancing girls and alcohol, but now music that doesn't contain bad content is scientifically proven in some studies to help with mental health? Why are dogs still not allowed to be kept as pets when in our day and age, when given vaccines, they are proven to be safer especially to pregnant women than cats which Islam allows as pets? Why can people go back and retrospectively say that when the Prophet said to kill all dogs in Medina, it was because they had rabies and were dangerous (despite no historical account saying this) but can't apply that to the entire Hadith about dogs back then? It's so selective and hypocritical with what these Salafis say. People will then say science should be disregarded for religion, but why would Allah SWT give us a mind to think and learn if we did that? Why can some Hadiths be given retrospective context but others can't? It is because people want to use sayings of the Prophet, many which were linked to 7th century Arabia and its customs and environment, as rulings for eternity! Many hadiths should be seen in context with the times of 7th century Arabia.
However, I do want to say to the Hadith rejecting crowd that we cannot fully reject them and be Muslim. We cannot say that all of them are made up. Many great stories of the Prophet are from the Hadiths. For example, him being nice to an elderly woman that threw trash at his head everyday until she fell sick, was subsequently checked up by him, was overtaken by his kindness and accepted Islam. Even learning how to pray and making wudhu come from the Hadith. That is why at least in my opinion, they can't be completely rejected. For the Hadiths I talked about earlier:
- apostates were executed in the early Muslim state because apostasy was linked to political treason in the early, small, unstable Muslim state. The Ridda wars happened because of apostasy. However, "intelligent" extremist scholars have kept this ruling till even this day when our ummah is 2 billion big and are worried that one apostate will destabilize it.
- The law about homosexual intercourse is only applied if 4 people can see it, and this ties it to Zina because it encourages lawlessness and oversexualization. However, why should scholars get to decide what a gay man can and cannot do in private? That is between them and Allah. But these "intelligent" extremist scholars want to impose their religion onto others.
- Men are the caretakers of women, a privilege given to them by Allah SWT. Men are usually the breadwinners and are those who protected the family throughout history, and there was a common cultural understanding that a bigger family was ok. However, in the Quran it says that if you cannot do justice and keep one wife happy after marrying multiple, you cannot marry another one. In today's day and age, where women are finally able to participate in society more, there is less need for protection and breadwinning. Women can do that for themselves, and polygamy should only be done with their permission.
- If women have equal reward to men in the sight of Allah, there must be the equivalent of hoors for women in Jannah if so they desire. To people who say this sounds blasphemous, are you then accusing the Almighty of contradiction in his Holy Word? If women can't have male companions in Jannah, how will their reward be equal to men? This verse was given to men in that time because most proselytizing was done to men and it was an example of what some people could have if they wanted it in Paradise.
However, scholars HAVE to open rulings to reinterpretation as time goes on, otherwise human civilization cannot progress. Salafis cannot present their arguments as an end all be all while allowing some things which benefit them to slide. Hadiths are very important to the fold of Islam, but they should be open to reinterpretation lest hypocrisy take place. These extremists should be challenged to show them their own hypocrisy, but we can't do that by outright rejecting Hadiths because they are central to Islam. Islam will one day bring peace and ease again inshallah. Salaam Alaikum.