The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume I — Page 23
I - Early Sources of Sīrat & Islāmic History 23 successfully reconciles the apparent conflict. Perhaps an individual may reject a Ḥadīth on the basis that it contradicts a proven fact, however, it is quite possible that what was considered to be a proven fact by one, may not be so, to others. Furthermore, it is possible that an individual may reject a Ḥadīth on the basis that it contradicts personal experience or observation. However, one possessing a greater spectrum of experiences and observations may not find that Ḥadīth inconsistent at all. Therefore, based on these illustrations, it is ostensible that to entirely depend upon Dirāyat is not only erroneous in principle, but also a significant hindrance to academic progress. Moreover, excessive emphasis is imposed only by those who wish to measure the findings of the entire world and all its ages by their inadequate knowledge, limited experience, diminutive observations and poor reason. Every individual can easily conclude that for academic progression, this outlook is nothing less than a lethal poison. If early Muslim Muḥaddithīn and historians had given emphasis to Dirāyat to such extent as was the desire of Sir William Muir and his like- minded companions, most definitely, the wealth of information in grasp today, relevant to the founder of Islām, would have slipped away. It is because various writers would have discarded many Aḥādīth believing them to be contradictory to their own logic, despite the probability that they may not be contradictory at all. Hence, it is seen practically that elements which could not be fully understood before, are now becoming easier to comprehend. Therefore, the correct and firm principle was the one employed by early Muslim writers. They laid the primary foundation upon the principle of Riwāyat , however, to some extent, they did utilise Dirāyat to reinforce Riwāyat. As a result of this, they left behind a grand treasure of narrations. Now it is our responsibility to sift through this treasure according to the precepts of Riwāyat and Dirāyat and thus differentiate authentic Aḥādīth from the weaker ones. Narrations Committed to Writing According to the principle of Riwāyat , it is not necessary for a narration to be written. Moreover, a vast portion of Islāmic narrations was in fact (at least in the early stages of Islām) passed over from generation to generation by word of mouth alone. On the other hand, it is also a fact that in the early stages of Islām, it was the practice of narrators to immediately commit to writing the Aḥādīth they would hear, or narrations that would reach them. When they would relay these narrations to others, it would be done from these written