A Review of the Debate between Batalavi and Chakrhalavi — Page 8
8 8 A REVIEW OF THE DEBATE BETWEEN BAT A LAV I AND CHAKRH A LAV I this commandment of God Almighty and illustrated through his practice the number of rak‘ a t for fajr , maghrib and all the other Prayers as well. He also demonstrated the hajj and taught this practice to thousands from among his Companions, thereby ensuring its continuity. As such, this practical example [of the Holy Prophet saw ] which is clearly evident in the ummah even until now, is known as the sunnah. Conversely, the Holy Prophet saw did not have the hadith recorded in his own presence nor did he make any provisions for their compilation. Some hadith were collected by Hadrat Ab u Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, but on account of his fear of God, he had all these hadith burned because he was not a witness to them himself and therefore could not be certain of their truth. When the age of the Companions, Allah be pleased with them, passed, God inspired the taba‘ t a bi‘ i n 1 with the desire to collect the hadith, and it was then that these narrations were gathered. There is no doubt that a majority of the compilers of the hadith were righteous and God-fearing, and insofar as was within their ability they critiqued [the accuracy of ] narrations; they rejected those which they felt were inauthentic and refused to accept nar- rations from any narrator of questionable character. Despite their superb efforts, this pursuit was undertaken many years after [the life of the Holy Prophet saw ] and was therefore heavily subject to speculation. Yet, in spite of all this, it would be most unfair to suggest that all of the hadith are unworthy, inauthentic, useless 1. The generation that followed the t a bi‘ i n who themselves were the generation that followed the Companions of the Holy Prophet saw. [Publisher]