The Light of Truth — Page 369
REFUTING OBJECTIONS and foremost in knowledge of the condition of deceitful narrators. Are they, too, righteous in your view ? Nay! Rather, they are the first of the sinners. وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنِ افْتَرَى عَلَى اللهِ 1 369 Do you testify that ad-Dāraqutnī and all the narrators of this hadith and the transmitters who copied it into their books, and those who incorporated it among the ahādīth, were all—from the earliest period to the present time-mischief-makers and wrongdoers and were not from among the righteous? You find the books of the people [i. e. the compilers] filled with ahādīth that you classify as maudūʻ [fabricated] in your articles, despite the fact that their [compilers'] knowledge was greater than yours and those of your ilk and they possessed more knowledge of the truth than you can imagine. Therefore, do not follow the delu- sions of your self and instead, reflect like the righteous. 2 Do you entertain doubts about a hadith whose truth has become manifest and whose purity has become clear, that it is daïf [weak] or censurable in the view of the people, or that one of its narrators is reproachable? Is this truly a position of doubt or are you simply mad? Allah confirmed the truth of this [hadith] and illuminated His Sign; He vindicated the narrators from all allega- tions and showed the light of this hadith's truth most luminously and clearly. Hence, can any doubt remain after such grand Signs? Do you 1. And who is more unjust than he who forges a lie against Allah? (Sūrah al-An'am, 6:22) [Publisher] 2. See page 485 for the Author's detailed assessment of the authenticity of the hadith prophesying the eclipses. [Publisher]