Sources of Imam al Hadi’s Jurisprudence

Imam al Hadi Yahya ibn al Hussain relied on deriving his fiqh, in which he exercised discretion and chose as his doctrine, on evidence narrated from his predecessors. Some of these were mursal (narrations with a broken chain of transmission) and some were mawquf (statement attributed to a Companion), and he did not pay attention to the narrated evidence among the Sunnis, from which he could derive the rulings of his jurisprudence, as did the famous Imams of the four schools, Shafi’i, Hanafi, Maliki, and Hanbali, and some later scholars of the Hadawiyyah. However, he ignored them and even denied their authenticity, as Imam al Mahdi Ahmed ibn Yahya al Murtada explained in his book al Ghayat, quoting al Hadi Yahya ibn al Hussain in mentioning the opposition, where he said:

ولهم أي لأهل السنة كتابان يسمونهما بالصحيحين صحيح البخاري وصحيح مسلم ولعمري إنهما عن الصحة لخليان

For them—i.e., the Ahlus Sunnah—are two books they call the Sahihayn, Sahih al Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, and by my life, they are devoid of authenticity.

Al Mahdi commented on al Hadi’s words by saying:

ولعمري إنه أي الهادي لا يقول ذلك على غير بصيرة أو كما قال

By my life, he—i.e., al Hadi—does not say that without insight, or as he said.[1]

This is what Imam al Mahdi himself inclined towards and he affirmed it by saying in poetry:

إذا شئت أن تختار لنفسك مذهبا ينجيك يوم الحشر من لهب النار

فدع عنك قول الشافعي ومالك وحنبل عن كعب أحبار

وخذ من أناس قولهم ورواتهم روى جدهم عن جبريل عن الباري

If you wish to choose for yourself a doctrine that saves you on the Day of Resurrection from the flames of fire,

Then leave aside the sayings of Shafi’i, Malik, Hanbal, and what is narrated from Ka’b al Ahbar,

And take from the people whose sayings and narrators, narrated by their grandfather from Jibril from the Creator.[2]

Similarly, Ahmed ibn Sa’d al Din al Miswari (d. 1079 AH/1668 CE), declared in his treatise called al Risalah al Munqidhah min al Ghawayah fi Turuq al Riwayah that he composed in the year 1052 AH, that all which is in the six mothers (a reference to the six hadith collections) is not to be used as evidence and that it is falsehood.[3] This is because al Hadi and those who followed his path from the Imams and followers of his doctrine do not consider it significant in any matter, since in their belief, its narrators were not from the Shia. Therefore, they restrict themselves to the narrations transmitted from their ancestors and with their chains of transmission, as clarified by Imam ‘Abdullah ibn Hamzah (d. 614 AH/1217 CE) in his book al Majmu’ al Mansuri. He responded to the Jurist ‘Abdur Rahman ibn al Mansur ibn Abi al Qaba’il, the author of al Risalah al Khariqah, by saying:

كم بين قولي عن أبي جده وأبي أبي فهو النبي الهادي

وفتى يقول حكى لنا أشياخنا ما ذلك الإسناد من إسنادي

ما أحسن النظر البليغ المنصف في مقتضى الإصدار والإيراد

خذ ما دنا ودع البعيد لشأنه يغنيك دانيه عن الإبعاد

How far is my saying from my father, his grandfather, and my father my father, for he is the guiding Prophet.

While a youngster says: Our Sheikhs have narrated to us. How far is this chain of narration from my chain of narration?

How beautiful is the eloquent and fair consideration in the requirement of issuing and presenting?

Take what is near and leave the distant for its own sake, the near suffices you from the distant.[4]

And this is what al Hadi ibn Ibrahim al Wazir (d. 822 AH/1419 CE) adhered to when he wanted to convince his brother Muhammad, who abandoned taqlid after having mastered independent reasoning and acted according to the rulings of the Book and the authentic Sunnah, to return to what he was upon from adhering to the Hadawi doctrine, illustrating the difference between the chain of his ancestors and the chain of the Ahlus Sunnah. He said in his famous Daliyah poem addressing his brother:

ما لي أراك وأنت صفوة سادة طابت شمائلهم لطيب المحتد

تمتاز عنهم في مآخذ علمهم وهم الذين علومهم تروي الصدى

أخذوا مباني علمهم وأصوله عن أهلهم من سيد عن سيد

سند عن الهادي وعن آبائه لا عن كلام مسدد بن مسرهد

سند عن الآباء والأجداد في أحكامهم وفنونهم والمفرد

Why do I see you, whereas you are the elite of leaders whose traits are purely refined,

Differing from them in the sources of their knowledge, while they are the ones whose sciences echo through the ages?

They took the foundations of their knowledge and its principles from their people, from a Sayed to a Sayed.

A chain of narration from al Hadi and his forefathers, not from the speech of Musaddad ibn Musarhad.[5]

Their chain of narration from forefathers and grandfathers in judgments, sciences, and the unique.[6]

And for the scholar ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Ali al Wazir:

في كفة الميزان ميل واضح عن مثل ما في سورة الرحمن

فاجزم بخفض النصب وارفع رتبة الدين واكسر شوكة الميزان

In the scale’s balance, there is a clear inclination, similar to what is in Surah al Rahman.

So be decisive in lowering the raised and elevate the rank of religion and break the thorn of the balance.[7]

Thus, they prefer to act according to what the scholars of their sect have determined, especially in acts of worship, over others, even if it contradicts the evidence of the Qur’an and the Sunnah. For example, if what the people of the sect deem correct in a matter conflicts with the text from the Qur’an or the Sunnah or both, it is said in this case, “The sect is to the contrary,” completely ignoring the evidence. An example of this is that Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala has permitted Muslims to eat the food of the People of the Book and likewise the marriage of a Muslim to a woman of the People of the Book[8] as stated in His saying:

ٱلۡيَوۡمَ أُحِلَّ لَكُمُ ٱلطَّيِّبَٰتُۖ وَطَعَامُ ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ ٱلۡكِتَٰبَ حِلّٞ لَّكُمۡ وَطَعَامُكُمۡ حِلّٞ لَّهُمۡۖ وَٱلۡمُحۡصَنَٰتُ مِنَ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنَٰتِ وَٱلۡمُحۡصَنَٰتُ مِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ ٱلۡكِتَٰبَ مِن قَبۡلِكُم

Today all good foods have been made lawful, and the food of those who were given the Scripture is lawful for you and your food is lawful for them. And [lawful in marriage are] chaste women from among the believers and chaste women from among those who were given the Scripture before you.[9]

But the Hadawi sect did not accept what Allah permitted for Muslims in this noble verse. Perhaps this is what prompted Nashwan ibn Sa’id al Himyari (d. after 570 AH) to declare his denunciation of some of the muqallids from the scholars of his time due to their preference of Imam al Hadi Yahya ibn al Hussain’s view over Allah’s subhanahu wa ta ‘ala statement. This is his statement:

إذا جادلت بالقرآن خصمي أجاب مجادلا بكلام يحيى

فقلت كلام ربك عنه وحي أتجعل قول يحيى عنه وحيا

When I argue with my opponent using the Qur’an, he responds with the words of Yahya.

So, I said, “Your Lord’s speech is revelation. Do you consider Yahya’s words as revelation too?”[10]

This matter is not specific to the Zaidi sect, but is also prevalent in some other sects. This was pointed out by Imam al Shawkani in his book Adab al Talab, where he talks about the followers in all Islamic sects, saying:

إنهم اعتقدوا أن إمامهم الذي قلدوه ليس في علماء الأمة من يساويه أو يدانيه ثم قبلت عقولهم هذا الاعتقاد الباطل وزاد بزيادة الأيام والليالي حتى بلغ إلى حد يتسبب عنه أن جميع أقواله صحيحة جارية على وفق الشريعة ليس فيها خطأ ولا ضعف وأنه أعلم الناس بالأدلة الواردة في الكتاب والسنة على وجه لا يفوت عليه منها شيء ولا تخفى منها خافية فإذا أسمعوا دليلا في كتاب الله أو سنة رسوله قالوا لو كان هذا راجحا على ما ذهب إليه إمامنا لذهب إليه ولم يتركه لكنه تركه لما هو أرجح منه عنده فلا يرفعون ذلك رأسا ولا يرون بمخالفته بأسا

They believed that their Imam, whom they follow, is unparalleled and unmatched in the Ummah’s scholars. Their minds accepted this false belief and it grew over days and nights to the extent that it caused them to believe all his statements are correct and conform to the Shari’ah, without any error or weakness, and that he is the most knowledgeable about the evidence in the Qur’an and Sunnah, in such a way that nothing escapes him and no detail is hidden. So, if they hear an argument in Allah’s book or the Messenger’s Sunnah, they say, “If this was valid over what our Imam adhered to, he would have followed it and not left it, but he abandoned it for what he deemed superior.” So, they do not consider it at all and see no harm in opposing it.[11]

He then affirmed this saying:

وهذا صنيع قد اشتهر عنهم وكاد يعمهم قرنا بعد قرن وعصرا بعد عصر على اختلاف المذاهب وتباين النحل فإذا قال لهم القائل اعملوا بهذه الآية القرآنية أو بهذا الحديث الصحيح قالوا لست أعلم من إمامنا حتى نتبعك ولو كان هذا كما تقول لم يخالفه من قلدناه فهو لم يخالفه إلا إلى ما هو أرجح منه

And this action has become famous among them and nearly encompassed them generation after generation and era after era, despite the differences in sects and doctrines. So, when someone says to them: Follow this Qur’anic verse, or this authentic hadith, they say, “You are not more knowledgeable than our Imam, so that we must follow you. If this were as you say, he whom we follow would not have contradicted it, for he only contradicted it for what is more plausible.”[12]

He concluded by stating the situation among the Zaidi followers in Yemen, saying:

وأما في ديارنا هذه فقد لقنهم من هو مثلهم في القصور والبعد عن معرفة الحق ذريعة إبليسية ولطيفة مشؤومة هي أن دوانين الإسلام الصحيحين والسنن الأربع وما يلحق بها من المسندات والمجاميع المشتملة على السنة إنما يشتغل بها ويكرر درسها ويأخذ منها ما تدعو حاجته إليه من لم يكن من أتباع أهل البيت لأن المؤلفين لها لم يكونوا من الشيعة فيدفعون بهذه الذريعة الملعونة جميع السنة المطهرة لأن السنة والواردة عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم هي ما في تلك المصنفات ولا سنة غير ما فيها هؤلاء وإن كانوا لا يعدون من أهل العلم ولا يستحقون أن يذكروا مع أهله ولا تنبغي الشغلة بنشر جهلهم وتدوين غباوتهم لكنهم لما كانوا تلبسوا بلباس أهل العلم وحملوا دفاتره وقعدوا في المساجد والمدارس اعتقدهم العامة من أهل العلم وقبلوا ما يقلنونهم من هذه الفواقر فضلوا وأضلوا وعظمت بهم الفتنة وحلت بسببهم الرزية فشاركوا سائر المقلدة في ذلك الاعتقاد في أئمتهم الذين قلدوهم واختصوا من بينهم بهذه الخصلة الشنيعة والمقالة الفظيعة فإن أهل التقليد من سائر المذاهب يعظمون كتب السنة ويعترفون بشرفها وأنها أقوال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وأفعاله وأنها من دواوين الإسلام وأمهات الحديث وجوامعه التي عول عليها أهل العلم في سابق الدهر ولاحقه بخلاف أولئك فإنها عندهم بالمنزلة التي ذكرنا فضموا إلى شنيعة التقليد شنيعة أخرى هي أشنع منها وإلى بدعة التعصب بدعة أخرى هي أفظع منها ولو كان لهم أقل حظ من علم وأحقر نصيب من فهم لم يخف عليهم أن هذه الكتب لم يقصد مصنفوها إلا جمع ما بلغ إليهم من السنة بحسب ما بلغت إليه مقدرتهم وانتهى إليه علمهم لم يتعصبوا فيها لمذهب ولا اقتصروا فيها على ما يطابق بعض المذاهب دون بعض بل جمعوا سنة رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لأمته ليأخذ كل عالم منها بقدر علمه وبحسب استعداده

As for our lands, they have been taught by those like them in deficiencies and detachment from knowing the truth, a cunning and unfortunate Satanic pretext. Namely that the registers of Islam—the two Sahihs and the four Sunan, along with their associated Musnads and collections containing the Sunnah—only engage with it, study it, and take from it as required by your need, from those who were not followers of the Ahlul Bayt; since the authors of these books were not from the Shia. Thus, they use this accursed pretext to reject all the pure Sunnah, because the Sunnah that comes from the Messenger of Allah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam is what is in those compilations and there is no Sunnah beyond them.

These people, although they are not considered among the knowledgeable nor deserve to be mentioned with them, and their ignorance should not be propagated nor their foolishness documented, yet because they have donned the garb of the learned, carried their notebooks, and sat in Masjids and Madrasahs, the masses believe them to be scholars and accept the deficiencies they dictate, thus they went astray and led others astray, and the tribulation grew with them and a calamity befell because of them, sharing this belief with the rest of the muqallids in their religious leaders whom they followed, yet were distinguished among them by this vile characteristic and terrible statement.

Indeed, the muqallids from all the schools of thought honour the books of Sunnah, recognising their nobility, that they are the sayings and actions of the Messenger of Allah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and they are the registers of Islam and the sources of Hadith and their compilations that scholars have relied upon in the past and continue to do so. Unlike those, for they are considered as mentioned, thus adding to the ugliness of conformity another that is uglier, and to the innovation of fanaticism another that is more terrible.

And if they had the least portion of knowledge, and the most minor share of it, those who understand will not fail to see that these books were compiled by their authors with the sole intention of collecting what they could of the Sunnah, to the extent of their ability and knowledge. They did not show bias towards any particular school of thought, nor did they limit their collections to what aligns with certain schools over others. Instead, they gathered the teachings of the Messenger Muhammad for his Ummah, so that each scholar could take from it according to their knowledge and readiness.[13]

He then said:

ومن لم يفهم هذا فهو بهيمة لا يستحق أن يخاطب بما يخاطب به النوع الإنساني وغاية ما ظفر به من الفائدة بمعاداة كتب السنة التسجيل على نفسه بأنه مبتدع أشد ابتداع فإن أهل البدع لم ينكروا جميع السنة ولا عادوا كتبها الموضوعة لجمعها بل حق عليهم اسم البدعة عند سائر المسلمين لمخالفة بعض مسائل الشرع

And whoever does not understand this is a beast, unworthy of being addressed in the manner humans are addressed. The most they achieve in opposing the books of Sunnah is to label themselves as the most extreme innovators, for even the people of innovation did not deny all of the Sunnah[14], nor did they oppose all its compiled books. Instead, they were labelled as innovators by other Muslims for differing on certain religious matters.[15]

NEXT⇒ Opening the Door to Ijtihad

[1] Al Manar fi al Mukhtar min Jawahir al Bahr al Zakhkhar, 1/352.

[2] The last verse mentioned in al Risalah al Munqidhah min al Ghawayah fi Turuq al Riwayah by Ahmed ibn Sa’d al Din al Miswari attributed to al Nasir al Atrush is the phrase, “And their saying is a tradition from their grandfather from Jibril from the Creator when they say.”

[3] Bahjat al Zaman, in the events of the year 1052 AH.

[4] Al ‘Iqd al Fakhir al Hassan: Tawdih al Masa’il al ‘Aqliyyah; al Qawl al Ma’qul wa al Manqul fi Iqaz Ahl al Takasul wa al Fudul.

[5] Musaddad ibn Musarhad: Al Dhahabi describes him in Siyar A’lam al Nubala’, 10/591: The Imam, the Hafiz, the authority, Abu al Hassan al Asadi al Basri, a prominent figure in Hadith. Al Bukhari, Abu Dawood, and others narrated from him. He passed away in the year 228 AH.

[6] Al Jawab al Natiq bi al Haqq al Yaqin li Sudur al Muttaqin.

[7] Muqaddamat al Rawd al Nadir, 1/25.

[8] Imam Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al Wazir mentioned that Zaid ibn ‘Ali, his grandson Ahmed ibn ‘Isa, and Imam Yahya ibn Hamzah allowed marriage to a Kitabi woman. (Al ‘Awasim wa al Qawasim, 8/214.)

[9] Surah al Ma’idah: 5.

[10] Al Mustatab.

[11] Adab al Talab, pg. 122.

[12] Adab al Talab, pg. 123.

[13] Adab al Talab, pg. 123.

[14] Comment by Imam Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al Wazir regarding the presence of some ahadith in the books of Sunnah that do not meet the criteria of authenticity, stating that this should not lead to their dismissal or non-adherence to their content. He warned, “Beware of listening to this speech, which might turn you away from the books of Sunnah, thinking that they mix the authentic with the weak and the correct with the incorrect. Those who compiled these books are leaders in the field of Hadith and critics in this matter and they are the ultimate authorities in their knowledge. If there are errors in their books, what do you think of the others? Rather, this should encourage one to rely on and refer back to these books. Do you not see that if you found an error in the book of Sibawayh on Arabic, you would not discard everything he narrated in his book because of that, for if Sibawayh can err despite his meticulousness in the field, then what about those who are less careful? (Al ‘Awasim wa al Qawasim, 8/323.)

[15] Adab al Talab, pg. 123-124.

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