Doubtful Matters From Different Variations And Perspectives
This is a piece describing the various categories of doubtful matters. The first thing to note with regards to the narration on the clarity of what is lawful and what is unlawful is that Imam al-Bukhari reported this hadith in the beginning of the Book of Trading (Kitab al-Buyu’), i.e. the kitab started off with this narration. Some scholars say that Imam al-Bukhari was not only a muhadith who committed to memory, collected, recorded and compiled the hadith, but he also, was a faqih (jurist) and his fiqh (jurisprudence) can be noted in so many ways.
One is the tabwib, or the way that he gave the title for every single chapter of his book. He would choose a particular statement which he would then use for the title of the chapter. This title reflects his fiqh. Also the way the hadith is recorded, where it is located, under which chapter, and the fact that sometimes a hadith is repeated in many chapters – all these reflect the fiqh of Imam alBukhari.
But why did Imam al-Bukhari start Kitab al-Buyu’ with this narration? What does this mean? There are many implications. One of them is that these doubtful matters are associated with the things that we buy and sell, that we trade in. It is also said that his father once mentioned to him that for forty years he never brought anything which was doubtful into their home.
It can be seen that Imam al-Bukhari was influenced by his father’s attitude in two ways:
i. His father brought only lawful things into the house. Whatever the family ate, drank, wore or used was lawful. There were no doubts. This is the environment Imam al-Bukhari was nurtured, brought and raised up in. It is also said that whenever his father made du’a(supplication) to Allah subhanallahu ta’ala, Allah answered his du’a due to the fact that he never dealt with anything which was doubtful. This is mirrored in the behaviour and attitude of Imam alBukhari. Hence like in this hadith where he chose to record it at the beginning part of the chapter Kitab al-Buyu’.
ii. Imam al-Bukhari is also well known as a great muhadith. One of such things that a muhadith is involved in is al-Jarh wat-Tadil, the status of narrators of hadith - whether they can be regarded as saadiq, the one who is truthful and trustworthy, or as those who lie and cannot be considered as true narrators of hadith. The muhadithun uses certain terms to indicate the status of a narrator. When it comes to the rank of the liars, or those who cannot be relied on, Imam al-Bukhari used a very amazing style of al-Jarh wat-Tadil. He would not use direct terms – rather, he would use indirect terms. This also mirrors his piety and righteousness. He would not simply label a narrator of a Hadith as a liar. Instead he would say: “He has been labelled a liar”.
Another matter which is related to Imam al-Bukhari is that whenever there was controversial issues or the clashing of opinions, he would follow the cautious approach. For example, whenever there was conflicting views whether something is an obligation or not, such as the recitation of Al-Fatihah in prayers, he would be in favour of the opinion that treats it as an obligation.
Another school of thought has a distinct approach where some scholars follow whatever the evidence leads them to – provided it is sound and authentic.