Tajdeed

Usul al-Fiqh: When Khabar Wahid contradicts the common practice – Usul al-Shashi (Hanafi principles)

“Based upon this (that the conditions of narrators vary) we say that if Khabar Wahid contradicts the apparent it will not be practiced upon. An example of Khabar Wahid contradicting the apparent is when it is not the common practice of those residing in the first (i.e. of the Sahabah) and second generation (i.e. of the Taabi’een) because they cannot be accused of being deficient in practicing upon a Sunnat. Thus when a Hadeeth is not well-known amongst them, despite there being a dire necessity for it and the common practice (of people being contradictory to it), it will a sign of it not being correct”.

Reference: Usul al-Shashi

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The coherence & practicality of this particular principle of the Hanafi school is evident. If there is a legal ruling, punishment or a commandment attributed to the Prophet Muhammad (sawa) then this needs to be scrutinised critically, with a strong methodology.

The reason for this is because the Sunnah of the Messenger of God (s) is binding upon the Ummah. Since this is the case, then the claimed tradition, practice or ruling should reflect the living tradition and practice of the early communities.

This is especially the case if there is a dire need for such a ruling to take place. There is a greater emphasis if such a ruling or tradition is detrimental due to how much it impacts society.

For instance, if a solitary hadith report (khabar wahid) relays that the Prophet (s) said kill the one who leaves Islam, then we should see correspondence of this severe or detrimental verdict applied or accepted by the earliest generations.

The reason for this is due to the case being a grave matter, it is obvious that taking a life is very severe, hence the level of proof needs to be high.

Another example is the punishment of rajm (stoning) for the adulterer/adulteress (fornicator that is not married).

Since, the Qur’an prescribes the punishment of 100 lashes for zina (fornication without specifying whether the fornicator is single or married), then we are obliged to assess and see whether this solitary report (note: solitary hadiths are speculative in its nature due to being solitary) which is attributed to the Prophet’s teachings is known, practiced or accepted by the first generations or not. Things like this need to be analysed chronologically, or else the law would be doubtful and contradictory. Therefore, it is clear that this principle has a lot of utility and thus needs to be applied by the jurists collectively in order to truly understand and live by Islam.

By Abul Hasan al-Gabikani al-Shadi al-Shaddadi al-Hadhabani -al-Kurdi