al-Athar al-Sayyia lil-Wad fi al-Hadith
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- Islamic University of Madinah
al-Athar al-Sayyia lil-Wad fi al-Hadith (The Adverse Effects of Hadith Fabrication), fully titled al-Athar al-Sayyia lil-Wad fi al-Hadith al-Nabawi wa-Juhud al-Ulama fi Muqawamatih (The Adverse Effects of Fabrication in Prophetic Hadith and the Scholars' Efforts in Resisting It), is a contemporary academic study by Abdullah bin Nasir al-Shaqari examining the repercussions of hadith forgery and the historical countermeasures undertaken by Muslim scholars .
Background and Purpose
Al-Shaqari states that his motivation for composing the work arose from contemporary challenges wherein critics questioned the authority and preservation of the Sunnah under the claim that it contains extensive fabrications, coupled with a decline in religious and hadith knowledge among the general public and the circulation of forged traditions as established truths . To counter skepticism and clarify the tradition's safeguards, the author chose to focus on two central topics: elucidating the tangible damages caused by forged reports throughout Islamic history, and documenting the defensive efforts of both early and later scholars to eliminate and refute fabrications .
Method and Scope
The work employs an inductive method (istiqraʾ) that examines forged narrations and traces their practical ramifications across various epochs of the Muslim world, supported by quotations and rulings from early (salaf) and later (khalaf) authorities . The author frames fabrication not merely as isolated missteps but as a planned intellectual hazard that infiltrated thought and behavior, introduced foreign doctrinal and legal anomalies, and required systematic resistance .
Structure
The study is organized into an introduction, a preliminary chapter, and two main parts divided into thematic chapters :
- Introduction and Preamble (al-Tamhid): Covers the rationale and outline of the research, followed by a concise legal definition of fabricated hadith (al-hadith al-mawduʿ), the ruling on forging traditions, the ruling on transmitting them, and the ruling on acting upon them .
- Part One: The Adverse Effects of Fabrication (al-Athar al-Sayyia lil-Wad): Consists of five chapters addressing the multidimensional damage of forgery:
- Religious effects (al-Athar al-Diniyyah) .
- Social effects (al-Athar al-Ijtimaʿiyyah) .
- Economic effects (al-Athar al-Iqtisadiyyah) .
- Psychological effects (al-Athar al-Nafsiyyah) .
- The phenomenon of popular storytellers (Zahirat al-Qussas) .
- Part Two: The Efforts of Scholars in Resisting Fabrication (Juhud al-Ulama fi Muqawamat al-Wad): Outlines scholarly defenses across six chapters:
- Compiling authenticated traditions (Jamʿ al-Ahadith al-Thabitah) .
- Emphasis on the chain of transmission (al-Ihtimam bi-al-Isnad) .
- Developing hadith methodology and principles (Mudaʿafat al-Nashat al-Ilmi fi Qawaʿid al-Hadith) .
- Narrator criticism and exposing mendacious transmitters (Naqd al-Ruwat wa-Tatabbuʿ al-Kadhaba) .
- Composing works devoted to fabricators (al-Taʾlif fi al-Waddaʿin) .
- Composing works dedicated to cataloging fabricated reports (al-Taʾlif fi al-Mawduʿat) .
Publication
The research was published in the Journal of the Islamic University of Medina (Majallat al-Jamiʿah al-Islamiyyah bi-al-Madinah al-Munawwarah), appearing in issue 120 in 1423 AH (2002 CE) .
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