Muhaddith : The abutments of sunnah
The muhaddith is like the person who helps to strengthen the bridge between Rasulullah(saw) and the rest of the humanity. The dictionary defines the word muhaddith as the kind of Islamic scholar who is study “hadith”. That definition is correct in the “dictionary” sense of the word but we are talking about Rasulullah(saw), the last prophet of the earth, the final prophet of the humanity and last messenger of Allah(j.j) until the Final Hour.
Therefore, History of Islam should emphasize the pivotal position of muhaddiths since study of “Sunnah” is based on the “transfer of quotes” of Prophet Muhammad’s(saw) words, in other words, hadiths collection.
Muhaddith is not just the person who does the transfer. The sahaba did. Muhaddith does the meticulous and intricate work of the whole study of hadith, who thoroughly examines the “sanad” of “any words revealed attributed to Rasulullah(saw) to check whether it is authentic or not. Sanad is like the “judicial entitlement” of such words to inspect the “source” who is quoting Rasullullah(saw)
Because quoting him is such a mission that, further generations who were not fortunate enough to be his sahaba, who didn’t have the comfort and joy of witnessing his sacred presence personally, can still benefit from his wisdom.
Therefore, the muhaddiths is the scholar who devotes his life to study life and words of Prophet Muhammad(saw). They assist the ummah when Muslims want to fully comprehend final message of Allah(j.j) from the very primary source.
Becoming a muhaddith is not easy, it is such an arduous task to memorize and scrutinize all the sanads regarding one hadith. Islamic scholars considers one obligation to become a muhaddith, one should also pertain knowledge to “fiqh related status” of each hadith.
There are many divisions of opinions about whom can be considered as“muhaddith”, some even argue that a muhaddith is not a real one if he has not memorized 300.000 hadith including the sanads.
This is level of importance Islamic scholars gives to the study of “hadith, the words of Rasulullah(saw)”. This is the level of sincerity that non-Muslims can never understand when Muslims are trying to take their prophet as role model during the course of their lives.
Maybe they do understand this deepness, this bond, this sincerity but out of simple jealousy, they try to obstruct and cloud Muslim minds by questioning the validity, importance and authenticity of a hadith when they hear one, instead of trying to absorb the wisdom in between the lines.
The necessary requirements to become a muhaddith forms such a “long journey” that every Muslim rely on their works to learn about the “Final Messenger”, Rasullulah(saw)
If the study of hadith is like the bridge between Rasulullah(saw) and his ummah, muhaddith is the support for that bridge, which the word abutment means.
Baris Tarimcioglu/islamoformation.com
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