Egypt: Lawsuit calling for the devalidation of 25,000 Muslim Hadiths

Bent Masreya wrote:

I found out the way most Egyptians find things out that there is a lawsuit against Al Azhar calling for devalidating 25,000 Muslim Hadiths. The idea reminded me of the saying that wonders why words should be taken to court?

علمتُ كيفما يعلم المصريون، أن دعوى قضائية على الأزهر قد رفعت لمطالبته بإلغاء 25 ألف حديث نبوي. فتذكرت لتوي قول القائل “لم يؤخذ الكلام إلى المحكمة؟”..

The Egyptian blogger goes on to question the idea

As far as I know, courts rule for or against actions not words or thoughts and ideas; ideas have their other battlefields like books, discussions, workshops, and forums where people filter, discuss, accept, or condemn them. This is how humanity evolves and how creative thinking prospers.

مبلغ علمي أن المحاكم تقضي بين الأفعال، وليس الأقوال أو الأفكار. فللأفكار ساحاتها الأخرى كالكتب والمناقشات والندوات وغيرها. وفيها تفرز وتنقض، وينتمى إليها البعض دون البعض، ويعارضها البعض دون البعض.. وبتلك الحرية يتعزز الإنسان وبهذا الإختلاف ترتقي الإنسانية.

She bases her argument on the fact that

There is a process for compiling the Hadiths and for validating them … and the sheikhs in charge never dismissed any Hadith, they settled for writing next to it whether they thought it is true, suspected, or weak. But no one ever took them to court as they realized that others who will once read those Hadiths have a right to know them and it is up to us to take them or leave them; validate them or dismiss them. Maybe some of the Hadith that we believe in today were once marked as weak and some other sheikhs proved that they were valid … who knows?

لم يحدث أن اجتمع العلماء على التخلص من الأحاديث التي قرروا أنها “موضوعة أو مكذوبة” فكان إلصاق الصفة يكفيهم، وكانوا يدركون أن للآخرين حق، وإلا ما وصلتنا تلك الآحاديث اليوم ورأينا أن من حقنا نحن أيضاً معرفتها والاستغراب عليها تماما كما فعلوا، او حتى اكتشاف أن أحد تلك الأحاديث ليس ضعيفا كما قرروا.. من يعلم، حتى أن الأحاديث التي هي صحيحة اليوم قد يتوصل غيرنا لاعتبارها ضعيفة يوما.. ماذا سيفعلون حينها؟ يحرقونها؟

At the end of her post, Bent Masreya asks:

Does Al Azhar have the right to “delete” these hadiths? Did they invent them and now they decided to negate them? So what will they do now with those 25,000 Hadiths? Burn them? Burn the books they are in? Do they have that right? Are they the only Islamic icon? We all know tha this is not true for Islam is bigger than being limited to one body or one person … hence this lawsuit is a farce … no thoughts or words can be “ordered to vanish” by a court ruling and Al Azhar does not have the power to act upon it.

وهل للأزهر فعلا حق في “إلغاء أحاديث”؟ هل هو الذى اخترعها مثلاً؟ وما معنى هذا؟ وكيف يطبق هذا الإلغاء؟ أسيحرقون الكتب التي بها أحاديث ضعيفة وموضوعة؟ وهل من حقهم ذلك؟ وهل الأزهر هو قلعة الإسلام الوحيدة؟ نعلم تماما أن هذا غير صحيح.. الإسلام أكبر من أن ينحصر في مكان بعينه أو إنسان بذاته.

فالدعوى إذا هزلية.. فلا الأفكار أو الأقوال “يحكم عليها بالإلغاء” بحكم محكمة، ولا المدعى عليه “يملك الحق التنفيذ”

2 comments

  • ratherdashing

    I’m not for banning words. I’m for using MORE speech and words to combat poor speech.

  • Ahmed Ali

    Perfect
    just perfect
    well all people who have censorship as a weapon in their heads before their hands think that the only way to live with their own ideas is to kill all other ideas

    in the same way the WW2 occured & all occupations occur
    “we cant let them have these resources or our race is much more better than the others & must prevail”
    thats what every occupier has in his mind

    in the same way people who want to censor ideas have the same concept of living but applied on ideas

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