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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

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“Is he who payeth adoration in the watches of the night, prostrate and standing, bewaring of the Hereafter and hoping for the mercy of his Lord, (to be accounted equal with a disbeliever)? Say (unto them, O Muhammad): Are those who know equal with those who know not? But only men of understanding will pay heed.” (39:9)

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The Splendor of Knowledge according to the Sages.

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By Dr. Hamza Ibn Fayi' Al Fathi.

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May Allah preserve him.

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The Guardians of the Earth.

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Sufyan Al Thawri said:

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The jurist and mujtahid, may Allah have mercy on him,

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who passed away in the year 161 AH.

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The angels are the guardians of the heavens,

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and the scholars of hadith are the guardians of the earth.

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Just as the angels are guards in the heavens,

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whom Allah has chosen for that task,

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the earth likewise has its guardians and its soldiers.

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They are the scholars and the protectors of the Sharia,

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most notably the hadith scholars and the bearers of the traditions,

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their preservers and their critics.

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They exerted themselves in this field,

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and traveled far and wide for its sake.

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They distinguished the authentic from the weak,

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and mastered the science of narration and its conditions,

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until it reached us sound and secure.

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Among them are the famous preservers of Islam,

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the authors of the Six and Nine Books,

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and the compilers of the other Musnad collections,

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who distinguished themselves through their skill and craft,

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and through their critical analysis and verification.

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There is evidence for this,

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including their work and their classifications,

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and the books on the narrators and the principles of the science,

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which were written solely to guard and protect the Sunnah.

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Imam Al Dhahabi, may Allah have mercy on him, mentioned in Tadhkirat al-Huffaz

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that a heretic fabricator was brought

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before the Caliph Harun Al Rashid.

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He ordered his execution,

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so the man said to him:

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"Why would you strike my neck?"

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He replied, "To rid the servants of Allah of you."

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The man said, "O Commander of the Faithful,

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what will you do about the thousand hadiths

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—or in one narration, four thousand hadiths—

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that I have fabricated among you?

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In them, I have forbidden the lawful

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and permitted the unlawful,

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while the Prophet, peace be upon him, never uttered a single letter of them."

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Harun Al Rashid replied to him:

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"What will you do, O enemy of Allah, about Abu Ishaq Al Fazari

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and Abdullah Ibn Al Mubarak?

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For they will sift through them thoroughly,

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and extract them letter by letter."

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Imam Malik would not be deceived by a narrator’s piety or asceticism

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unless he was also a master of this craft and discipline,

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one who had perfected the narration of hadith.

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He, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

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"Indeed, this knowledge is religion,

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so be careful from whom you take your religion."

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"I met seventy men who would say,

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'The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said,'

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by these pillars,"

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and he pointed to the mosque,

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"yet I did not take a single thing from them.

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Even if one of them were entrusted with a public treasury,

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he would be considered trustworthy,

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yet they were not people of this specific field."

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This was their standard in transmission and narration,

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in teaching and reporting.

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May Allah have mercy on them.