Are Some Ahadith in Ihya’ Ulum al-Din by Imam Ghazali Weak or Fabricated?

September 4, 2010

1.4K

Question

Is it true that Ihya’ Ulum al-Din by Imam Ghazali contains weak and some fabricated ahadith? I read this on a website.

Answered by: Mufti Abdurrahman ibn Yusuf

Assalamu alaykum

In the name of Allah the Inspirer of truth

Yes, it is correct that the book contains weak and some fabricated ahadith. However, Imam Ghazali does not use them to establish any law of Islam and so forth. Although it may have been better for the fabricated ahadith to have been left out, they are only used to give more clarity to the issue.

The site on which you found these comments seems to be a purely salafi site. They have problems with most books that have not been written by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn al-Qayyim, and some other Hanbali scholars. They basically reject most if not all of the literature of the Ahl al-Sunna wa ‘l-jama’a, unless it is from those few scholars.

They have a very restricted view and some refer to them as extreme Wahabis.

They have basically transgressed the boundaries in some issues in attempting to clamp down on bid’a, which was in itself a worthy cause. They are on the opposite extreme of the degenerated Sufi sects. Imam Ghazali does not fall in either one.

I would advise one to read it since it is very beneficial and Ghazali is a master on the reformation of the heart. You ask someone for clarification on the issues that are not clear since it is sometimes very deep. I personally have benefited greatly from the book and use material from it often for the Friday Khutbas. The other point that I could make is such websites are not helpful.

Maybe you could try out the Hanafi groups list on Yahoo groups at the following. I answer questions for them from time to time. http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/hanafi.

And Allah knows best.

Mufti Abdurrahman ibn Yusuf

Click to rate this post!

[Total: 0 Average: 0]

Dr. Mufti Abdur-Rahman ibn Yusuf

Dr. Shaykh Abdur-Rahman ibn Yusuf Mangera is a British Muslim scholar educated in both the Islamic and Western traditions. He memorised the Qur’an by heart and graduated from the Darul Uloom seminary Bury, UK, and later earned a specialised licence to issue fatwa (legal responses) at Mazahir ‘Ulum Saharanpur, India. He earned his BA from the University of Johannesburg and completed his MA and PhD in Islamic Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. He holds an honorary fellowship at The Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, Amman, Jordan. Shaykh Abdur-Rahman has the unique experience of serving as an imam in Muslim communities on both sides of the Atlantic, eight years in Southern California and over five in the great city of London—and his continued work as an international speaker and lecturer enables him to address and offer pertinent advice on current challenges that face Muslims in the West. He is the founder of Whitethread Institute, a post-graduate insititute for Islamic scholars. He is an avid traveller and continues to teach hadith and work on scholarly publications through White Thread Press (www.whitethreadpress.com). Many of his lectures are available on www.zamzamacademy.com and his courses through Rayyan Institute (www.rayyaninstitute.com).