- Warning:
Avoid this 2-volume English translation of Riyad al-Salihin!
A review of the translation of al-Nawawi's Riyad al-Salihin published in
1999 by Darussalam Publishing House, Riyad:
http://www.dar-us-salam.com/h4riyad-us.htm
A team of unprincipled editors and translators out of a Ryad publishing
house by the name of Darussalam was commissioned to produce a glossy
2-volume English edition of Imam al-Nawawi's Riyad al-Salihin - being
distribued for free to Islamic schools around the world - designed to
propagate "Salafi" ideology to the unwary English-speaking Muslim students
of Islamic knowledge. This ideology is couched within a thoroughly
unscrupulous "commentary" inserted into the book chapters and authored by
an unknown or spurious "Hafiz Salahuddin Yusuf of Pakistan," "revised and
edited by Mahmud Rida Murad" (1:7).
Following are some examples of what is
contained in this brand new "Salafi" product:
(a) The work is laced with unabashed eulogy of Nasir Albani whom it calls
"the leading authority in the science of hadith" (1:88). The fact is that
the only agreed-upon title Albani has been able to earn from the verifying
Ulema of the Umma from East to West, is that of erratic innovator.
(b) Declaring that "in case of breach of ablution, the wiping over the
socks is sufficient, and there is no need for washing the feet" (1:31).
This ruling invalidates one of the conditions of wudû' spelled out in the
Qur'an and the Sunna, making salât prayed with such a wiping null and void
according to the Four Schools, which prohibit wiping over non-waterproof
footwear.
(c) Declaring that "ours should not be the belief that the dead do hear
and reply [to our greeting]" (1:515). The Jumhur differs.
(d) Declaring that expressing the intention (niyya) verbally before salât
"is a Bid`ah (innovation in religion) because no proof of it is found in
Shar'`ah" (1:14). This is not only a wanton attack on the Shafi`i School
but an ignorant violation of the criteria of calling something an
innovation in the Religion.
(e) "Prohibition [of kissing] is only effective if the kissing of hands is
also involved." (2:721). Note that Imam Sufyan al-Thawri called the
kissing of the hands of the Ulema a Sunna and that the majority of the
scholars concur on its permissibility!
(f) Saying "unapproved hadith" - an invented classification! - for the
sahîh hadith of the two Jews who kissed the Prophet's - Allah bless and
greet him - hands and feet as narrated by al-Tirmidhi (sahîh) and others.
(g) The weakening of the hasan hadith whereby the Prophet
kissed Zayd ibn Haritha as narrated by al-Tirmidhi
(hasan).
(h) Declaring "the hadiths about the kissing of hands are weak and
deficient from the viewpoint of authenticity," an outright lie.
(i) Declaring after the hadith stating: "I suffer like two men of you":
"This Hadith... throws light on the fact that the Prophet
was merely a human being." (2:737) This discourse is that
of the disbelievers mentioned in many places of the Qur'an: {They said:
You are but mortals like us} (14:10), {Shall we put faith in two mortals
like ourselves?} (23:47), {They said: You are but mortals like unto us}
36:15, {Shall mere mortals guide us?} (64:6).
(j) Claiming: "We are uncertain that after saying a funeral prayer, the
Prophet
and his Companions ever stood around
the bier and supplicated for the dead body. It is an innovation and must
be abolished"! (2:755) This is flatly contradicted by the sound narrations
ordering the Companions to make du`â for the deceased directly after
burial. The commentar(s) go on to say: "It looks strange that believers
should persist in reciting supplications in their own self-styled way
after the funeral prayer, but desist from them during the funeral prayer
to which they have relevance. It implies that prayer is not the object of
their pursuit, otherwise they would have prayed in accordance with the
Sunna. In fact, they cherish their self-fabricated line of action and seem
determined to pursue it." Yet the commentator(s) a few pages later (2:760)
state: "The Prophet
has instructed his
followers that after a Muslim's burial, they should keep standing beside
his grave for some time and pray for his firmness"!
(k) Omitting (2:760) to translate the words of Imam al-Shafi`i related by
al-Nawawi in Chapter 161 ("Supplication for the Deceased after his
Burial"): ""It is desirable (yustahabb) that they recite something of the
Qur'an at the graveside, and if they recite the entire Qur'an it would be
fine." Omitting to translate these words which are in the original text of
Riyad al-Salihin is deceit and a grave betrayal of the trust (amâna) of
the translation of one the motherbooks of knowledge in Islam.
(l) As if the above were not enough, the "commentary" goes on to state:
"The reference made to Imam al-Shafi`i about the recitation of Qur'an
beside a Muslim's grave is in disagreement with the Prophet's
practice... the reference made to Imam al-Shafi`i
seems to be of doubtful authenticity"! However, al-Za`farani said: "I
asked al-Shafi`i about reciting Qur'an at the graveside and he said: la
ba'sa bihi - There is no harm in it." This is narrated by Imam Ahmad's
student al-Khallal (d. 311) in his book al-Amr bi al-Ma`ruf (p. 123 #243).
Similar fatwas are reported from al-Sha`bi, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ishaq ibn
Rahuyah, and others of the Salaf by no less than Ibn al-Qayyim and
al-Shawkani in their books - the putative authorities of the "Salafi"
movement.1
(m) Stating (2:761): "Qur'an reading meant to transmit reward to the dead
man's soul is against the Prophet's
example.
All such observances are of no use to the dead." This is the exact same
position as the Mu`tazila on the issue, who went so far as to deny the
benefit of the Prophet's
intercession. It
should be noted that the manipulative editors /commentators of Riyad
al-Salihin deliberately omit any mention of the Companions' practice, as
it is authentically recorded from Ibn `Umar that he ordered that Qur'an be
read over his grave, which has the status of the Sunna of the Prophet
as this particular Companion was known to be
the staunchest of all people in his adherence to the Prophet's
example.
(n) Stating (2:761): "For further detail, one can refer to Shaykh
al-Albani's Ahkam al-Jana'iz." This is the book in which this man lists
among the innovations of misguidance the fact that the Prophet's
grave is inside his Mosque in Madina and the fact
that it has a dome built over it, and he asks for both of them to be
removed.
(o) Stating (2:791-792): "If a woman has no husband or Mahram, Hajj is not
obligatory on her. Neither can she go for Hajj with a group of women,
whether for Hajj or any other purposes.... Under no circumstances a woman
may travel alone." This contradicts the fatwa of the majority of the Ulema
as well as the principle that when there is scholarly disagreement over an
issue, it becomes automatically impermissible to declare it prohibited.
(p) Rephrasing a hadith (2:810-811) by omitting key words which invalidate
their position. In chapter 184 of Riyad al-Salihin titled "Desirability of
Assembling for Qur'an-Recitation," al-Nawawi cites the hadith of Muslim
whereby the Prophet
said: "No group of
people assemble in one of the Houses of Allah, all of them reciting
[plural pronoun] the Book of Allah (yatlûna kitâb Allâh) and studying It
among themselves except Serenity (al-sak'na) shall descend upon them,
etc." The editor/ commentator(s) of Riyad al-Salihin rephrased the hadith
thus: "Any group of people that assemble in one of the Houses of Allâh to
study the Qur'ân, tranquillity will descend upon them, etc." omitting the
key words: "all of them reciting the Book of Allah." Then the same editor/
commentator(s) had the gall to comment: "This Hadith... does not tell us
in any way that this group of people recite the Qur'an all at once. This
is Bid`ah for this was not the practice of the Messenger of Allah
." This is tampering compounded with a shameless lie.
This misinterpretation and false claim of bid`a is, of course, directed at
the Maghribi style of Qur'anic recitation that relies heavily on
collective tilâwa in order to strengthen memorization.
[sim-h RS-1453 (1448)]
(q) The statement (2:848) concerning the Prophet's
miracle of seeing behind his back: "It must be borne in mind that a
miracle happens with the will of Allah only. It is not at all in the power
of the Prophet
. Had he been capable of
working a miracle on his own, he would have shown it at his own pleasure.
But no Prophet was ever capable of it, nor was the Prophet
an exception to this rule." In truth this speech comes
directly from books such as Isma`il Dehlvi's Taqwyatul Iman concerning
which Abu al-Hasan al-Thanvi said: "The words used by Isma`il Dehlvi are,
of course, disrespectful and insolent. These words may never be used."
(Imdaad-ul-Fataawa 4:115)
(r) The statement (2:861): "The right number of rak`ats in the Tarawih
prayers is eight because the Prophet
never
offered more than eight rak`ats... It is not in any case twenty rak`ats.
Authentic Ahâdith prove this pont abundantly." This is a transgressive
innovation (bid`a mufassiqa) as it rejects the command of the Prophet
to "obey the Sunna of the Rightly-Guided
Caliphs after me" and also kufr as it violates the passive Consensus
(ijmâ` sukût') of the Companions over twenty rak`ats.
(s) The statement (2:905): "Twenty rak`at Tarawih is not confirmed from
any authentic hadith, nor its ascription to `Umar ( is proved from any
muttasil (connected) hadith." This is a blatant lie, as the number of
hadith masters who graded as sahîh the connected chains back to `Umar
establishing twenty rak`at Tarawih are too numerous to count. They
provided the basis on which the Ulema concur in declaring that Consensus
formed on the matter among the Companions as stated by al-Qari,
al-Zayla`i, al-Haytami, Ibn al-Humam, Ibn Qudama, and a number of other
major jurists of the Four Schools.2
(t) The statement (2:1025): "In the present age Shaykh Nasir al-Din
al-Albani has done a very remarkable work in this field [hadith]. He has
separated the weak Ahadith found in the four famous volumes of Ahadith
(Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i, and Ibn Majah) from the authentic and
prepared separate volumes of authentic and weak ahadith. This work of
Albani has made it easy for the ordinary Ulema to identify the weak
Ahadith. Only a man of Shaykh Albani's caliber can do research on it. The
ordinary Ulema and religious scholars of the Muslims are heavily indebted
to him for this great work and they should keep it in view before
mentioning any hadith. They should mention only the authentic Ahadith and
refrain from quoting the weak ones. It is wrong to ignore this work on the
ground that Shaykh Albani is not the last word on the subject.... As
Muhaddithûn have done a great service to the Muslim Umma by collecting and
compiling the Ahadith, similarly in the style of Muhaddithûn, and in
keeping with the principles laid down by them, the research carried out to
separate the authentic Ahadith from the weak is in fact an effort to
complete their mission. In this age, Almighty Allah has bestowed this
honor on Shaykh Albani." All this fawning will not hide the facts that
al-Albani has been exposed as the innovator of this age par excellence and
that his splitting of the books of Sunan into Sahih al-Tirmidhi and Da`if
al-Tirmidhi and so forth is an unprecedented attack on the Motherbooks of
Islam for which, undoubtedly, he shall be brought to account on the Day of
Judgment as he was rejected for it by the Ulema of the Umma from East to
West.
(u) Another systematic mistranslation for the Chapter-title 338 (2:1294)
states: "Prohibition of placing the hands on the sides during Salat" when
the Arabic clearly states al-khâsira which means "waist" or "hip" rather
than "sides." The same mistranslation is then repeated in the body of the
chapter, then a third time in the commentary. This mistranslation is part
of the "Salafi" campaign against the Maliki form of sadl consisting in
letting the arms hang down by the sides during the standing part of Salât.
In some places of North Africa today, such as Marrakech, certain people
are paid to declare takfîr and tadlîl, in the name of the Sunna, of those
who pray with their arms hanging by their sides although it is an
established Sunna!
Truly we belong to Allah and to Him is our return, and there is no power
nor might except in Allah the Exalted and Almighty Lord.
All sincere Muslims should consider themselves warned and warn others
that this is NOT a Sunni translation of the great classic of Imam
al-Nawawi but an innovative, deviant, and inauthentic translation which
should never have been allowed. There are two other English translations
of Riyad al-Salihin available in print, any one of which would be
preferable to this one. And from Allah comes all success.
-
by Moin Shaheed, President,
Ahlus Sunnah Muslim Association of Sri Lanka
and GF Haddad
