Customer Reviews

Hadith: A Re-evaluation

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Prepare to be blown away by Kassim Ahmad. If you want to know the truth about Islam and its 'derivatives', this is where to find it. Its a pity that this book was banned in Malaysia (where the author was born) as soon as it got published. Makes me wonder if there's a deliberate plot to keep the truth under wraps, or even worse, to keep Muslims worldwide from thinking!
In the end, Allah and His Infallible Word, the Qur'an, will always prevail. Care to see what the minority of Muslims (submitters) beleive?

"These are God's revelations that We recite to you truthfully. In which Hadith other than God and His revelations do they believe?" (Quran 45:6)

Kassim Ahmad has delivered a tour de force on the stupidity of the hadiths. The contradictions between the Quran and many hadiths, the Prophet's ruling against hadith collections, the hilarious way they were collected, the fallacy that somehow Bukhari's collection can be above criticism and finally the Quran (THE supreme and ONLY authority) stating that it is the only relevant hadith; 'These are God's revelations that we recite for you with the truth. In which hadith besides the revelations of God, do they believe?', 'God sent down the best hadith, a scripture that is consistent, repeating.' and just to make sure 'Some people uphold vain hadith in order to divert others from the path of God without knowledge, and to create a mockery out of it. These have deserved humiliating retribution'.
Ahmad tackles the claims of the traditionalists and utterly refutes them and the stupefying effect their claims have upon Muslims and the Ummah in general. Truth shall eventually prevail despite the attempts of fools to keep the ordinary Muslim under the thumb of their self created priesthood. This triumph shall be achieved in no small respect due to this easily readable and coherently argued book.

Mankind has the tendency to deviate from God's teachings and create their own without realizing the harm and the implications of their actions. Hence, why each religion has become divided into multiple sects. This phenomenon is no stranger to Islam. The author of this book argues that the recorded Hadith (the sayings by the prophet Muhammad which are not to be confused with the Quran) are untrue and are against the core of Islam. The author argues that they are man made and they have caused Muslims to deviate from God's true message. The author provides logical, scientific, and Quranic evidence to support his arguments. He argues that sectarianism within Islam is caused by such Hadiths, and that if Muslims return to the Quran as the only source for Islam, the Muslims will reunite under one religion as they were once long time ago. Unfortunately, it is also a human tendency to shut one's eyes and ears when threatened by a different ideological principles. Therefore, Muslim institutions do not appreciate this book. The only thing I can say is read it and decide for yourself. Dare to know!

Many Muslims are totally unaware how Islam came to be. Like previous faiths, such as Judaism and Christianity, Islam later incorporated a lot of man-made laws/practice into it which was not actually sanctioned by The Quran or prophet Muhammad. The history of how Hadith came to be incorporated into Islam is one of the biggest cover-ups that is never taught to Muslims in school or in easily available books, and will be truly disturbing to any Muslim.
This book goes through what happened and provides evidence. For example, most Muslims do not know there were bans on recording and writing hadith, even after the prophet Muhammad died, Hadith collections were burned, some people who transmitted them were jailed etc. It is only generations after prophet Muhammad died that Hadith began to make their way into formal Islam and gain prominence, e.g. Sahih Bukhari was collected about 200 hundred years after Muhammad died! I recommend this book for all Muslims, and even non-Muslims. It can be read in full online.