Issues on Difference of Interpretations
Q 1. My question is related to one Hadith, which was quoted this Friday in my area by the Imam. The Imam who is a young Muslim was talking about the unity among Muslims. His stress was on the fact that even though Muslims have differences in their opinion, culture, social set up etc., these differences do not mean that we should start fighting with each other. Up to this point I totally agreed with the Imam but then he quoted a story from Hadith which I never heard before and I was confused after this Khutbah that what kind of message this Imam wanted to convey to us.
Anyhow, here is the story from Hadith.
During the Battle of Khandaq, the Prophet -peace be upon him- was asked by Allah through Hazrat Jibrael to move forward towards an area (I forgot the name of the valley) and to conquer it. So the Prophet ordered his companions to move. In order to accelerate the spirit among his companion, the Prophet -peace be upon him-also told them that we will pray Salatul Asr at this place. So during the journey when time for Asr prayer came, the Sahabah were divided. One group was saying that our Prophet asked us not to Pray so we should not pray. The other group was of the opinion that the Prophet's intention was just to expedite and accelerate the journey and not to miss the prayer so we should not miss the Asr prayer. So this group went ahead and prayed the Asr and the other group skipped the prayer.
When the matter was brought to the attention of Prophet, and he was asked which group of his companion was right, he replied, "both".
Dr. Sahib, is this a true story? Do you know the sources of this Hadith?
I am skeptic about this story. Although it contains a great message of unity, nevertheless, I think it also creates several other serious issues, such as the credibility of the orders of Prophet Muhammad -peace be upon him- among his Companion and about the loyalty and faithfulness of the Noble Companions, about which no true Muslim can even dare to doubt. (Dr. Hasnain)
A 1. The Hadith that your Imam mentioned in his Khutbah is correct and it is mentioned in Al-Bukahri. However, the way you have mentioned it in your question is not accurate. In al-Bukhari it is mentioned that Abdullah ibn 'Umar reported, "We were returning from Al-Ahzab, the Prophet -peace be upon him- told us, 'No one should pray 'Asr except when you are in Bani Quraizah (name of a place).' But the time of 'Asr came upon some people while they were on their way. Some of them said, 'We shall not pray until we reach there (i.e. Bani Quraizah)', but others said, 'But we shall pray because he (the Prophet -peace be upon him) did not mean this from us (that we delay our prayer).' So when this was reported to the Prophet -peace be upon him- he did not reprimand any one of them. (Al-Bukhari, Sahih, Hadith no. 894)
This is a very important Hadith to teach us tolerance in the situation of difference of opinions. It also tells us that the Sahabah were very careful in obeying the commands of the Prophet -peace be upon him. The Prophet told the Sahabah to go to Bani Quraizah and pray the 'Asr when they reach there. Various groups left towards that direction. Some people were on their way and the time of 'Asr came before they could reach their destination. Now the question came, 'Should we pray now or should we pray when we reach Bani Quraizah as the Prophet -peace be upon him- said?' Some of the Sahabah said we have to follow the command of the Prophet. He told us about the prayer and about its times, but now he told us that we should not pray until we reach Bani Quraizah, so we shall not pray until we are there. This is the command of the Prophet and we must follow his command. They felt that they must follow the exact order of the Prophet almost literally, no matter when they will arrive at their destination, even if it was after sunset. According to their interpretation the 'Asr prayer had to be performed on that day in town of Bani Quraizah. This, they understood, was the order. The other group said that they should try to understand the purpose and meaning of this order. The Prophet -peace be upon him- always told Muslims to pray on time, why would he tell them today to delay their 'Asr prayer? The real meaning of this order, as they understood, was to move fast and reach Bani Quraizah before 'Asr time. Since they were not able to do that, they felt that it was necessary to stop and pray 'Asr at its time and then to resume their journey.
Both groups were very sincere and both wanted to follow the order. One groups interpreted the order literally and the other group gave a more metaphorical interpretation. One group considered the words of the order, the other group considered the intent behind the words. Obviously, one of them was more correct than the other, but the Prophet did not criticize any group, because he liked this effort and this process of interpretation. He wanted to encourage them and later Muslims to continue their efforts in understanding and interpreting the Qur'an and Sunnah.
This Hadith gives us many lessons. First, we must follow the orders of the Prophet -peace be upon him. Second, we must do our best to understand his orders. Third, it is possible that scholars and sincere people differ among themselves. Fourth, when there is a difference of opinions based on sincere efforts in understanding and following then there should be no quarrels and disputes and no one should accuse those who differ with him. We Muslims today very much need to reflect on this Hadith and learn from it in our lives.
http://www.pakistanlink.com/religion/98/re-10-16.html
Some schollars have different opinion about some hadiths some say it is good some say it is weak that is why we see some differances .........no need to worry if you pray 4 before Aser thinking that the hadith is good no problem.....if you leave it no problem ........the most impotant issue is that muslems should do their best in following th prophet salla Allah alaihi wa sallam and be united.
