In the Sahih of Imam Muslim under the Book of Fada’il (virtues), there is a chapter roughly entitled:
“The Obligation To Obey What He Says With Regard To Matters Of Religion, But Not What He Says With Regard To Worldly Matters”
This chapter consists of three hadiths, all of which narrate a single event that took place.
The following is the text of one of the three riwayahs:
Rafi’ b. Khadij reported that Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) came to Medina and the people had been grafting the trees. He said:
What are you doing? They said: We are grafting them, whereupon he said: It may perhaps be good for you if you do not do that, so they abandoned this practice (and the date-palms) began to yield less fruit. They made a mention of it (to the Holy Prophet), whereupon he said: I am a human being, so when I command you about a thing pertaining to religion, do accept it, and when I command you about a thing out of my personal opinion, keep it in mind that I am a human being. ‘Ikrima reported that he said something like this.
[Sahih Muslim 2362]
There are numerous other reports like this throughout the hadith literature; however, the hadith of pollination and its various chains are sufficient to demonstrate something important regarding the Sunnah.
The first important piece of information we can see from this hadith is that the Prophet (ﷺ) clarified the matter very clearly, and he was quick to point out the truth.
For those who claim that our Prophet (ﷺ) invented things, wouldn’t this be a golden opportunity to state, “These men did not heed my command, and that is why the crop yield decreased!” or to state that “They are hypocrites, and this is why God has punished their crops!” and similar arguments?
Instead, we have numerous narrations attesting to his (ﷺ) “perfection” in terms of his character. Even as a young man, he was renowned for his honesty and trustworthiness, abstaining from falsehood and deceit. He earned the nickname “the honest and trustworthy one” due to his unwavering commitment to truthfulness. Those who knew him, including his adversaries, testified to his impeccable integrity and noble character.
This is a point worth contemplating for those who level accusations against Muhammad (ﷺ).
The second important piece of information we can understand from this hadith is that it shows us that the Prophetic speech is divided into two types:
- His own speech [that which is not related to matters of the religion]
- Inspired speech [that which is related to matters of the religion]
Below are some of the comments of the Ulema on the Pollination hadith:
Imam Nawawi comments: “Scholars mention that his opinion (ﷺ) in worldly/livelihood affairs is like the opinion of others, so the like of this [incident] is not impossible, and there is no deficiency entailed in this. The reason is the fact that their [the Companions’] central concern was the afterlife and its affairs.” [Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim]
Mufti Taqi Usmani mentions that the Prophet’s statement, “I don’t think that will provide any benefit,” was only based on his personal opinion and estimation, as before that, he had never himself engaged in farming and agriculture (peace and blessings be upon him). Mufti Taqi also mentions that matters such as this incident can only occur with respect to worldly affairs that are permissible (mubah), yet not with anything entailing a legal ruling of the Sacred Law, like commands, prohibitions, adjudication or legal verdicts. [Usmani, Takmila Fath al-Mulhim]
Shah Wali Allah al-Dehlawi explains that narrations from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) are of two types:
(1) That which pertains to conveying the message, regarding which the Qur’an explicitly states, “Whatever the Messenger gives you, take it. And whatever he forbids you from, leave it” (59:7).
It includes knowledge of Judgment Day and the wonders of the unseen realm, all of which is based upon revelation. It also includes legal rulings of the Sacred Law; some of this is based upon revelation, and some is based upon his ijtihad. Yet his ijtihad in the rulings of the Sacred Law (ﷺ) is akin to revelation, since Allah Most High protected him from his opinion affirming an error.
(2) That which does not pertain to conveying the message, which includes his statement in the incident of fecundating date palms, “I am only a human: if I command you to do something in your religion, then take it; but if I tell you to do something based on personal opinion, then [realize] that I am only human.”
…This category is based upon personal experience and trial-and-error (tajriba). It also includes things he did based on custom rather than worship, or what he did coincidentally rather than intentionally. It also includes things he mentioned similar to what his people would mention, such as the hadith of Umm Zar`. [Dehlawi, Hujjat Allah al-Baligha]
In conclusion, we understood that the statements of the Prophet (ﷺ) in matters of the Dunya, in those matters not pertaining to the religion and conveying the message is no different to other people in terms of accuracy. But his statements in the matters of the Deen are coming from his authority as a Messenger of Allah (ﷻ).
Now that we have understood the distinction within the Prophetic speech, we can talk about Tafsir and the opinions of the Salaf-as-Saliheen and of the latter-day Muffassireen; specifically on matters related to natural sciences and empirical judgment in Part 2.
