(5). Sunan-i-Nasáí. Abu Abd-ur-Rahman Nasáí was born at Nasá, in Khorásán, in the year A.H. 214, and died A.H. 303. It is recorded of him, with great approbation, that he fasted every other day, and had four wives and many slaves. This book is considered of great value. He met with his death in rather a sad way. He had compiled a book on the virtues of 'Alí, and as the people of
Damascus were at that time inclined to the heresy of the Khárigites, he wished to read his book in the mosque of that place. After he had read a little way, a man arose and asked him whether he knew aught of the praises of Muavia, 'Alí's deadly enemy. He replied that he did not. This answer enraged the people, who beat him so severely that he died soon after.
(6). Sunan-i-Ibn Májah. Ibn Májah[[62]] was born at 'Irak A.H. 209. This work contains 4,000 Traditions.
The Shía'hs reject these books and substitute five books[[63]] of their own instead. They are of a much later date, the last one, indeed, having been compiled more than four hundred years after the Hijra.
The belief which underlies the question of the authority of the Traditions is that before the Throne of God there stands a 'preserved Table,' on which all that can happen, and all that has ever entered, or will enter, the mind of man is 'noted in a distinct writing.' Through the medium of Gabriel, the Prophet had access to this. It follows then that the words of the Prophet are the words of God.
Of the four great "Canonical Legists" of Islám, Ahmad Ibn Hanbal was the greatest collector of Traditions. It is said that he knew by heart no less than one million. Of these he incorporated thirty thousand into his system of jurisprudence. That system is now almost obsolete. Abu Hanífa, who is said to have accepted only eighteen Traditions as authentic, founded a system which is to this day the most powerful in Islám. The Hanifites, however, as well as other Muslims, acknowledge the six standard collections of Traditions as direct revelations of the will of
God. They range over a vast number of subjects, and furnish a commentary on the Qurán. The Prophet's personal appearance, his mental and moral qualities, his actions, his opinions, are all recorded over and over again. Many questions of religious belief are largely founded on the Traditions, and it is to them we must go for an explanation of much of the ritual of Islám. It is very difficult for any one, who has not lived in long and friendly intercourse with Muslims, to realize how much their religious life and opinions, their thought and actions, are based on the Traditions.
Having thus shown the importance of the Traditions, I now proceed to enter a little into detail on the question of the rules framed concerning them. The classification adopted by different authors may vary in some subordinate points; but the following account is adopted from a standard Muhammadan work. A Tradition may be Hadís-i-Qualí, that is, an account of something the Prophet said; or Hadís-i-Fa'lí, a record of something which he did; or Hadís-i-Taqrírí, a statement of some act performed by other persons in his presence, and which action he did not forbid.
The Traditions may be classed under two general heads:—
First.—Hadís-i-Mutawátír, that is, "an undoubted Tradition," the Isnád, or chain of narrators of which is perfect, and in which chain each narrator possessed all the necessary qualifications for his office.[[64]] Some authorities say there are only a few of these Traditions extant, but most allow that the following is one: "There are no good works except with intention," for example, a man may fast, but, unless he has the intention of fasting firmly in his mind, he gains no spiritual reward by so doing.