As to the general meaning of these hadiths, it may be felt that they are problematic in the sense that they place different things in answer to the same question. In the hadith reported by Abu Hurayrah, the best actions are belief in God followed by jihad then pilgrimage. In the one narrated by Abu Dharr, we have belief in God and jihad. The hadith narrated by Ibn Mas[ud speaks of prayer, then dutifulness to parents, then jihad. We mentioned earlier the hadith narrated by [Abdullah ibn [Amr, which answers his questions about the best actions in Islam by stating giving food to other people and offering the greetings of peace to people we know and those we do not know. A hadith reported by both Abu Musa and [Abdullah ibn [Amr makes the best of Muslims the one who hurts no Muslim by word or deed. An authentic hadith narrated by [Uthman tells us: ‘The best of you is the one who learns the Qur’an and teaches it’.
Similar authentic hadiths are numerous, though scholars differ in the way they reconcile them. The eminent scholar of al-Shafi[i School, Abu [Abdullah al-Hulaymi, quotes his meticulous and highly respected teacher, Abu Bakr al-Qaffal al-Shashi, the elder, on this point. This scholar is different from al-Qaffal, the younger, who belonged to Marw and is mentioned among more recent Khurasani scholars of our school. Al-Hulaymi said: ‘Al-Qaffal was the best scholar among all his contemporaries I met. He reconciles these hadiths in two ways: the first is that the answer differed according to the difference of the occasion and the people putting the questions. It may be said that the best of all things is such-and-such, but it is not intended that it is the best of all things, in all situations, at all times and with regard to all people. It means that it is the best in certain situations. He supports this with several hadiths including the one narrated by Ibn [Abbas: ‘For someone who has not offered the pilgrimage, to offer it once is better than taking part in forty battles, and to take part in one battle is better for one who has already offered the pilgrimage once than repeating the pilgrimage forty times’.
The second way of reconciling such hadiths is that they mean ‘among the best actions are …’ but the word ‘among’ is left out although its meaning is intended to remain. It is like we say ‘This person is the best of people’, but we mean that he is one of the best people. An example is the Prophet’s hadith: ‘The best among you is the one who is best to his family.’i Needless to say, such a person is not absolutely the best of mankind. The same may be said about the saying, ‘A scholar is least respected among his own neighbours’. There may be others who respect him less.
Such was how al-Qaffal reconciled the hadiths. According to his second suggestion, belief in God is absolutely the best of all actions anyone may do. All the others mentioned in the hadiths are equal in the sense that they are among the best of actions, but preferences are given to some over others according to certain indications. These may vary for different people and in different circumstances. It may be suggested that some of these hadiths mention that this action is best, then that one, then the other. Is this an order of preference? The answer is that ‘then’ is used here to give an order of reporting which does not imply absolute preference, as in the case of the Qur’anic verses: ‘Yet he would not scale the Ascent. Would that you knew what the Ascent is. It is the freeing of a slave, or the feeding, on a day of famine, of an orphaned near of kin, or a needy man in distress, then to be of those who believe’. (90: 11–17) Needless to say, ‘then’ is not stated here to indicate an order of preference. The same may be said in other cases, such as: ‘Say: “Come, let me tell you what your Lord has forbidden to you: Do not associate partners with Him; [do not offend against but, rather,] be kind to your parents” … Then, We gave Moses the Book in fulfilment of Our favour upon him’; (6: 150–154) ‘We have indeed created you, and then formed you. We then said to the angels: “Prostrate yourselves before Adam”.’ (7: 11) This usage is very frequent in Arabic. An Arab poet said: ‘Say to the one who has prevailed, then his father had prevailed, and theni before that his grandfather had prevailed …’.
Qadi [Iyad offers two ways of reconciling these hadiths. One of them is similar to the first we mentioned. He said: ‘The Prophet’s answer differed according to circumstances. He answered his questioners stating what they needed most, or what they did not yet know of the major principles of Islam. The second is that he stated jihad ahead of the pilgrimage because the question was put to him in the early period of Islam, when enemies were trying to crush it and Muslims needed to muster their efforts to make it prevail. The author of al-Tahrir, Imam Isma[il ibn Muhammad al-Taymi, mentioned this second view and added another, stating that ‘then’ does not imply any order. This view is considered odd by Arabic linguists. He then said: ‘The correct view is that the hadith giving preference to jihad is understood to apply at the time when there is a threat to the Muslim community which requires general mobilization. At such a time, jihad is a duty incumbent on all. In such a case, jihad takes precedence over pilgrimage because it serves the interests of the Muslim community as a whole and it applies at such a particular time, while pilgrimage may be done at other times, but God knows best’.
The Prophet answered the question about the best actions by stating first: ‘Belief in God and His Messenger’. This is a clear statement that action applies to faith. What is meant here—but God knows best—is the belief by which a person becomes a Muslim, which means mental conviction and the verbal declaration of belief in God’s oneness and that Prophet Muhammad is God’s Messenger. The conviction is the mental action and the statement is the verbal action. In this case, faith does not include other actions involving other parts of the human body, such as fasting, prayer, pilgrimage, jihad, etc. because the belief is stated separately from jihad and pilgrimage. As we have mentioned, the Prophet said ‘belief in God and His Messenger’, and this is not said in the other actions, but it does not prevent including the other actions in belief, as we have already mentioned, with the relative evidence, but God knows best.
When the Prophet was asked about the best slaves to set free, he said: ‘The most precious to their masters and the highest in price’. This applies—but God knows best—if a person wants to set free only one slave. If a person has a sum of money by which he can buy either two average slaves or one slave who has better qualities, then setting the two average slaves free is better. This is the opposite of what is preferable in sacrifice at the time of Eid. To sacrifice one fat sheep is better than sacrificing two thin ones. In his book al-Tahdhib, al-Baghawi, a scholar of our Shafi[i School, mentions both cases in the terms I have just given then says: ‘Al-Shafi[i said in reference to the sacrifice that paying more for a smaller number is preferable in my view than a greater number for a lesser price. In setting slaves free, the higher number for a lesser price is preferable to paying a higher price for a lesser number. In the case of sacrifice, it is the meat that is distributed, and so the meat of the fatter sheep is more in weight and better in taste. In the case of freeing slaves, the purpose is to give a person what he needs, which is to free him from the humiliation of slavery. To provide this to two people is better than providing it for one, but God knows best’.
The hadith urges everyone to keep up prayers and offer them on time. It may also be understood to encourage offering prayer very early in their time range, because this ensures their completion early. The hadith further shows that the learner should put his questions well, while the teacher or the mufti should be patient with his questioner and answer his questions, even if he asks one question after another. The learner should also be considerate and ensure that his teacher is not inconvenienced. Ibn Mas[ud said that he did not wish to ask more of the Prophet so as not to trouble him. He states in the other hadith that had he asked the Prophet more questions, he would have answered him. This suggests that using such conditional phrasing and speaking of what did not take place are perfectly permissible.
Transmission
The reporters mentioned in these hadiths include Abu Hurayrah and [Abd al-Rahman ibn Sakhr. Abu Dharr’s name is variably stated as Jundab or Burayr. Abu Muzahim, Mansur’s father, is named Bashir, while Ibn Shihab is Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn [Ubaydillah ibn [Abdullah ibn Shihab. Abu al-Rabi[ al-Zahrani’s name is Sulayman ibn Dawud. Abu Murawih’s name is unknown, but Muslim mentions in al-Tabaqat that he was called Sa[d while he mentions him in al-Kuna as Abu Murawih without mentioning a name for him. He is said to belong to the Ghifar tribe or to al-Layth, but al-Ghassani said that he is al-Ghifari