Question
Is this Hadith in Jami’ at-Tirmidhi 1327 Sahih? I’ve seen opposing claims weather it’s Da’īf or not, and if it is, could you explain when when Mu’adh said ‘Then I will strive to form an opinion (ijtihad).’? Because i see the people who follow Madhabs use this claim.
ANSWER
The Hadith narrated by Tirmidhi (1327), Abu Dawud (3592) and others is as follows:
‘Some men who were companions of Mu’adh narrated from Mu’adh that the Messenger of Allah sent Mu’adh to Yemen, so he (ﷺ) said: ‘How will you judge?’ He said: ‘I will judge according to what is in Allah’s Book.’ He said: ‘If it is not in Allah’s Book ?’ He said: ‘Then with the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah.’ He said: ‘If it is not in the Sunnah of Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)?’ He said: ‘Then I will strive to form an opinion (Ijtihad).’ He said: ‘All praise is due to Allah, the One Who made the messenger of the Messenger of Allah suitable.’
This is an authentic narration, and the doubt of who the companions of Muadh are, or the unknown status of Harith bin Amr does not render the narration inauthentic, for the origin regarding every Muslim is that he is trustworthy, and declaring him untrustworthy requires evidence, and merely saying that a Muslim is unknown does not render his reports inauthentic, nor the chain of transmission disconnected.
Coming to the meaning of this Hadith, the word used by Mu’adh is Al-Ra’i, which in principle refers to opinion in the language of the Qur’an and the Sunnah. However, Al-Ra’i here does not refer to opinions that Allah prohibited, it refers to insight while ruling according to Revelation! This meaning is derived from the following authentic Hadith in Abu Dawud (2213), which contains the story of Salamah bin Sakhr being asked to offer expiation for being intimate with his wife during the daytime in Ramadan. In that Hadith, Salamah said to his people after the Prophet ruled regarding his affair:
‘I found with you poverty and bad Ra’i; and I found with the Prophet (ﷺ) prosperity and good Ra’i.’
If we interpret Ra’i as opinion here, it means that the Prophet gave an Islamic ruling using his opinion, and not Revelation; Allah forbid! So the meaning of Ra’i here is a knowledge-based answer. So the meaning of the Hadith is that if you do not find an apparent text in the Qur’an or the Sunnah to resolve an Islamic issue, then strive using your insight to find the evidences in the Qur’an and the Sunnah that act as a support for the religious verdict.
Ra’i in Mu’adh’s Hadith can also mean that if you cannot find an answer from the apparent texts in the Qur’an and the Sunnah, then ask the people of knowledge for the answer from the Qur’an and the Sunnah. Yes! This has also been referred to as Ra’i, and is a common practice in the language of the Arabs. An example of this is the following authentic Hadith narrated by Muslim (2200) on the authority of Awf bin Malik, who said: ‘We practised incantation in the pre-Islamic days and we said: ‘O Allah’s Messenger! what is your Ra’i about it?’ He said: ‘Let me know your incantation,’ and he said: ‘There is no harm in the incantation which does not contain polytheism.’
In this Hadith, the Prophet issued a religious ruling, despite him being asked to rule with his Ra’i. So Ra’i doesn’t always translate to opinion, it means knowledge as well, and the Hadith of Mu’adh is to be understood like this as well i.e. I will do Ijtihad by seeking the answers from the Scripture by contemplating upon them, and also seeking help from the people of knowledge, assessing their knowledge-based answers in light of the Qur’an and the Sunnah.
And Allah knows best.