RAY & QIYS

By
ABU ABD ALLH AL-USAYN
IBN IBRHM AL-HAMADHNI

AL-JAWRAQNI (D. 543)

Translated by Yaya Abu assn
EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK+
KITB AL-ABL (1/243-257)

Ray & Qiys

Abul-asan Ubayd Allh ibn
Muammad

ibn

Amad

al-Bayhaqi told us: My grandfather

Abu Bakr Amad ibn al-usayn
ibn Ali al-Bayhaqi told us: Abu
Bakr Muammad ibn al-asan ibn
Frak told us: Abu Muammad
Abd Allh ibn Jafar ibn Amad
ibn Fris al-Afahni told us: Abu
Bishr Ynus ibn abb ibn Abd
al-Qhir narrated

to

us:

Abu

Dwd ibn Sulaymn ibn Dwd

a-aylisi narrated to us: Shubah
told us: Abu Awn ath-Thaqafi told
us: I heard al-rith ibn Amr
narrate from some companions of
Mudh of the folk of im that

Allah's messenger , when he

dispatched Mudh to Yemen, said
to him: How will you judge if a
judgment is sought of you? He
said, I will judge by the book of
Allah. He said: What then if you
do not find it in the book of

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Allah? He said, I will judge by

the sunnah of Allah's messenger

. He said: What then if you

do not find it in the sunnah of

Allah's messenger? He said, I

will

diligently

test

my

ray,1

sparing no effort. He (Mudh)

said: He then struck his hand upon
my chest and said: Praise is to
Allah who directed the messenger
of Allah's messenger to what
pleases Allah's messenger.

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This hadith is false. A group

reported it via Shubah,
Shubah from Abu

Awn ath-Thaqafi,
ath-Thaqafi from al-rith
1

Ray comes from r++y with the meaning of sight or viewing. A person's ray is
his view, i.e. personal opinion.

ibn

Amr,
Amr

the

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Ray & Qiys

nephew

of

al-Mughrah ibn Shubah, just as

we presented it.

Know that I browsed for this

narration through the

musnad2

books both big and small, and I

asked those whom I met of the
ulama to narrate it to me, yet I
could not find a single path3 other
than this; and this al-rith ibn
Amr

is

unknown4

and

the

companions of Mudh ibn Jabal

of the folk of im are not
known.5 The likes of this isnad
cannot be used to support a

principle of the Sharia!

A musnad is a book that is not ordered by subject but by isnd, the human chain
of hadith narration.

Meaning a single path of transmission.

His name is known, but whether or not he is trustworthy is unknown.

They are not known because none of their names are even mentioned.

If you are told, The fuqaha have

all adduced this in their books and
relied upon it, then say: This is
the way; the khalaf merely imitated
the salaf. If they can present
something else that the folk of
transmission have verified, then
we will go with their opinion; but
this is impossibe for them to do.

amad ibn Nar told us: Abu

lib ibn abb told us: Abu Bakr
ibn Ll told us: Abul-asan Ali
ibn Ibrhm ibn Salamah al-Qan
narrated to us: Muammad ibn
Yazd ibn Mjah narrated to us:
al-asan ibn ammd narrated to
us: Yaya ibn Sad al-Umawi
narrated to me: from Muammad
Sad

ibn

assn,
assn

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Contrary to the above:

ibn

from

Ubdah ibn Nusayy,

Nusayy from Abd

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Ray & Qiys

ar-Ramn

ibn

Ghunm,
Ghunm

from

Mudh ibn Jabal,

Jabal who said: When

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Allah's messenger dispatched

me to Yemen, he said: Do not

judge or discriminate except by

what you know. If any matter is
problematic for you, then desist
until you clarify it or until you
write to me about it.

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This hadith is gharb asan.6

Muammad ibn hir told us: Abu
Muammad

Abd

Allh

ibn

Muammad al-Khab told us:

6

Literally: uncommon but good. In the hadith classification of the era, this meant
that it was not narrated by many people and could have been reported with
only a single isnad; yet, that isnad is free of any blemish that would require it to
be rejected.

Abul-Qsim ibn ubbah told us:

Abul-Qsim al-Baghawi narrated
to us: Ali ibn al-Jad narrated to
us: Shubah narrated to us: from
Sad ibn Abi Burdah,
Burdah from his
father,
father from Abu Msa,
Msa who said
that

when

the

Prophet

dispatched Mudh and Abu Msa

to

Yemen,

he

said

to

them:

Facilitate and do not complicate.

Yield and do not repel. Abu
Msa then said to him, In our
land we have a drink made of
honey called bit and another made
of barley called mizr. The Prophet

said: Every muskir7 is haram.

The hadith continued, but there

was no mention of ray.

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A muskir is often translated as intoxicant, but more precisely it is anything

that removes one's intellect.

Ray & Qiys

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This hadith is a8 and is found in
the aayn9 and other books.

Muammad ibn hir told us:

Abul-asan Ali ibn Muammad
ibn Ali al-Ktib told us in Shiraz:
Abu Ali al-asan ibn Amad ibn
Muammad ibn al-Layth al-fi
told us: Muammad ibn Yaqb
narrated to us: Muammad ibn
Abd Allh told us: Ibn Wahb told
us: Abd ar-Ramn ibn Shuray
told us: from Abul-Aswad,
Abul-Aswad from
Urwah ibn az-Zubayr,
az-Zubayr who said:

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:

Literally: sound, healthy. In hadith classification, this is the top rank of an

authentic hadith. It means the isnad is fully connected and the hadith is
narrated by known trustworthy people.

The aayn are the two books, a al-Bukhri and a Muslim.

Abd Allh ibn Amr ibn al-

came to us, so I sat and listened to
him. He said: I heard Allah's

messenger say: Verily Allah

does not extract knowledge from
the people after He gave it to
them through some process of
extraction. Rather, he extracts it
from them by seizing the scholars
along with their knowledge. An
ignorant people thus remain, so
they are asked for verdicts and
give them based on their ray; so
they go astray and lead others
astray. Urwah said: I narrated
that to ishah, the wife of the

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Prophet , and Abd Allh ibn

Amr had set out for hajj; so

ishah told me, O son of my

sister! Set out for Abd Allh and
verify for me this hadith you
narrated to me from him regarding
knowledge. I came to him and

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Ray & Qiys

asked him, so he narrated to me
the likes of what he narrated to me.
I then came to ishah and told
her. She was amazed and said,
Surely Abd Allh ibn Amr has
preserved this.

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This hadith is a. Al-Bukhri

by

coincided

aayn.

the

Muslim
in

it

and

including

Al-Bukhri reported it from Sad

ibn Tald and Muslim reported it
;from armalah ibn Yaya
Yaya and
both of them from Ibn Wahb.
Wahb

Abul-Fal al-fi told us: Abu

Muammad

12
Abd

Allh

ibn

Muammad al-Khab narrated to

us: Abul-Qsim ibn ubbah told
us:

Abul-Qsim

al-Baghawi

narrated to us: Ali ibn Jad

narrated to us: Shubah told us:
from

Sulaymn

ash-Shaybani,
ash-Shaybani

from Ibn Abi Awfa,

Awfa that he said,

Allah's messenger forbade

green jar nabdh.10. I asked, What
about white? He said, I do not
know.

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This hadith is a. Abd Allh ibn

Abi Awfa issued his verdict using
the text about the green jar,
considered

its

wording,

and

stopped there; and he did not

make qiys11 to include the white

10 Nabdh is a drink made of discarded grape juice, whether or not it is fermented.
11 Qiys comes fro q+y+s and literally means to measure something by comparing

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Ray & Qiys

jar.
amzah ibn Amad al-fi told
us: Amad ibn Khalaf narrated to
us:

Abu Abd

Allh

al-fi

narrated to us: Amad ibn Ibrhm

narrated to us: Muammad ibn
Ali ibn Zayd narrated to us:
Amad ibn Shubayb ibn Sad
narrated

to

me:

My

mother

narrated to me: from Ynus,

Ynus from
Ibn

al-Jawraqni

Shihb,
Shihb

from

Khlid

ibn

Aslam,
Aslam who said: We went out
walking with Abd Allh ibn
Umar and we were met by an
12

arbi,

who said, Are you Abd

Allh ibn Umar? He said, Yes.

He said, I asked about you and
was told where to find you, so tell

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it to something else. Those who accept it as a religious principle define it as

basing a ruling on an indirectly related text due to an assumed shared illah
(cause), or underlying reason for the textual ruling, which is derived through
ray.
12 An arbi is an Arabian desert bedouin.

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aunt

paternal

the

does

me:

inherit? Ibn Umar said, I do not

know. The man said, You do not
know and I do not know. He said,
in

scholars

to

the

Go

Yes.

al-Madnah and ask them. As he

turned away, the man kissed both
his hands and said, How good is
what he said! How good is what
Abu Abd ar-Ramn said! He was
asked about what he does not
know, so he said: I do not know.

This hadith is a. It is found in

a al-Bukhri.

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:

Muammad ibn hir told us: Abu

ibn

Allh

Abd

Muammad

Muammad al-Khab told us:

Abul-Qsim ibn ubbah told us:
Abul-Qsim al-Baghawi narrated
to us: Ibrhm ibn Hni narrated

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Ray & Qiys

to us: Amad ibn anbal narrated
to us: Abd a-amad narrated to
us: Abu Hill narrated to us: I
asked Qatdah about some issue.
He said, I do not know. I said,
Speak with your ray. He said, I
have not spoken with my ray for
forty years. Abd a-amad asked
Abu Hill, How old was he at
that time? He said, He was
about fifty years old.

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This was similarly reported by Ibn

Zanjawayh via rim from Abu
Hill.
Hill
Muammad ibn hir told us:
Muammad

ibn

Allh

Abd

narrated to us: Abul-Qsim ibn

Abul-Qsim

ubbah told us:

al-Baghawi told us: Isq ibn

16

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Ibrhm narrated to us: Msa ibn

Ibrhm narrated to us: Abbd ibn
al-Awwm narrated to us: Shark
said, A report containing some
weakness is more beloved to me
than their ray.

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amzah ibn Amad told us:

Amad ibn Khalaf told us: Abu
Abd Allh al-fi narrated to us:
Abul-Fal Muammad ibn Ysuf
ibn Rayn,
Rayn the emir of Bukhara,
told me: My father narrated to me:
Allh

Abd

Abu

heard

: :

Muammad ibn Isml13 say, The

would remind one another using

ashab of Allah's messenger

the book of Allah and the sunnah
. There was of His prophet

neither ray nor qiys between

13 He is al-Bukhri, the famous imam of hadith.

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them.

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Abul-Fal told me: Abul-asan

Ali ibn Muammad ibn Ali
ash-Shuri told me in Shiraz: Abu
Ali al-asan ibn Amad ibn
Muammad al-fi narrated to
ibn

Ali

ibn

Muammad

us:

mid al-Mlni narrated to us:

ad-Drimi

Sad

ibn

Uthmn

narrated to us: I heard al-Ashajj

say: I heard Wak say: I heard Abu
anfah say, Urinating in the
masjid is better than some qiys.