If there is a contradiction between the Prophet's statement and his actions, the general principle is to give preference to his statement over his action because his act may have been specific to himself. For example, the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) forbade his followers from twenty-four hour fasts (wisal) but was recorded to have done so himself. He told his followers who had more than four wives to choose four and divorce the .remainder while he, himself, was married to nine wives at the same time. Sometimes his actions clarified the permissibility of certain acts. For example, Aishah related that the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) never urinated standing.
However, another Companion, Hudhayfah, reported that while on a journey with the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam), he observed him go to a village's dump and urinate standing. Or it may indicate that his statement regarding the prohibition of an act was meant to indicate great dislike and not absolute prohibition. As in the case of his prohibiting drinking while standing only to openly drink Zamzam while standing during his farewell Hajj as well as on other occasions.
Preference may be based on inequality of isnad or inequality of content (matn). As regards the chain of narrators, those agreed upon by Bukhari and Muslim are given precedence over saheeh hadiths found in the other hadiths books. The saheeh hadiths, in general, are given preference over the hasan hadiths. With respect to the content, the literal is preferred to the metaphorical, andthe clear (sareeh) is given preference over the implicit (kinaayah). Affirmative evidence takes priority over the negative. Prohibition takes precedence over permissibility.
For example, the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) forbade fasting on Saturdays except in Ramadaan and he recommended fasting on the days of 'Arafah and 'Aashoora. Based on this principle, if either day falls on a Saturday, one should not fast. Naskh (Abrogation) If neither of the above methods of harmonizing and preferring are possible, the only other recourse is that of abrogation (naskh). Naskh literally means removal or transfer (that is why in Arabic a copyist is called Nasikh).
As a technical term in hadith science and Fiqh, it means Allah's abrogation of an earlier law by a later one. Abrogation may occur in Quranic verses and between the Quran and hadith. The abrogation of hadiths is considered as a means of resolving apparent contradictions in hadith texts. The methods of recognition Abrogation can sometimes be recognised by a clear statement of the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) to that effect.
An example of this can be found in Buraydah's hadith collected by Muslim that the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: I used to forbid from visiting graves but now you should visit them as surely they are reminders of the next life.
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited