Gabriel hadith

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The Gabriel Hadith ( Arabic حديث جبرائيل, DMG ḥadīṯ Ǧabrāʾīl ) is one of the most important hadiths in the field of Sunni Islam. Its great importance comes from the fact that the doctrine of the five pillars of Islam and the six contents of the Islamic faith are attributed to him. Due to its catechism-like meaning, the hadith was included in almost all later hadith collections, including the Saheeh Muslim and the Saheeh al-Buchari . It exists in different versions that have different Isnad chains. What they have in common is the following narrative: while the Prophet Mohammed is one day in the company of his companions , a mysterious man approaches him and questions him about basic beliefs and concepts. The prophet answers the questions and defines these beliefs. Only after the mysterious man has disappeared does the prophet inform his companions about his identity: it was the angel Gabriel . The five pillars of Islam are mentioned in full only in that version of the hadith which is traced back to the Prophet via ʿUmar ibn al-Chattāb .

The version traced back to ʿUmar ibn al-Chattāb

The version traced back to ʿUmar ibn al-Chattāb is narrated in Saheeh Muslim . In an abbreviated form without the anti-Qadaritic frame narrative, it has also been included in the collection of the Forty Hadith by an-Nawawī .

The anti-qadaritic frame narrative

In Saheeh Muslim, the actual hadith is preceded by a frame narrative with an anti-qadaritic tendency. According to this, the Basrian scholar Yahyā ibn Yaʿmar (d. Between 702 and 708) reported that the first who spoke about Qadar in Basra was Maʿbad al-Jschuhanī. Then Yahyā relates that once on the pilgrimage he and a companion asked ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿUmar about his judgment on the teaching of the Qadarīya , according to which there is no predestination . ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿUmar replied that he had nothing to do with the Qadarites and they had nothing to do with him, pointed out the necessity of belief in predestination and cited the following hadith from his father ʿUmar ibn al-Chattāb as evidence.

The hadith

ʿUmar ibn al-Chattāb reported:

“One day when we were at the Messenger of God, suddenly a man came up to us who wore bright white robes and had pitch black hair. There was no trace of a journey in him, and neither of us knew him. The man then sat down by the Prophet, leaning his knee against the Prophet's knee and placing his palms on his thighs.

He said: 'O Mohammed, tell me about Islam!' The Messenger of God said: 'Islam means that you confess that there is no God but God and that Mohammed is God's Messenger, that you pray and do the zakāt , you the Ramadan - fasting hold and (sc God.) to the house pilgerst , if you're capable of doing ' "the man replied,' you're right spoken 'So we wondered about him is that he first questioned him and.. then agreed with him.

The man now said: 'Tell me about the faith !' (The Prophet) replied: 'It consists in your believing in God, his angels, his books, his messengers and the Last Day as well as in predestination , both good as well as the bad one. 'The man said:' You spoke correctly. '

He then said: 'Tell me about the doing ( iḥsān ).' (The Prophet) replied: 'It consists of you serving God as if you were seeing him. Because if you don't see him either, he sees you. '

The man then said: 'Tell me about the hour (sc. Of the Last Judgment)!' The prophet said: 'The interviewee knows no more about this than the questioner.' The man said: 'Then tell me about its omens!' replied: 'That the slave gives birth to her mistress and that you see that the barefoot, naked, dispossessed and shepherds try to outdo each other in building.'

Then (the man) went away. (The Prophet) paused for a while and then said to me: 'O Umar, do you know who the questioner was?' I replied, 'God and his Messenger know best.' Then (the Prophet) said: 'It was Gabriel. He came to you to teach you your religion.

- Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-Īmān No. 1.

Emergence

It is reported that Yahyā ibn Yaʿmar, who narrates the hadith, wrote an anti-qadaritic script. Josef van Ess thinks it is possible that the hadith with its frame narration comes from this writing, although the writing does not necessarily have to be genuine. He thinks it is likely that the hadith “utilizes an older core”. It was undoubtedly made in Basra. It is no longer possible to determine who applied and shaped it. Van Ess suspects that it was a "collective expression of the predestinian minority in Basra" and originated between 728 and 738.

The version traced back to Abū Huraira

The version traced back to Abū Huraira is narrated in Saheeh al-Buchari . Abū Huraira is quoted as saying:

“One day when the prophet appeared before the people, a man came up and asked, 'What is faith ?' He replied, 'Faith consists of believing in God and his angels, in meeting him and his Messenger, and that you believe in the resurrection.

(The man) said, 'What is Islam' He replied:> Islam means that you serve God and beigesellst nothing to him, the prayer verrichtest, prescribed Zakat are doing a and Ramadan - fasting hold <

(The man) asked, 'What is doing good ( iḥsān )?' He replied, 'It consists of you serving God as if you were seeing him. Because if you don't see him either, he sees you. '

(The man) asked: 'When is the hour (sc. Of the Last Judgment)?' He replied: 'The interviewee doesn't know any more about it than the questioner. But I will tell you their omens. (She approaches) when the slave gives birth to her mistress and when the shepherds of the black camels try to outdo each other in building. It is one of the five things that only God knows. ”Then (the Prophet) recited:“ Behold, the knowledge of the hour rests with God ”(Sura 31:34).

Then (the man) left. (The Prophet) said: 'Get him back!' But they saw nothing more (of him). He said, 'That was Gabriel. He came to teach people their religion. ‹"

- Ṣaḥīḥ al-Buḫārī, Kitāb al-Īmān No. 37.

This version lacks the anti-qadaritic frame narrative and reference to predestination. The focus is on the definition of belief, which is determined differently than in the version traced back to ʿUmar ibn al-Chattāb. Al-Buchari comments on the hadith at the end with the words: "He (sc. The Prophet) made all this part of the faith." In the definition of Islam, the Hajj is missing as the fifth pillar.

literature

  • Josef van Ess : "Maʿbad al-Ǧuhanī" in Richard Gramlich (ed.): Islamic Studies. Fritz Meier on his sixtieth birthday . Wiesbaden 1974. pp. 49-77.
  • Steffen Stelzer: “The 'Hadith of Gabriel': Stories as a Tool for 'Teaching' Religion” in Nadeem A. Memon, Mujadad Zaman (eds.): Philosophies of Islamic Education. Historical Perspectives and Emerging Discourses . Routledge, London, New York, 2018. pp. 173-184.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See the overview in van Ess: "Maʿbad al-Ǧuhanī". 1974, pp. 69f.
  2. ↑ a b Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-Īmān No. 1. Digitized .
  3. ↑ Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī : The Book of Forty Hadiths. Kitāb al-Arbaʿīn with the commentary by Ibn Daqīq al-ʿĪd . Translated from the Arabic. u. ed. by Marco Schöller. Frankfurt a. M. 2007. p. 31f.
  4. ↑ See van Ess: "Maʿbad al-Ǧuhanī". 1974, p. 67f.
  5. ↑ Van Ess: "Maʿbad al-Ǧuhanī". 1974, pp. 72, 75.
  6. ↑ See van Ess: "Maʿbad al-Ǧuhanī". 1974, p. 75f.
  7. ↑ a b Ṣaḥīḥ al-Buḫārī, Kitāb al-Īmān No. 37. Digitized . See the German translation by Dieter Ferchl: Messages from deeds and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad . Stuttgart 1991. pp. 43f.