Commentary on Hadith 32: No Harming or Reciprocating Harm
An explanation of the 32nd Hadith of the Forty Hadith, where the Prophet ﷺ said: "There should be neither harming nor reciprocating harm." The speaker discusses its chains of narration, its status as a foundational maxim of Islamic jurisprudence, and Najm al-Din al-Tufi's commentary on the rule of public interest (maslahah).
He (RH) said: The thirty-second hadith:
On the authority of Abu Sa'id Sa'd bin Malik bin Sinan al-Khudri (RA),
that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
"There should be neither harming nor reciprocating harm."
A Hasan Hadith, narrated by Ibn Majah, al-Daraqutni, and others with a connected chain,
and Malik narrated it in al-Muwatta' as a Mursal chain,
from Abdullah bin Yahya, from his father, from the Prophet ﷺ,
thus omitting Abu Sa'id.
And it has other chains which strengthen one another.
Yes, this hadith is a foundational principle of Sharia,
and as you know, some of the scholars, namely al-Qadi Husayn al-Marwazi al-Khurasani, the author of al-Ta'liqah and other works,
and Sheikh al-Baghawi, presented four maxims upon which they said the religion revolves:
namely: "Actions are by intentions," or "Matters are by their objectives";
And after that, which the Hanafis state as: "No action is valid without intention."
And among these is: "Certainty is not overruled by doubt."
And among these is the rule: "Harm must be eliminated."
It was derived from this hadith,
which is the basis of every text on this rule, accepted by Imam Ahmad (RH) and others.
Separate treatises have been written to explain this rule and this hadith.
He elaborated extensively on this specific hadith,
presenting what relates to the rule of maslahah and others,
namely Najm al-Din al-Tufi in his commentary on the Forty Hadith.
For he went into great detail in this commentary,
and introduced matters that may have been misunderstood,
some of which he explained excellently,
while in others, his words are ambiguous and may not be entirely correct.
Yes. I ask...
Allah ﷻ.