HADITH FABRICATION AND ITS CAUSES

A. The Beginning of the Hadith Fabrication and the Companions’ Attitude towards It:

There has been a continuous conflict between some hadith scholars regarding the issue of the beginning of hadith fabrication. There are some scholars, i.e. Ibn Hazm (456/1063), who maintain that the beginning of fabrication goes back to the lifetime of the Prophet, a claim which they support with the fact that a man went to a suburb of Medina and told a tribe living there that the Prophet (pbuh) had given him authority over them. On the other hand, there are some scholars who accept the above-mentioned fact as nothing more than a lie told against the Prophet and maintain that the real hadith fabrication movement began much later. It is notable that scholars supporting the latter view are worried about making an accusation against the Companions if they accept that the beginning of the forgery of hadiths started during the lifetime of the Prophet. However, it is always possible to presume the existence of people during the Prophet's lifetime who may have ascribed fabricated words to the Prophet, considering the large number of malevolent enemies of Islam that existed and that there were those who dared to accuse the Prophet of being insane, a liar, magician and poet. 

It is also necessary to mention that the above-mentioned event is unique during the period of the Prophet. The main reason for this fact is certainly based on the thought that the Prophet would personally deny any such hadiths.

There is no undeniable evidence of forgery of hadiths during the successive periods of Abu Bakr (632 - 634) or Umar (634 - 643) after the demise of the Prophet.

No event that distracted public opinion or caused conflicts occurred during the lifetime of the Prophet. Some conflicts occurred after his death, but they were not effective enough to cause any damage to the solidarity of Muslims, and were shortly sorted out. It is hard to think that hadiths regarding the issue of caliphate could have been fabricated by opponents of the first three Caliphs during this period. However, it is more likely if we think that the important schism and faction-creating movements started later.

The seeds of the first important conflict were planted by Abdullah ibn Saba (40 - 660). Claiming that Uthman had taken the caliphate by deceit, he went to the cities of Basra, Damascus and some others and enticed the public against Uthman. With the assassination and martyrdom of Uthman, the event known as "The First Fitnah (provocation)", different parties came into existence. As a result of this conflict, Ali (40 - 660) and Muawiyah (60 - 679) went into battle at Siffin, on the banks of the Euphrates River. Following the "hakam (arbitrator or judge) case", two major sects came into existence. One of them was the Kharijites, who accused Ali for being an infidel, and the Ghulat Shia, who claimed that Ali was a caliph chosen by Allah and the Prophet, cursing Abu Bakr and Umar.

Moreover, it can be seen that the Qadariyyah and Murjia sects came into being during the end of the period of the Companions. Several other sects, such as the Jahmiyya and Mushabbiha came into being after this period. 

The end of the period of the Companions was a period when opposing parties and sects emerged and the number of careless and insincere hadith students increased. The movement of hadith fabrication started and developed in this critical period. Most of the Companions did not witness the great increase in the fabrication of hadiths. However, a large number of the Companions were careful about even the slightest fault in accordance with the Prophet's instruction.  

B. Causes of the Fabrication of Hadiths

1. Efforts for Defending One’s Own Party, Sect and Tribe

Batil (invalid) parties followed two ways to destroy or forge hadiths:

1. They rejected the hadiths that did not meet their needs or suit their purposes. They claimed that these hadiths were mawdū‘.
2. Because they were always in need of religious dogma that supported their opinions, they fabricated hadiths as evidence to be used against their opponents and they ascribed them to the Prophet.

Therefore, the opponents used these two ways to destroy hadith and made much progress in supporting their opinions with the authority of the words of the Prophet.

Followers of the political parties, sects of fiqh and kalam that fabricated hadiths in order to legitimize their own opinions can also be placed under this category. Also to be included are those forging hadiths under the influence of nationalistic feelings.

Moreover, the enemies of Islam fabricated hadiths to cause harm to the religion.

2. Desire for Serving to Islam

Batil hadiths that were fabricated to encourage Muslims to commit good deeds and to give to charity and to avoid bad behavior that the religion did not approve of make up a large proportion of the mawdū‘ hadiths. Those who forged hadiths that were not based on any evidence with the intention of performing a good deed in the presence of Allah were ascetics, mystics and some people who acted like them. They prepared enormous numbers of formulas for worship. More or less, the following common expression takes place in them all: "One who performs this amount of prayer on such day and recites so many verses this many times will be given this much reward in the Hereafter."

Whereas most of the batil hadiths were fabricated to encourage prayer and fasting, it is obvious that invented hadiths regarding other kinds of worship gave significance to the virtues of the Quran. There must have been some people who were not satisfied with the hadiths that existed concerning the verses of the Quran, and thus they tried to fabricate hadiths concerning each verse individually. 

3. Favor Seeking:

The situation of those who saw no harm in using sublime concepts for their despicable purposes will be examined under this category.

Some opportunists who aimed to make the best of this world invented hadiths according to the desires and life styles of some powerful and administrative people and received remarkable rewards for this endeavor. Moreover, some people invented new hadiths that would allow them to gain the position of a respectable savant with spiritual weight. This desire for reputation took on different characteristics. Some people, when asked a question, gave random answers supported by a hadith that they had just fabricated.