الحمد لله رب العالمين. و الصلاة و السلام علي سيدنا و مولانا محمد خاتم النبيين، و علي اله و أصحابه أجمعين، و علي كل من تبعهم بإحسان إلي يوم الدين. أما بعد: قال النبي صلي الله عليه و سلم: الراحمون يرحمهم الرحمن – تبارك و تعالي –ارحموا من في الأرض يرحمكم من في السماء. رواه أبو داود و الترمذي و احمد عن عبد الله بن عمرو بن العاص رضي الله عنهما
It is customary that the very first hadith that a teacher teaches be the hadith rahmah which is the following hadith:
الراحمون يرحمهم الرحمن، ارحموا من في الأرض يرحمكم من في السمآء
Trans: The prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) said, “Rahman has mercy upon those who show mercy. Have mercy upon those who are on the earth and He who is in the sky will have mercy upon you”.
The custom of starting with this hadith is called musalal bil awwaliyat. It has been done for many generations.
This was the very first hadith which I heard from the pre-eminent muhaddith of our time, Shaykh Yunus Jawnpuri (may Allah Almighty raise his rank). The same was for him from his teacher and them from their teachers and so on and so forth. The chart below recounts one of the chains.
| Sh. Yunus Jawnpuri | الشيخ يونس الجونفوري |
| Sh. Zakariyyah Kandhalwi | شيخ الحديث مولانا محمد زكريا كاندهلوي |
| Ml. Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri | الشيخ مولانا خليل أحمد سهارنفوري |
| Ml. ‘Abd al-Qayyūm Badanwi | مولانا عبد القيوم البدانوي |
| Sh. Ishaq Dehlawi | الشاه اسحاق الدهلوي |
| Shah ‘Abd al-Aziz Dehlawi | الشاه عبد العزيز الدهلوي |
| Shah Wali Allah Muhaddith Dehlawi | الشاه ولي الله المحدث الدهلوي |
| Sayyid ‘Umar ibn Ahmad al-Saqqaf | السيد عمر بن أحمد السقاف |
| Sh. ‘Abdullah b. Salim al-Basri | الشيخ عبد الله بن سالم البصري |
| Sh. Yahya b. Muhammad al-Shawi | الشيخ يحي بن محمد الشاوي |
| Sh. Sa’id b. Ibrahim al-Jazayiri | الشيخ سعيد بن ابراهيم الجزائري |
| Sh. Sa’id b. Muhammad al-Maqqari | الشيخ سعيد بن محمد المقري |
| Sh. Ahmad Haji al-Wahrani | الشيخ أحمد حاجي الوهراني |
| Sh. Ibrahim al-Tazi | الشيخ ابراهيم التازي |
| Sh. Muhammad b. Abi Bakr al-Maraghi | الشيخ محمد بن أبي بكر المراغي |
| Hafidh Zayn al-Din al-Iraqi | حافظ زين الدين العراقي |
| Sh. Muhammad b. Muhammad al-Bakri al-Maydumi | الشيخ محمد بن محمد البكري الميدومي |
| Sh. ‘Abd al-Latif b. ‘Abd al-Mun’im al-Harrani | الشيخ عبد اللطيف بن عبد المنعم الحراني |
| Hafidh Ibn al-Jawzi | الحافظ ابن الجوزي |
| Sh. Isma’il b. Abi Salih al-Nayshaburi | الشيخ إسماعيل بن أبي صالح النيشابوري |
| Sh. Abu Salih Ahmad b. ‘Abd al-Malik al-Mu’adhdhin | الشيخ أبو صالح أحمد بن عبد المالك المؤذن |
| Sh. Muhammad b. Muhammad Mahmish al-Zabadi | الشيخ محمد بن محمد المهمش الزبدي |
| Shaykh Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Bazzaz | الشيخ أحمد بن محمد البزاز |
| Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Bishr ibn al-Hakam | الشيخ عبد الرحمن بن بشر بن حكم |
| Hadrat Sufyan b. ‘Uyaynah | حضرت سفيان بن عيينة |
This is where the custom terminates whereby the hadith rahmat was the very first hadith which was taught. After this point, the hadith was taught but it was not the very first hadith learned.
| Hadrat Amr b. Dinar | عمرو بن دينار |
| Hadrat Abu Qabus (the Mawla of Abd Allah b. Amr) | أبو قابوس مولي عبد الله بن عمرو بن العاص |
| Hadrat Abdullah b. Amr b. al-‘As (may Allah Almighty be pleased with them) | عبد الله بن عمرو بن العاص رضي الله عنهما |
| The final prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) | رسول الله صلي الله عليه وسلم |
The total of this chain is 29 generations. May Allah Almighty have mercy on them all. Shaykh Yunus relays this hadith with the same form from other teachers also.
Furthermore, the very first hadith I studied from Mawlana Fazlur Rahman Azami (may Allah Almighty raise his rank) was also this hadith.
I have heard this hadith from Shaykh al-Islam Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani, Shaykh al-Hadith Mufti Umar Faruq Lawharwi, Shaykh Hadith Ml. Yusuf Koti, Shaykh al-Hadith Ml. Dawud Paryeji, Shaykh al-Hadith Ml. Saleem Nawab Falahi. But it was not the very first hadith I heard from them.
The custom is followed to initiate a bond between the teacher and student. To iterate that the din is acquired and preserved through person to person – it is not merely confined to the text. Allah Almighty sent the Quran and along with it the Prophet (peace be upon him) to explain, expound and demonstrate the Quran. Without the texts, one will be lost and without the person, one will become wretched.
The full explanation of the hadith is the subject of another lesson. Suffice it to say, be kind to others and Allah Almighty will be kind to you. Indeed it is a great kindness that Allah Almighty gave us intellect and knowledge. It is what differentiated Hadrat Adam (peace be upon him) from the others. Allah Almighty says,
الرَّحْمَـٰنُ – عَلَّمَ الْقُرْآنَ – خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ – عَلَّمَهُ الْبَيَانَ
Trans: al-Rahman. He taught them the Quran. He created man. He taught them expression.
——–
Muhammad Saifur Rahman Nawhami
6 Rabi I 1437
18 December 2015
Citekey: 151218501
