Home » Hanafi Fiqh » Askimam.org » Can you explain the term Khulafa Rashideen in detail which were said by our prophet(sas) to hold firmly was it only for the 4 rightly guided Khulfafa or it had some other meaning attached to it.Can you quote some hadith that 4 our the only Khulfa rashideen and after that the chain has stopped.

Can you explain the term Khulafa Rashideen in detail which were said by our prophet(sas) to hold firmly was it only for the 4 rightly guided Khulfafa or it had some other meaning attached to it.Can you quote some hadith that 4 our the only Khulfa rashideen and after that the chain has stopped.

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Askimam.org

Aas Salam Alai Kum,

I have  2  question for you I am a follower of hanafi school of thought.

a) Can you explain the term Khulafa Rashideen in detail which were said by our prophet(sas) to hold firmly was it only for the 4 rightly guided Khulfafa or it had some other meaning attached to it.Can you quote some hadith that 4 our the  only Khulfa rashideen and after that the chain has stopped.

b) People always quote a hadith that the prophet(sas) said that do not made your witr as you pray your maghrib prayer is this statement authentic.

Answer

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatoh

1.

فعليكم بما عرفتم من سنتي وسنة الخلفاء الراشدين المهديين عضوا عليها بالنواجذ

Upon you (is incumbent) my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Khulafa Al-Rashideen.  Hold firmly on to it. (Ibn Majh, Ahmed,Al-Bayhaqi, Al-Hakim, Al-Tabrani, Al-Darami, Ibn Hibban, Tahawi,).

This hadith commands us to hold firm to the sunnah of the Khulafa al-Rashideen (Rightly guided Khalifas).  The Ulema have explained that by Khulafa al-Rashideen it is meant those Khulafa in which their Khilafat was completely on the teachings of the Rasulullah (Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam).  Imam Tirmidhi in his Sunan narrates:

قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم الخلافة في أمتي ثلاثون سنة ثم ملك بعد ذلك

Rasulullah (Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam) has said, “Khilafat after me will be for thirty years.  Then there will be monarchy.

From this narration, Ulema have stated that the era of Khulafa al-Rashideen was for thirty years.  Thirty years end with the Khilafat of Hasan bin Ali (Radhiyallahu Anhu).

However, this does not mean there was no Khilafat thereafter.  This Hadith only discusses the Khulafa al-Rashideen, those whose Khilafat was on the complete way of Rasulullah (Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam).  Other narrations explain Khilafat preceding this time period.  Imam Bukhari in his Sahih Narates:

النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال كانت بنو إسرائيل تسوسهم الأنبياء كلما هلك نبي خلفه نبي وإنه لا نبي بعدي وسيكون خلفاء فيكثرون قالوا فما تأمرنا قال فوا ببيعة الأول فالأول أعطوهم حقهم فإن الله سائلهم عما استرعاهم

Rasulullah (Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam) said, “The Israelis used to be ruled and guided by prophets: Whenever a prophet died, another would take over his place. There will be no prophet after me, but there will be Khalifas who will increase in number.” The people asked, “(O Allah’s Apostle!) What do you order us (to do)?” He said, “Obey the one who will be given the pledge of allegiance first. Fulfill their (i.e. the Kalifas) rights, for Allah will ask them about (any shortcoming) in ruling those Allah has put under their guardianship.”

Imam Muslim in his Sahih narrates:

عن جابر بن سمرة قال انطلقت إلى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ومعي أبي فسمعته يقول لا يزال هذا الدين عزيزا منيعا إلى اثني عشر خليفة فقال كلمة صمنيها الناس فقلت لأبي ما قال قال كلهم من قريش

It has been reported on the authority of Jabir b. Samura who said: I went with my father to Rasulullah (Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam) and I heard him say: This religion would continue to remain powerful and dominant until there have been twelve Khalifas. Then he added something which I couldn’t catch on account of the noise of the people. I asked my father: What did he say? My father said: He has said that all of them will be from the Quraish.

From the above two narrations it is clear that the Khilafat is not confined to the era of Khulafa al-Rashideen.

 والمراد بخلافة النبوة هي الخلافة الكاملة وهي منحصرة في الخمسة فلا يعارض الحديث : لا يزال هذا الدين قائما حتى يملك اثنا عشر خليفة لأن المراد به مطلق الخلافة والله أعلم انتهى (تحفة الاحوذى)

أنه قد جاء في الحديث الآخر : ” الخلافة بعدي ثلاثون سنة ثم تكون ملكا ” وهذا مخالف لحديث اثني عشر خليفة ، فإنه لم يكن في ثلاثين سنة إلا الخلفاء الراشدون الأربعة ، والأشهر التي بويع فيها الحسن بن علي قال : والجواب عن هذا أن المراد في حديث ” الخلافة ثلاثون سنة ” خلافة النبوة ، وقد جاء مفسرا في بعض الروايات ” خلافة النبوة بعدي ثلاثون سنة ثم تكون ملكا ” ولم يشترط هذا في الاثني عشر  (شرح النووى على مسلم)

2.

أخرجه الدارقطني عن أبي هريرة أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ، قال لا توتروا بثلاث ، وأوتروا بخمس ، أو سبع ، ولا تشبهوا بصلاة المغرب . انتهى . قال الدارقطني : إسناده ثقات انتهى .

Al-Dar al-Qutni narrates on the authority of Abu Hurairah (Radhiyallahu Anhu) that Rasulullah (Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam) has said, “Do not perform with three rakats, and perform it with five rakats or seven rakats, and do not resemble it with Maghrib Salah.  Al-Dar al-Qutni said this chain of narrations is reliable.

However, there are many Ahadith stating that Witr is of three rakat.  Ulema have explained this Hadith to mean that do not perform witr with only three rakat, but offer additional (nafal) prayers before it.  It is preferable to perform optional prayers before offering the prayers of witr.  If two rakah nafal is offered then it will make the total five.  If four are offered then the total will become seven and so on.  In this Hadith the word ‘witr’ is used on for the nightly prayers and not the term normal taken for witr.  The word ‘witr’ being used for the complete nightly prayers is found common in Ahadith.  For example Imam Tirmidhi in his Sunan narrates:

عن أم سلمة قالت كان النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم يوتر بثلاث عشرة ركعة فلما كبر وضعف أوتر بسبع  (الى قوله) قال إسحق بن إبراهيم معنى ما روي أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم كان يوتر بثلاث عشرة قال إنما معناه أنه كان يصلي من الليل ثلاث عشرة ركعة مع الوتر فنسبت صلاة الليل إلى الوتر وروى في ذلك حديثا عن عائشة واحتج بما روي عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه قال أوتروا يا أهل القرآن قال إنما عنى به قيام الليل يقول إنما قيام الليل على أصحاب القرآن

Umme Salamah said, “Nabi (Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam) used to perform witr thirteen rakat.  When he became old and weak he performed seven.”  Ishaq ibn Ibrahim states that the meaning of ‘Nabi (Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam) performed thirteen rakat is that he used to perform thirteen with witr.  The nightly prayers are attributed as witr.  It is also narrated on the authority of Aisha (Radhiyallahu Anha), and he takes as a proof from what is narrated, that the Nabi (Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam) has said, “Perform witr, O people of Qur’an.”  He states, it means the nightly prayers. Verily the nightly prayers are incumbent upon the people of Qur’an.

Imam Abu Dawood narrates in his Sunan:

عن عبد الله بن أبي قيس قال قلت لعائشة رضي الله عنها بكم كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يوتر قالت كان يوتر بأربع وثلاث وست وثلاث وثمان وثلاث وعشر وثلاث ولم يكن يوتر بأنقص من سبع ولا بأكثر من ثلاث عشرة

Abdullah ibn Abi Qais said I asked Aisha (Radhiyallahu Anhu) “With how many rakat did Rasullah (Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam) perform his witr? She replied, “He used to perform witr with four rakat and three rakat, with six rakat and three rakat, with eight rakat and three rakat, with ten rakat and three rakat.  He never used to perform witr less than seven and never used to exceed more than thirteen (Also narrated by Tahawi in his sharh al-a’thar and Imam Ahmed in his Musnad.)

From the above narrations, it can be seen that the term ‘witr’ does not always comes in  specific meaning of witr salah, but is also used for the complete night prayer.

فاتأويل الصحيح هو الذى اشار اليه الطحاوى فى “شرح الآثار” بقوله: كره افراد الوتر حتى يكون معه شفع اه . وقال بعد ما روى حديث عائشة : قالت كان الوتر سبعا او خمسا والثلاث بتيراء اه فكرهت ان يجعل الوتر ثلاث لم يتقدمهن شئ حتى يكون قبلهن غيرهن انتهى قول الطحاوى اى ندب الى الصلاة قبل الوتر و اقلها شفع واحد فتكون خمسا او ارتع فتكون سبعا او ست فتكون تسعا هكذا كما ندب الى الصلاة قبل الفرائض بعمله الا المغرب فانه لم يندب الى الصلاة قبله فالمراد من الوتر ههنا الاعم من الوتر المصطلع و من صلاة الليل (ال قوله)

وبقى ههنا امران : الاول ان المراد بالوتر فى هذا الحديث صلاة الليل كله مع الوتر المصطلح… والثانى ان المراد بالسبع والتسع واحدى عشر ركعة ثلاث ركعات الوتر مع اربع او ست او ثمان قبله  (نصب الراية مع حاشيته بغية الالعى فى تخريج الزيلعى 2:115 دار القبلة للثقافة الاسلاميه)

And Allah knows best

Wassalam

Ml. Ehzaz Ajmeri,
Student Darul Iftaa

Checked and Approved by:

Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Darul Iftaa, Madrassah In’aamiyyah

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