The Influence of al-Sahihayn on Popular Hadith Literatures : The Case of Khazinah al-AsrarJalilah al-Adhkar

The compilations of authentic hadith by al-Bukhari (d. 870) and Muslim (d. 875) known collectively as al-Sahihayn serve for the Sunnis as the second highest source of religion after the Quran. The stringent methods in hadith selection and appraisal in these books have contributed to their credibility and reliability as a primary religious source, and many succeeding works attempted to emulate them, though with varying results. Some popular hadith literatures have also utilized al-Sahihayn as their main source of hadith quotation to enhance their status of acceptance, notwithstanding some compromises and modifications. This is particularly the case with a 19th century hadith compilation known as Khazinah al-Asrar Jalilah al-Adhkar by Muhammad Haqqi al-Nazilli (d. 1884). Thus, this paper aims to delve into this topic in further details. It attempts to analyze the role and influence of al-Sahihayn on Khazinah al-Asrar, the extent of compliance of its author with the former, and the overall implication of its extensive methodology on succeeding hadith works, particularly in Southeast Asia.


Introduction
Although the recording of the hadith has started since the lifetime of the Prophet (s.a.w), it was not until a few centuries later that saw the proliferation of organized and canonical hadith collections.These hadith works, organized in written form, aimed to present the corpus of the prophetic traditions in its purest form while distinguishing other forms of traditions and commentaries from the companions and their followers.Thus, for most of the scholars, the third century of Hijrah was known as the golden age of hadith; both in terms of the number of hadith scholars and narrators at that time and the canonical works they produced (Abu Zahw, 1984).
More importantly, two most significant canonical hadith collections were also compiled in this period, namely the Sahihs by Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari and Muslim ibn Hajjaj al-Qushayri.Collectively, their works are known as al-Sahihayn and held by the Sunnis as the second most authentic source of religion and law after the Quran.The stringent methods in hadith selection and appraisal in these books have contributed to their credibility and reliability as a primary religious source as testified by the consensus of the Muslim scholars on the matter (Kamal, 2001).
The credential of al-Sahihayn as a storehouse of authentic hadith has also attracted succeeding authors and scholars to quote hadith from these books and emulate the methods employed in hadith appraisal, though with varying results.For instance, the Mustadrak 'ala al-Sahihayn was specially composed by al-Hakim al-Naysaburi (d.1014) to compile hadith that he believed to conform to the methods of acceptance in al-Sahihayn.Nonetheless, al-Hakim's own understanding on the matter has led him to also include numerous hadiths that are weak and spurious, and this has invited criticism from the community of hadith scholars (M.Mustaqim, 2010).Other similar works include al-Ilzamat by al- Dar al-Qutni (d. 995), al-Mustakhraj 'ala al-Sahihayn by Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani (d. 1038) and many others (al-KhayrAbadi, 1999).These works are considered as primary references in the sense that the hadith contained therein are accompanied by the chains of its transmission of its authors directly to the Prophet.
On the other hand, popular hadith literatures are also found to utilize al-Sahihayn as its source for hadith quotation and organization.Contrary to the primary references, popular hadith works usually contain quotations of hadith in certain aspects of the religion from various sources.The focus is to present the text of the hadith without mentioning its chain of transmission for the sake of brevity.However, due to its conciseness and practicality, these works are usually more popular and widespread amongst the people though not necessarily authentic in terms of the status of its hadith.
In the case of Khazinah al-Asrar in particular, its author intended to produce a compilation of authentic hadith on virtuous deeds relating to the Quran and its verses for the sake of its teaching and practice.In doing so, he has also alluded to al-Sahihayn as a source and model of its composition albeit some modifications and compromises.Its popularity amongst the religious students in the 19 th century cultural milieu of Mecca, particularly those from the Malay World, has seen its use as their main reference for hadith both in terms of teaching and producing subsequent religious works.Therefore, utilizing al-Sahihayn is an effective way to increase the reputation of a popular work by alluding to the authority of al-Bukhari and Muslim and ensure its acceptance amongst the scholarly circle as well.Examples of such works include the collection of forty hadith (Arba'in) and Thus, it is the aim of this paper to delve into this topic in further details.It attempts to analyze the role and influence of al-Sahihayn on Khazinah al-Asrar, the extent of compliance of its author with the former and the overall implication of its eclectic methodology on succeeding hadith works, particularly in Southeast Asia.

Al-Sahihayn: An Overview of Its Method and Organization
In the field of hadith studies, the term al-Sahihayn is also used interchangeably with muttafaq 'alayh and ma rawahu al-Shaykhan, that means, any tradition that is jointly narrated and agreed upon as sahih or authentic by both al-Bukhari and Muslim.It stands at the top of the hierarchy in terms of hadith authenticity and followed by traditions that are only narrated either by al-Bukhari or Muslim individually, and subsequently other narrators and authors of the Four Books of Hadith (al-sunan al-arba'ah) (Hamid, 2001).According to al-Nawawi (2001), the scholars have collectively acknowledged al-Sahihayn as the most authentic source after the Quran, a decision that is also unanimously agreed upon by the Muslim communities.There are many factors that contributed to the prestigious status of al-Sahihayn over the mass corpus of hadith literatures.For the purpose of this paper, only two main aspects are highlighted, which are its criteria of hadith selection and method of organization.
Regarding its criteria of hadith selection, it is important to note that in order for a hadith to be considered as authentic, it must meet the five stipulated criteria as follow: Firstly, its chain of transmission (isnad) must be continuous from the narrator to the Prophet SAW without any broken link.Secondly, all of its narrators must be known as pious and trustworthy (thiqah).Thirdly, they must also be credible and consistent in their memory (dabt).Fourthly, the hadith itself must not contradict another hadith in its content.And finally, it must also be free from any hidden defect that could affect its reliability (al-Khayr Abadi, 2004).
Despite complying with these criteria of hadith acceptance, both al-Bukhari and Muslim transcended other scholars in terms of the extra standards set for evaluating the hadith narrators.It was the practice of al-Bukhari not to accept the hadith of certain narrators if he had doubt on the status of their method of hadith acquisition from a particular teacher even though they are generally testified as trustworthy and credible by other scholars.Similarly, Muslim accepted those narrators doubted by al-Bukhari only when their uncertain status are thoroughly checked and resolved.This can be seen from the case of Suhayl Ibn Abu Salih (d.755) a trustworthy hadith narrator whose hadith was not included by al-Bukhari due to the uncertainty on the status of his hadith acquisition from his father.Muslim on the other hand, accepted the hadith narrated by Suhayl upon verifying from various sources that he had actually received the hadith orally from his father, thus resolving the doubt surrounding his status (al-Maqdisi, 1991).
In addition, it was the practice of al-Bukhari to prefer hadith transmitted by first degree narrators known to profess the highest level of integrity due to their long period of studies with their teachers.On the other hand, Muslim accepted both the first and second degree narrators known to trustworthy as long as they have studied directly with their teachers regardless of the time spent (al-Hazimi, 1991).In a similar manner, al-Bukhari has also stipulated the need for the narrators to have physically met and narrated hadith from one another before their hadith can be accepted, although Muslim is less stringent in this aspect and accepted narrators who lived in the same period of time and had the opportunity to meet one another (M.Mustaqim, 2010).From this, it is clear that the meticulous effort undertaken by al-Bukhari and Muslim to ensure the authenticity of hadith has surpassed the common practice of other scholars, thus earning their al-Sahihayn its undisputed reputation and credibility among the Sunnis.
From the aspect of its method of organization, al-Sahihayn contains hadith on various aspects of the religion befitting its comprehensive nature (al-jami') such as creed, rituals, worship, ethics, advices, virtues of certain individuals, biography of the Prophet, Quranic exegesis, and life after death.These topics are divided into chapters and subchapters according to the content of the hadith.Al-Bukhari spent sixteen years to complete his work, which contains 9,082 hadith with repetitions.His view on jurisprudence and other religious issues can be seen from the titles of the chapters in his work accompanied by quotation of relevant hadith.On the other hand, Muslim, who also learnt from al-Bukhari, has divided the 4,616 hadith in his work into detailed chapters, although he did not elaborate its titles.He also avoided repetition of hadith in his work and sometimes supplemented the main hadith with other lesser degree of authentic hadith (al-KhayrAbadi, 2004).

Muhammad Haqqi al-Nazilli and his Works Khazinah al-Asrar
Muhammad Haqqi ibn 'Ali ibn Ibrahim al-Kuz al-Hisari al-Nazilli al-Aydini al-Makki was amongst the most important Islamic scholars in the 19 th century Mecca.Originally born and raised in Nazilli, a village in the province of Aydin situated in the northwest of Turkey, he later migrated to the Holy Lands to pursue his studies in the religious sciences (al-Sam 'ani, 1988).He spent some time in Madinah to learn before settling in Mecca throughout his life.His teachers include prominent scholars of his time such as Ibn Khalifah al-Madani, Sheikh Sanusi al-Maghribi, Sheikh Sulayman al-Adranawi, Sheikh Sayyid Ahmad Bahir al-Nazilli, Sheikh Sayyid Zayn al-Makki and others.
In creed, he belonged to the Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah school of thought, and in jurisprudence, he followed the Hanafi school.He was also an avid proponent of popular Sufism, particularly the Naqshabandi sect, and known to actively disseminate its teaching amongst his students.It is important to note that most of his students originated from the Malay World who later became respected and important scholars in their native countries such as Abdul Qadir bin Abdul Rahman al-Fatani (d.1864), Wan Ali Kutan al- Kalantani (d. 1913) and many others.In addition, Abdul Sattar al-Dihlawi (d. 1936) from India and Khalifah al-Nabhani (d. 1936) also regarded him as their teacher (Bila, 2006).In 1884, al-Nazilli died and was buried in Mecca.
During his life, al-Nazilli spent his scholarly career teaching and propagating the religious values through Sufism, hadith, jurisprudence and other religious subjects.He had also authored a number of religious works in Arabic, and to date, 13 titles have been identified.Nonetheless, only four titles are found to have been published while the rest are only known by their titles (al-Mu'allimi, 2000).
In the field of Qur'an and its method of recitation, he produced Of all the works listed above, his Khazinah al-Asrar Jalilah al-Adhkar is perhaps the most popular and influential among the Muslims until today.It is also one of his major works in terms of content and stature, and can easily be considered as his magnum opus.According to al-Baghdadi (1955), there are two versions of this work known as major (kubra) and minor (sughra).However, upon further inspection, it is found that the difference between the two versions is inconsequential and relates only to its published editions.The major version refers to the published edition that combines both Khazinah al-Asrar and a work by Ibn al-Jazari (d.1429) entitled, al-Hisn al-Hasin min Kalam al-Sayyid al-Mursalin on its margin, while the minor version is actually its stand alone published edition.
Khazinah al-Asrar was published in Egypt since 1872, and reprinted many times throughout the century such as in 1884, 1887, 1888 and 1892 by various publishing houses in the Middle East.In its 1909 edition by Dar al-Kutub al-'Arabiyyah, it is mentioned that a special editorial committee was set up to verify the text.However, the changes made are only technical in nature and involved the placing of diacritical marks over certain words (Wahyu, 2015).At present, it is widely published in Indonesia and distributed in various Southeast Asian countries including Malaysia.
In terms of content, Khazinah al-Asrar is a popular work on hadith concerning virtuous deeds (fada'il al-a'mal).The topics included in the book emphasize on the Quran, the history of its collection, the virtues of its verses and chapters as well as the rewards for its learning, teaching and other related rituals.Overall, there are 742 hadith of the Prophet (s.a.w) quoted in the book which are divided into 90 chapters and 32 subchapters.Apart from hadith, brief explanations in the form of the sayings of the scholars are also included for added benefits to the readers.

The Influence of al-Sahihayn on Khazinah al-Asrar
In discussing the influence of al-Sahihayn on Khazinah al-Asrar, two main aspects relating to criteria of hadith acceptance and its methods of organization will be used as bases for comparison.However, it should be stressed here that due to its popular nature, isnad is mostly omitted from the book, thus relegating the practicality of comparison with the methods used in al-Sahihayn.Nonetheless, analyzing the source and type of hadith included in Khazinah al-Asrar can reflect the methodological inclination of its author in selecting hadith from the mass corpus of hadith literatures available to him at that time.In this regard, the facets of influence of al-Sahihayn on Khazinah al-Asrar can be summed up as follow:

Al-Sahihayn as the Main Source of Hadith Quotation
In Khazinah al-Asrar, its author has utilized the sources from various aspects of the religion such as hadith, Quranic exegesis, hadith commentaries, Sufism, jurisprudence and others in its composition.However, not all the sources used in the work are mentioned by its author.In fact, his method of citation follows that of the traditional style commonly practiced in the Islamic intellectual tradition which involves the citation of the titles of the work and/or its authors only in a passing manner.In this regard, there are also instances of mistakes and inconsistencies in some of the references mentioned, perhaps due to his dependency on secondary sources.
The hadith sources, which represent the major references for Khazinah al-Asrar, can be further divided into primary and secondary sources.The primary sources included the whole collection of the Six Canonical Books (al-kutub al-sittah), which consist of Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abu Dawud, Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Sunan al-Nasa'i and Sunan Ibn Majah, whereas the secondary sources included other works of hadith in various genres such as Musnad, Musannaf, Mu'jam and others.
With regard to the primary sources in hadith, Sahih al-Bukhari is quoted in 64 places of the book, followed by Sahih Muslim in 59 places, Sunan Abu Dawud (41 places), Sunan al-Tirmidhi (58 places), Sunan al-Nasa'i (32 places), and Sunan Ibn Majah (41 places).This indicates that individually, al-Sahihayn is the most frequently quoted in Khazinah al-Asrar compared to other sources.It is also important to note that the frequency of citation does not necessarily imply similar number of hadith quoted.In fact, many of the hadith are repeated in various places due to its composite content that can fit into various themes and chapters.Thus, in the case of Sahih al-Bukhari, from the 64 places of quotation, only 20 hadith are actually cited without repetition, whereas 35 hadith are sourced from Sahih Muslim.As for the hadith agreed upon and jointly narrated by both al-Bukhari and Muslim, 40 hadith are cited.In total, the number of hadith sourced from al-Sahihayn is 95 hadith (Wahyu, 2015).
Although this might not seem much compared with the total number of hadith contained in Khazinah al-Asrar, it is nevertheless significant considering that most of the hadith relating to the virtues of the chapters and verses of the Quran and other topics presented therein are deemed by hadith scholars as spurious and baseless (Ibn Qayyim, 1994).In this regard, it shows the priority and effort of al-Nazilli to source hadith from its primary references, particularly al-Sahihayn, as the first choice in any given topic of the book, and would only refer to other sources if he could not find it in these books.
In illustrating this point further, it is important to note that whenever possible, al-Nazilli would prefer quotation of hadith from al-Sahihayn as the main content of any topic and place it at the beginning of the chapter.Examples of this can be seen throughout his work, some of which are as follows: The chapter on 'the compilation of the Quran at the time of the Prophet (s.a.w)' (al-Nazilli, 1993: 15) begins with quotation of a hadith from al-Bukhari.Similarly, in the chapter on 'the final checking of the Quran in terms of its reading, writing and others' (al-Nazilli, 1993: 19), hadith from al-Bukhari and Muslim is put at its opening.Other similar instances can also be seen from the chapters on 'the virtues of teacher' (al-Nazilli, 1993: 22), 'the virtues of night prayer' (al-Nazilli, 1993: 36) and many others.The priority given to al-Sahihayn and other primary sources in quoting hadith is in line with the method practiced by the Muslim scholars and reflect al-Nazilli's acknowledgment of the criteria set by the hadith scholars in ascertaining the authenticity of hadith.

Influence on the Organization of Hadith and Ascertaining Its Authenticity
In terms of organization, hadith in Khazinah al-Asrar is divided into chapters and sub-chapters as alluded before.For each chapter, its author has given a specific title that corresponds with its content.Interestingly, frequent utilization of the words 'authentic hadith' is found in its titles of chapters and sub-chapters throughout the book such as, 'chapter on the authentic hadith relating to the virtues of al-Fatihah', 'chapter on the authentic hadith and opinions of scholars on the exegesis of the Verse of Throne (Ayat al-Kursiy)', 'chapter on the authentic hadith relating to the virtues of continuous reading of the chapter of al-Ikhlas day and night', 'subchapter on the authentic hadith on the virtues of the chapter of Yasin and its benefits', and so on.
In this regard, perhaps al-Nazilli hoped to impress his readers on the authenticity of hadith mentioned in each of the chapters in his book by stressing on its status over and over again.Unlike al-Bukhari and Muslim whose reputation in hadith is beyond doubt, al-Nazilli might have realized that the popular nature of his book, his omission of the isnad and the topic that he dealt with could potentially raise some questions on the status of its hadith.Thus, it is only appropriate for him to declare on its status before hand and quote appropriate hadith from al-Sahihayn and other primary sources so as to prove his claim.Not only that, but he also felt the need to stress on the status of certain hadith to reiterate his emphasis on the criteria of ascertaining the authenticity of hadith according to the hadith scholars.In certain instances he uses phrases such as, hadith ittafaqa 'alayh al-Bukhari wa Muslim (hadith agreed upon its authenticity by al-Bukhari and Muslim), 'ala shart al-shaykhayn ([authentic] according to the criteria of al-Bukhari and Muslim), al-riwayah al-sahihah (authentic narration), al-hadith alsahih (authentic hadith), while at other times he uses phrases such as 'the isnad of the hadith narrated by Anas ibn Malik r.a. is continuous (muttasil)', 'a hadith with continuous isnad from Abu al-Darda' r.a.' and others especially to refer to hadith narrated in al-Sahihayn.
However, in analyzing the level of al-Nazilli's compliance with the criteria of hadith authenticity as practiced by al-Bukhari and Muslim, it is found that despite his general acknowledgment of al-Sahihayn as the most credible source of hadith, and his emphasis on authentic hadith in his book, he is not consistent in his methodology.Many a time he would quote hadith and narrations from secondary references, most of which are not verified in terms of their authenticity, as part of his book.More importantly, he also had his own understanding on the concept of authenticity of hadith, which is more inclined towards the methods of the Sufis.In particular, this can be seen from his acceptance of hadith that has no physical isnad solely on the basis of 'unveiling' (kashf) or vision of truth experienced by a Sufi master.Hadith scholars, on the other hand, simply reject personal spiritual experience such as vision of truth, trance and dream to ascertain the status of hadith and insisted on the continuous physical chain of transmission.In this regard, al-Nazilli has diverged from the methods of hadith scholars and proposed his own understanding on the matter.He also emphasized on the verity of accepting weak hadith in the sphere of virtuous deeds especially if it does not contradict with analogical reasoning in jurisprudence (qiyas) (al-Nazilli, 1993: 188).
Perhaps al-Nazilli had to resort to the use of weak hadith to supplement some of the hadith in his book.This is understandable considering the theme of Khazinah al-Asrar and the difficulty of sourcing authentic hadith in these topics as mentioned before.In this regard, he might feel justified to voice out his reason to utilizing some of these hadith and consider them as 'authentic'.Regardless, the eclectic method of al-Nazilli in ascertaining the authenticity of hadith features some compromises between the hadith scholars and Sufis.This resulted in the inclusion of weak and spurious hadith in his book apart from the authentic ones.As can be seen from  (Wahyu et al., 2014).

Conclusion
From the foregoing discussion, it can be deduced the importance of al-Sahihayn and its influence on the succeeding hadith works, both primary and popular, as an exemplary model of authenticity worthy to be emulated and also as a primary source of hadith quotation.
In the case of Khazinah al-Asrar, it has been demonstrated how its author endeavored to integrate al-Sahihayn within the structure of the newly-composed work, despite his own projection on the concept of authenticity of hadith that compromises some of the methods practiced by hadith scholars and Sufis.Khazinah al-Asrar did not attract any polemic surrounding the status of its weak hadith and is generally regarded as a reliable source of authentic hadith.
It is even referred to as main source of hadith for popular religious works produced in modern Southeast Asia, and thought to be reliable, by virtue of its emphasis on the authenticity of hadith and utilization of al-Sahihayn.

Table 1 :
Status of Hadith in Khazinah al-Asrar

Table 1 ,
Mustaqim, 2014)weak hadith and 145 fabricated traditions have been identified.This accounts to almost half of the hadith of the book compared with the authentic hadith as well as the hadith not yet known of its status.It is astounding to note that Khazinah al-Asrar did not raise any skepticism or controversy amongst the scholarly circle of Mecca regarding its content of spurious hadith despite its claim of authenticity.Comparatively, it is important to state here that a similar work on virtuous deeds entitled Lubab al-Hadith and attributed to Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d.1505) caused a controversy surrounding the status of its hadith in the same religious milieu of Mecca at about the same time in the latter part of the 19 th century (M.Mustaqim, 2014).Perhaps, the absence of any direct quotation from al-Sahihayn in Lubab al-Hadith caused the polemic regarding its status compared with Khazinah al-Asrar, in which its author has carefully strategized the use of al-Sahihayn as a source and model of hadith acceptance despite his divergence and compromise on the matter as discussed before.On the contrary, Khazinah al-Asrar was readily accepted as an important popular hadith literature widely used and influential in the scholarly circle of the 19 th century Mecca and also amongst the Muslims in the Malay World.Its omission of isnad, dependence on al-Sahihayn, and emphasis on the authenticity of hadith and others are amongst the important factors that escalated its practicality and credibility as a reliable hadith work.In fact, the role of his students in this matter is of paramount importance.It is through them that Khazinah al-Asrar was frequently cited and made as a source for the succeeding religious works written in Malay such as al-Jawhar al-Mawhubwa Munabbihat al-Qulub by Wan Ali Kutan al-Kalantani and Tuhfah al-Ummah fi al-Salat 'ala al-Nabiy al-Rahmah by Abdul Qadir bin Abdul Rahman al-Fatani.In fact, its influence can still be traced in the popular religious works of contemporary Southeast Asia, mostly through the citation from the works of the students of al-Nazilli, such as Hidup Ibadat by Fadzil Ahmad, Himpunan 110 Solat-solat Sunat, Qiamulail, Doa-doa, Munajat & Istighfar by Ahmad bin Ibrahim and many others.At the same time, the published editions of Khazinah al-Asrar are also readily available in various bookshops in some of the major cities in present day Southeast Asia and used as textbook in religious studies