Popular Hadiths During Islamic Celebrations and Occasions in Malaysia and Its Implication: An Analytical Critical Study

Abstract

The aim of this study is to compile ?ad?ths on the virtues of the two festivals, ??d al-Fi?r and ??d al-A???, and two Islamic occasions, the birth of Prophet Muhammad ? and the night of Ni?f al-Sha?b?n, and to critically analyse their propagation on the internet. To achieve this, the researcher employed the descriptive method to explain the Islamic festivals and occasions celebrated in Malaysia. Subsequently, the researcher adopted the critical method in retrieving and retracing the narrations related to the two festivals and two Islamic occasions, which are propagated in the media, to determine their status based on the mu?addiths views on their chain of narrators (sanad) and text (matn). It is found that most of the ?ad?ths concerned are acceptable, be they authentic (?a???) or good (?asan), and a small number of them are rejected due to being weak (?a??f), extremely weak (?a??f jiddan) or fabricated (maw???). The researcher then analysed the implications of the propagation of such narrations among the Muslim society in Malaysia and their underlying reasons. This study also summarises some issues in relation to the sciences of ?ad?th (?ul?m al-?ad?th) associated with the topic and presents statistics of the narrations and their classifications in terms of acceptability - ?a??h, ?asan, ?a??f or maw???. On the basis of collecting and analysing these narrations, the study concludes that specific procedures must be adhered to in order to ensure that not all narrations, particularly those of which their status are not clear, are merely accepted. This study is limited to analysing narrations and verifying the sources in relation to the two festivals and two Islamic occasions mentioned and does not delve into the discussions and commentaries surrounding them.