Types Of Soil

3 Types of Soil Hadith – Why did Abu Hanifah narrate few Ahaadith? – أبو حنيفة

The Prophet compared his TEACHINGS to RAIN-WATER, and he compared people with 3 types of SOIL:

‏ إِنَّ مَثَلَ مَا بَعَثَنِي اللَّهُ بِهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ مِنَ الْهُدَى وَالْعِلْمِ كَمَثَلِ غَيْثٍ أَصَابَ أَرْضًا فَكَانَتْ مِنْهَا طَائِفَةٌ طَيِّبَةٌ قَبِلَتِ الْمَاءَ فَأَنْبَتَتِ الْكَلأَ وَالْعُشْبَ الْكَثِيرَ وَكَانَ مِنْهَا أَجَادِبُ أَمْسَكَتِ الْمَاءَ فَنَفَعَ اللَّهُ بِهَا النَّاسَ فَشَرِبُوا مِنْهَا وَسَقَوْا وَرَعَوْا وَأَصَابَ طَائِفَةً مِنْهَا أُخْرَى إِنَّمَا هِيَ قِيعَانٌ لاَ تُمْسِكُ مَاءً وَلاَ تُنْبِتُ كَلأً فَذَلِكَ مَثَلُ مَنْ فَقُهَ فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ وَنَفَعَهُ بِمَا بَعَثَنِي اللَّهُ بِهِ فَعَلِمَ وَعَلَّمَ وَمَثَلُ مَنْ لَمْ يَرْفَعْ بِذَلِكَ رَأْسًا وَلَمْ يَقْبَلْ هُدَى اللَّهِ الَّذِي أُرْسِلْتُ بِهِ

1- FERTILE SOIL: it ABSORBED rain water and produced vegetation, beneficial for people

2- SOLID SOIL: it did not absorb rain water, but it HELD/CARRIED it, so other people and animals drank from it and stored it for beneficial purposes.

3- INFERTILE SOIL: which neither held water, nor produced any vegetation.

[“Sahih Muslim”, 2282].
https://sunnah.com/muslim/43/16

The scholars said:

The Muhadith is like the SOLID SOIL: he holds/carries the Ahadith, but he cannot deduce rulings from them because he doesn’t absorb it, he is just a carrier.

The Faqeeh (jurist) is like the FERTILE SOIL: he takes Ahadith from the Muhadith, absorbs them, and deduces rulings from them – benefitting people.

Each is useful in its own way – sometimes a person can be both, but it doesn’t have to be.

COMING TO ABU HANIFAH:

Imam Abu Hanifah was a Faqih – he was like the FERTILE SOIL.

He RECEIVED Ahaadith (like rain) – but he did not hold/carry many Ahaadith.

He was surrounded by the scholars of Hadith, as he RECEIVED & ABSORBED Ahaadith – he deduced rulings from them – benefitting MILLIONS of people.

Abu Hanifah’s speciality was not to carry/narrate Ahaadith.

That was not his job.

It’s like blaming a car mechanic for not running the marathon!

That wasn’t his job – he was a Faqih.

Being a Faqih, he already OUTRANKS the Muhadith , just like a doctor outranks a pharmacist.

So he doesn’t even need to compete with a Muhadith – he is already ABOVE that.

And narrating few Ahadith does not mean he only knew little – we only have a few narrations from Abu Bakr, Omar, Uthman and Ali – it doesn’t mean they didn’t know.

The great Muhadith Abdur-Rahman al-Mu’allimee al-Yamani defended Imam Abu Hanifah, saying:

وقلة الأحاديث المروية عنه لا تدل على قلة ما عنده، ذلك أنه لم يتصدى للرواية
“Just because Abu Hanifah narrated few Ahadith, it doesn’t mean he only had access to a few Ahadith. His focus was not on narrating.”