6.4: Hadith Abu-Dawud
- Page ID
- 98534
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Hadith Abu-Dawud (Book 34, Hadith 85)
This hadith relates a story of something that Muhammad said concerning a certain situation – i.e. the way a woman should dress around men she is not related to. This shows us how hadith functions in Islam. While the Quran is the basis of Islam and gives “guidance” about how to worship and live a life of submission to God, there are many areas that can be quite vague and can be interpreted in multiple ways. One of those areas concerns modesty in dress, especially for women. The Quran says that women should “guard their privates” and “protect their beauty”; these instructions could be interpreted in many ways – what exactly constitutes a woman’s beauty? So that’s where Hadith comes in. Muslims combine teachings that Muhammad gave to help them interpret the Quran. So if a Muslim woman has questions about how to dress, she can look at this Hadith to see that Muhammad said a woman should wear clothing covers everything except her face and hands. There is, of course, still room to interpret that differently, and Muslim women have – some may take this teaching to mean simply long-sleeve shirts and long pants or skirt, while others have worn a very loose outer garment over their clothes to ensure that their figure is not on “display” either.
At the bottom of this Hadith you can see the “isma,” or the chain of transmission. There are thousands and thousands of individual hadith, but not all hadith are created equally! Some hadith are considered more reliable than others, meaning that they are more likely to go all the way back to Muhammad. Every hadith comes with a written chain of transmission – this chain of transmission is supposed to lead from the collector all the way back to Muhammad. This particular hadith is called “mursal,” which means that one of the narrators in the chain of transmission is missing. In this case, the person who heard it Aisha and told it to Khalid b. Duraik is unknown. This means that this hadith is considered authentic by some Muslims but not authentic by others.
This hadith also showcases another important aspect of hadith collection, which is the importance of Aisha. Aisha was the last wife of Muhammad
Asma, daughter of Abu Bakr, entered upon the Messenger of Allah wearing thin clothes. The Messenger of Allah turned his attention from her. He said: O Asma', when a woman reaches the age of menstruation, it does not suit her that she displays her parts of body except this and this, and he pointed to his face and hands.
Abu Dawud said: This is a mursal tradition (i.e. the narrator who transmitted it from 'Aishah is missing) Khalid b. Duraik did not see 'Aishah.
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