Are the Hadiths Preserved like the Quran?
God assures us that the Quran has His protection and will always be preserved, where no falsehood could ever enter it:
Absolutely, we have revealed the reminder, and, absolutely, we will preserve it.
~ Quran 15:9
No falsehood could enter it, in the past or in the future; a revelation from a Most Wise, Praiseworthy.
~ Quran 41:42
Is there the same protection from God for the hadiths?
A classic question raised by many Muslims yet to learn of the 'knowledge' from their scholars is: "But how can we know which hadiths are authentic and which are the fabrications of man?" Corrupt scholars then go on to explain their intricate authentication system.
But hang on a minute, the fact that this question has to be asked is a problem in itself!
Muslims stand by their hadiths to say that they are preserved just like the Quran, whilst also openly admitting that some hadiths are weak, false and corrupted whereby an entire validation and grading system must be in place!
This is a complete contradiction in itself!!
God clearly defines the term 'preservation' in the Quran to mean that "no falsehood could ever enter it, in the past or in the future."
So we have two options here. Either;
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the hadiths are preserved and no falsehood could ever enter them,
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falsehood has entered the text, meaning it is not preserved from God.
The two just simply cannot be combined. It is not possible for the hadiths to be preserved by God, yet with known falsehood filtered from them! This is a very hypocritical opinion.
So let's take a look into the history of the hadiths and see just how many hadiths were discarded as false.
The number of hadiths collected and attributed to Prophet Muhammed is in the hundreds of thousands, as much as 700,000.
The majority of these hadiths were deemed pure lies and were rejected by the early Muslim scholars who thought they can figure out which hadith is authentic and which is not.
Let us look at some of the famous hadiths collectors and what they collected.
1. Bukhari collected about 600,000 hadiths and accepted 7275 hadiths. He considered 592,725 hadiths to be un-proven hadiths, lies and/or fabrications.
That is almost 99% of what he collected to be fabricated.
2. Muslim collected 300,000 hadiths and only accepted 4000 of them. He refused about 296,000.
That is almost 99% of what he collected to be fabricated.
3. Ahmed Ibn Hanbal chose 40,000 hadiths in his famous "Musnad" from among 700,000 hadiths. In other words he thought 660,000 hadith were un-proven, lies and/or fabrications.
That is 94% of what he collected to be fabricated.
This gives us an idea of just how much corruption is amongst the hadiths.
Now we should understand why God promised to preserve, protect and safeguard His book which is described as the only authentic hadith, the only acceptable hadith and the best hadith.
God assures us that the true believers follow only the best word (39:18). Does the best words contain a mere 1% truth? With nearly 99% of hadiths proven to be false, how can we trust that the 1% is even true?
Peace & God Bless