The Trap of Modern Samaritans over the Hadith with the Highest Number of Witnesses
The Trap of Modern Samaritans over the Hadith with the Highest Number of Witnesses In Islamic literature, the historical event that witnessed the highest level of testimony—meaning companion ( sahaba ) participation—is undoubtedly the Farewell Pilgrimage ( Wada' Hajj ). What our Last Prophet (may peace and blessings be upon him in full submission) left behind as an inheritance to his ummah during this immense gathering of tens of thousands of companions lies at the very center of debates regarding the source and reliability of the religion. However, when it comes to the written sources in our possession, this "inheritance" emphasized in the Farewell Sermon—delivered before such a vast crowd—exhibits deep discrepancies in terms of both chain of narration ( sanad ) and textual content ( matn ). This situation makes it necessary to open up a discussion on the structural problems of hadith history and the mindset of modern "Samaritans" who attempt to add human te...