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السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

If you study Arabic grammar seriously, you will eventually come across this question:
Can the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ be used as evidence to establish grammatical rules OR must grammar rely only on the Qur’an and early Arabic poetry?

This is a topic the giants of Arabic scholarship have debated and understanding it is important.

Why This Question Matters (The Core Issue)

Arabic grammar was built to preserve meaning and protect revelation from distortion.
So the question was necessary:

Is the wording of hadith reliable enough, in every case, to serve as a foundation for linguistic rules?

The scholars answered this in three distinct approaches.

1. The Permissive Scholars:

Among them:

Ibn Mālik
Ibn Hishām al-Anṣārī
al-Suhaylī
al-Badr al-Dammāmīnī

Their position:

They allowed grammatical reasoning using hadith.

Their arguments:

Some hadith are precisely transmitted in wording, not just meaning.
Hadith is a source of Sharīʿah so why shouldn't it be a legitimate Arabic source?
Many early grammarians used prophetic phrases implicitly, even if they didn’t always cite them explicitly.

Bottom line:
If the wording is sound, the Arabic is sound.

2. The Restrictive Scholars:

Among them:

Abū Ḥayyān
Ibn al-Ḍāʾiʿ
Abu Hayyan's student: al-Suyūṭī

Their concerns:

Narration by meaning was widespread, especially early on.
Many narrators were non-Arabs, and linguistic slips occurred.
Early founders of grammar like Sībawayh did not rely on hadith as a primary source.
Canonical hadith collections were not fully stabilized during the earliest grammatical period.

Bottom line:
Grammar needs linguistic certainty and hadith doesn't fit that.

3. The Balanced Position: “Yes—but With Conditions”

This view became the middle path.

Hadith may be used if:

The exact wording is established across multiple chains.
There is no significant variation suggesting narration by meaning.
The argument depends on the wording itself, not just the ruling. (meaning these specific wording in the hadith is what make it important)

Hadith should be avoided if:

The narrations show clear lexical variation.
A narrator is known to be unreliable in precise wording.
The linguistic form is unstable.

Bottom line:
Not every hadith; only the linguistically firm ones.

A Personal Reflection

At first, I didn’t understand why this discussion even existed.

In my mind, the logic felt simple: If the Prophet ﷺ said it, how could his words not be proof in Arabic? The question felt almost uncomfortable - as if raising it bordered on blasphemy.

But the more grammar I studied, the more I realized that the scholars were not debating the Prophet ﷺ at all. They were debating transmission - the people who transmitted it to us.

Final Takeaway

Arabic grammar is not guesswork.
Reverence does not replace methodology.
The Qur’an remains the highest linguistic authority.
The Sunnah is honored but handled with scholarly rigor.

And that balance - between devotion and precision - is what defines real ilm.

Not every disagreement weakens knowledge. Some disagreements protect it.

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في امان الله.