On the authority of Abu Thalaba al-Khushani Jurthoom ibn Naashir (may Allah be pleased with him): On the authority of the Messenger of Allah (Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him) who said, “Verily, Allah, the Exalted, has prescribed the obligatory deeds, so do not neglect them.
He has set the limits, so do not go beyond them. He has forbidden some things, so do not violate them. And He has been silent about some things, out of mercy upon you and not out of forgetfulness, so do not seek after them.” A hasan hadith recorded by al-Daaraqutni and others.

General Comments About the Hadith: This hadith is a weak hadith. Therefore, there is no need to discuss it in detail. However, it should be pointed out that the commentators on this hadith do not take this hadith at face value. In other words, they do not say that every deed concerning which Allah was silent must be permissible or cannot be asked about or researched. There are many acts possible today that are not mentioned in the Quran or sunnah while it is clear that they could not possibly be permissible or it is equally clear that the ruling for them needs to be researched. For this reason, the scholars gave a number of different explanations for the last part of this hadith, “And He has been silent about some things, out of mercy upon you and not out of forgetfulness, so do not seek after them.” AlBaitaar has summed up the three different possible explanations as follows:

(1) The prohibition was something particular for the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him). As was discussed in the commentary to Hadith Number 9, there was a general prohibition of asking the Prophet (peace be upon him) concerning matters that were not yet discussed in the Quran and sunnah.
(2) A second interpretation is that the prohibition is for all times but it is particular with respect to the kinds of research and questioning prohibited. It is only with respect to the difficult, detailed, impractical or irrelevant questions. These are the types of matters that one should not ask about. In general, they do not affect a person’s actions and may lead to confusion more than anything else.
(3) The third interpretation is that the prohibition is with respect to the general masses only and not with respect to the scholars. The laymen may get into heated debates and discussions without any fruitful results. They are not the people who should be debating or discussing the issues that are not clearly discussed in the Quran and sunnah. This role is left to the scholars only. It is the scholars’ job to research such questions and then to give their conclusions and rulings to the general people.

It should also be noted that this hadith is used by the Dhahiris (Literalists) to support their contention that analogy is not valid and that one must follow the apparent meaning of the texts only. Nonetheless, this is a weak hadith and, therefore, cannot be used to support their contention. In addition, there are many other clear evidences that support the use of analogy and so, even if one assumes that this hadith is authentic, one would be forced to interpret it in such a way that it does not forbid analogy.

It is also said that he was present at the Baiat al-Ridhwaan (the oath of allegiance concerning which Allah declared His pleasure in verse 18 of surah al-Fath) during the treaty of Hudaibiyah. During the civil strife that broke out among the Muslims, near the end of Uthmaan’s caliphate and afterwards, Abu Thalaba remained away from all of the controversy and did not take part in any of the fighting. He lived in Greater Syria. He died in the year 75 A.H. while he was in prostration during the late-night prayers. Forty hadith have been narrated on his authority.

Summary of the Hadith:
• The conclusion was that this is a weak hadith. Therefore, there is no need to analyze it or understand it in detail.