Recently there were strong talk on a satire insult by certain parties towards the mufti of Perak S.S. Tan Sri Dato' Seri Dr. Haji Harussani bin Haji Zakaria . It is a string of his views and comments related to the term “rape in marriage” according to Islam given last year. However, the parties involved in the organization of the awards program has been criticized by various quarters whether they are political parties or non-governmental bodies. They strongly condemned the actions of insulting the mufti and religious institutions such as the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) and the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) in a program called Aiyoh Wat Lah! . itu.
However, there are certain individuals who took the opportunity to attack subtly by blaming the Perak Mufti by saying that they also oppossed the “Intelectual Insult” award given to him. In a web page http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com a preacher said the Perak Mufti should be more careful in quoting the hadith in order to prevent the community from perceiving Islam in a negative manner.
"As human, Harussani should not be insulted for his mistakes, but because the mufti is not careful of his own action, it is difficult to deny the award of Ayoh Wat Lah! it, "he said.
Based on the statement, this is a completely baseless allegation that could lead to libel. This is because he mentioned that the hadith referred to by the S.S. Mufti when defending the rights of the husband in a sexual relation, is a dhoif(weak) hadith . Whereas when the hadith is thoroughly examined, there are hadiths that have the same content with different narration which is rated as sohih. For example a hadith narrated by Zayd ibn Arqam:
لا تُؤدِّي المرأةُ حقَّ ربِّها حتَّى تؤدِّيَ حقَّ زوجِها ولو سألها نفسَها وهي على ظهرِ قتَبٍ لم تمنَعْه
Meaning: A woman will not be (completely) fulfilled her rights until she has completed the right of her husband, and if he (the husband) asked her (to have sex) on top of Qatbi (saddle on a camel) she (wife) (should) not refuse.
The hadith above is rated as sohih by al-Albani in his writings Sahih al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib(1943). There is also other related hadith that is considered hasan sohih by al-Albani in Sahih al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib and is also found in Sahih Ibn Majah (1515). Ibn Hibban also assess the relevant hadith as hasan sohih in Sahih Ibn Hibban (4159).
Based on the science of hadith, though a hadith is classified as dhoif, the standard is raised to a hasan lighoirihi if there are other hadiths that support (same contents but differ in lexicon) the path or road (turuq) which is narrated differently, provided the hadith referred to is of the same or stronger status than the quoted hadith. So the question that arises now is why are they saying that the hadith quoted by the S.S. Perak Mufti is dhoif? Why not refer it to a hasan sohih or even a sohih hadith? Allah SWT has commanded His servants to avoid prejudice by saying the following:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِّنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ ۖ وَلَا تَجَسَّسُوا وَلَا يَغْتَب بَّعْضُكُم بَعْضًا ۚ أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَن يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ ۚ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَوَّابٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Which means: "O ye who believe! Shun much prejudiced, because some prejudiced act is a sin. Do not find fault with others and do not some of you of each other. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would loathe it. And fear Allah. Allah is Relenting, Merciful "
[Al-Hujurat : 12]
Therefore, we, as Muslims, who acts as Islamic preachers should be careful in making any assessment or statement, especially in matters relating to Islam and its legal resources that we are not among those who are prejudiced.
In conclusion, the hadith quoted by S.S. Perak Mufti is from a hadith which is sohih and that emphasizes the obligation to fulfill the rights of the husband by the wife. In this hadith, the Prophet was delivering a message in the form of parables as a confirmation of a wife to obey her husband. What is worrying is some party only focus on what is expressed in this hadith alone but what is more important is the message to obey her husband. And Allah knows best.