In the name of Allah most
gracious most merciful
Assalaamualaikum wa
rahmatuallahi wa barakatahu
Any Need for Hadith?
From time to time questions
are raised about the significance of Hadith, as a pretext to reject the Sunnah.
Why should we Muslims attach such importance to Hadith when we already have the
Qur’an, the very word of Allah? Why should we seek guidance in anything other
than it? Dr. Khalid Alvi here
explains the authority and
position of Hadith in Islam.
To deal with this topic it is
necessary to know the position of the Prophet in Islam, because the
indispensability of Hadith depends upon the position of the Prophet.
Analyzing the problem we can
visualize three possibilities:
1. The duty of the Prophet was
only to convey the message, and nothing morewas required from him.
2. He had not only to convey
the message, but also to act upon it and to explain it. But all that was for
the specified period, and after his death the Qur’an is sufficient to guide
humanity.
3. No doubt he had to convey
the divine message, but it was also his duty to act upon it and to explain it
to the people. His actions and explanations are a source of guidance forever.
His sayings, actions, practices, and explanations are a source of light for
every Muslim in every age.
Muslim scholars are of the
unanimous view that only the third point is the correct assessment of the
Prophet’s position in Islam. The Qur’an contains dozens of reminders of the
important position of the Prophet. For instance, the Qur’an says:
[And verily in the Messenger
of Allah ye have a good example for him who looketh unto Allah and the last day
and remembereth Allah much.] (Al-Ahzab 33:21)
According to this verse, every
Muslim is bound to have the good example of the Prophet as an ideal in life. In
another verse, he has been made a hakam (judge) for the Muslims by Allah
Almighty. No one remains Muslim if he does not accept the Prophet’s decisions
and judgments:
[But no, by thy Lord, they can
have no real faith until they make thee judge in all disputes between them and
find in their souls no resistance against thy decisions but accept them with
the fullest conviction.] (An-Nisaa’ 4:65)
While explaining the qualities
of Muslims, the Qur’an says:
[The answer of the believers,
when summoned to Allah and His Messenger, in order that He may judge between
them, is no other than this: They say: we hear and we obey.] (An-Nur 24: 51)
In many places, the Qur’an has
given its verdict on this issue. The Qur’an says, [Obey Allah and obey the
Messenger] (An-Nisaa’ 4:59) and, [Whatever the Messenger giveth you, take it,
and whatever he forbiddeth, abstain from it] (Al-Hashr 59:7).
The Qur’an is very clear in
expressing its view on the position of the Prophet. According to the Qur’an,
the Prophet has four capacities, and he must be obeyed in every capacity. He is
mu`alim wa murabbi (teacher and educator); he explains the Book; he is a judge;
and he is a ruler. In all these capacities, he is an ideal example for the
Muslims. I am quoting a few verses of the Qur’an just to give a hint of this
topic.
[Allah did confer a great
favor on the believers when He sent among them a messenger from among
themselves, rehearsing unto them the signs of Allah, purifying them, and
teaching them the Book and the wisdom while, before that, they had been in
manifest error.] (Aal `Imran 3:164)
[And We have sent down unto
thee the Remembrance that thou mayest explain clearly to mankind what is sent
for them.] (An-Nahl 16:44)
[He commands them what is just
and forbids them what is evil; he allows them as lawful what is good and pure
and prohibits them from what is bad and impure. He releases them from their
heavy burdens and from the yokes that are upon them.] (Al-A`raf 7:157)
[O you who believe! Obey Allah
and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you. If ye
differ in anything amongst yourselves refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if
you believe in Allah and the Last Day.] (An-Nisaa’ 4:59)
[It is not fitting for a
believer, man or woman, when a matter has been decided by Allah and His
Messenger to have any option about their decision. If any one disobeys Allah
and His Messenger, he is indeed on a clearly wrong path.] (Al-Ahzab 33:36)
In all these verses, the Qur’an
has explained various aspects of the Prophet’s personality. One can judge the
importance of the Prophet from these verses. I am reminded of another important
verse of the Qur’an, which is actually a verdict against those who do not
believe in Hadith as an authentic source of law:
[And whoso opposeth the
Messenger after the guidance (of Allah) hath been manifested unto him, and
followeth other than the believer’s way, We shall leave him in the path he has chosen, and shall cause him to endure
hell—a hapless journey’s end!] (An-Nisaa’ 4:115)
The Qur’an, while pressing the
Muslims to obey the Prophet, goes a step further when it announces that the
Prophethood of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is above all the
limitations of time and space. He is the Last Prophet and is a Messenger of
Allah for the whole of humanity for
all time to come. Hadith is
nothing but a reflection of the personality of the Prophet, who is to be obeyed
at every cost.
Any student of the Qur’an will
see that the Qur’an generally deals with the broad principles or essentials of
religion, going into details in very rare cases. The details were generously
supplied by the Prophet himself, either by showing in his practice how an
injunction is to be carried out, or by
giving an explanation in
words. The Sunnah or Hadith of the Prophet was not, as is generally supposed, a
thing of which the need may have been felt only after his death, for it was
very much needed in his lifetime. The two most important religious institutions
of Islam are Prayer and zakah; yet when the
injunction relating to Prayer
and zakah were delivered—and they were repeatedly revealed in both Makkah and
Madinah—no details were supplied.
“Keep up Prayers” is the Qur’anic
injunction, and it was the Prophet himself who, by his own actions, gave
details of the Prayer and said, “Pray as you see me praying.”
Payment of zakah is, again, an
injunction frequently repeated in the Qur’an, yet it was the Prophet (peace and
blessings be upon him) who gave the rules and regulations for its payment and
collection. These are but two examples, but since Islam covers the entire
sphere of human activities, hundreds of
points had to be explained by
the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) by his example in action and in
words.
The scholars have discussed
the question of Hadith in detail as a wahyun khafiy (hidden revelation) and
prophetic wisdom. I do not want to go into details, but one thing must be
stated clearly, that there were cases when the Prophet, not having received a
revelation, made a personal effort to
formulate opinion through his
own wisdom, which was either to be approved or corrected through revelation.
After all, the importance of the Sunnah, even as a second source of Islam, was
a settled issue for the Companions of the Prophet. I quote only one of the many
examples: that of Mu`az ibn Jabal who said to the Prophet that he would decide
according to the Sunnah if he did not find the solution of a problem in the Book.
To quote Dr. Hamidullah:
The importance of Hadith is
increased for the Muslim by the fact that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and
blessings be upon him) not only taught, but took the opportunity of putting his
teachings into practice in all the important affairs of life. He lived for
twenty three years after his appointment as
the Messenger of Allah. He
endowed his community with a religion, which he scrupulously practiced himself.
He founded a state, which he administered as the supreme head, maintaining
internal peace and order, heading armies for external defense, judging and
deciding the litigations of his subjects,
punishing the criminals, and
legislating in all walks of life. He married and left a model of family life.
Another important fact is that he did not declare himself to be above the
ordinary law which he imposed on others. His practice was not mere private
conduct, but a detailed interpretation and
application of his teachings.
(Introduction to Islam, p. 23)