In the name of Allah most
gracious most merciful
Assalaamu alaykum
warahmatuallahi wabarakatahu
The Qur’an is the word of God
which was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and
preserved both verbally and in writing by his Companions. Apart from the
Qur’an, whatever the Prophet uttered or did was also preserved by the
Companions. Thus the Sunnah includes the sayings of
the Prophet (peace and
blessings be upon him) known commonly as hadiths (i.e., sayings), his
practices, and actions which gained his approval. Both
the Qur’an and the Sunnah fall
under a common title wahy (revelation or inspiration); the difference between
the two is that the Qur’an is a
revelation which is recited (matluw) in the formal prayer (salah) while the Sunnah is not recited in the formal prayers. The importance of the Sunnah as
the second source of Islam is
covered in Chapter 2.
First of all, we will
establish that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) not only received
the verses of the Qur’an from God, but he also
received other revelation from time to time which is now preserved in the form of hadiths. The following examples show how the Qur’an itself refers to
this revelation:
1. God Almighty commanded the
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to face the Ka`bah in Makkah in his
daily prayers instead of Jerusalem:
[We see the turning of thy
face to the heavens: now shall We turn thee to a Qiblah that shall please thee.
Turn then thy face in the direction of the
Sacred Mosque; wherever ye
are, turn your faces in that direction.] (Al-Baqarah 2:144)
But why was the Prophet (peace
and blessings be upon him) facing Jerusalem before that? The preceding verse
shows that God Himself had appointed
Jerusalem as the initial
qiblah for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
[And we appointed the Qiblah
to which thou wast used, only to test those who followed the Messenger from
those who would turn on their heels (from the
Faith).] (Al-Baqarah 2:143)
The appointment of the
previous qiblah is referred to as being in the past. But there is no verse in
the Qur’an which commands the Prophet (peace and
blessings be upon him) to face
Jerusalem at the beginning of his mission! Therefore, the Prophet (peace and
blessings be upon him) must have received
this guidance from God in a
form other than the Qur’an. As we have said above, this alternative revelation
is preserved in the Sunnah.
2. In Surat At-Tahrim, a
certain incident is cited:
[When the Prophet disclosed a
matter in confidence to one of his wives, and she then divulged it, and God
made it known to him, made known (to her) part
thereof and passed over part, she said, “Who told you this?” He said, “He told me Who knows and is well-acquainted (with all things).”] (At-Tahrim
66:3)
We must consider carefully the phrases “God made it known to him” and “He told me Who knows and is well-acquainted.” The question is, how did God make
it known to him and tell him?
Certainly not via the Qur’an, since there is no mention of it anywhere else in
the Book of God. Therefore, the Prophet
(peace and blessings be upon
him) must have been told via revelation from God which is not part of the
Qur’an.
3. In Surat Al-Hashr, a
reference is made to the expedition against the rebellious Jewish tribe of Banu
An-Nadir, during which the Muslims cut down
some palm trees and left
others alone.
[Whether ye (O Muslims) cut down the tender palm trees or ye left them standing on their roots, it was by leave of God, and in order that He might
cover the rebellious
transgressors with shame.] (Al-Hashr 59:5)
Here, their action is attributed to the “leave of God” given to them. Nowhere in the Qur’an is such permission found. Hence God guided the Prophet
(peace and blessings be upon
him) in this matter but not via the Qur’an.
4.According to Surat
Al-Qiyamah, verses 17–18, God took it upon Himself to collect the Qur’an. The
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) directed
the scribes of the Qur’an to
arrange its surahs in the order found today; this is not the order in which
they were revealed. Therefore, since this was
God’s responsibility, it shows
that He guided the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with respect to
the order of the surahs.
These are just a few examples out
of many which leave no doubt that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)
used to receive revelation from
God either directly or through
the medium of the Angel Jibreel (Gabriel). A part of this revelation was
preserved word for word under the title of the
Qur’an. All other revelation
was embodied either in the Prophet’s sayings or in his practices, which were
carefully preserved by the Companions as the
Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad
(peace and blessings be upon him).
The Mother of the Believers
`A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) was once asked, “What was the
character of the Prophet?” She replied, “His
character was nothing but the
Qur’an.” Thus the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was an embodiment
of the Qur’an itself: Whatever he practiced
or said, i.e., the Sunnah, is
related to the guidance of the Qur’an. Let us explore the role of the Sunnah in
relation to the Qur’an.
1. The Sunnah explains
Qur’anic injunctions in detail.
a. God says in Surat Al-Baqarah
2:43 [Establish prayer and pay zakah]; and many similar verses also exist. All
issues related to the prayer, such as
the required number of daily
prayers, the number of prayer rak`ahs and the recitation in each prayer, as
well as how to perform the prayer from
beginning to end, are
explained by the Sunnah. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said,
“Pray as you have seen me pray” (Al-Bukhari).
b. Similarly, all issues
related to the poor due (zakah), such as the minimum amount on which zakah
becomes payable, the percentage paid, the
kinds of wealth, goods, and
animals on which zakah is obligatory, etc., are clearly expounded by the Sunnah
of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon
him).
c. Again, a detailed picture of
fasting and Hajj can only be seen in the Sunnah, for the Qur’an has touched
upon both subjects briefly.
d. Almighty God says in Surat
Al-Ma’idah:
[As to the thief, male or
female, cut off his or her hand—a punishment from God by way of example for their
crime. And God is exalted in Power, Wise.]
(Al-Ma’idah 5:38)
The Sunnah explains the
minimum of stolen goods for which a thief deserves this punishment, and the
manner in which the hand should be cut off.
e. To reject the Sunnah, as some
misguided “Muslims” advocate, will render the whole Qur’an open to a hotchpotch
of interpretations inspired by the
individuals’ whims and
desires, which often come from the devil. For example, someone who does not
accept the practical demonstration of formal
prayer given by the Prophet
(peace and blessings be upon him) will make a mockery of salah by doing it in a
way suitable to his wishes. But how can a
Muslim worship God, if he does
not know the way in which God wants to be worshiped?
2. The Sunnah can establish a specific meaning when
a number of meanings are possible.
a. God Almighty says:
[It is those who believe and
confuse not their beliefs with zhulm that are in security, and they are on
(right) guidance.] (Surat Al-An`am 6:82)
Imam Al-Bukhari relates that some of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took the word zhulm in its general meaning, “to
do injustice, to do wrong, to
sin.” So they were troubled and said, “Which of us has not done wrong?” The
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)
relieved them of this worry by
explaining that zhulm here means “to commit shirk” (to associate partners with
God in worship or belief or both; idol
worship; polytheism), as in
Surat Luqman:
[Indeed, worshiping others
besides God is great injustice (zhulm).] (Luqman 31:13)
b. Almighty God says in Surat
At-Tawbah:
[Those who hoard gold and
silver and spend it not in the Way of God,announce unto them a most grievous
penalty. On the day when it will (all) be
heated in the fire of hell, and
with it will be branded their foreheads,their flanks, and their backs.]
(At-Tawbah 9:34)
The Arabic word kanz means a
hoard, big or small. So this verse seemingly dooms a person who hoards any
amount and does not spend it in the way of
God. With this meaning in
mind, `Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) questioned the Prophet (peace and
blessings be upon him) about this verse,
to which he replied that once
the poor tax (zakah) which is due on the hoarded amount is paid, it is no
longer considered as kanz (reported by Ibn
Majah).
3. The sayings of the Prophet explain some historical events in detail since they are mentioned only briefly in the Qur’an.
a. God says in Surat Al-Anfal:
[Behold! God promised you one
of the two (enemy) parties, that it should be yours; ye wished that the one
unarmed should be yours, but God intended to
justify the Truth according to
His words and to cut off the roots of the unbelievers.] (Al-Anfal 8:7)
Which two parties are meant? Which of them is unarmed? From books of Hadith we learn the relevant details about the Battle of Badr, which is the
incident referred to in the above verses.
b. In Surat At-Tawbah, we read:
[(God turned in mercy) to the
three who were left behind.] (At-Tawbah 9: 118)
Who were these three people, and why did they remain behind? Again, the books of Hadith explain this.
c. Surat `Abasa begins with
these words:
[He frowned and turned away,
because there came to him the blind man.] (`Abasa 80:1–2)
Who frowned and turned away, and
why? Who was the blind man? The details are furnished by the books of Hadith.
4. The Sunnah can specify
exemptions from a general injunction.
a. In Surat An-Nisaa’, the
share of children in inheritance is given:
[God directs you as regards
your children’s inheritance.] (An-Nisaa’ 4:11)
The Prophet (peace and
blessings be upon him) explained that the Muslim child of a disbeliever, the
non-Muslim child of a Muslim, and the murderer
of his/her own father cannot
inherit.
b. The Qur’an declares the flesh
of a dead animal and blood as prohibited (Al-Ma’idah 5:3). The Prophet (peace
and blessings be upon him) exempted
fish and locusts from the term
dead flesh and the liver and spleen from blood.
5. The Sunnah can deduce a similar injunction in an analogous case.
a. In Surat An-Nisaa’, God
says:
[Prohibited to you are ... two
sisters in wedlock at one and the same time.] (An-Nisaa’ 4:23)
The Prophet (peace and
blessings be upon him) declared that to marry a woman as well as her aunt in
the same wedlock is also prohibited.
b. Alcohol is declared
unlawful by Almighty God (Al-Ma’idah 5:93). The Prophet (peace and blessings be
upon him) extended the prohibition to
anything which is intoxicating
in large doses, even if it is taken in a small quantity.
6. The Prophet (peace and
blessings be upon him) gave additional injunctions in a number of issues.
One of the many duties of the
Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)
was to tell the believers what is lawful (halal) and what is unlawful
(haram) (Al-A`raf 7:157). For
example, he prohibited the flesh of donkeys,dogs, beasts with canine teeth, and
birds of prey. He also made gold and
silk haram for Muslim men, but
halal for Muslim women.
Allah knows best.