Why Traditions Are Mandatory for Every Muslims

-A Refutation

By Yousef Al Shamsi

In reply to "Why Traditions Are Mandatory for Every Muslim

Dear Sir I have your your article on answering-islam's site about the authority of hadith & I felt the need to reply to your statements & claims (note what you wrote Will be in Red,Quranic Verses will be in blue)

In the Name of God most Gracious most Mercifu

I, a Christian, had just finished recounting certain traditions of dubious distinction to a young Muslim convert. He looked at me incredulously and stated, "Well, I don't believe in the hadith, only the Qur'an!"

This is your first sign of dishonesty(which is evident at the bottom of the article) I,as a Muslim, believe that intention is very important in fact I should conclude that this whole article was based on dishonest intentions but I shall continue

Rather than deal with the second most important written documents in Islam, there is a growing tendency to simply dismiss the traditions.

Really?& whom made it important might I ask? God himself or the little self made gods (please refer to Quran chapter 9 verse 31) There is absolutely no mention of Hadith or Sunnah of Muhammad in the Quran in fact the times the word Sunnah or Hadith appears it clearly condemns taking other hadiths or Sunnah than that of the Quran

"Or do they say:he has forged it.Nay!they do not believe.Then let them bring a 'Hadith' similar to it if they are truthful (52:33-34)

"In Which Hadith,then,after it,will they believe? (77:50)

"And who is more true in giving Hadith than God?" (4:87)

"in which Hadith would they then believe in after this? (7:185)

"This is not a 'Hadith' which could be forged...." (12:111)

"And of men is he who purchases vain 'Hadith' to lead astray from God's path without knowledge" (31:6-7)

Should we not concentrate on the weaknesses of the Qur'an with regard to its historicity as an ancient document

Thats because (& you know fully well) the only document that makes Quran historicaly weak are the Traditions

This is a most intruiging pyramid especially since the Quran makes no such claim of it (read above verses)

What makes this entire subject so intriguing is that the shari`a and the sunnah (virtually the entire
religion of Islam) are not built solely upon the Qur'an, as one might suppose, but upon the traditions!

Oh really?wow we should've told that to God when he declared the Quran as the only source of law shouldn't we?

If one can clearly and logically argue that the traditions, as a whole, are illogical, corrupted, and in many cases simply ludicrous, the entire structure cracks and crashes completely.

Not at all especially since this pyramid has no basis with the Quran at all The historical,scriptural & logical reliability(a 300 year old chinese whisper?!) of hadith have been proven weak time & time again by some great writers like Mr Kassim Ahmed.

THE QUR 'AN NEEDS INTERPRETATION

Of course it does but who gives this interpritation?(see Chapter Al Rahman verse 2)

It is God that interprates the Quran

"Do not move your tongue with this(Quran) to make haste with it........Again on US(devolves)the explaining of it (75:16-19)

We can find answers to any questions we might have by reading the other verses.

I'll give you an example by quoting Mr Kashif Ahmed's brilliant work "The Authority of the Quran"

*Begin Quote*

TAFSEEL (DETAILS) OF ANNOYANCE IMPARTED TO MOSES BY HIS PEOPLE:

Although his people should have been grateful to Moses for bringing them out of the bondage of Pharoah, but instead of expressing their gratitude they used to say:

"They said: ‘We have had (nothing but) trouble both before and after thou came to us."(7:129)

They were given heavenly sustenence in the form of Man wa salwa, but they rebelled even at that and said to Moses:

"O Moses! we cannot endure one kind of food (always).." (2:61)

While passing through a habitation they observed some people being dedicated to the service of idols, and seeing this they asked Moses, a messenger of God who had always taught them not to bow down before anyone except Allah, that:

".. O Moses! Make for us a god as they have (their) gods He said: Surely you are a people acting ignorantly." (7:138)

When Moses went for communion with Allah for a few days, they started worshiping the calf. (see 20:86). When they were told to maintain a certain type of behavior while entering a city, they deliberately acted insolently (see 2:58-59). When Moses directed them to have belief in Allah, they told him:

"O Moses! We will not believe in you until we see Allah manifestly.." (2:55)

When God instructed them through the agency of Moses to slaughter a calf in order to purify them from the false sanctity they had developed due to the worship of idols, they gave numerous excuses, the details of which are given in (2:67-71). Moses asked them to enter the Holy land which was written for them, but instead they again started making excuses and replied:

"..go therefore you and your Sustainer, then fight you both surely we will here sit down." (5:24)

This was the attitude and insolent behavior that the people of Moses demonstrated in front of their messenger, and it was because such annoying behavior that Moses was compelled to say:

"And when Moses said to his people: O my people! why do you annoy me? And you know indeed that I am Allah's messenger to you.."(61:5)

And he thus implored God:

"He said: My Sustainer! Surely I have no control (upon any) but my own self and my brother; therefore make a separation between us and the nation of transgressors."(5:25)

Hence it is by bringing forth the above mentioned narratives of the Children of Israel, the Believers in the Qur’anic message were instructed:

"..Be not like those who annoyed Moses.." (33:69)

The reader can see how clearly and without any vagueness the Qur’an has listed the annoyance that the people of Moses had imparted to their messenger, and the manner in which the meaning of verse 33:69 is clarified in the Qur’an itself. But against this the books of traditions attribute the following narration to the person of the messenger, to demonstrate his explanation of the divine Book. While considering the Tradition given below, it should be kept in mind that the messenger was to give the Tafsir of the Qur’an by repetition of verses, and explained the Qur’an by the Qur’an itself, as stated in 6:104.

It is stated in Sahih Al-Bukhari:

"It has been narrated to me by Ishaq bin Ibraheem, as Ruh bin Ubadah told us, from Auf who was informed by Al Hasan, Muhammad and Khilas, that he narrated from Abu Hurraira who said that, Allah's Apostle said, "(The Prophet) Moses was a shy person and used to cover his body completely because of his extensive shyness. One of the children of Israel hurt him by saying, 'He covers his body in this way only because of some defect in his skin, either leprosy or scrotal hernia, or he has some other defect.' Allah wished to clear Moses of what they said about him, so one day while Moses was in seclusion, he took off his clothes and put them on a stone and started taking a bath. When he had finished the bath, he moved towards his clothes so as to take them, but the stone took his clothes and fled; Moses picked up his stick and ran after the stone saying, 'O stone! Give me my garment!' Till he reached a group of Bani Israel who saw him naked then, and found him the best of what Allah had created, and Allah cleared him of what they had accused him of. The stone stopped there and Moses took and put his garment on and started hitting the stone with his stick. By Allah, the stone still has some traces of the hitting, three, four or five marks. This was what Allah refers to in His Saying: "O you who believe! Be you not like those Who annoyed Moses, But Allah proved his innocence of that which they alleged, And he was honorable In Allah's Sight."33/69- (Sahih Bukhari Volume 4 Hadith 616)

The readers are urged to carefully examine the above narration in which a mighty messenger of God is humiliated in front of his people, and the Qur’anic repetitions pertaining to the subject. The guile of the people who forged this tradition should also be observed, as to how they absolved themselves from this fictitious tale, by cleverly attributing it to the person of the messenger of Allah (p), thus taking advantage of the immense love and respect that the Muslims have for him in their hearts in order to insert their forgeries within the house of Islam.

While the Qur’an has informed us that the messenger imparted knowledge of Allah’s Book by giving its explanation as occurred within the passages of the Book itself, can we consider the story given in the above tradition to earnestly come from the messenger?

To any person who sincerely seeks to ascertain the meaning of the Qur’an it will be apparent that passages of the Qur’an explain and comment each other, and are not dependent on any outisde source for their exegesis. Although many Modern day translators of the Qur’an are also marred by traditional preconceptions in their work, but they have also realized this fact, and have acknowledged that the Qur’an is its own ‘Tafsir’.

*End Quote*

Although the Koran contains a wide variety of religious teaching and a number of specific rules ... it is obvious that so small a book could not supply all the specific directions needed for the Muslim community.

That is incorrect The Quran has all we need for Islamic teachings

"And we have revealed the Book to you which has the clear explinarion of everything,and a guidance & mercy & good news for those who submit" (16:89)

"And complete are the words of your Susyainer with truth and justice;there is noone who can change his words,and he is the hearing,the knowing" (6:115)

".....nothing have we omitted from the Book." (6:38)

"And Certianly We have brought them a book which We have detailed with knowledge,a guidance and a mercy for a people who believe." (7:52)

"Thus do We make the revelations distinct for a people who reflect"(10:24)

Secondly, a dictionary of Islam In discussing how the interpretation of the Qur'an came about, the
earliest Muslims approached it in the following manner. Notice that the author makes a point about
the Qur'an's lack of details

Also notice how the exact same author brings no proof(scriptural or historical) at all of his wild accusations

Shafi` in his Risâla explains that there are prescriptions in the Kur'ân, the general form of
which was only made precise in the Sunna

First Imam Shafi' misquoted & twisted Quranic meanings so much I really doubt we can believing anything he says

But leaving that aside the lack of insignifigent details in the Quran does not make it undetailed it just makes it flexible

Same with its lack of laws.Law making in Islam is decided by Shura(mutual consulation)which is very flexible because the structural laws of Quran can remain unchanged(cause they are accesible for all times) but other laws are limited by space time & place (hence a mutual consulation)

Finnally matters that hadith give punishments for(like drinking alchohol) for but the Quran doesn't mention is because these are religious not legal matters & there is no compulsion in matters of religion!!

Readers of the Qur'an will perceive that the laws which govern Muslim custom (sunna)
in these everyday affairs are adumbrated there, but they will look in vain for the details
which make these customs into formal rites and rules of behavior.

No 2 people are alike, everyone have their own likes & dislikes in everyday life.These "formal rites" are left to what a person feels is correct(provided it does not go against Quranic teachings) as for rules of behavior I shall explain that a little further down God willing

The Qur'an, for example, contains no single comprehensive code of personal or commercial or social conduct, though there are several passages which suggest codes in embryo

This is an interesting point to bring up First of all I must ask:What is morality? You might say that it is not to steal,rape,cheat,kill,lie,backbite, make wild accusations ect..

I say :Fine but these are all mentioned in the Quran(especially chapter 49 which deals with morality in general) but I say again:What about Morality during eating,sleeping,urinating ect...?

Simply put:These are what we(& our society) make of it!For example to eat with your fingers used to be moral in 7th century Arabia but it is a filthy & disgusing habit in modern times.Morality is constantly changing what is moral today does not nessecarily make it moral tommorrow.

Yet the simple fundemental & easy "moral framework" of the Quran is for all places & all times.

A Muslim who insists on following 10th century Arabian culture is simply denying that Islam is for all places of all times.

THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET IS CRUCIAL IN UNDERSTANDING THE QUR 'AN

Is it? I seriously doubt it.Quran is a universal message to man kind not a history text book.

Interestingly, the notion that important people ought to serve as examples is
not unique to Islam

No in fact it is alien to Islam!!

In fact, the pre-Islamic Arabs held the exact same notion: important leaders' lives were to be emulated.

So suddenly what pagan Arabs did is what Muslims should do? I seriously doubt this too

Therefore, the sunnah of the prophet has become indispensable for Islam. How was this conclusion reached?

I would like to know myself how this absurd conclusion has been made

Where would the information come from which was necessary to understand the Qur'an?

This is a strawman argument used by sunnis. The information to understand Quran has been explained Before

The Qur'an did not provide the detailed answers for each situation so
the community concluded

Did they? or did they do as the Quran warned us not to do & started asking questions about details that are insignifigent & could be done by themselves.Oh well they got their answers alright but it resulted in the Barbarisim & decline of the once great Islamic society

[w]here, if not from the same source as the scriptural mouth-piece, who by virtue of that
consummated status had become the revelatory instrument of the divine word and could
therefore be taken as an everlasting index to the divine counsel?

Quite the contrary. to follow the basic structural framework that the Quran gives us is everlasting while narrow minded insignifigent interpritation that the sunnah gives us destroys it.

[a] difficult controversy was resolved by the jurist al-Shafii (died 820), who held that the Sunna of the Prophet alone is authoritative. The same man also held
that Sunna can be legitimately determined only by means of oral reports, or Hadith, that
establish the sayings, doings and approbation of Mohammed

Well that is not surprising since Imam Shafi' basicly invented hadiths but I'll ask again:Who do you listen to?God Almighty or some self appointed god.

... the inner Substance of the Prophet is the hidden fountainhead of Islamic Spirituality .
... emulation of the being called the 'good model' (uswutun hasanah) in the Quran
characterizes the whole program of Islamic spiritual life. His Sunnah is not only a basis
for the Divine Law but is also the model that all those who aspire to spiritual realization
seek to imitate in their lives

Thats an incredibly misleading & false argument:The good example of the prophet as mentioned in the Quran is his unshakable faith in God & his courage while facing unbelievers-not how he drank & urinated!!That useless information since what he did in his private life is not divenly inspired but one of a human following his culture.

Had Muhammad been malasiyan he would've eaten & urinated like a malasiyan & had he been Roman he would've walked & talked like a Roman but he followed Arabic culture because he says Arabian NOT because it was a divinely inspired culture.

What the Hadithists failed to acknowledge however is that the Quran also says that Abraham is a good example to follow(in his rejection of idols) but they didn't make up hadiths for Abraham.

What we have seen thus far is that the Qur'an presents general statements which need interpretation.

No these general statements is a framework for a person's live the "filling" is his natural surroundings & the age he lives in (provided of course it does not contradict the Quran's framework)

The proper interpretation comes from the life of the prophet found in the sunnah.

More false statements what Muhammad did in his private life is none of our buisness in fact the Quran says not to annoy Muhammad yet the hadiths claim the sahaba saw him urinating.Is this truly an action of Muhammad?I certianly think not!

THE TRADITIONS EXPLAIN THE SUNNAH

Fine let it explain the Sunnah cause they are both irrelevent to Islam

(AND QUR ' AN)

False Statement

Imam Al Bukhari only "explains" a handful of Quranic verses & in them we can find tons of errors in them, especially Mistranslations of Arabic words like "hadith" which he translated to mean Music & "Sirat al Mustaqueem(the straight path)" which he (mis)translated as a bridge the thickness of a hair in which hell is under it & heaven is at the other end of it.

Notice, the NEB states that the traditions were a permanent part of the Islamic framework of
authority and complementary to the Qur'an.

Sir I really have to ask what is the point of quoting Sunni scholarly work on hadith.It is illogical for a Sunni to say anything against hadith its like asking Muslims to believe that jesus is lord because a Christian scholar says so.

In modern times, the a uthenticity of Hadith

"In Modern times" is a misleading argument....Critisizim of hadith have always existed since the mutazilite to the Ahlul Quran movement all have been questioning the authority of hadiths since they first appeared

but the `ulam have strenuously resisted these attacks

They most certianly have not! All the Sunni Scholars have acheived is slandering,killing & labelling the opposition.

because a large majority of Islamic social and political institutions
and laws are either based on Hadith

Please read what I have written above

The resistance to enemies of the traditions continues to remain strong because the traditions are so important to the foundation of Islam.

If it is that important why has it ben written 300 years after the Quran declared Islam complete?No it wasn't enough for the scholars they needed a book that gives them whatever they want & dare to declare those who do not follow this book as unbelievers

"What!shall We then treat the Muslims as the Criminals?What has happened to you?How do you judge?Or have you (another) book from which you study?That you have surely therein WHATEVER YOU WANT?" (68:35-38)

Yet, it appears that there is a growing number of ordinary Muslims who consider themselves
orthodox and conservative in spite of their rejection of the traditions

Again how can Sunnisim be orthodox when Hadith appeared 300 years after Muhammad's death?

No quite the contrary the Prophet says (in the Quran) time & time again that he follows Quran & nothing else & urges people to do the same

"Say (O Muhammad):God is sufficient as a witness between me and you & whoever has knowledge of the book" (13:43)

"I follow naught but what is revealed to me;;surely I fear,if I disobey my Sustainer,the punishment of a mighty day." (10:15)

"God is witness between you and me;and this Quran has been revealed to me that wuth it I may warn you and whomever it reaches." (6:19)

or many it brings visions of repression and barbarism. For Muslims, it is merely the anticipated result
of following the sunnah of the prophet and the Qur'an.

no... 90% of the so called Islamic law is not even mentioned in the Quran

"..Shariah laws never sanctioned by God..."(42:21)

& it does not "appear" Barbaric it *IS* Barbaric

For, if the Hadith as a whole is cast away, the basis for the historicity of the Qur'an is
removed with one stroke

Quite the contrary can be said since the only reason the Quran has been critisized as historically weak is because of the implimentation of hadiths in Islam.

Tradition (1) Imam Ibn Abi Daood relates from Zaid Bin Sabit, on his own authority - When Ahl-e-Yammama were murdered in large number s Abu Bakr Siddiq (1st caliph) sent for me (Zaid). Omar was also there. Abu Bakr Siddique said that Qarees (those who learn Quran by heart) have been murdered in an enormously large number and it is feared that the Quran shall become extinct. I would advise that the Quran be compiled early. I replied that how could I do a thing which the Rasool himself did not do. But they continued insisting upon it till I agreed. Thus I began a search for the Quranic verses written on places of paper, on stones, on dried leaves of date-palm and also searched for those people who had learnt it by heart, until only one verse, which the Rasool often used to recite, was left and that was also found later.

Tradition (2) Imam Ibn Abi Daood relates from Urwa Ibn Zubair, on his own authority, that when a large number of Q'areez were murdered, Abu Bakr Siddiq feared the loss of the Quran. He thus asked Omar and Zaud bin Sabit to sit at the door of the mosque and collect the Quranic verses from anybody who could produce two witnesses each in support their being genuine.

Tradition (3) Imam Ibn Abi Daood relates from Abd Khair, on his own authority, that he heard Hazrat Ali saying that blessed be Abu Bakr Siddiq who assembled the Quranic verses.

No Prophet no Quran,no Quran no Islam

No that would actually be "No Quran No Prophet no Prophet or Quran yet still an Islam"(since Abraham was a Muslim)

I hope you understand that quoting a Sunni scholar on what he has to say about hadiths is futile since it is illogical for them to NOT say Hadiths have authority

Good day

Yousef Mubarak Al Shamsi

E-mail: yousef15@hotmail.com

HomePage:http://www.oocities.org/Athens/4796/index2.html