The intended audience of
this post is not one who does not believe nor has not interest in believing
that the Qur'an was spoken by the very God, ALLAH, who created the universe,
and everyone and everything in it, and who alone deserves submission,
obedience, dependence, and worship. Similarly, the one who believes in the
validity of the Qur'an, but doubts the authenticity of all hadeeth, believing
that they are not credible references to the words and teachings of the prophet
Muhammad, peace be upon him, will also not appreciate this; however, if someone
in the latter category can be convinced of the authenticity of what has been
preserved of the Sunnah in Hadith, by virtue of what ALLAH has said in the
Qur'an, then this person will have benefitted, InshaALLAH.
ALLAH has said in his
book:
{ من يطع الرسول فقد أطاع الله}
This means in
English, “He who obeys the Messenger has indeed obeyed Allah . . .”
(an-Nisa'a 4:80).
This statement of ALLAH
among others is enough for the one who accepts all of the Qur'an. The one who
accepts the Qur'an should also accept that the book of ALLAH comes with the clarification
that everything the prophet, peace be upon him, taught about the
religion was something revealed to him by ALLAH. The Most High has
said,
{ وما ينطق عن الهوى إن هو إلاّ وحيٌ
يوحى}
Which means,
"Nor does he speak of (his own) desire. It is only a Revelation
revealed” (al-Najm, 53:3-4). The apparent meaning of which is that
whatever he teaches of religion, be it the Qur'an or otherwise, is something he
was told by ALLAH through the Wahi (revelation). A noteworthy concept is that
all Qur'an is Wahi, but not all Wahi was Qur'an. The difference between the two
is that the Qur'an is what ALLAH said himself in Arabic, verbatim, whereas the
other Wahi are general rulings and lessons, but not explicitly ALLAH's speech,
but none the less, ALLAH is the source. Allah has said,
{فلا وربك لا يؤمنون حتّى يحكمُّوك فيما
شجر بينهم ثمّ لا يجدوا في أنفسهم حرجاً مـمّا قضيت ويسلموا تسليم}
which means in English
"But no, by your Lord, they can have no Faith, until they make you
[Muhammad] judge in all disputes between them, and find in themselves no
resistance against your decisions, and accept (them) with full submission"
(al-Nisa'a, 4:65), and ALLAH has said more in the same chapter regarding this.
Recall that the Qur'an is complete, and ALLAH will judge by all that is in it,
for or against all people's actions since he revealed it to his prophet, peace
be upon him. It can then be understood, that Allah would preserve what he
instructed his prophet to teach. ALLAH said about his book,
{إِنَّا
نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ}
Which means in English,
"Surely, We have sent down the reminder, and We will most surely be its
guardian" (al-Hijr, 15:9). The apparent meaning here is that ALLAH will
guard his speech in a perfect way, and mankind has witnessed no change in what
ALLAH said in the Arabic language since it came to the earth over 1400 years
ago. Similarly, because ALLAH ordered mankind to make the prophet a judge of
their affairs, it must be understood that ALLAH will also preserve the Sunnah
such that men can maintain it to a certain degree of authenticity; scholars
of Hadith have taken this initiative for centuries, and the later muhadithoon
have always refined the work of their predecessors.
It should be understood
now that the Qur'an and the Sunnah is to be used as guidance. The ones who best
understood these texts are the first three generations of Muslims. This
teaching comes from prophet.
عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ عَنْ النَّبِيِّ
صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ "خَيْرُ
النَّاسِ قَرْنِي ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ يَلُونَهُمْ ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ يَلُونَهُمْ ثُمَّ
يَجِيءُ مِنْ بَعْدِهِمْ قَوْمٌ تَسْبِقُ شَهَادَتُهُمْ أَيْمَانَهُمْ
وَأَيْمَانُهُمْ شَهَادَتَهُمْ "
Abdullah ibn Mas’ud
reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The best
people are those of my generation, then those who come after them, then those
who come after them. Then, there will come people whose witness will precede
their oaths and whose oaths will precede their witness.”
(Sahih al-Bukhari 6065,
Sahih Muslim 2533;Grade: Muttafaqun Alayhi (authenticity
agreed upon) according to Al-Bukhari and Imam Muslim)
There is much more to this
topic than what has been stated here. Readers are implored to seek proper
understanding, and success is only from ALLAH.
