Sunnah and the Qur'an
An individual had heard, or read, on several occasions that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) discouraged certain people from keeping written records of his sayings. This led to the question of whether Hadiths were important and whether, one should rely on only the Qur'an for guidance. The following thoughts arose in relation to the foregoing issues.
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While it is possible that the Prophet may have discouraged some people from writing down or keeping Hadiths, this piece of information, to whatever extent it may be true, is, actually, quite illuminating with respect to the issue of Hadith. Naturally, some Hadiths may have been destroyed because they were not accurate or because they were not intended for a general audience.
The first reason noted above for destroying or not perpetuating certain Hadiths forms part of the methodology for any of the compilers (such as Bukhari, Muslim, Da'ud, and so on) of Hadiths - that is, the rule is one should not perpetuate sayings attributed to the Prophet which are not accurate or cannot be verified as such through reliable sources. The fact the Prophet may have had some Hadiths destroyed could be a reflection of this principle at work.
A second reason (i.e., they are not meant for a general audience) for having certain Hadiths destroyed finds support in an incident involving Hazrat Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) who compiled one of the earliest collections of Hadith. More specifically, it is reported that Hazrat Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) once said to another person sitting with him - 'there are two sets of Hadith ... one about which you know, and another, which if I were to tell you about them, you would slit my throat.'
The foregoing words allude to the fact that there were things told to different Companions which were of such a nature that if the wrong sort of understanding were to hear such teachings, the person, or persons, possessing such an understanding would kill the individual who related such hadiths. The understanding of people tends to reject - and, sometimes, violently so, - what is not consistent with what such people believe they knew - irrespective of whether that which they believe they know actually is true or not. Consequently, the Prophet may have had some Hadiths destroyed which touched upon areas that would not necessarily be properlhy understood or well-received by some who might hear such a saying or teaching.
There are instances in which some of the Companions destroyed compilations of Hadiths they had collected during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). For instance, Hazrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) once handed over a collection of some 500 Hadiths to his daughter Hazrat 'Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her). However, the next morning he retrieved this collection and destroyed it indicating that there might be certain things within the compilation which did not accurately reflect what the Prophet said on some given occasion or occasions.
In, yet, another instance, when Hazrat 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was Caliph, he once asked other Companions what they thought about the idea of compiling and codifying a set of authentic Hadiths. All of the individuals to whom he spoke felt the idea was a good one.
Nevertheless, Hazrat 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) continued to reflect on, and pray about, this issue of compilation and codification. Finally, he decided against the plan because he was afraid that since people in the past had a habit of neglecting Revelation and concentrating, instead, on the conduct of this or that Prophet, he did not want to set in motion any precedent which might lead people to give more emphasis to the conduct of the Prophet than to the Divine word of the Qur'an.
The issue for Hazrat 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was not whether Hadiths were, or were not, accurate. Rather, the issue was whether, or not, compiling Hadiths might serve to distract attention away from the importance of the Word of God as given through the Qur'an.
Historical scholarship indicates that at least 50 of the Companions - including Hazrat Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) - had compiled, to one extent or another, collections of the sayings of the Prophet's sayings. If the idea of writing down the sayings and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had been forbidden by the Prophet in some sort of unmistakable, all-encompassing manner, none of these Companions would have even entertained the idea of doing so, let alone have actually compiled such collections. This is especially so in the case of those Companions who were quite close to the Prophet - such as Hazrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and Hazrat Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him).
In the light of the foregoing, we should approach the issue of Hadiths carefully. Among other things, this means we should appreciate some of the concerns which have been issued and outlined above.
Thus, in the case of Hazrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) he was concerned about the accuracy of the Hadiths which he, himself, had collected, and he did not wish to be a source for passing on anything which was in error to subsequent generations. In the case of Hazrat 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) he did not want people to give preferred emphasis to the conduct of the Prophet over that of Divine Revelation. Finally, in the case of Hazrat Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him), he was aware that not all Hadiths were intended for a general audience.
Nevertheless, having said the foregoing, let us examine a few considerations. God willing, these considerations may help place the idea of Hadiths in an appropriate perspective.
Hadiths are the data through which one
can excavate and sift in order to try to
discover the sunnah - or principles of action
- through which the Prophet Muhammad (peace
be upon him) acted. Hadiths give clues - some
more direct than others - about the principles
inherent in the teachings of the Prophet.
Neither the Qur'an nor the Prophet ever said:
'follow the Hadiths.' The directive was to follow
the sunnah or actual actions of the Prophet.
The Qur'an says:
"Say Muhammad: If you love Allah, then, follow
me, so that God may love you." (3:31) ,
and, again:
"So the one who has obeyed the Messenger has
obeyed God." (Qur'an, 4:80)
Thus, it is the Qur'an itself which informs us that
following the Qur'an is not enough. We need to
follow the example and teachings of the Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him).
How is one to do this? The Qur'an provides
a possible clue.
"Say (O Muhammad): This is my way. I call upon God
upon insight - I and whoever follows after me." (12: 108)
Insight, when it is real and veridical with respect to
Divine truth, is a wonderful blessing. However, the
wrong sort of insight can lead one far away from
the straight path even as things are made fair-seeming
to one through the influences of nafs and Iblis:
"... it is not their eyes which are blind, but the hearts
in their breast." (Qur'an, 22:46)
When one has sincere love for, and taqwa in relation
to, the Prophet, then, if God wishes, one is given insight
through which to call upon and to serve God. As the
Qur'an informs us, in Muhammad (peace be upon him)
we have the best of examples.
The example of the Prophet is best illustrated through
what he did, and not just in what he said. The beauty
of the Prophet is most easily understood through
the beautiful nature of his conduct.
Among the actions of the Prophet were:
prayers, fasting, zakat, haj, shahadah,
kindness, patience, honesty, gratitude, nobility,
humility, integrity, forgiveness, tolerance,
forbearance, courage, fairness, dependence
on God, self-sacrifice, preferring others to
himself, perseverance, modesty, love, zikr,
reflection, humor, striving for knowledge,
repentance, taqwa, sincerity, and submission.
If one followed only the actions of the
Prophet and left aside the things which
were reported to have been said, then,
one would be, God willing, in very good
shape. One looks through the Hadiths
to try to gauge how the Prophet was
acting in different situations and what
the principles at work were.
Unfortunately, there are those - who
are all too many - who try to reduce
the Prophet down to what was said -
even if accurate - rather than try to
understand that what was said can
only be understood in terms of the
Prophet as a whole. When the Prophet
said something to someone, was the
information meant only for the individual
or for a particular context or was it
meant to be considered as a universal
prescription that applied to everyone
and for all times?
We don't know what the intention of
the Prophet was in such circumstances
and, therefore, anything which is derived
from such sayings runs the risk of
presumption with respect to claiming
to understand the intention of the
Prophet.
When the Prophet is loving, one does
not have to search for the meaning of
the underlying intention because the
intention is given expression through
the action. The same is true for all
of the other aforementioned actions
of the Prophet.
There are many sayings of the Prophet
which are of a general nature and
can be understood as the espousing
of a general principle of action which
is being recommended for everyone.
For example, when the Prophet said
that one should seek knowledge even
unto China, one understood that the
Prophet was indicating that knowledge
was extremely important and should
be pursued.
But, to what kind of knowledge was
the Prophet referring. Was he talking
about theological knowledge or academic
knowledge or physical knowledge, or
was he talking about that kind of
knowledge which was of direct benefit
to the soul? One has as further clue
to what he meant when one considers
his prayer which indicated: "Oh Allah, if
the day should come in which I do not
seek knowledge which will breing me
closer to Thee, then, may that day be
accursed."
If the Prophet instructed that his
sayings be destroyed, then, perhaps, part
of the reason for doing so - if he did so -
is because he was afraid that people would
turn his words into static idols rather than
treat them as the utterances of a living,
dynamic spiritual emissary of Divinity whose
reality went much deeper than just words.
Perhaps, he was aware there were degrees of
freedom built into what he said that needed
elaboration and which he never had the
opportunity to elaborate upon because the
right question was never asked (indeed,
the Companions, out of respect, asked
very few questions of the Prophet).
For instance, on the occasion of Hajj, a
Companion would come to him and say that
he had done the sequence of rituals for
Hajj in such and such a way, and, the Prophet
would indicate that what they had done was
acceptable. Then, another Companion would
come indicating that he had done things in a
different order, and the Prophet indicated that
such an order was permissible.
The foregoing events happened a number of times,
with a number of different sequences being delineated
by this or that Companion, all of which were deemed
permissible. But, if these questions had not been
asked, and only one way had come down to us,
then, the mullahs would be bery dogmatic in how
things had to be.
At a certain point, there were disagreements among
the Companions about how to recite the Qur'an. When
these disputes were brought to the Prophet, the
Companions learned that the Prophet of God had taught
different people, different ways of reciting the Qur'an -
all of which were correct. Indeed, there are sever major
ways of acceptable recitation of the qur'an with 14 minor
variations on these major themes.
Again, posterity only knows about this because of
disputes which broke out among the Companions
and about which, until asked, the Prophet never
said anything about. So, can one necessarily suppose
that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
ever fully elaborated upon the things he may have
said on any given occasion?
I can remember an occasion in which I asked my
shaykh, Dr. Baig about the issue of how near to
the time of the rising and the setting of the sun
could one say prayers. He seemed to be somewhat
evasive in his answers.
I pressed him on the issue. He became upset with
me to some degree, but he answered my questions.
He was not upset with my impertinence to press him
on an issue which he was reluctant to discuss. He was
upset because in inducing him to answer my questions,
I had foreclosed degrees of freedom for myself.
Before I asked him, if I did something incorrect, then,
I did so unknowingly, and God is most forgiving. After
getting answers from Dr. Baig, I no longer had those
degrees of freedom - now I knew what the correct
parameters were, and if I violated those parameters,
my situation would be different than it had been
previously - before knowledge.
Adam and Eve (may Allah be pleased with them) made
the same kind of mistake in the Garden of Eden. They
pursued an issue from which they had been warned to
stay away, and, when they transgressed the boundaries,
they became responsible for things for which they were
not previously held accountable.
People used to come to the Prophet and confess their
sins and want to know what they should do to make
repentance for what had been done. The Prophet
never encouraged people to do this, and, in fact,
he urged them to confess their sins to God alone
and seek repentance through Divinity - that would
be best and God was most forgiving.
Once knowledge became public, then, the Prophet,
as head of the community, would have to act in
accordance with his public function within the
community as the arbitrator of wrong-doings. As
long as such wrong-doings were kept hidden, then,
people had the opportunity to seek repentance
directly through God rather than having to work
through the judicial system of the community and
be required to be dealth within the confines of
that system, rather than the much broader degrees
of freedom of God's infinite mercy.
People have a tendency to want to read their own
ideas, understandings and limitations into the
words of the Prophet. If we stuck to the actions
of the Prophet, we would all be on a lot safer,
spiritual ground.
Some people try to argue that the verbal utterances
of the Prophet are part of the actions of the Prophet.
For these individuals, the Hadith are equivalent to
the sunnah - some of which encompass physical
actions, and some of which encompass verbal
actions.
The foregoing is an interpretation of what the Prophet
meant when he indicated that those who followed his
sunnah would never go astray. The sad thruth of the
matter is that all too many people have gone astray
through their hermeneutics of some of the Prophet's
words, but anyone who seeks to emulate the actions
of the Prophet along the lines which I have outlined
toward the beginning of this discussion is, I believe,
far less likely to go astray, God willing, than someone
gets caught up in theological exegesis of Prophetic words
- especially, when such exegesis is based only on
supposition and guessing when it comes to the actual
intent of the Prophet in relation to some of the things
which he is reported to have said.
Notwithstanding the foregoing considerations, one
should keep in mind that there are various dimensions
of worship which become known to us only through
the words of the Prophet. For example, the Qur'an does
not give the specifics of either how to say prayers nor how
to do ablution, and, we discover how to do such things
through the Hadith of the Prophet.
Consequently, both the Qur'an and the teachings of
the Prophet are necessary. However, as is true with
respect to the Qur'an, we understand the teachings
of the Prophet through being given insight into
what is being taught and then, in accordance with
the Quranic injuntion, we follow the Prophet on
the basis of such insight and not upon the basis
of invented theologies. As the Prophet is reported
to have said:
"Be careful concerning the vision of a mo'min (one
whose heart has been opened up to ceertain
dimensions of Divinely rooted understanding or
faith - the parenthetical expression is mine, not
that of the Prophet), because such a person sees
by the light of Allah."
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