Importance of the Sunnah

[Thread]

Wahyi (revelation) in Islam is in two forms, the Qur'an which is the direct speech of Allah, word for word. The other source is the Sunnah of the Prophet PBUH. Both are revelations from Allah but in different forms.

Here are some of the verses that order us to follow the Qur'an & the sunnah:

"O you who believe, obey Allah and His Messenger ... " [Al-Qur'an 8:20]

"Obey Allah and the Messenger and perhaps you will be shown mercy." [Al-Qur'an 3:132]

"Whoever obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah ... " [Al-Qur'an 4:79]

"That what the Messenger brings you and leave what he forbids you ... " [Al-Qur'an 59:7]

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[We sent them] with clear proofs and written ordinances. And We revealed to you the message that you may make clear to the people what was sent down to them and that they might give thought. - [Quran 16:44.]

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"Our Lord, and send among them a messenger from themselves who will recite to them Your verses and teach them the Book and wisdom and purify them. Indeed, You are the Exalted in Might, the Wise." [Quran 2:129].

We see in the previous verses, whenever obedience to Allah is mentioned, it is always followed up with obeying the messenger, rather in some verses, only obedience to messenger is mentioned.

Quran 16:44, mentions that Allah has revealed this dhikr (message) to the Prophet PBUH..

So that he may explain to the people what was revealed. This "explanation" is not a made up explanation, in fact this explanation also has to be from Allah. This explanation of the Qur'an is found in the hadith literature which we call "Sunnah".

In Surah An Najm verses 1 - 7, it states that the Prophet PBUH does not speak out of desire except it is a revelation.

In chapter 2 verse 129, it states "will recite to them Your verses and teach them the Book and wisdom and purify them.". The "wisdom" being taught...

here again, is a reference to the Prophetic tradition. Note the "wisdom" and the "book" are mentioned separately. Both of these things are being taught by the messenger. Clear cut indication that the recitation of the verses, and the teaching of the wisdom are two...

different things as they are mentioned separately. The word "wisdom" here cannot mean the Qur'an as it is something that is being taught with the Qur'an and is mentioned separately. Saying "wisdom" refers to the Qur'an would make the verse redundant. There isn't a need to say...

the term "Qur'an" twice in the same verse. It is clear from the Qur'an that the sunnah of the Prophet PBUH is something that is needed and is obligatory to follow.

We get many critics of the Sunnah who doubt the authority of the sunnah, or simply doubt the preservation of the hadith...

such people have not taken the time to study even the basics of hadith authentication. Some people also reject ahadith due to them finding some hadith problematic and it shakes their faith.

We must realize that the hadith preservation is not something...

that doesn't hold up to the level of the Qur'an. If one's issue regarding the transmission of the hadith was the methodology, then be aware that the Qur'an was transmitted to us the same way ahadith were, through chain of transmitters.

Hadith sciences are in place to examine each and every hadith and today, we know which ahadith are authentic and which ones aren't. We have known this for a very long time.

Another reason ahadith are important because there are many verses in the Qur'an in which...

references are made to certain events and many other things that the person reading the Qur'an would need the context for. This context is provided in the hadith.

Keeping in mind that the reason we know what the Qur'an is and isn't, is because...

the Prophet had to inform the people around him that what he was reciting was in fact the Qur'an.

When the Qur’ān states, “Surely We have revealed the dhikr and We will most surely be its guardian” (Qur’ān 15:9), it includes the Sunnah. The same word, "dhikr" is used...

to describe revelation in Quran 16:44.

We must realize that revelation is not limited to the format of "scripture". This is evident by the fact that many Prophets did not receive revelation in a form of scripture. Indicating that revelation doesn't have to be...

scripture. Revelation can be a form of information, scripture of a combination of both.

The question is, if they both are revelation, why don't we refer to the Sunnah as the "word of Allah?"...

When we say the Qur'an is the word of Allah, we are saying that the Qur'an, in it's essence, word for word, in itt's verbatim, is the speech of Allah. While the sunnah is not word for word verbatim, it is still revelation.

Example of this is, if I tell someone to "Repeat after me" and the person repeats after me word for word, he is reciting my speech. However, if I inform someone "tell everyone I am going to the mall", then this person tells everyone "He went to the mall"...

In the latter, it may not be word for word what I said, but the information is still being relayed, which was given by me.

Similarly, the Sunnah is what explains the Qur'an. It isn't direct speech, but it is revelation from Allah swt.

For more on this, I recommend the following article: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/emadhamdeh/are-hadith-necessary/