I said to Aisha, “O mother of the believers, tell me about the character of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him.”

Aisha said, “Have you not read the Qur'an?”

I said, “Of course.”

Aisha said, “Indeed, the character of the Prophet of God was the Qur'an.” https://twitter.com/Evollaqi/status/1262025612581052417

To add to the quoted tweet, no text can carry meaning in and of itself, but only against a particular backdrop of understandings and instantiated in particular practice.

For the Qur'an, those understandings and practices are that of the Prophet ﷺ.

As understood and lived by the original Muhammadan community, the Sahabah, and then transmitted to us via isnad and 'ijma.

The Qur'an and Sunnah shouldn't be understood as two distinct things, the Sunnah a "partner" alongside the Qur'an.

Rather, the Sunnah is the instantiation of the Qur'an, that by which it carries meaning, and accordingly that by which we can understand and live the Qur'an.

Alongside this 'aqli case for the Sunnah, here are some Qur'anic verses which seem to be pointers in favour of it (1/2):

2/2 (although this might be an expanding collection):

There's also the fact the the isnads by which the Sunnah was transmitted, the principle of 'ijma and "blockchain" by which the Sunnah was verified and interpreted, and the Sunnah's communal content are integral to the marvel which is Sunni unity: https://twitter.com/Evollaqi/status/1261106074922496001?s=19

The 'emergent order' structure of Ahlus Sunnah w'al Jumu'ah is appealing to: https://twitter.com/Evollaqi/status/1255513213120188418?s=19

We should also bear in mind that originally the Qur'an wasn't written down.

It was oral, transmitted mouth to mouth, deed to deed, heart to heart - starting with the Prophet saw, the walking Qur'an. 1/3

There is no Qur'an independent of the Prophet saw, and therefore there is no Qur'an independent of his Sunnah - and there is no Qur'an independent the asanid. 2/3

And to reiterate, without isnad and 'ijma - just like without Law and Sunnah - everything and nothing could be claimed to be "Islamic".

The Qur'an, its meanings, its instantiation, and the content and unity of Islam are impossible without Sunnah. 3/3

More Qur'anic pointers

As Sh Abdal Hakim Murad puts it: https://twitter.com/Contentions/status/1264344865070088192?s=19