A question

quirk.

I am not a Muslim but I have been reading alot about Islam recently. I have many questions and hope those on this board may help me in answering them over the coming months.

What I want to ask now is do Muslims have to follow the Sunnah and Hadith? My reason for asking is that as far as I am aware (correct me if i am wrong) many traditions which are followed by Muslims do in fact come from these rather than the Koran. The one that springs to mind is the rule that a Muslim woman cannot marry a Jewish or Christian this not being in the Koran itself. However in the Koran God said "we have not neglected anything in this book" [6:38] From the way I am reading it God himself is saying nothing other than the Koran is needed. So why are Hadith and Sunnah followed so closely?

Wibbs

From what I remember there are Quran only Muslims who don't consider the Hadeeth as reliable or relevant. They would be in the minority though. Interesting question though.

InFront

quirk. wrote:

From the way I am reading it God himself is saying nothing other than the Koran is needed. So why are Hadith and Sunnah followed so closely?

The Qur'an is indeed complete, however that does not mean that it doesn't require any further interpretation or study.

The hadith accomodate this by adding to our understanding of what is contained within the Qur'an. They complement our understanding of the Qur'an and offer guidance on context and interpretation. By outlining how the most virtuous, exemplary Muslim interpreted Qur'an, we elucidate how we ought interpret it in kind.
To put it another way, for the sake of a maths analogy, it's a bit like Eulur's Equation in mathematics, eiπ = -1. That's the equation, complete in itself, but you could write 1000 pages about it if you knew enough, and still have more to say. So the hadith are essentially an expansion upon what is in the Qur'an.

DinoBot

Hi quirk.

Good question. As it was said to me once:

The Quran will tell you to pray but you need to look to Hadith to know HOW to pray.

So I think both 100% are needed, you cant have one without the other IMO

quirk.

Thanks for your answers. Since I wrote the question I have been reading a little more on this subject myself and I came across the following.

in Ahmad Ibn Hanbal as well as in Muslim we find an identical Hadeeth stating "Abi Sa'eed Al-Khudri, may God be pleased with him, reported that the Messenger of God, may peace be upon him, said, 'Do not write anything from me EXCEPT the Qur'an. Anyone who wrote anything other than the Qur'an shall erase it'..."

I also read that there was a ban on writing down Hadith until the end of the first century AH.

Another question I have on this subject is as the Hadith were written by men after the Prophets death (I think) is there a posibility in your own opinions that they could be peoples own interpretation of what the Prophet said/did, or else could they have been changed down the years as they were passed from person to person by word of mouth?

I think in my questions the point I am really trying to get at is how important are Hadith and Sunnah to Muslims and can you be a good Muslim if you do not follow them?

InFront

Hi quirk.

Yes there are people who reject the authenticity of all hadith, and they cite hadith like the one you mentioned. However, for one thing, it is a glaring contradiction to attempt to use a hadith the prove the invalidity of the hadith.
And secondly, and more importantly, that hadith was revealed when the Qur'an was as yet incomplete, and the aim of the command is said to be intended to avoid a mix-up between Qur'an and sayings of the Prophet, peace be upon him, at that time.

the Hadith were written by men after the Prophets death (I think) is there a posibility in your own opinions that they could be peoples own interpretation of what the Prophet said/did

The Qur'an was written down only after the death of Muhammad (peace be upon him), and yet those who reject hadith still claim to follow the Qur'an and don't (I presume) doubt its accuracy.

quirk.

Ok thanks. That just about clears it up. I think.

DinoBot

quirk. wrote:

Ok thanks. That just about clears it up. I think.

To me it sounds like you have something on your mind regarding Hadith. Spit it out man, you wont get your head bitt'n off

quirk.

Nah that does clear it up. Though I'm reading more about it at the moment so I may be back with other questions.

quirk.

InFront wrote:

Yes there are people who reject the authenticity of all hadith, and they cite hadith like the one you mentioned. However, for one thing, it is a glaring contradiction to attempt to use a hadith the prove the invalidity of the hadith.

I don't think it is a contradiction. These are words which Mohamed said not wrote. Now if he said what was actually later recorded maybe he was actually saying nothing else should be wrote down. It would only have been a contradiction if he had wrote down himself his belief that nothing should be wrote down. Maybe the contradiction lies with those who did write the Hadith. What are your thoughts?

the_new_mr

Here's my two cents (albeit a little late)

As I understand it, the hadith is required to learn the details of Islam like exactly how to pray, how to perform ablution etc. The hadith were not written down during the Prophet's (peace be upon him) lifetime. From things that I've read, whenever one of the companions would relate something they saw the Prophet do or heard him say, they would start sweating profusely and almost start shaking for fear of saying something wrong. I think that the decision to start recording hadith in books was an attempt later on to prevent these traditions from being lost or mixed up.

Unfortunately, the hadith are not all authentic and you can't be 100% sure of their authenticity like you can with the Quran. I've done a bit of research on the subject myself and I came to the conclusion that there are some hadith that must have made it through okay (like how to pray) but there are, unfortunately, others that were fabricated by enemies of Islam or altered through human error.

There are some verses that show that the Prophet Mohamed's (peace be upon him) clarification on some matters is required. For example:

An-Nisa:59
"O you who have attained to faith! Pay heed unto God, and pay heed unto the Apostle and unto those from among you who have been entrusted with authority; and if you are at variance over any matter, refer it unto God and the Apostle, if you [truly] believe in God and the Last Day. This is the best [for you], and best in the end."

Ibrahim:4
"And never have We sent forth any apostle otherwise than [with a message] in his own people's tongue, so that he might make [the truth] clear unto them; but God lets go astray him that wills [to go astray], and guides him that wills [to be guided] -for He alone is almighty, truly wise."

The "make clear" bit being significant here.

Al-Ahzab:21
"Verily, in the Apostle of God you have a good example for everyone who looks forward [with hope and awe] to God and the Last Day, and remembers God unceasingly."

Having said all that, I think you have to be wary of hadith as you read them on the internet or in books and go off and try your best to find out about their authenticity. Unfortunately, contrary to popular belief, not all hadith in Sahih Al-Bukhari and Sahih Al-Muslim are actually sahih (authentic) and the level of authenticity is rarely mentioned when a hadith is quoted (I'm a little guilty of that myself although I try not to quote any hadith I'm not sure about).

quirk. wrote:

can you be a good Muslim if you do not follow them?

I've asked myself this question before and still don't have an answer so I'd rather not hazard a guess.

Finally, the point of a Muslim woman not being allowed to marry a Christian or a Jew is in fact mentioned in the Quran as far as I know. In one verse, God says that marrying a non-Muslim person (male or female) is not allowed:

Al-Baqara:221
"And do not marry women who ascribe divinity to aught beside God ere they attain to [true] belief: for any believing bondwoman [of God] is certainly better than a woman who ascribes divinity to aught beside God, even though she please you greatly. And do not give your women in marriage to men who ascribe divinity to aught beside God ere they attain to [true] belief: for- any believing bondman [of God] is certainly better than a man who ascribes divinity to aught beside God, even though he please you greatly. [Such as] these invite unto the fire, whereas God invites unto paradise, and unto [the achievement of] forgiveness by His leave; and He makes clear His messages unto mankind, so that they might bear them in mind."

Later, one of the final revelations of the Quran reveals that it's okay for a Muslim man to marry a non-Muslim woman but doesn't specifically say it's okay for the other way around as it had before.

Al-Ma'ida:5
"Today, all the good things of life have been made lawful to you. And the food of those who have been vouchsafed revelation aforetime is lawful to you, and your food is lawful to them. And [lawful to you are], in wedlock, women from among those who believe [in this divine writ], and, in wedlock, women from among those who have been vouchsafed revelation before your time -provided that you give them their dowers, taking them in honest wedlock, not in fornication, nor as secret love-companions. But as for him who rejects belief [in God] - in vain will be all his works: for in the life to come he shall be among the lost."

God knows best.

Also, I understand that the situation might be different for a Christian or Jewish woman who converts to Islam whilst being married to a Christian or Jewish man since she's already married. God knows best.