Assalamu Alaykum,
format_quote Originally Posted by
Axhmed
Thank you for the reply. Yes, looks like he strongly opposes Hadiths, and he has given his reason from the Q'uran. For instance, in Chapter 5, he talks about the history of Hadiths and the Q'uranic verses which talk about Hadiths. When I read Q'uran 31:6-7 and 45:6-7, which he has stated in that Chapter, I got goosebumps. I didn't know earlier that the Q'uran talks about the false nature of Hadiths.
What the author is doing is merely playing with words and making up interpretations. Anyone who rejects the authority of the Hadith is not following the Qur'an.
Hadith literally means an item of news, conversation, a tale, a story or a report. In both the Qur'an and the teachings of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, the word Hadith has been used in this literal sense to refer to a religious communication, a story of a general nature, a historical story and a current story or conversation. Let's look at some examples:
(a) Usage of the word Hadith to mean religious communication/message/the Qur'an:
So leave Me with [the matter of] whoever denies this Hadith [i.e. the Qur’ān]. We will progressively lead them [to punishment] from where they do not know. [Qur'an 68:44]
The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, 'the best Hadith is the Book of Allah...' [Muslim]
(b) Usage of the word Hadith to mean a general story/conversation:
And when you come across those who ridicule Our revelations, do not sit with them unless they engage in a different Hadith. Should Satan make you forget, then once you remember, do not ˹continue to˺ sit with the wrongdoing people. [Qur'an 6:68]
The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, 'One who tries to eavesdrop on the Hadith (conversation) of the people when they dislike his doing so and want to keep away from him, in the Hereafter hot copper would be poured in his ear.' [Al-Bukhari]
(c) Usage of the word Hadith to mean a historical story:
And has the Hadith of Moses reached you? [Qur'an 20:9]
The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, 'Convey (my teachings) to the people even if it were a single sentence, and tell others the Hadith of Bani Israel (which have been taught to you), for it is not sinful to do so. And whoever tells a lie on me intentionally, will surely take his place in the (Hell) Fire.' [Al-Bukhari]
However, like other Arabic words, the word Hadith developed a more specific meaning. From the time of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, his stories and communications dominated all other kinds of communications. Consequently, the word Hadith began to be used almost exclusively for the narration about or from the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.
We can now understand that verses like 31:6-7 and 45:6-7, as quoted by Hadith rejectors, actually have nothing to do with what they claim. All such people are doing is exposing their ignorance of basic Arabic and how terminology is used in different contexts. Moreover, misinterpreting these verses to negate the authority and importance of the Hadith is rejecting the many verses of the Qur'an where Allah سبحانه وتعالى has instructed us to accept what the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم brought, to refrain from that which he forbade, to obey him and to accept his rulings:
And whatsoever the Messenger gives you, take it, and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain (from it) , and fear Allah. Verily, Allah is Severe in punishment [59:7]
Say, "Obey Allāh and obey the Messenger; but if you turn away - then upon him is only that [duty] with which he has been charged, and upon you is that with which you have been charged. And if you obey him, you will be [rightly] guided. And there is not upon the Messenger except the [responsibility for] clear notification." [24:54]
But no, by your Lord (O Muhammad), they have no Faith, until they make thee judge in all disputes between them, and find in their souls no resistance against thy decisions, but accept them with the fullest conviction. [Qur'an 4:65]
There are yet other verses of the Qur'an which show us that the role of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was not only to teach us the Qur'an but also the Sunnah (which is recorded and preserved in the Hadith), referred to as 'wisdom':
Certainly did Allah confer [great] favor upon the believers when He sent among them a Messenger from themselves, reciting to them His verses and purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom, although they had been before in manifest error. (3:164)
The following verse shows how the role of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was to explain the Qur'an to the people:
˹We sent them˺ with clear proofs and divine Books. And We have sent down to you ˹O Prophet˺ the Reminder, so that you may explain to people what has been revealed for them, and perhaps they will reflect. [16:44]
This implies that Revelation needs a guide to show people what it means. The Qur'an cannot be read in any way that you want. This clearly means that the explanations are themselves divinely ordained by Allah سبحانه وتعالى. And that explanation of the Qur'an by the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is recorded in the Hadith.
Let me quote an important example to illustrate the above:Originally Posted by Insaanah
...the Qur'an makes it clear that the Prophet 
received another type of inspiration from Allah, one that was binding on him and his followers.
...And We did not make the qiblah which you used to face except that We might make evident who would follow the Messenger from who would turn back on his heels. And indeed, it is difficult except for those whom Allah has guided. (2:143, part)
We have certainly seen the turning of your face, [O Muhammad], toward the heaven, and We will surely turn you to a qiblah with which you will be pleased. So turn your face toward al-Masjid al-Haram. And wherever you [believers] are, turn your faces toward it [in prayer]. Indeed, those who have been given the Scripture well know that it is the truth from their Lord. And Allah is not unaware of what they do.(2:144)
These verses are in reference to the Muslims facing Jerusalem before the direction of the prayer was changed to Makkah. Allah explicitly states that it was He that appointed that original direction of prayer. However this inspiration and command to the Prophet to face Jerusalem never formed part of the Qur'an. Hence this shows that the Prophet received another type of inspiration/command from Allah, that was binding on him and his followers.
And do not pray [the funeral prayer, O Muhammad], over any of them who has died - ever - or stand at his grave. Indeed, they disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger and died while they were defiantly disobedient. (9:84)
This verse shows us that funeral prayers had already begun to be performed and that the Prophet
used to offer prayers at the burial of the dead before this verse was revealed. Yet there is no verse in the Qur'an that orders the Prophet
and the Muslims to pray specific funeral prayers over the dead. It must be conceded, that the command for the funeral prayer was given to the Prophet
through the sunnah, and that command was binding on him and his followers.
These verses also show, that what the Prophet
established as part of the religion, is approved by Allah...
For a more detailed discussion, please see:
Why do we follow hadeeths? (islamicboard.com)
And when I studied the history of Hadiths, how they were collected, recorded, and disseminated and the contradictions it has, I was blown away by the accuracy of its mention in the Q'uran. Don't you think? He also makes a comparison of the Hadiths to Gemra and Mishna of the Jews. I looked it up and his comparison was accurate.
There is no comparison. By mentioning the Mishnah and Gemara which were compiled centuries later, the author is once again exposing his unfamiliarity with the science of Hadith and even what Hadith means; Hadith is not commentaries provided by scholars, rather it refers to whatever is transmitted from the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم of his actions, sayings, tacit approvals, or physical characteristics or mannerisms. Since the lifetime of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, Muslims started memorising and writing down Hadith which were then transmitted through chains of narrators that can be traced back all the way to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. The subsequent generations witnessed the development of formal ḥadīth criticism and authentication. No ḥadīth would be accepted without its narrators being extensively scrutinized, with their integrity and retention inspected and evaluated alongside other narrators. Moreover, every ḥadīth would be cross-referenced to ensure that it was free from defects or anomalies. The astounding effort that went into the preservation of the ḥadīth corpus leaves us with the utmost certainty that the ḥadīth were accurately preserved.
Dr Jonathan Brown, one of the leading Western Scholars on Hadith literature (who also reverted to Islam after studying hadiths) is reported to have said in a lecture;
“I have never been more impressed with anybody in history in my life than with Muslim ḥadīth scholars. I mean, when I first started studying ḥadīth I was very skeptical, I thought it was all made-up and bogus but the more you study it the more you just appreciate the intense brain power of these people. I mean they memorized thousands and thousands of books and then they were able to recall all the different versions of ḥadīth from these books, and then they were able to analyze them and put them all together and figure-out where they all connect and make judgments about the authenticity of these ḥadīth. I mean even nowadays with electronic databases, and computers and word processing, I have hard time following even their discussions of the ḥadīth - let alone their original mastering that they were drawing on. It's almost unbelievable... It's almost unbelievable, and if you didn't have the books in front of you that they wrote, I wouldn't believe it personally....”
It makes me so afraid as to whether we are making the same errors that the Jews made after the Tora. I am lost. The Muslim scholars are not much of a help to me. That's why, I joined this blog.
The authority of the Prophet ﷺ and the obligation to follow him were not invented by Muslim scholars. Rather, the Qur'ān makes it unequivocally clear that there were two forms of revelation: the Qur'ān and the Sunnah. As mentioned above, it also establishes the role of the Prophet ﷺ as a teacher, legislator and expounder on the Qur'ān.
It was not until the nineteenth century that a movement emerged that rejected the entire corpus of Hadīth and the authority of the Prophet ﷺ. It is inconceivable to think that the whole Ummah got it wrong for numerous centuries until these people emerged. The truth is that the reason why certain people want to reject Hadīth is that they want to free themselves from acting upon the laws of Islam. They do not want to pray, fast, and give charity in the way that Islam has prescribed, and so they attack the authority of Hadīth. Their aim for doing this is obvious. They understand that if the Hadīth corpus is removed from the picture, they can live their lives exactly like the modern secular society. Since they have left Hadīth, they have separated into many sub-sects among themselves, and are extremely confused about how the teachings of Islām should be carried out.
I advise you not to read the works of such people. Instead, find a teacher whom you trust in his knowledge and religion and learn the foundations of Islam from him. Don't allow yourself to be deceived by people pretending to be scholars whilst contradicting and disrespecting the Qur'an itself.
There are numerous threads you can refer to for further information:
Ahadeeth Myths (islamicboard.com)
[General Article] The Status of the Sunnah in Islam
Introduction to the Sunnah
Rules Governing the Criticism of Hadeeth
The Legal Status of the Sunnah in Islam
Understanding the Hadith
Hadeeth Rejectors - Refutations.
The Fallacies Of Anti-Hadith Arguments
[Sectarian Article] The Quranites
Hadeeth Collections from the First Century of Hijra
See also the book by Mustafa al A'zami: Studies in Hadith Methodology and Literature
A different perspective of Al Q'uran
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