The Messenger of Allah ﷺ, in many hadiths, commanded the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) and the general Ummah to obey and follow him, and through his blessed tongue he made clear the importance of his blessed Sunnah. Thus, Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
«كل أمتي يدخلون الجنة إلا من أبي، قالوا : يا رسول الله، ومن يأبي؟ قال: من أطاعني دخل الجنة، ومن عصاني فقد أبي.»
“All my Ummah will enter Paradise except the one who refuses.” The Companions said: “O Messenger of Allah, who would refuse?” He ﷺ said: “Whoever obeys me will enter Paradise, and whoever disobeys me has indeed refused.”
Goodness and well-being lie only in following and obeying the blessed Sirah of the Prophet ﷺ. Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ delivered a sermon, he would say:
«أما بعد، فإن خير الحديث كتاب الله، وخير الهدي هدى محمد، وشر الأمور محدثاتها، وكل بدعة ضلالة.»
“Amma ba’d: The best speech is the Book of Allah, the best way and conduct is the way of Muhammad ﷺ, the worst matters are innovations, and every innovation is misguidance.”
And apart from the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ there is nothing but misguidance. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
«تركت فيكم أمرين لن تضلوا ما تمسكتم بهما أبدا كتاب الله وسنه نبيه»
“I am leaving among you two things; if you hold firmly to them you will never go astray: the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet.”
Allamah Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
من لم يكن يكفيه ذان فلا كفا ه الله شر حوادث الأزمان
من لم يكن يشفيه ذان فلا شفا ه الله فى قلب ولا أبدان
من لم يكن يغنيه ذان رما ه الله رب العرش بالأعدام والحرمان
من لم يكن يهديه ذان فلا هدا ه الله سبل الحق والإيمان .
“Whoever does not find the Qur’an and Hadith sufficient, Allah will let him be struck by the evils of the vicissitudes of time.
Whoever is not cured by the Book and Sunnah, Allah will not grant him healing in heart or body.
Whoever is not made independent of other things by the Qur’an and Hadith, Allah will make destitution and deprivation his lot.
Whoever is not guided by the Qur’an and Hadith, Allah will deprive him of the wealth of truth and faith.”
Sayyiduna Irbad bin Sariyah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Noble Prophet ﷺ said:
«إنه من يعش منكم فسيرى اختلافا كثيرا فعليكم بسنتي وسنة الخلفاء الراشدين المهديين عضوا عليها بالنواجذ وإياكم ومحدثات الأمور فإن كل بدعة ضلالة»
“Whoever among you lives long will see many differences. So hold firmly to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs; grip it with your molars, and beware of newly invented matters in the religion, for every innovation (fabricated matter) is misguidance.”
The hadith and Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ are revelation from Allah. Following it is obligatory upon every Muslim in the same way that following the Noble Qur’an is obligatory. Thus, Sayyiduna Miqdam bin Ma’dikarib (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
«الا اني أوتيت القرآن ومثله معه»
“Beware! I have been given the Qur’an, and along with it, another like it.”
«عن حسان قال: كان جبريل ينزل على النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم بالسنة كما ينزل عليه القرآن.»
“Hassan bin Atiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) reported that just as Jibril (peace be upon him) brought the Qur’an to the Prophet ﷺ, he would also bring the Sunnah.”
The lawful and unlawful declared by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is equivalent to the lawful and unlawful declared by Allah.
«إنما حرم رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم كما حرم الله.»
“Indeed, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ also made certain things unlawful just as Allah made them unlawful.”
Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) relates that some people of Yemen came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said: “Send with us a man who will teach us the Sunnah and Islam.” He took the hand of Sayyiduna Abu Ubaydah (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: “This is the trustee of this Ummah.”
It should be remembered that acts of worship cannot be performed without the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The Noble Prophet ﷺ said:
«خذوا مناسككم»
“Learn your rites of Hajj from me.”
And he further said:
«صلوا كما رأيتموني أصلي.»
“Pray as you have seen me praying.”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
«فمن رغب عن سنتي فليس منى.»
“Whoever turns away from my Sunnah is not of me.”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Whoever denies my Sunnah, upon him is the curse of Allah, my curse, and the curse of every Prophet.”
The saying of the Prophet ﷺ is: “I have left nothing that would bring you close to Allah and distance you from the Fire, except that I have commanded you to it.”
Furthermore, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
«((ما تركت شيئا مما أمركم الله به إلا وقد أمرتكم به، ولا شيئا مما نهاكم عنه إلا وقد نهيتكم عنه.»
“I have not left anything that Allah has commanded you with, except that I have also commanded you with it; and Allah has not forbidden you from anything, except that I have also forbidden you from it.”
Allamah Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) stated in [I’lam al-Muwaqqi’in: 2/307] that the explanation of the rulings of the Sunnah alongside the rulings of the Qur’an has come in three ways:
❀ The rulings of the Sunnah are fully in accordance with the rulings of the Qur’an, so that the Qur’an and Sunnah agree on the same matter, such as the obligation of prayer, fasting, Hajj and Zakat, which are mentioned without their conditions and pillars.
❀ What the Qur’an intended, the Sunnah explained and interpreted these rulings; that is, where the Qur’an spoke in general terms, the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ restricted it; where it stated something briefly, the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ detailed it; or where the Qur’an’s statement is general, the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ specified it. For example, the rulings of prayer, fasting, Hajj, Zakat, and dealings and buying and selling are not fully detailed in the Qur’an; the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has explained them in complete detail.
❀ The rulings of the Sunnah on which the Qur’an is silent, or things which the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has declared unlawful on which the Qur’an is silent, such as his prohibiting the combining of a paternal aunt and her niece, or a maternal aunt and her niece, in marriage at the same time; his ordering the stoning of a married adulterer and adulteress; and his accepting, when two witnesses could not be found, a single testimony together with an oath. Such rulings in no way conflict with the Qur’an; rather, they are additions to the Qur’anic rulings. This too is Shariah, which must be accepted as obligatory, and rejecting it is disbelief. This is neither going beyond the Qur’an nor opposing it, but is exactly in line with the Qur’anic command to obey the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, which is the name of action and faith. The matters the Messenger of Allah ﷺ left aside are also Sunnah. Thus Hafiz Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned two categories of the Companions’ transmission of the Prophet’s ﷺ abandonment (of actions) and said: وُ كِلَاهُمَاسُنَّة “and both are Sunnah.” After mentioning the details and examples of these two categories, he writes:
«فإن تركه صلى الله عليه وسلم سنه كما أن فعله سنة، فإذا استحببنا فعل ما تركه كان نظير استحبابنا ترك ما فعله ، ولا فرق»
“The abandonment of the Prophet ﷺ is a Sunnah just as his action is a Sunnah. So if we consider it recommended to do what he abandoned, it would be exactly like considering it recommended to abandon what he did, and there is no difference.”
Imam Jamal ad-Din al-Muhaddith says:
«تركه صلى الله عليه وسلم سنته كما أن فعله سنته»
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ’s abandoning of a thing or action is also a Sunnah, just as his doing is a Sunnah.”
The Relationship Between the Quran and the Sunnah:
It is impossible to understand the Quran without the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Sayyidina Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
«آن الأمانة نزلت من السماء فى جذر قلوب الرجال، ونزل القرآن، فقرء وا القرآن وعلموا من السنة»
“Trustworthiness descended from the sky into the roots of people’s hearts, meaning it is part of human nature; and the Quran also was sent down (from the sky), which people recited and understood through the Sunnah.”
The Sunnah Explains the Command of the Quran:
First Example:
When the following verse of the Quran was revealed:
الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَلَمْ يَلْبِسُوا إِيمَانَهُم بِظُلْمٍ أُولَٰئِكَ لَهُمُ الْأَمْنُ وَهُم مُّهْتَدُونَ
“Those who believed and did not mix their faith with injustice, for them there is security, and they are the guided ones.”
The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) became greatly worried. So they submitted: O Messenger of Allah! Who among us has not committed any injustice, i.e., sin? The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
«ليس ذلك إنما هو الشرك، ألم تسمعوا ، قال لقمان لابنه: يا بني لا تشرك بالله إن الشرك لظلم عظيم »
“In the verse, injustice does not mean sin, but rather shirk. Have you not heard the advice of Luqman (peace be upon him) to his son: O my son! Do not associate partners with Allah, for shirk is a great injustice.”
Thus, after the explanation of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, the worry of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) was removed.
Second Example:
الزَّانِيَةُ وَالزَّانِي فَاجْلِدُوا كُلَّ وَاحِدٍ مِّنْهُمَا مِائَةَ جَلْدَةٍ ۖ وَلَا تَأْخُذْكُم بِهِمَا رَأْفَةٌ فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ إِن كُنتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ
“Flog each one of the adulterous woman and the adulterous man with one hundred lashes, and let not pity for them restrain you in the religion of Allah, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day.”
This verse prescribes one hundred lashes as the punishment for the adulterer, but it did not clarify whether this punishment applies to a married couple or to an unmarried one. The Hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ clarified that the aforementioned punishment is for the unmarried. For a married person, stoning is obligatory, as is proven by the incident that follows. Sayyidina Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) says:
«قال جاء ما عز بن مالك إلى النبى صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم فاعترف بالزنا مرتين فطرده ثم جاء فاعترف بالزنا مرتين فقال: شهدت على نفسك أربع مرات اذهبوا به فارجموه »
“Ma’iz ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) came before the Prophet ﷺ and confessed to adultery twice. The Prophet ﷺ turned him away. Then Ma’iz (may Allah be pleased with him) came again and confessed to adultery twice. Then the Prophet ﷺ said: ‘You have testified against yourself four times (so he ordered the people): Go and stone him.'”
Third Example:
Allah the Exalted said:
حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَيْتَةُ وَالدَّمُ وَلَحْمُ الْخِنزِيرِ وَمَا أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ بِهِ
“Forbidden to you are carrion, blood, the flesh of swine, and that over which the name other than Allah has been invoked.”
It is narrated from Sayyidina Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
«أحلت لنا ميتتان ودمان، فأما الميتتان: فالجوت والجراد وأما الدمان: فالكبد والطحال»
“Two kinds of carrion and two kinds of blood have been made lawful for us: the two carrions are fish and locusts, and the two bloods are the liver and the spleen.”
In this verse, some forbidden things were mentioned, and carrion is among them. But the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ specified fish and locusts from among the carrion, making clear that these two kinds of carrion are lawful. Similarly, the Prophet ﷺ made the two kinds of blood lawful, so these bloods may also be eaten. Likewise, the carrion of the sea is lawful. It is narrated from Sayyidina Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that:
«سئل عن البحر قال: هو الطهورماءه والحل ميته»
“The Prophet ﷺ was asked about the sea, and he said: Its water is pure and its carrion, i.e., fish, is lawful.”
Fourth Example:
In the Quran, the Divine command is:
قُلْ مَنْ حَرَّمَ زِينَةَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي أَخْرَجَ لِعِبَادِهِ وَالطَّيِّبَاتِ مِنَ الرِّزْقِ
“Say, O Muhammad: Who has forbidden the adornment of Allah which He brought forth for His servants, and the good provisions?”
This verse declared all adornments lawful, but it did not clarify what is lawful for women and what is lawful for men. So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ clarified it. It is narrated from Sayyidina Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ said:
«أحل الذهب والحرير لإناث أمتي وحرم على ذكورها»
“Gold and silk have been made lawful for the women of my Ummah, and forbidden for its men.”
Fifth Example:
The Qur’an says:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا قُمْتُمْ إِلَى الصَّلَاةِ فَاغْسِلُوا وُجُوهَكُمْ وَأَيْدِيَكُمْ إِلَى الْمَرَافِقِ وَامْسَحُوا بِرُءُوسِكُمْ وَأَرْجُلَكُمْ إِلَى الْكَعْبَيْنِ
“O you who believe! When you rise to pray, wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows, wipe your heads, and wash your feet up to the ankles.”
This verse commands wudu, but the manner of washing the limbs, how the head is to be wiped, and how many times each is to be done are explained by the Hadith of the Messenger. Accordingly, Sayyiduna Humran narrates that:
«أن عثمان رضی اللہ عنہ دعا بوضوء فأفرغ على يديه من إنائه فغسلها ثلاث مرات ثم أدخل بيمينه فى الإناء، ثم تمضمض واستنشق واستنثر ثم غسل وجهه ثلاثا ويديه إلى المرفقين ثلاثا، ثم مسح برأسه، ثم غسل كل رجل ثلاثا ، ثم رأيت النبى صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم يتوضأ وضوني هذا»
“Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) asked for water for wudu, poured water over both his hands from the vessel and washed them three times, then he put his right hand into the vessel, rinsed his mouth, sniffed water into his nose and blew it out, then washed his face three times and his hands up to the elbows three times, then wiped his head, then washed each foot three times. Then he said: I saw the Prophet ﷺ perform wudu just like this, as I have performed it.”
Sixth Example:
The Qur’an says:
وَكُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَكُمُ الْخَيْطُ الْأَبْيَضُ مِنَ الْخَيْطِ الْأَسْوَدِ
“Eat and drink until the white thread becomes distinct from the black thread.”
What is meant by the white and black threads mentioned in this verse? The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) could not understand it and faced difficulty, until the Prophet ﷺ clarified that the white thread refers to the day and the black thread to the night. Then the meaning of the verse became clear to the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), otherwise they were troubled. When this verse was revealed, Sayyiduna Adi ibn Hatim (may Allah be pleased with him) placed a white thread and a black thread under his pillow. At the time of suhur he kept looking at these threads closely, and when the difference in colour of the two threads became clearly visible, he stopped eating and drinking. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ learned of Adi (may Allah be pleased with him) ‘s action, he said humorously that his pillow must be very long and wide, since both the night and the day could fit into it. Then he removed Adi (may Allah be pleased with him) ‘s confusion and, explaining the real meaning, said that the black and white threads here do not refer to those, but rather to the darkness of the night and the whiteness of dawn. After this, the words “min al-Fajr” were revealed in confirmation of the Prophet ﷺ’s explanation.
Seventh Example:
The Qur’an states:
وَالسَّارِقُ وَالسَّارِقَةُ فَاقْطَعُوا أَيْدِيَهُمَا جَزَاءً بِمَا كَسَبَا نَكَالًا مِّنَ اللَّهِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ
“As for the male thief and the female thief, cut off their hands as a recompense for what they earned, and as a punishment from Allah. Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise.”
This verse commands cutting off the hand of the thief, but it does not clarify what amount of property makes the cutting obligatory, from where the hand is to be cut, and on what item the hand is not cut. All these matters are clarified by the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Sayyiduna Rafi’ ibn Khadij (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that:
«قال سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول لا قطع فى ثمر ولا كثر»
“I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: The hand is not cut off for fruit or for the kernel of a date palm.”
The command of Allah is:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَذَرُوا مَا بَقِيَ مِنَ الرِّبَا إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ
“O you who believe! Fear Allah and give up what remains of interest, if you are believers.”
This verse prohibits interest, but there is no complete explanation of what interest is, in which items it occurs, when it occurs, and when it does not occur. The answers to all these questions are found in the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Thus the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ explains the Qur’an. The Prophet ﷺ said: Gold for gold, silver for silver, wheat for wheat, barley for barley, dates for dates and salt for salt, must be equal and hand to hand. Whoever gives more or asks for more has engaged in usurious dealing.
