This excerpt is taken from the book of Fazilat-ul-Sheikh Abdul Salam Rustami From Denial of Hadith to Denial of Quran.
Sixth Doubt: Argument from Quranic Verses
The deniers of Hadith present the following verses of the Holy Quran as a prominent and attractive argument against the authority of Hadith. Allah Almighty has said:
وَنَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ تِبْيَانًا لِّكُلِّ شَيْءٍ
"We have sent down to you a Book in which is every kind of explanation."
Reference: (16-An-Nahl:89)
He also said:
وَتَفْصِيلَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ
"There is a detailed explanation in this Book."
Reference: (12-Yusuf:111)
He also said:
وَهُوَ الَّذِي أَنْزَلَ إِلَيْكُمُ الْكِتَابَ مُفَصَّلًا
"He is the One Who has sent down to you the Book, in which there is clear explanation."
Reference: (6-Al-An'am:114)
He also said:
كِتَابٌ فُصِّلَتْ آيَاتُهُ قُرْآنًا عَرَبِيًّا لِقَوْمٍ يَعْلَمُونَ
"A Book whose verses have been explained in detail, an Arabic Quran for a people who know."
Reference: (41-Humazah:3)
Linguistically, the apparent meaning is that the Holy Quran itself is a comprehensive, detailed, and complete book in which everything is explained. No Muslim disputes this point. However, the deniers of Hadith derive from this that to understand and act upon the Holy Quran, we do not need to follow the guidance and explanation of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. The Prophet, peace be upon him, established a righteous society by acting upon the Holy Quran during his lifetime, which was appropriate for the requirements of that time. Now, in our era, like the possessor of revelation, we can establish a suitable society by acting upon the Holy Quran without Hadith. ”كل شيء“ All principles, branches, generalities, and particulars are included in the words of everything. Every issue is present in the Holy Quran.
Answer:
(1) From the perspective of reason and idiom, this argument is completely wrong; details and branches are infinite. There are many books of hadith, tafsir, and fiqh, yet even now such details and branches emerge that their solution is not explicitly found in many of these books. The word ”كل شيء“ is sometimes used in its literal meaning and is called actual inclusion, as stated:
”إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ“
Meaning nothing is outside the power and knowledge of Allah Almighty, but this word is generally used idiomatically for conventional inclusion. As mentioned in the Holy Quran regarding the Torah:
وَكَتَبْنَا لَهُ فِي الْأَلْوَاحِ مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مَوْعِظَةً وَتَفْصِيلًا لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ
"And We wrote for him on the tablets [something] of all things - instruction and explanation for all things."
Reference: (7-Al-A'raf:145)
If the Torah contained the explanation of everything, then what was the need to reveal the Gospel, Psalms, and the Holy Quran afterward? But the meaning is that the essential principles and generalities of the religion of Moses (peace be upon him) were stated in it (the Torah). Similarly, regarding the special miracle of Abraham (peace be upon him), it is said:
ثُمَّ اجْعَلْ عَلَى كُلِّ جَبَلٍ مِنْهُنَّ جُزْءًا ثُمَّ ادْعُهُنَّ يَأْتِينَكَ سَعْيًا
"Then split them into pieces and place a piece on each hill, then call them; they will come running to you."
Reference: (2-Al-Baqarah:260)
If here ”كل جبل“ is taken to mean all the mountains of the world, it is against habit and reason. No human has the ability to reach all the mountains of the world. Here also, some mountains near Abraham (peace be upon him) are meant.
Prophet Shu'ayb (peace be upon him) forbade his people saying:
وَلَا تَقْعُدُوا بِكُلِّ صِرَاطٍ
"And do not sit on every path."
Reference: (7-Al-A'raf:86)
The people of Shu'ayb (peace be upon him) neither sat on all paths nor could they, so in this verse also ”كل“ means some, i.e., the paths near them. Pharaoh ordered to gather magicians against Moses (peace be upon him) with these words:
ائْتُونِي بِكُلِّ سَاحِرٍ عَلِيمٍ
"Bring to me all the skilled magicians."
Reference: (10-Yunus:79)
In this verse, too, "all magicians" does not mean all magicians in the world but only those living in Egypt. Similarly, there are many examples of conventional inclusion in the Holy Quran, so ”وتفصيلا لكل شيء“ and ”تبيانا لكل شيء“ do not mean that all principles, generalities, branches, and details are present in the Holy Quran, but it means that the essential principles and generalities of Islam, sciences and knowledge, and some details are present explicitly, some by indication, some by implication, some in summary, some explained, and some ambiguous. Then, those whose need and importance were greater were explained in the hadith, and the rulings of hadith are actually the rulings of the Quran as previously proven.
(2) Mr. Parvez himself admits that not everything is in the Holy Quran, writing: "Our faith is that the Quran was revealed by God for the guidance of all mankind, and its guidance will remain effective until the Day of Judgment. Obviously, in such a code of life, detailed and branch rulings for every kind of issue and matter could not be given."
Reference: Maqam al-Hadith, p. 242
He also wrote: "Another noteworthy fact is that some rulings are given in the Quran, but in most matters, fundamental guidance is provided. The duty of the divine system is not to provide rulings of these principles but to arrange the details of the principles according to the requirements of circumstances through the consultation of the community of believers."
Reference: Maqam al-Hadith, p. 65
The conclusion is that according to Parvez's thought, not all rulings are in the Quran. The details of branches will be arranged by the consultation of the community of believers (sometimes called the center of the nation). Is the Quran then a detailed explanation of everything? We say that not all rulings are in the Holy Quran, and the details and branches have been explained by Muhammad (peace be upon him). Therefore, the Muslims should consider whether the consultation of the center of the nation and the community of believers will be beneficial and correct, or the explanation and detail of Muhammad (peace be upon him), which is also appropriate for every era. And "and a detailed explanation of everything" is also an example of this.
