> Topic of the Rejecters of Hadith ( منكر الحديث ) - Part-1

Question: Shaikh Obaid, we all acknowledge and accept the Quran to be the word of Allah SWT and authority over our matters. There is group of people who reject the authenticity and thus authority of Hadith in general. Recently I came across someone calls himself 'Ahl al Quran' who said we didn't need Hadiths or any book other than the Quran as Allah SWT said in the Quran that He has detailed everything in the Quran and it is sufficient for us, supporting Ayats he quoted were 12:111, 16:89 and 17:12. I asked him how would you determine the words of Adhan if you didn't believe in Hadith, he casually said I would go on the roof and call people to the prayer in my own way ! What do you have to say to clarify on the absurdity of this faction historically referred to as 'Rejecters of Hadith'?

Answer:

Brother Tanweer,

It's a vast topic and we need to break it into separate talks.

The followers of this philosophy call themselves as Quranists ( قرآنيّون )  or people of the Quran ( أهل القرآن‎ ) - we will call them Rejecters of Hadith (منكر الحديث ). It amazes me these so called people of the Quran, not only misinterpret the Quran itself, but at times go against the command of Allah (SWT) by doing so. Rejection of hadith is a serious topic, and therefore, before we go into specific Ayats you referred to, I would like to talk about some basic principles.

The knowledge of Hadith ( علم الحديث‎) is an established study area and many prominent Islamic scholars over the centuries have researched and written volumes to promote and further it. To paint all hadiths with one broad brush as  unauthentic is an unjust oversimplification. There exist a rigorous verification and validation methods by which the scholars have painstakingly segregated the authentic hadiths from the fabricated ones. We will talk more about various types of hadiths in detail some other time, but here to start with, I would like to focus on two key questions on this issue,
 

         1. What does Quran say about obedience to Rasool (SAW) (أسلوب طاعة الرسول)?  

In Islam, we are commanded to obey Allah (SAW) and his Rasool Allah (SAW). It is mandatory part of our faith- it is waajib / mafrooza (واجب، مفروضة).. There are many places in the Quran where Allah (SWT) enjoins us to obey His Rasool Allah (SAW), if we look closely - command to obey Rasool Allah (SAW) is covered in 5 different ways (طريقة) in the Quran.  

 

يٰٓأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ ۥ  وَلَا تَوَلَّوْا عَنْهُ وَأَنْتُمْ تَسْمَعُونَ

"O you who have believed, obey Allah and His Messenger and do not turn from him while you hear [his order]."

(QS. Al-Anfaal 8: Verse 20)
 

قُلْ أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ  ۖ  فَإِنْ تَوَلَّوْا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ الْكٰفِرِينَ

"Say, Obey Allah and the Messenger. But if they turn away - then indeed, Allah does not like the disbelievers."

(QS. Aal-i-Imraan 3: Verse 32)

وَأَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَاحْذَرُوا  ۚ  فَإِنْ تَوَلَّيْتُمْ فَاعْلَمُوٓا أَنَّمَا عَلٰى رَسُولِنَا الْبَلٰغُ الْمُبِينُ

"And obey Allah and obey the Messenger and beware. And if you turn away - then know that upon Our Messenger is only [the responsibility for] clear notification."

(QS. Al-Maaida 5: Verse 92)
 

يٰٓأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَأُولِى الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْ  ۖ  فَإِنْ تَنٰزَعْتُمْ فِى شَىْءٍ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَالرَّسُولِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْأَاخِرِ  ۚ  ذٰلِكَ خَيْرٌ وَأَحْسَنُ تَأْوِيلًا

"O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you should believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is the best [way] and best in result."

(QS. An-Nisaa 4: Verse 59)


وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلٰوةَ وَءَاتُوا الزَّكٰوةَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ
"And establish prayer and give zakah and obey the Messenger - that you may receive mercy."
(QS. An-Noor 24: Verse 56)

 

Each Ayat has something different to convey, which in itself is an interesting topic related to the eloquence of the Quran. The topic of أسلوب طاعة الرسول deserves some detailed explanation, and we will talk about it in future. So we clearly see that obeying Rasool Allah (SAW) is in line with the command of Allah (SWT) in the Quran itself.
 

2. Is Rasool Allah  (SAW) the legislative authority of Islamic law ( مشرع )?  

Above, we have seen it has been commanded by Allah (SWT) to [also] obey Rasool (SAW), but does that also mean we have to accept his law authority (مشرع ) that Allah (SWT) granted to him  from His supreme mercy, over the [limited] affairs that Allah (SWT) chose from his infinite wisdom? The orders of Allah (SWT) decreed in the Quran were explained and clarified by Rasool Allah (SAW), and form the part of the Islamic laws (حديث تشريع). When I refer to term 'hadith' in this talk, mainly I refer to (حديث تشريع). By rejecting such hadiths (حديث تشريع), one is actually rejecting the legislative authority of Rasool Allah (SAW).  Common sense suggests, how else could we know the correct method of Salaat, Zaka't, Hajj etc if we choose to disregard the hadiths?

Rejecters of hadith might argue that obeying Rasool Allah (SAW) doesn't necessarily mean accepting his legislative authority- so in effect they follow Rasool Allah (SAW) but not his orders - an 'order less' following, it makes no sense.

As against that, if we truly obey Rasool Allah (SAW) we also need to accept him as legislative authority of Islamic law (مشرع ), and we must accept what he legislated to complement the Ayats- and thus what has been carefully preserved in the hadiths (حديث تشريع).

 

Let's look what the Quran has to say about Rasool Allah (SAW) being the authority (مشرع )

 

مَّآ أَفَآءَ اللَّهُ عَلٰى رَسُولِهِۦ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْقُرٰى فَلِلَّهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ وَلِذِى الْقُرْبٰى وَالْيَتٰمٰى وَالْمَسٰكِينِ وَابْنِ السَّبِيلِ كَىْ لَا يَكُونَ دُولَةًۢ بَيْنَ الْأَغْنِيَآءِ مِنْكُمْ  ۚ  وَمَآ ءَاتٰىكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهٰىكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانْتَهُوا  ۚ  وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ  ۖ  إِنَّ اللَّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ

"And what Allah restored to His Messenger from the people of the towns - it is for Allah and for the Messenger and for [his] near relatives and orphans and the [stranded] traveller - so that it will not be a perpetual distribution among the rich from among you. And whatever the Messenger has given you - take; and what he has forbidden you - refrain from. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is severe in penalty."

(QS. Al-Hashr 59: Verse 7)

Ayat above is not just about obeying Rasool Allah (SAW) (طاعةالرسول), here Allah (SAW) is ordering us regarding accepting Rasool Allah's (SAW) as authority over the affairs (تشريع), 'Taking what he gave us, and refraining from what he forbade us from'. This Ayat should make it crystal clear that Rasool Allah  (SAW) is legislative authority (مشرع ) only second to Allah (SWT), and what he orders must be considered as (تشريع), that he decreed by the will and permission of Allah (SWT).

3. Can we understand Ayats of the Quran fully without hadiths - in other words , without (تشريع) given by Rasool Allah (SAW)?

We can ask the rejecters of hadiths to explain and expand on many Ayats of the Quran - and without knowing the context [only available from hadith] they would struggle, and at times feel lost. There are Ayats which deal with the methods to perform obligatory duties (فرائض) like Salaat, Zaka't or Hajj - one might be able to tolerate some difference of opinion on how they must be conducted ritually. But then there are places in the Quran - where we will not be able to differentiate the forbidden (حرام) from the lawful (حلال) if we refuse to accept Rasool Allah (SAW) as authority (مشرع ) so to turn a blind eye to hadiths. 


Example 1:

In Surah Annis'a (4:22-23) , Allah SWT speaks about women who are prohibited to marry. In these two Ayats, prohibition of marriage came regarding various types of women. They fall into 4 categories, 

1. Prohibition due to parentage (المحرمات بالنسب): Mothers, Daughters, Sisters, Fathers' sisters, Mother's sisters, Brother's daughters, Sister's daughters, Step daughters under your guardianship [born] of your wives who had intimacy with, Wives of your real sons
2. Prohibition due to nursing (المحرمات بسبب الرضاع): Foster mothers who nursed you, Your sisters through nursing
3. Prohibition of marrying sisters simultaneously (المحرمات بسبب الجمع بين الاختين)
4. Prohibition among in laws: Wives' mothers  (المحرمات بسبب المصاهرة)

So if one does not accept Rasul Allah's (SAW) تشريع on Ayats above, we can ask -  Is a man free to marry outside these prohibited relations? Let's say for example - are we free to marry women below, not mentioned in the Quran 4:22-23?

Grandmother(Maternal or Paternal)

Grand daughter(Maternal or Paternal)
Sister of your foster mother
Mother of your foster mother
Your wife's aunt

Rasul Allah (SAW) said - "(Women) Forbidden due to parentage are (women) also forbidden by reason of nursing," (يحرم بالرضاع ما يحرم بالنسب). 

 

This list is not exhaustive, and there are 30+ types of women prohibited for marriage.

Even the rejecters of Hadith would agree these relations are prohibited- but what is source of their understanding, where did they get it from? They may say, isn't that logical that you can't marry our grandmothers or grand daughters. We say, it's even more logical that we cannot marry our mothers, but Allah SWT made it clear in the Quran explicitly. So we find that those who reject the authority of Rasul Allah (SAW) risk making mistakes while deciding what is permissible and prohibited.

Example 2:

If we look at the Ayat of the Quran, we see Allah (SWT) forbids us to eat meat of already dead animal ( مَيْتَة) (Surah Al Baqara 2:173 - see below). We know in Arabic we call fish as ( مَيْتَة) - so if we literally go by the word used ( مَيْتَة) of the Quran, fish should be Haraam also. But what makes it Halaal ? It is upon the authority of Rasul Allah (SAW) (تشريع) that the fish is permissible to eat. So if we reject the associated حديث تشريع how can we make the fish Halaal on us?  

إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَيْتَةَ وَالدَّمَ وَلَحْمَ الْخِنْزِيرِ وَمَآ أُهِلَّ بِهِۦ لِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ  ۖ  فَمَنِ اضْطُرَّ غَيْرَ بَاغٍ وَلَا عَادٍ فَلَآ إِثْمَ عَلَيْهِ  ۚ  إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
"He has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah. But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit], there is no sin upon him. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful."
(QS. Al-Baqara 2: Verse 173)

From the same Ayat above, Allah (SWT) forbids us to eat blood (دَمًا ). We know the liver of Halaal animals is made up of blood. So it should be Haraam. What makes it Halaal to eat? It is from the following Hadith of Rasul Allah (SAW)

أُحِلَّتْ لَنَا مَيْتَتَانِ وَدَمَانِ فَأَمَّا الْمَيْتَتَانِ فَالْحُوتُ وَالْجَرَادُ وَأَمَّا الدَّمَانِ فَالْكَبِدُ وَالطِّحَالُ

Two kinds of dead meat and two kinds of blood have been permitted to us. The two kinds of dead meat are fish and locusts, and the two kinds of blood are the liver and spleen.

(Sunan Ibn Majah - English Ref. Vol4, Book 29, Hadith 3314)

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In the next discussion we will go through specific Ayats you referred to in your question- and see that these Ayats are used out of the context by rejecters of Hadith to prove their point.