4.1 The Sunnah Is A Sharī’ah Evidence Like The Qur’ān
The Sunnah is a Sharī’ah Evidence (dalīl Shar’i) like the Qur’ān and it is a revelation from Allah . Confining to the Qur’ān and leaving the Sunnah is kufr buwah (manifest disbelief) and takes those who support this opinion outside the fold of Islam. As for the Sunnah being revelation from Allah , it is explicit from the Noble Qur’ān. He said:
“Say: “I warn you only by the revelation” [TMQ Anbiyaa: 45]
And He said:
“Only this has been inspired to me, that I am a plain warner” [TMQ Sād: 70]
And He said:
“I only follow that which is revealed to me” [TMQ Ahqaaf: 9]
And He said:
“I but follow what is revealed to me from my Lord” [TMQ ‘Arāf: 203]
These verses are definite in authenticity and definite in their meaning in restricting what the Messenger has brought, warned people of, that it is divine revelation which is not open to any interpretation. Thus, the Sunnah is a revelation like the Qur’ān. As for the obligation of following the Sunnah like the Noble Qur’ān, it is also explicitly stated in the Qur’ān. And He said:
“Whatsoever the Messenger (saw) gives you, take it, and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain from it” [TMQ Hashr: 7]
And He said:
“He who obeys the Messenger (saw), has indeed obeyed Allah” [TMQ Nisā’: 80]
And He said:
“And let those who oppose the Messenger's commandment beware, lest some fitna (affliction) befall them or a painful torment be inflicted on them” [TMQ Noor: 63]
And He said:
“It is not for a believer, man or woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decreed a matter that they should have any option in their decision” [TMQ Ahzaab: 36]
And He said:
“But no, by your Lord, they can have no imān, until they make you (O Muhammad) judge in all disputes between them, and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions, and accept them with full submission” [TMQ Nisā’: 65]
And He said:
“Obey Allah and obey the Messenger” [TMQ Nisā’: 59]
He said:
“Say (O Muhammad): If you (really) love Allah then follow me” [TMQ aal-Imrān: 31]
All of these ayāt are explicit and clear in the obligation of following the Messenger with regards to what he has brought and in considering the obedience to the Messenger as obedience to Allah .
So the Qur’ān and hadīth are Sharī’ah evidences in terms of the obligation of following what has come therein. The hadīth is like the Qur’ān in this respect. Therefore, it is not allowed for someone to say: we have the Book of Allah from which we will take (rulings), because what one understands from this statement is that the hadīth has been abandoned. Rather, it is imperative that the Sunnah is combined with the Book. So the hadīth is taken as a Sharī’ah evidence just as the Qur’ān. It is not allowed for a Muslim to imply that the Qur’ān alone is sufficient, and the Sunnah is not needed. The Messenger has alluded to this, It has been reported that the Prophet said:
“You will find a man who while he is sitting comfortably on his bed narrate my hadith, and he will say between me and you is the book of Allaah, whatever we find in it that is halaal we will make it Halaal, and whatever we find in it haraam we will make it haraam. Then the Prophet says: whatever the messenger of Allaah has made haraam is as if Allaah has made it haraam” [Reported by Al-Haakim and Bayhaqi]
And in the narration of Jabir, which goes back to the Prophet , he said:
“Whosoever comes to know a hadīth about me and he rejects it. He has rejected three: Allah, His Messenger and the one who informed him of the hadīth”
Therefore, it is wrong to compare the Qur’ān with the hadīth, the result of which would be, if the hadīth does not agree with it (i.e the Quran) then we abandon it, because this leads to abandoning the Sunnah if it came to specify the Qur’ān, restrict it or elaborate its ambivalent (mujmal) parts, since it would show that what the hadīth states does not agree with the Qur’ān or it is not found in the Qur’ān. Like the ahadīth which relate the branches to the foundation (asl). Indeed, the rules mentioned in the hadīth have not been mentioned in the Qur’ān, especially, many of the detailed rules which have not been revelead in the Qur’ān but mentioned in the hadīth only. Therefore, Hadith is not compared to the Qur’ān regarding what is mentioned in the Qur’ān and rejecting anything else. Indeed, the order regarding this is that when a hadīth mentions something which contradicts what has come in the Qur’ān as a definite meaning, then the hadīth is rejected on the basis of its meaning i.e the text (matn) because it’s meaning contradict the Qur’ān. This is like what has been narrated about Fatimah bint Qays when she said:
“'My husband divorced me three times in the time of the Messenger of Allah . So I went to the Prophet but he did not allow me to get lodging (sukna) or maintenance (nafaqah)”
This hadīth is rejected because it contradicts the Qur’ān. It contradicts His saying:
“Lodge them (the divorced women) where you dwell, according to your means” [TMQ Talaaq: 6]
Therefore, the hadīth is rejected because it has contradicted definite text and definite meaning of the Qur’ān. As for when the hadīth does not contradict the Qur’ān since it includes things not brought by the Qur’ān or it is an addition to what is in the Qur’ān, then the hadīth is taken just like the Qur’ān. It should not be said; the Qur’ān and what has been mentioned in it suffices for us since Allah has ordered us to (follow) them both together and it is obligatory to believe in both of them together.