48. The Status Of The Sunnah In Relation To The Qur'aan
The Sunnah is shari'ahi evidence for the decisive evidence of the prophet-hood of our master Muhammad (pbuh) and his message (risaalah), and for the decisive evidence in both transmission and denotation that He (pbuh) speaks not after His own desire, it is but a revealed revelation, and that what he warns with is only revelation from Allah Ta'ala. So the Sunnah is revelation from Allah Ta'ala, except that the revelation is the contents and meanings of the Sunnah not its words. Allah Ta'ala revealed it to Him (pbuh) and He expressed this revelation by His own words or actions or approvals i.e. silence.
The Sunnah is an evidence similar to the Book and not less then it for the established decisive evidence for it, as it is established for the Qur'aan, and the limiting (of the taking) to the Book is the opinion of the apostates, Allah Ta'ala said ُ Messenger the what take So} assigns to you, and abstain from that which He withholds you from...) 7 Surat Al Hashr, and He Ta'ala said: the obeys who He Messenger, indeed obeys Allah…) 80 Surat Al Nisaa', and he said: who beware those Let... withstand the Messenger's order, lest some trial befall them, or a grievous Punishment be inflicted on them.) 63 Surat Al Nour, and he said: a for fitting not is It...
Believer, man or woman, when a matter has been decided by Allah and His Messenger, to have any option about their decision…) 36 Surat Al-Ahzaab, and :said He ُBut no, by your Lord, they can have no (real) Faith, until they make you judge in all disputes between them, and find in their souls no resistance against your decisions, but accept them with the fullest conviction....) 65 Surat Al Nisaa', and He said If...} you differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to Allah and His Messenger...) 59 Surat Al Nisaa', and the returning to the Messenger after His death is returning to His Sunnah and Allah Ta'ala said: (Say: Obey Allah and obey the Messenger....) 32 Surat Aal Imraan, and he said: {Say: (O Mohammad SAW) If you do love Allah, then follow me Allah will love you...} 31 Surat Aal Imraan, So these decisive texts in their transmission and their denotation are explicit in obliging taking the Sunnah as taking the Kitaab, and the denier of the Sunnah is definitely kaafir, so the Sunnah must be taken as the Qur'an must be taken, similarly without any differences between them. It is not permitted to say: we have the Book of Allah, we take what is in it, because it can be understood as leaving the Sunnah, but it is inevitable to combine the Sunnah and the Kitaab, and the Messenger (pbuh) has warned us from that in His Hadeeth He (pbuh) :said It is imminence that a man resting on his couch would be told one of my Ahaadeeth, he would say: between us and you is the Book of Allah the Great and the Almighty, what we find in It as halaal we consider it halaal, and what we find in It as haraam we consider it haraam indeed it is that what the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) forbade is like what Allah forbade" Ibn :said Also He .it narrated Majah ُ"It is imminence that one of you would say: this is the Book of Allah whatever is halaal in it we consider it halaal and whatever is haraam we consider it haraam, indeed whoever denies a Hadeeth transmitted to him, he belied Allah and His Messenger and whoever transmitted the Hadeeth to him" Ibn Abd Al barr narrated it. The Sunnah adjudges the Book, because the Book may have two possibilities or more, the sunnah then comes to determine one of them so the matter will be returned to the Sunnah and what the Book seemingly necessitates will be left, Allah Ta'ala said: All (… others are lawful for you, provided ye seek (them in marriage)....) 24 Surat Al :saying His after ,'Nisaa Prohibited to you (for marriage) are: your mothers, daughters, sisters; father's sisters, mother's sisters; brother's daughters, sister's daughters; foster-mothers (who gave you suckle), foster sisters; your wives' mothers; your step-daughters under your guardianship, born of your wives to whom you have gone, no prohibition if you have not gone in; (those who have been) wives of your sons proceeding from your loins; and two sisters in wedlock at one and the same time, except for what is past; for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. Also (prohibited are) women already married, except those whom your right hands possess: thus has Allah ordained (prohibitions) for you: except for these, all others are lawful, provided you seek (them in marriage)....) 23-24 Surat Al Nisaa' what shows the permissibility of all that are not mentioned, then the Sunnah came and excluded from that marrying the women over her paternal aunt or her maternal aunt, for the saying of The Messenger (pbuh): "The women is not to be married over her paternal aunt nor over her maternal aunt", Muslim narrated it. So this is leaving the seeming (dthaahir) of the Book and forwarding the Sunnah over it. The seeming of the Book could show a matter then the Sunnah comes to get it out of its seeming. Seemingly The Qur'an came with the order to take the Zakaat from all the properties, the Sunnah came and specified it for specific properties, and limited the taking of the Zakaat to those properties only, so it would not be taken from others.