HADITH

A RE-EVALUATION
By
Kassim Ahmad

Translated from the Malay original
Monotheist Productions International
Tucson, Arizona, U.S.A. 1997

!o"yright #assim Ahmad, 199$
Translated from the Malay original,
first "u%lished in Malaysia in 19&$.
'irst "rinting, 199$
Printed in the United States of America



TABLE OF CONTENTS

T(A)S*AT+(,S )+T- i.
AUT/+(,S P(-'A!- T+ T/- +(I0I)A* -1ITI+) .
AUT/+(,S P(-'A!- T+ T/IS T(A)S*ATI+) .ii
'+(-2+(1 3y Prof. /assan /anafi of the Uni.ersity of !airo 4i
!/APT-( I Introduction5 2hy 6e raise this Pro%lem 1
!/APT-( II (efutation of the Traditionalist,s Theory 71
!/APT-( III Source, 3asis and -ffects of the /adith 89
!/APT-( I: !riticism of the /adith 7$
!/APT-( : !onclusion5
(eturn to Pro"het Muhammad,s +riginal Teaching ; the <uran 19$
A11-)1UM A Scientific Methodology for Understanding the <uran 17$
3I3*I+0(AP/= A)1 *IST +' A33(-:IATI+)S 187
I)1-> 187



TRANSLATOR'S NOTE


I ha.e underta?en this translation of 1r. #assim Ahmad,s im"ortant %oo?, entitled /adis ;
Satu Penilaian Semula in its original Malay, "u%lished in Malaysia in 19&$, %ecause I thought
that a 6ider readershi" of this %oo? is %eneficial. There has also %een much "ressure from the
non@Malay literate "u%lic to translate it.
I ha.e underta?en this translation .oluntarily and also as a "rocess to educate myself. 3y any
yardstic?, this is an im"ortant su%Aect. I am therefore o%liged to 1r. #assim for ha.ing agreed
to allo6 me this o""ortunity.
At the time of this translation, 1r. #assim,s %oo? has %een %anned %y the authorities in
Malaysia. The efficacy of %anning a %oo?, 6hose .ery "ur"ose de"ends on readers e4ercising
critical and fair Audgement, does not do Austice to the intellectual gro6th of our "eo"le. I ho"e
that this %an 6ill %e lifted.
May 0od %less those 6ho see? to o%ey /im and /is messenger and 6ho u"hold the Scri"ture.
Translator
#uala *um"ur, 19&7.



AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE ORIGINAL EDITION


This %oo? consists of fi.e tal?s on the same to"ic, B/adith ; A (e@-.aluationB at the )ational
Uni.ersity of Malaysia organized %y the 1e"artment of Anthro"ology and Sociology. The
%ac?ground to these tal?s has %een gi.en in !ha"ter I.
This su%Aect truly needs a larger .olume and a much more com"rehensi.e research. I ha.e had
to ta?e a short cut due to the "articular circumstances of the tal?s. I sincerely ho"e that the %oo?
achie.es its "ur"ose.
I 6ould li?e to e4"ress my highest a""reciation and than?s to the Uni.ersity,s 1e"artment of
Anthro"ology and Sociology C6ith the ?ind "ermission and %lessing of the Uni.ersity,s
authoritiesD 6hich 6as %ra.e enough to organize these tal?s, in s"ite of the Bsensiti.eB nature of
the to"ic. I 6ould li?e also to than? the /on. Minister for -ducation 6ho inter.ened to allo6
the tal?s to go on after they 6ere first cancelled %y the Uni.ersity authorities.
I must also than? the Aust and fair@minded "eo"le of Malaysia 6ho s"ontaneously rose to
demand that the tal?s %e held.
I o6e a de%t of gratitude to se.eral friends 6ho, at my reEuest, ha.e gone o.er the drafts of the
tal?s and made useful comments and criticisms. I am also .ery grateful to many ordinary
"eo"le in Malaysia and Singa"ore and to friends in the United States 6ho ga.e me their
unstinting encouragement and su""ort as I 6restled to "re"are and com"lete the tal?s.

#ASSIM A/MA1
#uala *um"ur,
17 March, 19&$.



AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THIS TRANSLATION


I am grateful to my friend 6ho has done a masterly translation of my %oo?. I ha.e had the draft
of the translation since he finished it in late 19&7, one year after the "u%lication of the Malay
original. I ha.e had it "ut into my com"uter and left it there until recently 6hen I thought that it
6as time to ha.e it "u%lished.
I therefore 6ent o.er it and made 6hat additions and changes I thin? necessary after eight years
since the %oo? first sa6 the light of day. So, this is not an e4act translation of the Malay
original, although the format and the arguments remain the same.
Political considerations had led to the %anning of the %oo? a fe6 months after it 6as "u%lished.
/o6e.er, after si4 years, I "u%lished a seEuel, entitled /adis ; Fa6a"an #e"ada Peng?riti?
C/adith ; Ans6er to the !riticsD as my ans6er to se.eral %oo?s that ha.e %een "u%lished to
criticize me. This %oo?, fortunately has not %een %anned. I ha.e translated !ha"ter 7 of this
%oo? CScientific Methodology for Understanding the <uranD and include it as Addendum in this
translation, %ecause I thin? it is an im"ortant and rele.ant matter to the to"ic.
I am also inde%ted to my friend 1r. 0atut Adisoma for his careful editing of the final draft.
3oth he and -di" =u?sel "ro.ided useful suggestions that I incor"orated in this %oo?. Any
shortcomings that remain are due to the author.


#ASSIM A/MA1
3andaraya TanAung,
Pulau Pinang G Malaysia,
H1 August, 1998.
Posts!i"t

My friend, 1r. /assan /anafi, of the Philoso"hy 1e"artment of !airo Uni.ersity, has
graciously consented to 6rite a 'ore6ord to this translation. In his letter to me dated 1&
Fanuary, 199$, together 6ith his hand@6ritten 'ore6ord, he stated that BI made it critical to
initiate general de%ate. Praising is no good. Ma?ing a dialogue 6ith you is %etter.B

Since the "u%lication of the Malay original in 19&$, I ha.e ne.er %een the one to refuse
dialogue, e.en 6hen the odds 6ere against me. My dialogue 6ith the Malaysian Theologians,
Association Aust %efore the %oo? 6as "u%lished 6as not concluded due to the Associations,s
refusal to continue. My dialogue 6ith the Malaysian Muslim =outh Mo.ement CA3IMD one
month after "u%lication failed to "roduced any "ositi.e result %ecause they made a negati.e
unilateral Audgement against me and my %oo? in s"ite of their assurance gi.en to me %efore the
dialogue that no decision 6ould %e ta?en.

It is in the same s"irit of 6anting to sol.e this "ro%lem through dialogue that I acce"t 1r.
/assan,s .ery critical Introduction to this translation. My slight sur"rise is 1r. /assan,s
methods of criticism. /e has com%ined arguments from %oth the traditional and modernist
sources5 that the /adith as the second source of Muslim la6 has %een the general consensus
and cannot %e Euestioned anymore Ctraditional argumentD, and that de%ating the /adith is
counter@"roducti.e as it is irrele.ant to the modernization of Muslim society Cmodernist
argumentD.

I thin? my %oo? adeEuately re%uts %oth these arguments, so I shall not say anything further on
that for no6.

I do not acce"t 1r. /assan,s criticism for my using e4am"les from 2estern cultural
de.elo"ment as e4ternal and ina""lica%le. The 6orld has de.elo"ed to %e internationalist since
the -uro"ean .oyages of disco.ery in the 18th !entury. In fact, it is truer to say 6ith IE%al that,
6ith the ad.ent of Muhammad Cthe first and last "ro"het sent to the entire 6orld communityD,
the 6orld entered the modern Scientific@Technological -ra. 2hat 6e sometimes call modern
2estern ci.ilization is, in fact, 6orld ci.ilization, since it contains contri%utions from all
ci.ilizations5 Middle@-astern, 0ree?, (oman, Persian, Ara%, Indian and !hinese.

1r. /assan ma?es the astonishing assertion that the slogan B3ac? to the <uranB is common to
all Salafi CreformD mo.ements, 6hether they are reformers, conser.ati.es or modernists. As far
as I understand, Muhammad A%duh, the father of this mo.ement, called for the reAection of
mazhab and taqlid, and for the reo"ening of the door of ijtihad and critical assimilation of
2estern ?no6ledge. /is %asic references are still the <uran and the /adith. I ha.e "ointed out
that herein lies the failure of this mo.ement. The /adith, and e.erything else, ha.e to %e Audged
%y the <uran.

+n this "oint, 1r. /assan rightly re"lies that e.en the <uran can %e criticized, as nothing is
e4em"t from criticism. 1r. /assan must ha.e meant that men,s understanding and
inter"retation of the <uran can %e criticized, for the <uran is 0od,s final re.elation to man?ind
and has from the %eginning %een under di.ine "rotection. /o6e.er, the true aim of criticism is
to e4"ose falsehood and esta%lish the truth. In this sense, the <uran is criticism par excellence.
It is therefore a%o.e criticism.

+n that note, I lea.e it to the reader to ma?e his o6n conclusion.



#.A.
3andaraya TanAung,
Pulau Pinang,
7& Fanuary, 199$.



ABOUT THE AUTHOR


#assim Ahmad 6as %orn on 9 Se"tem%er, 19HH in #edah, Malaysia. /e too? his 3achelor of
Art,s degree in Malay language and literature, %ut also read 6idely in "olitical science and
Islamic "hiloso"hy. /e taught Malay language and literature for a time in the *ondon School
of +riental and African Studies and then in a secondary school in Penang 6here he has %een
staying 6ith his family since 19$$.

/e has 6ritten se.eral %oo?s on Malay literature as 6ell as on Islamic su%Aects.



FORE#ORD

/assan /anafi
Professor of Philoso"hy
!airo Uni.ersity


This %oo?, /adith ; A (e@e.aluation, of #assim Ahmad is a real im"lementation of the
#antian "rinci"le e.o?ed in the %oo?, B1are to #no6B against the authority of the !hurch. In
Islam, there is no !hurch. /o6e.er, the common ?no6ledge, the esta%lished notions and the
"o"ular creed "lay the role of an intellectual and ideological !hurch 6hich denies freedom of
thought and shac?les free intellectual de.elo"ment.

The "u%lication of such %oo? in -nglish does not re"resent any difficulty, either to the author,
or to the "u%lic. Many authors in the last four centuries tac?led the Euestion of authenticity of
the scri"tures, +ld and )e6 Testaments, e4"ressing much dou%t a%out their historical
authenticity. The "u%lic %ecame accustomed to such critiEues of sources a""lied in 3i%lical
criticism in modern times. It 6as a %ig de%ate %ehind the Protestant rift, "ostulating Sola
Scriptura. )otions of historical authenticity, narrati.es, oral tradition, re.elation and ins"iration
%ecame .ery familiar to the "u%lic in religious and literary studies.

The main thesis of the %oo? is that /adith has %een com"iled 6ithout "ermission, either from
the "ro"het, or from the four (ighteous !ali"hs for fear of confusing it 6ith the <uran, the first
source of Islam. 3ecause of the "o6er struggles %et6een different "olitical factions, each
"retender legitimized his claim %y recourse to a saying of Pro"het Muhammad in his fa.or.
Pious Muslims such as 3u?hari and Muslim tried to collect these sayings after .erifying their
authenticity. -.en then, they 6ere not free from "reAudice, in fa.or of the esta%lished authority,
the Sunnites. Shi,ite o""osition had their /adith com"ilations Austifying their "olitical claims.
0radually, "eo"le forgot the <uran as the first source of Islam in fa.or of the /adith, the
second source. Since many of /adith narrati.es contradict the <uran and e.en contradict
themsel.es, the necessity to criticize the /adith emerges as a "rereEuisite for any socio@
"olitical change.

Most of these unauthentic narrati.es are more stringent, %inding and com"ulsory. The <uran in
such to"ics is more lenient. Al@ShafiIi Cd. 79J /.D is res"onsi%le for this rigidity %y %loc?ing the
la6 and narro6ing the Ijtihad %y ma?ing /adith a second source of la6 more %inding than the
<uran and the Ijma' and minimizing the role of the Ijtihad, the fourth source of la6. /e
initiated this mo.ement of Ahl al-Hadith in o""osition to Ahl al-Ra'y.

The /adith de%ate is not ne6. It is already ?no6n in 2estern +rientalism since the last century
and in contem"orary Islamic thought.

Since +rientalists denied Islamic (e.elation, not only the /adith %ut also the <uran, and since
they ha.e %een accustomed to 3i%lical criticism, they a""lied the same rules to "ro"hetic
narrati.es in Islam. 2estern "u%lic got used to this criticism since re.elation and ins"iration are
the same. !hrist is 0od, the A"ostle is the 6riter. The ideas are ins"ired %y the /oly S"irit
6hile the 6ords are chosen %y the A"ostle himself. 2ords can change according to the
language, the education and the culture of the 6riter, 6hile ideas remain the same. )arrati.es
de.elo"ed in history as "ersonal 6itnesses. The narration is not a recording@machine, a sim"le
transmitter of a message, %ut a li.ing 6itness. /istorical authenticity reEuiring a concordance
in the message %et6een the enunciator and the auditor is a mechanical notion of re"orting. In
the case of the 0os"el, the 6riter understands, inter"rets and creates the message. The message
%ecomes %etter transmitted, understood and communicated. The message is moti.ated %y the
intentions of the narrator, e4"ressing his le.el of education and culture and re.ealing his
loyalty to this or that grou" in the "o6er struggle among the early disci"les %efore )icaea@I.
Maturation or de.iation, creati.ity or inauthenticity, de.elo"ment or falsificationK Fudeo@
!hristian tradition chose the first ans6er 6hile Islam chose the second. Since /adith 6ent in a
similar 6ay as the Fe6ish and !hristian scri"tures, it has %een Audged as an unauthentic
historical de.iation.

Modern Ara% and Muslim thin?ers and reformers such as Syed <ut% ha.e %een accused of
minimizing the role of the /adith in fa.or of the <uran, irres"ecti.e of their moti.es, either
similar or different from the +rientalists. Modern thin?ers did not deny re.elation, %ut they
tried to li%erate Muslim societies from dogmatic and rigid adherence to the te4ts and calling for
Ijtihad, %ased on the s"irit of Islam and the uni.ersal intentions of the *a6. The general
guidelines of the <uran hel" more than the details of the /adith. The Al has a more li%erating
"o6er than the !ard. Many of the harmful la6s and su"erstitious %eliefs come from the
unauthentic "ro"hetic narrati.es. The /adith di.erges 6hile the <uran con.erges.

Ancient scholars 6ere a6are of this "ro%lem of the historical authenticity or inauthenticity of
the narrati.es. The <uran has %een "reser.ed in 6riting since the moment of its utterance. It
has %een collected, com"ared and standardized during the era of +thman, the fourth cali"h. The
<uran did not go through a "eriod of oral transmission such as the /adith. Ancient scholars
in.ented a 6hole disci"line, the science of /adith to "ut some rules to .erify the authenticity of
the /adith in history.

'irst, the analysis of the terms of the re"ort into fi.e degrees of certitude, from the more certain
to the less certain, guarantees the direct testimony as the high degree of 6itnessing5 I heardL /e
saidL /e orderedL /e ordered usL They did.
Second, the multilateral re"ort , the "uta#atir, is the highest degree of authenticity concerning
the chain of re"orters. It is the one transmitted %y se.eral re"orters 6ith four conditions,
namely, first, a sufficient num%er 6hich gi.es the certitude of authenticity and ta?es a6ay all
dou%tsL second, the inde"endence of re"orters from each other to "re.ent any "ossi%ility of
conni.anceL third, the homogeneity of e4"ression of the re"ort in time through generations
6ithout oscillation %et6een the 6ell@?no6n and the un?no6nL fourth, the concordance of the
re"ort 6ith sensory e.idence, 6ith reason and 6ith the course of e.ents and the la6s of nature
to "re.ent mythological and su"erstitious infiltrations.

Third, the unilateral re"ort, $ahid, is that one 6hich fails one of the four "re.ious conditions.
It is hy"othetical in ?no6ledge %ut a"odictic in action, 6hile the multilateral re"ort is a"odictic
in %oth ?no6ledge and action. The authenticity of the unilateral re"ort is guaranteed %y the
analysis of the consciousness of the re"orter to .erify its neutrality and o%Aecti.ity, such as
Austice, unity, maturity, intelligence, good hearing and memory and s"eech a%ility, since a
re"ort is the "assage from hearing to memorizing and finally to communicating. Ancient
scholars e.en in.ented a side@disci"line, criteria to e.aluate a re"orter,s neutrality and
o%Aecti.ity, called Ilm al-%arh $a al-&a'dil, a certain ?ind of a %iogra"hical descri"tion of the
re"orter, his "ersonality, moti.es, inclinations, loyalties and affiliations.

'ourth, the transmission can %e %oth 6ritten and oral, from hand to hand, and from mouth to
mouth. The master can "ermit the disci"le to re"ort from this %oo? handed to him '"una#ala(.
The disci"le can read from the %oo? and the master agrees 'Ijaza(. This rule of 6ritten
transmission e4cludes any "ossi%ility of alteration on falsification of the document.

'ifth, the re"ort is not only the chain of re"orters 'Sanad( %ut also the re"ort itself '"atn(. The
highest degree of certainty is the literal re"ort, the message 6ith the same 6ords. If the
message is transmitted in different 6ords, 6ith addition or omission, it %ecomes hy"othetical.

In short, the 6hole science of /adith aims to .erify the historical authenticity of the narrati.es.
The 6hole theory is %ased on a tri"artite di.ision of the /adith5 Authentic, Unauthentic and
Undecided, on 6hich Audgement is sus"ended.

Ancient scholars, studying the <uran, also concei.ed the theory of a%rogation and considered
the de.elo"ment of the te4t and the historical conte4ts of the <uran and the /adith. The later
te4ts cancel the earlier te4ts as a source of la6. The <uran is a%rogated %y the <uran, the
/adith %y the /adith, %ut ne.er the <uran %y the /adith, or the /adith %y the <uran. In this
case, it is called "articularization, &a)hi, e4ce"tion, Itithna, or restriction, &aqyid.

Ancient scholars also created side@disci"lines to maintain the coherence of the Audicial system
such as the science of o""osition and "re"onderance, Ilm al-&a*arud #a al-&arajih, in case of
an a""arent o""osition %et6een t6o <uranic .erses, %et6een /adith narrati.es, %et6een a
<uranic .erse and a /adith narrati.e or %et6een a /adith unilateral narrati.e and reasoning %y
analogy or +iya. An o""osition %et6een a te4t and consensus, or Ijma', does not occur since
Ijma' is %ased on te4ts and since it is not %inding to future generations.

If this is the 6or? of ancient scholars, 6hat is the need to use 2estern culture as a system of
referenceK Is the %oo? intended for 2estern readers to understand Muslim modernists,
"u%licized in 2estern mass@media for fameK 2estern intellectual frame6or? ma?es the thin?er
lia%le to %e accused of 2esternization and conseEuently of %eing u"rooted from his o6n
traditional culture. More ?no6ledge of the ancient /adith disci"line and a dee"er ?no6ledge of
Ara%ic hel" the modernist in e4"ressing his case. )o modernism is "ossi%le 6ithout digging
dee"er into the tradition. Modernism comes from 6ithin not from 6ithout. That is 6hy the
introduction of the %oo? on the crisis of the age is off@target. 2hich ageK 2estern age or
Malaysian@Muslim ageK The end of the t6entieth century or the %eginning of the fifteenth
centuryK Peo"les and cultures do not li.e in the same historical "eriods.

The constant reference to the 2estern culture as a frame of reference gi.es the im"ression that
the main "ro%lematic of the %oo? is a 2estern one. 3i%lical criticism is .ery common in the
2est %ecause the Fudeo@!hristian scri"tures "assed through a "eriod of oral transmission. The
author refers constantly to 3i%lical criticism, to 2estern %i%liogra"hy more than to /adith
studies and Islamic %i%liogra"hy. May%e the lac? of ?no6ledge of Ara%ic is an o%stacle to dig
in the classical sources and to use accurate Ara%ic technical .oca%ulary. The !hristian calendar
is more used than the Islamic one. The Islamic calendar 6as only used for the com"ilers of the
/adith. +nly once %oth calendars 6ere used, i.e. for Imam al@ShafiIi Cd. &79 A1M79J /.D

The author refers to the Fudeo@!hristian tradition5 Fe6ish oral and 6ritten tradition in the 8th
century 3!L the Fe6ish scholar +. 0oldin, de.iations of !hristian fathers after !hrist as a
model of Muslim de.iants after Mohammed, !hrist seen as 0od %y the !hristians. 2estern
cultural de.elo"ments a""ear .isi%ly in the %oo?5 the %irth of modern secularism in -uro"e and
its failureL -uro"ean a6areness of the im"ortance of freedom of thought follo6ing the Ara%s
and their struggle for it, a model for the Muslims no6adays to follo6L -uro"ean success in
"ioneering science and technologyL the o""osition %et6een religion and science in the 19th
century as a model of the o""osition %et6een /adith and scienceL -uro"ean li%eration from the
authority of the !hurch and the esta%lishment of #antian "rinci"le, B1are to #no6,B 2estern
s?e"ticism concerning the authenticity of the scri"ture, etc.

The author refers to many "ro"er names, sociologists, such as Soro?in, and his %oo? The !risis
of +ur AgeL doctors, li?e Maurice 3ucaille, the 'rench "hysician, mem%er of the 'rench
academy of science, "oets such as =eats and T.S. -liot, 6ith Euotations from their "oems, and
no.elists, such as 1ostoye.s?y, !amus and Sartre.

Technically s"ea?ing, from 6ithin the science of /adith, ta?ing Islamic culture as a frame of
reference, the follo6ing "oints can %e made5

1. There is no general stand, acce"ting /adith or reAecting it. There is only such stand
concerning certain /adith oscillating %et6een authenticity and inauthenticity. The authentic
/adith is acce"ted, 6hile the unauthentic is reAected, according to the tri"artite di.ision of
/adith.

7. There is no general acce"tance or reAection of the 6hole /adith, %ut of s"ecial hadiths
concerning certain to"ics contrary to the <uran or to /adith itself. +ther hadiths are 6ell@ta?en
such as B)o testament for the inheritor,B BThere is za?at in the shee" in "asture.B

H. The /adith is not only of t6o ?ind5 authentic and unauthentic %ut it has different degrees of
authenticity concerning the re"ort '"atn( and the chain 'Sanad(. The literal re"ort is more
authentic than the free Euotation. The multilateral is more authentic than the unilateral. The
6ell@?no6n, "ahhur, the discontinuous from the middle, "a)tu', or from the end, "ural, is
less authentic.

J. The inference is %ased on the generalization of Audgement from the "art to the 6hole. The
6hole /adith is discredited %ecause of one discredited hadith. A %etter inference is the
reAection of an unauthentic hadith %ecause it is unauthentic, case %y case, not as a 6hole.

8. The authentic hadith cannot %e reAected. The "ro%a%le hadith can %e accommodated 6ith the
authentic hadith and the <uran %y many de.ices5 a%rogation, "articularization, e4ce"tion,
restriction, inter"retation, etc.

$. The critiEue of the /adith is one thing and its reAection is something else. Ancient and
modern scholars criticized the /adith in order to "urify it from the unauthentic narrati.es. )o
one, Shi,ite or Sunnite, reAected it as a second source of la6.

7. The critiEue of the /adith can %e made internally, according to the same rules "ut for6ard %y
ancient scholars ; they 6ere %ehind the %irth of modern 3i%lical criticism, as (enan confessed
; a""lying the rules of the /adith to scrutinize the narrati.es of the +ld and )e6 Testaments
in his .olumes B+rigin of !hristianityB and B/istory of the Peo"le of Israel,B The four
conditions of the multilateral re"ort, "uta#atir, are sufficient to guarantee the concordance of
the re"ort 6ith reason and sensory e.idence, called %y the author logic, history and science.
The author could ha.e readAusted the old rules of criticism ma?ing them more rigorous rather
than reAecting the hadith. )o critics 6ere more scru"ulous than the ancient scholars. 2hat the
author offered in criticism is much less than 6hat the ancient scholars created in laying the
ground for modern criticism. Moreo.er, the %oo? contains many generalities and some
s6ee"ing Audgements 6hich sometimes contradict historical facts or need more "recise
e4"lanations, such as5

1. Muslims do not follo6 the /adith and a%andon the <uran, as the author says. )o Muslim
can %e accused of a%andoning the first source of la6 in fa.or of the second.

7. The o""osition %et6een the <uran and the /adith does not e4ist, as the author says. )o one
says that minimizing the role of /adith is a %las"hemy, ,ufr.

H. The /adith is not a false teaching attri%uted to the "ro"het, as the author says. +nly the
unauthentic hadith is, not the authentic.

J. The "rayers that Muslim are doing 6ere not gi.en, according to the author, during the )ight
Fourney, al-"i'raj, is a free and gratuitous Audgement and ha.e little im"act on /adith
criticism, and goes against the general consensus.
8. The la6 of inheritance gi.ing the female the half of the male is mentioned in the <uran
%efore the /adith. It is not misogynic since the female had no right to o6n or to inherit at all.
Islamic la6 tried to change her status gradually. 3esides, the unity of analysis is the household.
-ach has eEual share, one and half.

$. +%eying the hus%and in o"tional fasting is not do6ngrading for the 6ife, %ut to sol.e the
conflict of loyalty %et6een "erforming an o"tional ritual, fasting, and a com"ulsory duty, the
o%edience to the hus%and.

7. The errors of al@ShafiIi, in case that there are, do not Austify dou%ts in the /adith, %ut the
correction of his errors. Al@ShafiIi 6anted to codify the legal system, not to o%struct the <uran
or %loc? Ijtihad.

In conclusion se.en other "oints can %e made5

1. Putting the <uran for6ard and the /adith %ac?6ard is a certain ?ind of higher %id that
no%ody 6ould o%Aect. 3ut 6hy holding the <uran reEuires necessarily releasing the /adithK
3ac? to the <uran is a Salafi slogan uttered %y all reformers, conser.ationists as 6ell as
modernists. The "ro%lem is in 6hose %enefit. The same <uran can also %e criticized on grounds
of ho6 it 6as 6ritten and com"iled and on its inter"retation. )othing is e4em"t from criticism.
3ecause of the higher %id, the Addendum BA Scientific Methodology for Understanding the
<uranB is someho6 outside the mainstream of analysis. It relates to another disci"line, the
&afir, not the /adith.

7. )eglecting the <uran and su%stituting it for the /adith as the reason for Muslim decline is
common rhetoric. The decline cannot %e due to one sim"le factorL there are socio@"olitical and
historical factors to %e ta?en into consideration. The renaissance is not that sim"le, to %e
achie.ed %y Aust coming %ac? to the <uran and a%andoning the /adith. It has to %e achie.ed %y
changing the socio@"olitical conditions in the Muslim 6orld. 3ac? to the <uran is a dou%le@
edged 6ea"on used %y conser.atism and modernism ali?e for social sta%ility as 6ell as for
social mo%ility. -thical and religious im"erati.es e4"ress the ought and not the is. S6ee"ing
statements a%out the death of Muslim creati.ity after I%n #haldun is against historical e.idence
from Muslim creati.ity in astronomy, mathematics and "hiloso"hy from the 9th till the 17th
centuries.

7. The theme is e4citing, although not ne6. In this era of Islamic resurgence, dou%ting the
authenticity of the /adith comes at the front "age in %ig headlines. It is a good chance for e.ery
modernist to hang u"on and %ecome famous, es"ecially in Africa and Asia, in non@Ara%@
s"ea?ing Muslim 6orld. Ma?ing a case, a hy"othetical one, 6ithout any "ractical im"lications
on the socio@"olitical le.el is gratuitous. It is harmful more than useful. It generates dissent in
society, s"litting it to pro and con in a time calling for national unity. It incites traditional
Islam to defend itself against modernist thin?ers. Since traditional Islam is the maAority and
modernist Islam is in minority, the modernist case 6ill al6ays %e the loser. Modernism, instead
of "ushing society to more "rogress, generates a reaction against it. The modernist 6ill %e
e4cluded, e4communicated and may %e e4terminated. In traditional societies, "rogress cannot
%e im"lemented 6ith the denial of -ul. The challenge of modernism is not ho6 to "ray in the
s"ace shuttle %ecause Muslims on earth ha.e not yet sol.ed the "ro%lems of their %asic needs.
/y"othetical fiEh 6as one of the reasons and e4"ressions of decline.

H. The lac? of Ara%ic technical terms, su%stituted then %y inadeEuate -nglish terms ma?es for a
lot of misunderstanding. 'or instance, decisi.e and allegorical dichotomy does not corres"ond
to Haqiqa and "ajaz, .ahir and "u*a#al, "uh)am and "utahabihat, "u/mal and
"ubayyan, etc. Many other "ro%lems emerge from reading the <uran in -nglish translationL for
instance, Itouching 6omen, does not mean the literal touching, %ut of ha.ing se4ual
intercourse.

J. The author uses a lot of te4tual arguments to "ro.e his case in s"ite of the limits of such
arguments, 6hich de"end on language, historical conte4t, counter@te4tual arguments, etc.
Te4tual argumentation is a Salafi "osition, selecti.e and dou%le@edged. Many other "ro%lems
are de%ated in theology and not in /adith, such as freedom and "redestination, the miracles of
the "ro"hets, the eschatological signs and the Messiah, faith and action, etc.

8. After all this de%ate and the di.ision of the community into "ro@/adith and anti@/adith
grou"s, the sim"le .ery traditional conclusion is acce"ted %y all. The /adith cannot %e reAected
as a second source of la6 "ro.ided that it 6ill not contradict the <uranN This is a unanimous
conclusion. 2hy, then, the 6hole de%ate %et6een the "ro@/adith and the contraK

$. In s"ite of all these remar?s, the author 6as a%le to re.i.e an old "ro%lematic 6ith ne6
courage. /e "ut for6ard the im"ortance of the multilateral re"ort "uta#atir, the fe6 num%er of
.erses containing the la6 C1J .ersesD, the e4em"tion of the la6 from all ?inds of figurati.e
s"eech, the necessity of a ne6 ?ind of criticism of /adith, not only of the chain of re"orters,
Sanad, %ut of the re"ort itself, "atn, the im"ortance of re@classification of the /adith to"ically
according to "riority .alue@scale, "utting social relations %efore the rituals, "utting for6ard the
contri%ution of ancient scholars in laying the grounds for /adith criticism, the role of "olitical
dis"utes in the com"ilation of /adith and e.en in formulating the 6ording.

7. The author, the former head of the Malaysian "eo"le,s socialist "arty can concentrate more
on the socio@"olitical condition of Malaysia and fight for freedom and social Austice. /e can %e
more %eneficial, more efficient and more a%le to forge unity for all the "eo"le in Malaysia,
instead of s"litting the nation on "ure academic de%ate.

!airo G -gy"t,
1& Fanuary, 199$.

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION$
#H% #E RAISE THIS PROBLE&


... &herefore, con/ratulate "y er0ant #ho liten to all 0ie#, then follo# the bet.
&hee are the one /uided by 1od2 thee are the intelli/ent one.

'+uran, 34567-68(

All Muslims are reEuired to u"hold the hadith or unna of the Pro"het, i.e. the so@called
Pro"hetic traditions, as a "rimary source of la6 a"art from the <uran, according to the
teachings of classical Auris"rudence. =et not many, indeed .ery fe6, realize that the %asis of
this Auris"rudential theory 6as "romulgated t6o hundred years after Muhammad,s death %y the
famous Aurist Imam ShafiIi Cd. 79JM&79D. 2hat ha.e come to %e ?no6n as the ISi4 Authentic
3oo?s, of hadith of the maAority Sunnite Iorthodo4y, 6ere com"iled, "recisely after the
"romulgation of this theory, %y 3u?hari Cd. 78$M&79D, Muslim Cd. 7$1M&78D, A%u 1aud Cd.
778M&&&D, Tirmidhi Cd. 779M&97D, I%n MaAa Cd. 77HM&&$D, and al@)asa,i Cd. H9HM918D during the
second half of the second and the %eginning of the third centuries of Islam, %et6een 779 and
779 years after the Pro"het,s death.

The Iheterodo4, ShiIite minority sect has its o6n sets of hadith com"iled during the third and
fourth centuries, %y al@#ulaini Cd. H7& or H79D, I%n 3a%u6ayh Cd. H&1D, Faafar Muhammad al@
Tusi Cd. J11D and al@Murtada Cd. JH$D, 6ho com"iled sayings attri%uted to Ali.

3ased on this ShafiIi theory and on 6hat 6as later termed as the consensus of scholars, the
hadithMsunna 6as "ro"agated to and acce"ted %y the Muslims as inter"reter and com"lement to
the <uran, im"lying there%y that the <uran needs an inter"reter and is not com"lete in itself.
Although the ShiIites ha.e not acce"ted the classical Sunnite Auris"rudential theory in toto, they
do acce"t the doctrine that the hadithMsunna constitutes a source of la6 on "ar 6ith the <uran.


Ba'(!o)*d to this St)dy

In accordance 6ith this Sunnite tradition, I also acce"ted this "osition 6hen I 6rote my %oo?
on modern Islamic social theory in 19&1@&7, although I Eualified my acce"tance according to
I%n #haldun,s formula, 6hich reEuires all acce"ta%le traditions to %e .alidated %y the <uran
and rational criteria. /o6e.er, this "osition, though a scientific one, is still not clear enough
until in 19&8 the 6or?s of an outstanding -gy"tian Muslim scholar, 1r. (ashad #halifa,
"articularly his The !om"uter S"ea?s5 0od,s Message to the 2orld, <uran, /adith and Islam
and his su"er% translation of the <uran ha.e o"ened for me a 6ay to sol.e the "ro%lem of the
hadith. I therefore %egan to re@e4amine the hadith5 ho6 they came a%outL the social factors that
%rought them into e4istenceL a re.ie6 of the classical criticismL the actual "lace of the hadith in
relation to the <uranL their negati.e effects on the Muslim communityL their connections to the
decline and fall of the MuslimsL and the 6ay out of this im"asse.

I am con.inced that the time has come for the Muslim community and their intelligentsia to
critically re@e.aluate the 6hole heritage of traditional Islamic thought, including theology and
Auris"rudence. This is %ecause the traditional formulation 6as made %y the society and
intelligentsia of that time in accordance 6ith their ?no6ledge and le.el of understanding, and
conforming to needs of that time. )o6 the situation has changed tremendously and there is no
dou%t that the traditional formulation must %e reconsidered.

Since the emergence of the modern reformism mo.ement of Famaluddin al@Afghani,
Muhammad A%duh and (ashid (idha at the end of the nineteenth and the %eginning of the
t6entieth centuries, many studies ha.e %een made on the decline and fall of the Muslims. These
include the 6or?s of thin?ers li?e IE%al, Male? 3enna%i and 'azlur (ahman. /o6e.er, the
condition of the Muslim community has not changed .ery much and continues to %e "recarious.
In com"arison 6ith other communities, es"ecially those in -uro"e, United States, (ussia and
Fa"an, the Muslim community is the most %ac?6ard, es"ecially in socio@economic, scientific,
technological and military fields.

2hat are the reasons for this %ac?6ardnessK 'rom the "oint of .ie6 of num%ers, the Muslims,
no6 more than a %illion, ha.e outnum%ered the !hristians, and from the "oint of .ie6 of
natural resources, Muslim countries are among the richest in the 6orld. 2hy, 6ith such .ast
resources and "ossessing an infalli%le di.ine scri"ture, are the Muslims una%le to com"ete 6ith
and sur"ass other nationsK

This situation is e4actly the o""osite of the situation of their early ancestors 6ho, 6ithin a short
"eriod of time, clim%ed the heights of success and created a great 6orld em"ire and a great
6orld ci.ilization. These early successes 6hich had astounded the 6orld must ha.e had their
reasons %ased on the la6s of historical change. 2hat are those reasonsK This is the greatest
challenge facing Muslim intelligentsia at the close of the t6entieth century and on the threshold
of the t6enty@first5 to see? the true causes of Muslim decline and there%y to lay the ground for
a ne6 Muslim (enaissance.

As 6e ha.e said, this study and re.ie6 of our traditional formulation must encom"ass classical
theology and Auris"rudence. The hadith, of course, is at the core of these traditional disci"lines.


+ur "resent ?no6ledge "oint to many factors that contri%ute to the rise and fall of nations,
factors that are ideological, "olitical, economic, social, cultural, historical, "sychological,
demogra"hic, geogra"hical, scientific, technological and military in nature. 3ut it is also Euite
certain that 6ithin this "luralism of factors, not all "lay eEually im"ortant roles. Technology
can surmount geogra"hical limitationsL military strategy can o.ercome num%ersL "olitical
leadershi" can offset economic 6ea?ness, and so on. Turning to the <uran as our infalli%le
guide, 6e find the follo6ing statements that can gi.e us a clue to the understanding of the
"ro%lem under discussion.

Surely, 1od doe not chan/e the condition of any people until they themel0e chan/e.

&hat i becaue 1od doe not chan/e the blein/ He had beto#ed upon any people,
unle they themel0e chan/e.

If only the pre0iou /eneration had ome intelli/ent people #ho enjoined them from
corruption, they #ould ha0e been a0ed. 9ut $e a0ed a fe# of them, #hile the ret
purued their material thin/ and became inner. :our ;ord ne0er detroy any
community unjutly #hile the people are ri/hteou.

$e #ill urely /i0e 0ictory to our meen/er and to thoe #ho belie0e, both in thi life
and on the day the #itnee are raied.


:ou hall ne0er #a0er, nor hall you #orry2 you are /uaranteed 0ictory for a lon/ a
you are belie0er.

All the a%o.e <uranic statements "oint to a "eo"le,s ideology as the most im"ortant com"onent
in the determination of their fate. This means that insofar as a "eo"le is im%ued 6ith a
scientific, dynamic and "rogressi.e ideology, that far 6ill it clim% the ladder of success.
!on.ersely, insofar as a "eo"le re.ert to a "re.iously held anti@scientific, static and regressi.e
ideology, that far 6ill it degenerate. The strong unam%iguous statements a%out .ictory %eing
granted to %elie.ers in %oth 6orlds necessarily follo6 from the definition of %elie.ers as those
"ossessing and "racticing the true scientific ideology.
3asing oursel.es on this "remise, 6e can ma?e the follo6ing hy"othesis. The ra"id rise of the
Ara% nation from its dar? "eriod of "aganism "rior to Muhammad to %ecome the most "o6erful
and ci.ilized nation in the 6orld then, 6ithin a short "eriod of time, is due to the ne6,
ins"iring, "o6erful and dynamic Islamic ideology of monotheism %rought %y Muhammad. The
Ara%s, under his and his immediate successors, leadershi", discarded their erst6hile "olytheism
and su"er@stitions. They united to fight and struggle under the guidance of the <uran and set u"
a Aust social order. 3ecause this struggle 6as %ased on di.ine truth and Austice as contained in
the <uran, it 6as in.inci%le. It also ga.e rise to a great social mo.ement, %ringing forth 6ith it
outstanding "olitical, military and intellectual leaders 6ho hel"ed to create the first scientific@
s"iritual culture in history.

This hy"othesis, in contrast to the modernist or the traditionalist theses, a""ears to %e the most
hel"ful in our effort to understand the history and the decline of the Muslims. The modernist
thesis, in %rief, states that the Muslims declined %ecause they ha.e remained traditional and
ha.e not modernized themsel.es according to 2estern secular .alues. The traditionalist thesis,
on the other hand, %lame the secularization of Muslim societies and the neglect of orthodo4
Muslim teachings as the maAor cause of Muslim decline.

It is o%.ious that the modernist and the traditionalist theses cancelled each other. 'urthermore,
the modernists ha.e to e4"lain 6hy the Tur?ish e4"eriment 6ith 2esternized modernization
failed. They also ha.e to e4"lain 6hy de.elo"ed 2estern societies such as the United States
and -uro"e ha.e %een undergoing a multi@faceted crisis since the 'irst 2orld 2ar, and 6hy a
ne6 "hiloso"hical trend of thought critical of 2estern@ty"e modernization has de.elo"ed in
-uro"e and America.

The traditionalists, on the other hand, must e4"lain the failure of their system from the
%eginning 6hen it 6as first formulated around the third, fourth and fifth centuries of Islam.
Some Ara% countries ha.e hardly modernized and had %een "racticing the traditional system
for centuries G 6hy ha.e these not "rogressedK If they ha.e not "rogressed, it is idle to e4"ect
Muslim countries to "rogress if they im"lement the traditional system.

The ans6er lies in our hy"othesis. The early Muslims rose to the "innacles of success "recisely
%ecause they 6ere in "ossession of and "racticed the "o6erful and dynamic Islamic ideology as
"reached in the <uran. They su%Aected other ?no6ledge, local and foreign, to the
discriminati.e teachings of the <uran. As long as they did this, they "rogressed. A time came
6hen other teachings, local and foreign, gained the u""er hand and su%merged the <uran, as
6itnessed %y the follo6ing <uranic "ro"hecy5

&he meen/er #ill ay, <"y ;ord, my people ha0e deerted thi +uran.< $e thu
appointed for e0ery prophet enemie from amon/ the criminal, and 1od uffice a
1uide and =rotector.

After a%out three hundred years, e4traneous harmful teachings not taught %y Pro"het
Muhammad %ut s?illfully attri%uted to him gradually gained a foothold in the Muslim
community and turned them a6ay from the dynamic in.inci%le ideology that initially %rought
them success. This ideology, as 6e shall sho6, is "recisely the hadith. This is the main cause of
their do6nfall. It therefore follo6s that the "urging of this harmful ideology, and 6ith it other
foreign modern ideologies, from the Muslim community, and their return to the original
ideology %rought %y Muhammad in the <uran is the ine qua non for the regeneration of the
Muslim community and for a ne6 Muslim (enaissance.


A(+ o, -G!+at Diso!d+!-

The time has no6 arri.ed for the Muslims to e4amine their situation more critically and %oldly.
Actually, this "erilous situation is not confined to the Muslims aloneL it co.ers the entire
man?ind. A num%er of t6entieth century "hiloso"hers, historians and social critics ha.e
unanimously stated that this century is the most critical century in human history. The late
!hinese leader, Mao Oedong, descri%ed the century as B0reat 1isorder under /ea.en.B The
American historical "hiloso"her, P.A. Soro?in, has detailed the crisis of the t6entieth century
in his a%le %oo?, The !risis of +ur Age, "u%lished in 19J1. It is in this century that t6o terri%le
6orld 6ars occurred, and a third more horri%le one might still occur, in s"ite of the end of the
!old 2ar, to destroy the "resent ci.ilization.


It is in this century also that an array of "hiloso"hies, ideologies, theories, systems that includes
li%eralism, Mar4ism, "ragmatism, logical "ositi.ism, e4istentialism, )azism, 'ascism,
Stalinism, 0handhism, Maoism and religious traditionalism colla"sed. 2hen dominant e4isting
"hiloso"hies and systems cannot sol.e the "ro%lems of human security and 6elfare, it is a sure
sign that a .ery serious crisis is u"on us.

A num%er of modern 6riters and "oets, such as 1ostoye.s?y, Al%ert !amus, Fean@Paul Sartre,
=.3. =eats and T.S. -liot, had e4"ressed this atmos"here and sense of great crisis in their
6or?s. *isten to the loneliness and "oignant sorro6 of -liot5

I said to my soul, %e still, and 6ait 6ithout ho"e
'or ho"e 6ould %e ho"e for the 6rong thingL 6ait 6ithout lo.e
'or lo.e 6ould %e lo.e of the 6rong thingL
there is yet faith
3ut the faith and the lo.e and the ho"e are all in the
6aiting.


and the dee" des"air and earnest "rayer of =eats5

Things fall a"artL the centre cannot holdL
Mere anarchy is loosed u"on the 6orldL
The %lood@dimmed tide is loosed, and e.ery6here
The ceremony of innocence is dro6nedL
The %est lac? all con.iction, 6hile the 6orst
Are full of "assionate intensity.

Surely some re.elation is at handL
Surely the Second !oming is at hand.


This literature of "essimism and a%surdity of life %eginning in the t6enties and thirties and
continuing after the Second 2orld 2ar is, of course, a reflection of the great disorder currently
e4isting in the 6orld. This great disorder is e.idenced %y the great ideological clea.age, the
continuous raging of the fires of 6ar, the massi.e star.ation and "o.erty in the Third 2orld,
the stee" decline in "u%lic morality, 6orld@6ide financial and economic crisis and the ina%ility
of the United )ations to function effecti.ely.

The Muslims had long lost their intellectual and "olitical leadershi" of the 6orld. The %rea?@u"
of their em"ire in 178& A1 ga.e 6ay to inde"endent dynasties 6hich continued until they 6ere
colonized %y -uro"ean "o6ers %eginning in the si4teenth right u" to the early t6entieth
centuries. Then, 6ith the rise of nationalism in Asia and Africa, nearly all of them regained
their inde"endence and set u" so.ereign nation@states.

/o6e.er, the Muslims had ceased to %e creati.e around the fourteenth century. Their "eriod of
intense creati.ity lasted three centuries from the ninth through to the ele.enth. Their last great
"hiloso"her 6as the Ara% I%n #haldun Cd. 1J9$D. Since that time Muslim intellect stagnated
and e.en degenerated and -uro"e too? o.er to de.elo" dominant "hiloso"hies and disci"lines
along materialist and hedonistic lines.

After more than a century of modern reformism efforts initiated %y Famaluddin al@Afghani and
Muhammad A%duh, the Muslim 6orld, a 6orld as disunited as any other, ha.e not "rogressed
much. They ha.e not %een a%le to fight off the ideological influence and domination of the
6orld "o6er@%locs. They are not united in their Muslim "ur"ose. Their economies are
de"endent and %ac?6ard. Their sciences and technologies are non@e4istent. Militarily, they are
6ea? and de"endent on the %ig "o6ers.

/o6e.er, there has %een much tal?, since the early se.enties, of im"lementing the Shari*a or
medie.al Muslim la6 and the setting u" of an Islamic state. This is the slogan of the
traditionalists 6ho ha.e ta?en o.er the reform mo.ement of Muhammad A%duh. The e4am"les
of mullah rule in Iran since the great "o"ular anti@Shah re.olution and the Islamization
"rogrammes in some countries do not gi.e su""ort to the traditionalist alternati.e.

The main 6ea?ness of the Muslims is their disunity. This disunity ta?es the form in their
ina%ility to coo"erate for the good of Muslims in indi.idual countries and the 6hole Muslim
6orld. It also surfaces in the form of conflicts and 6ars %et6een Muslims, as ty"ified %y the
Iran@IraE 6ar and the ci.il 6ars in *e%anon.

2hat is the cause of this disunityK The Muslims claim that they 6orshi" one 0od and follo6
/is one religion. They also declare their religious %rotherhood. /o6 then are they so disunitedK
This is the mystery that 6e ha.e to unra.el. This is the reason for our re@e.aluation of the
hadith. +ur hy"othesis is that the hadith ; in "rinci"le, a false teaching attri%uted to Pro"het
Muhammad ; is a maAor factor causing disunity and %ac?6ardness among Muslims. +ur
study is to "ro.e this hy"othesis.


#h+!+ Ha.+ #+ Go*+ #!o*(/

The time is ri"e for Muslims and for man?ind as a 6hole to underta?e a fundamental study of
this great human crisis. At some "oint, some6here, 6e ha.e gone 6rong. 2here ha.e 6e gone
6rongK It 6ill %e recalled that modern secular -uro"e emerged in the fifteenth and si4teenth
centuries in re%ellion against the !atholic !hurch in "articular and against religion in general to
em%race secular humanism of the li%eral or Mar4ist .ariety. 'or the last one to three hundred
years it e4"erimented 6ith these social "hiloso"hies and systems and the e4"eriments ha.e
"ro.ed a failure. Today the t6o "hiloso"hies and systems are see?ing a synthesis. !an the
synthesis %e achie.edK !an it ans6er man?ind,s "resent Euest for a ne6 s"iritual "hiloso"hyK

As for the Muslims, the ne6 and young Muslim society and state set u" %y Muhammad and his
com"atriots in se.enth century Ara%ia de.elo"ed and e4"anded so ra"idly that 6ithin a century
it had %ecome an em"ire to com"rise also Persia and 3yzantium, and 6ithin t6o to three
hundred years it had created a great 6orld ci.ilization. 3ut, as Euic?ly as it had arisen, so
Euic?ly had it declined and fallen. Today, the Muslim "olity, science and ci.ilization, great
though they 6ere in their time, are glories and things of the "ast. There seems to %e no %ridge
lin?ing their great "redecessors of the early centuries and "resent@day Muslims.

The great Euestion mar? hanging o.er the Muslims and the entire man?ind today is5 2hyK The
short ans6er to the Euestion, 6hich is the thesis of this %oo?, is that man?ind, including the
Muslims, ha.e deserted the true teachings of 0od. The true teachings of 0od in the era of
Muhammad is contained in /is final scri"ture to man?ind, the <uran. The Peo"le of the
Scri"ture, i.e. %elie.ers %efore Muhammad, es"ecially the Fe6s and the !hristians, reAected
Muhammad %ecause they had idolized their o6n "ro"hets and religious leaders and refused to
ac?no6ledge Muhammad,s di.ine message. Modern secular re%ellious -uro"e not only turned
against their religious "riesthood, in 6hich action it 6as right, %ut also against religion
altogether, in 6hich action it 6as 6rong. This is the cause of the "resent 2estern im"asse.

As regards the Muslims, Muhammad %rought them the <uran, descri%ed %y 0od /imself as an
in.inci%le %oo?, %ut no sooner did Muhammad die and lea.e them, they contri.ed to ma?e
Muhammad %ring t6o %oo?s and, after %itter Euarrels, they legislated, t6o hundred and fifty
years later, that Muslims must u"hold not only the <uran %ut also the hadith. /o6e.er, in truth,
since then, they follo6ed the hadith rather than the <uran. This e4"lains 0od,s 6arning in the
<uran that 6e ha.e Euoted earlier. So it came a%out that 6hile secular -uro"e em%raced either
li%eralism or Mar4ism, the Muslim 6orld em%raced the hadith, 6ith the "hiloso"hies of secular
humanism infecting the elites of Muslim societies, thus Austifying the <uranic 6arning.


A.oidi*( &is)*d+!sta*di*(

(aising such a fundamental issue as this, it is difficult to a.oid misunderstanding from %oth
sides. The secular side, %eing more o"en@minded and tolerant, 6ill sim"ly dismiss this call to
the <uran as antiEuated, outmoded and irrele.ant. Many secularists 6ill sim"ly not consider it.
+n the other hand, the traditionalist side, %eing close@minded and intolerant of dissenting .ie6s
on matters regarded as their "reser.es, 6ill raise a hue and cry and thro6 slanderous
accusations into the de%ate.

+ne cannot %e discouraged %y the "ros"ect. It is "art of the social struggle to e4"ose falsehood
and confirm the truth. The secularists 6ill %e 6orthy o""onents since they 6ill %e "re"ared to
fight it out in o"en %attles. +"en de%ate is "art of their secular tradition. The traditionalists are a
different %reed. +"en de%ate is not "art of their tradition. In fact, they came into %eing in
Muslim society %y ?illing o"en de%ate. Authoritarianism is their culture. Thus, slander, threats
and falsehood 6ill %e their methods.

It 6ill %e claimed that the 6riter is trying to cause confusion and further di.ide Muslim society.
This is far from the truth. The Muslims cannot %e further confused and di.ided than they
already ha.e %een for a long time. 2hat 6orse confusion and di.ision can there %e than 6hen
Muslims fight and ?ill one anotherK

My aim is to try to esta%lish the truth. My "ersonal history %ears testimony to this tendency.
*i?e other Malays, I 6as %orn and %rought u" in an ordinary orthodo4 Malay Muslim family.
/o6e.er, my early interest in social "hiloso"hy too? me on a long s"iritual Euest, o.er a "eriod
of thirty years, s"anning li%eral nationalism, Islamic li%eralism and socialism, e.ery single one
of 6hich each time sat uneasily o.er traditional Islam. The failure %ecame o%.ious to me 6hen
the coherent integrated social "hiloso"hy that I 6as see?ing eluded me. It 6as in the Islam of
the <uran, scientifically understood, that I disco.ered the frame6or? of such a "hiloso"hy.

*oo?ing %ac?, this is only logical, since the <uran contains the sure truth from 0od, 6hile most
of human teachings, as the <uran "oints out, are mere conAecture. 3ut at that time, the <uran
6as, so to s"ea?, co.ered u" for me %y the fog of hadith.

It 6ill %e claimed that calling the "eo"le %ac? to the <uran alone 6ill create a ne6 sect, in
addition to the sects that already e4ist. This is standing the argument on its head. Since the
<uran is, in the first "lace, anti@sectarian, not only 6ill it not create a ne6 sect, %ut it 6ill, on
the contrary, eliminate all e4isting sects and reunite all Muslims. This is "recisely 6hat 6e
6ant to do. /istory "ro.es that under Muhammad the young Muslim society 6as com"letely
united and there 6as no sect 6hate.er. It is ironic that the Ahl'ul-Hadith 6ho tal? so much
a%out follo6ing the e4am"le of the Pro"het ha.e com"letely a%andoned this finest of his
e4am"lesN

It 6ill also %e claimed that in reAecting the hadith as a source of la6, 6e shall %e reAecting the
role of the Pro"het. It 6ill further %e claimed that this is the first ste" to the ultimate reAection
of the <uranN As for the first "art of the claim, it is o%.ious to anyone that it 6as only through
Muhammad that man?ind recei.ed the <uran from 0od Almighty. That 6as his "rimary role
; 0od,s messenger ; indeed his only role, as the <uran stressed se.eral times. 2as not this
role great enough for Pro"het MuhammadK Surely, it 6as.

As for the second "art, it is too ridiculous to e.en thin? of it. 3ut since the die@hard traditionists
6ould sto" at nothing to slander their o""onents, one 6ould lose nothing to s"end a fe6 lines
e4"osing them. /o6 can anyone, after calling the "eo"le %ac? to the <uran, then reAect the
<uranK -.en if he does, and this means re.erting to dis%elief after %elief, ho6 can that %enefit
himK /e 6ould lose e.erything, 6hile the "eo"le, on the contrary, 6ould %enefit greatly %y
going %ac? to the <uran.

The Muslims must re@"ossess critical consciousness and discard "reAudice and grou"
fanaticism. 2e must a.oid thro6ing slanderous accusations at 6hat 6e may not li?e at first.
0od /imself has taught us to .erify things %efore 6e acce"t or reAect them. )o less an
intelligent man than Sayyed /ossein )asr 6ho has said the follo6ing a%out those 6ho deny the
authority of the hadith5

It is against this %asic as"ect of the 6hole structure of Islam that a se.ere attac? has %een made in recent years
%y an influential school of 2estern +rientalists. )o more of a .icious and insidious attac? could %e made
against Islam than this one, 6hich undercuts its .ery foundations and 6hose effect is more dangerous than if a
"hysical attac? 6ere made against Islam.

/o6 can this scholar, 6ho has Euoted a %las"hemous hadith in the same %oo?, s"out this
slanderK 2hy should 6e Muslims, in "ossession of an in.inci%le scri"ture from 0od Almighty,
%e afraid of the criticisms and e.en attac?s of +rientalistsK Such fear, in fact, reflects our o6n
6ea?ness. It sho6s that 6e are not sure of our o6n sel.es. The <uranic methodology should %e
a lesson for us. The <uran incessantly re"roduces the false arguments of idol@6orshi""ers and
hy"ocrites and re%uts them 6ith "roofs and 6ith %etter arguments. 2e should do the same to
e4"ose falsehoods and confirm the truth. The methods of su""ression and slander are alien to
the methods of truth.

(eAecting the authority of the hadith does not mean denying its e4istence. Some true re"orts of
6hat the Pro"het said and did outside the <uran as leader of his community and as an ordinary
man must ha.e %een "reser.ed. Such re"orts deser.e to %e treated as any other historical
account 6hose authenticity must %e Audged against other historical accounts, against the higher
authority of the <uran, and against rational criteria. 2hile <uranic "ronouncements are di.ine
and are eternally %inding on %elie.ers, those of Muhammad in his ca"acity as leader must %e
treated in accordance 6ith the <uranic inAunction regarding "olitico@social authority, i.e. that
they are only conditionally %inding. The conditions are that they do not contradict the <uran,
they are %inding only for the community of that time, and that for other communities of other
times they only constitute as "recedents to %e follo6ed or %y"assed as and 6hen deemed
useful.

It should also %e 6ell understood that this re@e.aluation of the hadith is in no 6ay a slur u"on
our classical scholars. They understood and reacted to their "ro%lems as %est they could. 2e
6ho come after them are not %ound %y their solutions. As Muhammad A%duh has 6ell said,
BThey are human and 6e are human. 2e learn from them %ut 6e do not P%lindlyQ follo6 them.B
)o dou%t our re@e4amination constitutes a criticism. 3ut this is normal scientific "rocedure. It
has %een done %y all our great "hiloso"hers and scholars from the %eginning, %y I%n Sina, al@
0hazzali, I%n (ush, I%n Taimiya, Shah 2aliyullah, Muhammad A%duh and scores of others.
2e o6e it to them and to oursel.es to constantly "ractice this method. 'or ho6 else can
?no6ledge de.elo" and society "rogress unless they continually %e "urged of errors. This
accounts for the .ery im"ortant <uranic directi.e, re"eated many times, to %elie.ers5

;et there be a community amon/ you #ho preach /oodne, ad0ocate ri/hteoune
and forbid e0il. &hee are the #inner.

It must also %e "ointed out that this criticism and re@e.aluation of the hadith that 6e are ma?ing
is nothing ne6. Imam ShafiIi 6ho first sti"ulated that the hadith should %e acce"ted as a source
of la6 had o""onents that he himself descri%ed in his %oo?. In recent times there 6ere such
"ro"onents in -gy"t, India and Indonesia. It may %e that our treatment, than?s to recent
de.elo"ments in <uranic and hadith studies, is more systematic than "re.ious efforts.

In this study 6e ha.e ado"ted 6hat may %e termed as Islamic scientific methodology. In is
unfortunate that today 6e associate scientific methodology to the 2estern em"irical and
rational methods, 6hen, in fact, it 6as Islam that introduced this methodology to the 2est. The
6ords of the -nglish historian (o%ert 3riffault deser.e to %e Euoted in full5

B... It 6as under their successors at the +4ford school that (oger 3acon learned Ara%ic and Ara%ic
science. )either (oger 3acon nor his later namesa?e has any title to %e credited 6ith ha.ing introduced
the e4"erimental method. (oger 3acon 6as no more than one of the a"ostles of Muslim science and
method to !hristian -uro"eL and he ne.er 6earied of declaring that ?no6ledge of Ara%ic and Ara%ic
science 6as for his contem"oraries the only 6ay to true ?no6ledge. 1iscussions as to 6ho 6as the
originator of the e4"erimental method ... are "art of the colossal misre"resentation of the origins of
-uro"ean ci.ilization. The e4"erimental method of PtheQ Ara%s 6as %y 3acon,s time 6ides"read and
eagerly culti.ated throughout -uro"e...B

/o6e.er, the scientific methodology of -uro"e sought to %ar su"ra@rational and su"ra@sensory
?no6ledge from science. It is no6 admitted that this is inadeEuate to conform to the truly
Islamic scientific methodology of com%ining sensory, rational and su"ra@rational ?no6ledge to
"roduce true integrated ?no6ledge. Using this methodology, 6e ta?e the <uran as our %asis
and starting "oint and su%Aect all the e.idence of the hadith, i.e. the hadith itself, the maAor
classical 6ritings on them and modern -uro"ean and Muslim criticisms, to <uranic and
rational Audgements. 2e may, of course, ta?e ten years to do this and "roduce fi.e .olumes that
fe6 6ill ha.e the time and the stamina to read. +ur "ur"ose is different. +urs is to 6rite a
reada%le %oo? for the general reader 6ith enough matter for him to thin? and dra6 conclusions.

It is hardly necessary to state that this is a .ie6 offered to the reader for his consideration. 0od
Almighty /imself has ordered us to read in /is name, for doing that 6e cannot fail to de.elo"
our mind and increase our ?no6ledge. A good %oo? 6ill do that "ositi.elyL a %ad one,
negati.ely. (eading in /is name, therefore, cannot %ut "roduce good results. =et, the Muslims
today are .ery %ad readers. !enturies of su%ser.ience to %igoted religious authorities ha.e
shac?led their minds. This su%ser.ience "lus their de"lora%le ignorance of the contents of the
<uran com%ine to ma?e 6hat they are today ; a 6ea?, %ac?6ard and humiliated "eo"le. The
time has come for us to %rea? out of this "rison. It is for this "ur"ose that this study is
underta?en.

CHAPTER II

REFUTATION OF THE TRADITIONISTS' THEOR%


>o not accept anythin/ that you yourelf cannot acertain. :ou are /i0en the hearin/,
the i/ht and the mind in order to examine and 0erify.

'+uran, 6753?(


Modern -uro"e has succeeded in "ioneering .arious fields of modern ?no6ledge and %ecomes
a leader in these fields ; es"ecially science and technology ; %ecause it holds firmly to the
#antian motto of the -uro"ean Age of -nlightenment5 Da!+ to '*o0. The Islamic 6orld, in
the early stages of its second renaissance, must do li?e6ise. Since in Islam ?no6ledge is %ased
on re.elation, the motto of the ne6 Islamic (enaissance must read5 Da!+ to '*o0 )*d+! th+
()ida*+ o, th+ 1)!a*.

Any study of the hadith and sunna must, of necessity, %e %ased on the <uran. -.erything said
a%out the hadith must %e su%Aected to the critical scrutiny of the <uran and science. +nly 6hat
"asses this test is acce"ta%le.
The 6ord hadith means Ine6s,, Istory, or Imessage,, 6hile the 6ord unna means Ila6,,
Isystem,, Icustom, or I%eha.ior., In the hadith literature, the 6ord hadith carries the meaning of
a re"ort of an alleged saying or action of Pro"het Muhammad. Therefore, although sunna
originally refers to the customary %eha.ior of the Pro"het, in the hadith literature %oth the terms
sunna and hadith carry a similar meaning.


Th+ Fo)! A!()m+*ts o, T!aditio*ists

The Ahl'ul-Hadith or the Traditionists did not distinctly emerge in Muslim society until the
second Islamic century, more than a hundred years after the Pro"het,s death. There is a %ig ga"
%et6een the Pro"het and the first legal digest that contains some traditions, i.e. the "u#atta' of
Imam Mali? Cd. 179 A/D. It is historically ?no6n that the Ifour guided cali"hs, ; close
com"anions of the Pro"het ; not only did not lea.e us any collection of traditions, they did
not ma?e use or made .ery little use of traditions.

)e.ertheless, against all odds, the Traditionists "re.ailed in insisting the hadithMsunna 6as
%inding on the Muslims from the %eginning. They claim to deri.e this authority for the hadith
from the <uran itself, as 6e shall "resently sho6. They cannot do other6ise than ma?e this
claim, for 6ithout the authority of the <uran as the %asis of its legitimacy, the hadith is
automatically reAected. It 6ill %e seen that this claim is false.
They "ut for6ard four "rinci"al arguments. 'irstly, the hadith is also 1i.ine re.elation.
Secondly, 0od,s command to the %elie.ers to o%ey the messenger means that they must u"hold
the hadith. Thirdly, the Pro"het is the inter"reter of the <uran and the hadith is necessary in
order to understand and carry out <uranic inAunctions. 'ourthly and lastly, the Pro"het is an
e4am"le for the %elie.ers to follo6, and his sunna is %inding on the %elie.ers.

2e shall discuss these four "rinci"al arguments of the Traditionists in detail and sho6 that they
are false.


A!()m+*t O*+$ 2S)**a is R+.+3atio*'

Their claim that hadithMsunna also constitutes re.elation is %ased on the follo6ing <uranic
.erses5

@ur ;ord, and raie amon/ them a meen/er #ho #ould recite for them :our
re0elation and teach them the cripture and #idom and anctify them. 'A(

:our friend i neither atray, nor a liar. He doe not pea) on hi o#n. &hi i a di0ine
inpiration. '?(

The famous classical Aurist, Imam ShafiIi, %asically the creator of the theory of classical
Auris"rudence, inter"reted the Ara%ic 6ord hi)mah in a%o.e .erse and in similar .erses as
meaning Isunna, or Ihadith., In his maAor 6or?, al@(isala, he stated5

So, 0od mentions /is scri"ture, that is the <uran, and 6isdom, and I ha.e heard from those 6ho are
?no6ledgea%le in the <uran ; those 6hom I agree 6ith ; say that 6isdom is the traditions of the
Pro"het. This is the same as the 2ord Pof 0od /imselfQL %ut 0od ?no6s %etterN 3ecause the <uran is
mentioned, follo6ed %y 2isdomL then 0od mentions /is %lessing to man?ind %y teaching the <uran
and 6isdom. So, it is *ot "ossi43+ that 0isdom m+a*s oth+! thi*(s tha* th+ t!aditio*s o, th+ P!o"h+t
... C-m"hasis addedD.

ShafiIi,s inter"retation of the 6ord hi)mah as meaning the Pro"het,s tradition cannot %ut gi.e
rise to gra.e dou%ts. 2as he Austified in doing soK /e did not "roduce any su""ort from the
<uran for such an inter"retation. /e merely re"orted the .ie6 of Be4"ertsB 6hom he concurred
6ith. 2ho these Be4"ertsB 6ere and 6hat their reasons for ad.ancing such a .ie6 ShafiIi did
not say. According to the la6s of logic, 6e can Euestion any .ie6 "ut for6ard %y any%ody, %ut
6e cannot Euestion certainty. In the Euotation a%o.e, 6e notice that ShafiIi Aum"ed from a
statement of the status of "ro%a%ility to a statement of the status of certainty 6ithout gi.ing
"ro"er "roofs to ena%le the "ro%a%le .ie6 to achie.e the status of certainty. This is
unacce"ta%le in any scientific discourse.

0od /imself states in the <uran that it is /e 2ho e4"lains the <uran. This means that the
<uran e4"lains itself. Ta?ing this cue and e4amining the use of the 6ord hi)mah, occurring
t6enty times in the <uran, it is o%.ious that it refers to the teachings of the <uran, or to general
6isdom that all "ro"het@messengers or moral teachers 6ere endo6ed 6ith. The follo6ing
<uranic usage 6ill illustrate 5

&hi i part of the wisdom that your ;ord re0eal to you.

6here the 6ord I6isdom, refers to some thirteen ethical teachings enumerated in .erses 77 to
H&. These teachings are the 6orshi" of 0od alone and the "rohi%ition of idolatry, doing honor
and ?indness to "arents, gi.ing charity to relati.es, the "oor and needy and the alien, to %e
moderate in s"ending, "rohi%ition against child@?illing for fear of "o.erty, "rohi%ition against
adultery, "rohi%ition against ?illing any human %eing e4ce"t in the course of Austice, the safe@
?ee"ing of an or"han,s "ro"erty until he or she %ecomes of age, honesty in trading, "rohi%ition
against the acce"tance of un.erified ne6s or .ie6s, censure against arrogant %eha.ior and
general censure against e.il.

Again the 6ord I6isdom, in the follo6ing .erse5

1od ha made a co0enant #ith the prophet that He #ill /i0e them the cripture and
wisdom.

refers to the contents of all di.ine scri"tures. Similarly in the follo6ing .erse5

$e ha0e endo#ed ;uqman #ith wisdom, for he #a appreciati0e of 1od.

6here the 6isdom in Euestion refers to general 6isdom of s"iritual teachers.

Muhammad Ali in his translation of the <uran mentions al-Hi)mah as one of the names of the
<uran %ased on the .erse 175H9 that 6e ha.e Euoted a%o.e.

'urther e.idence that the 6ords hi)mah or ha)eem 6ith the meaning I6isdom, can %e seen
from the follo6ing5

&hee are the re0elation and the mea/e of wisdom that #e recite to you.

:.S. 9y the wise +uranB :ou are indeed one of the meen/er.

It should also %e note that the 6ord ha)eem in the <uran meaning I6ise, 6ithout e4ce"tion
refers to 0od, as for e4am"le5

@ur ;ord, and raie amon/ them a meen/er #ho #ould recite for them :our re0elation and
teach them the cripture and #idom and anctify them. :ou are the Almi/hty, the Wise.

1lorifyin/ 1od i e0erythin/ in the hea0en and the earth2 He i the Almi/hty, the Wise.
3ased on the a%o.e <uranic e.idence 6e can ma?e t6o conclusions. 'irstly, the 6ord I6isdom,
Euoted %y ShafiIi in .erse 75179 refers to the ethical teachings of the <uran. Secondly, general
6isdom has %een endo6ed to all "ro"hets. !an 6e, therefore, infer that Pro"het Muhammad
taught 6isdom to his community through his leadershi" of the communityK The ans6er is, of
course, =es. /istory "ro.es that. 3ut that 6ise leadershi" is also conseEuent u"on his acting
strictly in accordance 6ith the ethical teachings of the <uran. All this 6isdom is contained in
the <uran, although some hadith may also ha.e "reser.ed that 6isdom. The case for u"holding
the hadith a"art from the <uran is, therefore, not "ro.ed %y this argument.

'urther e4amination of the use of the 6ords Isunna, and Ihadith, in the <uran gi.es interesting
information. The 6ord Isunna, is used in the <uran to refer to the di.ine system or la6 and to
the e4am"le of the fate suffered %y ancient communities. )one refers to the %eha.ior of the
Pro"het. The t6o usages are illustrated in the follo6ing .erses5

&hi i 1od' system that ha al#ay pre0ailed. 1od' system ne0er chan/e.
&ell thoe #ho dibelie0e that if they repent, their pat tran/reion #ill be for/i0en.
9ut if they re0ert, then the examples of the pat hould be remembered.

The 6ord Ihadith, is used in the <uran to mean Ine6s,, Istory,, Imessage, or Ithing,. +ut of the
H$ times it is used in .arious grammatical forms, none refers to 6hat is ?no6n as the Pro"hetic
hadith as another source of la6 %eside the <uran. +n the contrary, in ten instances of .ery
"o6erful statements the 6ord refers to the <uran and categorically reAects any hadith %esides
the <uran. /ere 6e gi.e t6o of them5

1od ent do#n the bet hadith, a cripture conitent, repeatin/.

Some people uphold 0ain hadith in order to di0ert other from the path of 1od #ithout
)no#led/e, and to create a moc)ery of it.

The other .erses, 8H5H@J, that the Traditionists Euote as "roof that the sunna is also di.ine
re.elation ha.e %een gi.en. !ommenting on these .erses, 'azlul #arim said5

The /oly <uran e4horts the "eo"le to %elie.e the /adith of the Pro"het as nothing short of
re.elation ... The only difference %et6een the <uran and the /adith is that 6hereas the former 6as
re.ealed directly through 0a%riel 6ith the .ery letters that are em%odied from Allah, the latter 6as
re.ealed 6ithout letters and 6ords...

This inter"retation of the hadith as re.elation is "atently false and has its origin in earlier
Fe6ish "ractice, as 6e shall sho6. *et us loo? closer at the .erses in Euestion.

9y the fallin/ tar. :our friend i neither atray, nor a liar. He doe not pea) on hi
o#n. &hi i a di0ine inpiration. A teachin/ from a mi/hty one. &he poeor of
omnipotence, #ho aumed 'all authority(. !rom the hi/het horizon. He came cloer
by mo0in/ do#n#ard. -ntil He became a cloe a poible. He then re0ealed to Hi
er0ant #hat He re0ealed.

The a%o.e .erses clearly descri%e the "rocess of re.elation to Muhammad. They refer to a
s"ecially ins"ired state, not to the ordinary state of Muhammad,s human e4istence. A"art from
the fact that the .erses themsel.es ma?e this clear, this is the inter"retation gi.en %y all
authorities. Thus, the later e4tremely su%Aecti.e meaning gi.en to these .erses to conform to
the Traditionists, theory, as e4em"lified %y 'azlul #arim, must %e reAected.

2hat should alert Muslims is the .ery close resem%lance of this theory to the much earlier
Fe6ish theory of 6ritten and oral re.elations. The Fe6ish Talmud, consisting of the Mishnah
and 0emara, the eEui.alent of Muslim /adith and Sunna, is a %ody of oral teachings of Fe6ish
ra%%is and Aurists %ased on their inter"retations and e4"ositions of the scri"ture o.er a long
"eriod. In the 6ords of the Fe6ish scholar Fudah 0oldin,

B...PIt 6as %elie.ed thatQ along 6ith the re.elation of the 2ritten Torah 6as a re.elation of an +ral Torah, that
is, that inter"retations of and deductions from the Scri"tures must ha.e accom"anied the Scri"tures themsel.es
has at least this to recommend it5 no 6ritten te4t, "articularly if it is meant as a guide for conduct, can in and of
itself %e com"leteL it must ha.e some form of oral commentary associated 6ith it. This much ho6e.er is clear 5
from the fifth century 3! on6ard there 6as a conscious effort on the "art teachers to e4"ound the canonical
%oo?s of the Torah, to ma?e clear its meaning and its a""lica%ility. *&o ma)e clear the &orah of the ;ord and put
it into practice, and to teach in Irael tatute and ordinance' C-zra 7519D 6as not only the "rogramme of -zra
%ut of the colleagues 6hom he attracted to himself, the Soferim ... It 6as the Soferim 6ho made 6hat 6as
im"licit in the 3oo? of the Torah of 0od e4"licit and intelligi%le ..., and under their tutelage too, as times
reEuired, enactments and decrees 6ere issued. Such teaching and legislation as the Soferim conducted through
their schools and councils 6ere carried on orally, in order to carefully distinguish %et6een 6hat 6as the 2ritten
Torah, S!i"t)!+, and the %ody of e4egesis, inter"retation 4y 50o!d o,6 mo)th, +ral Torah.B
This historical testimony is self@e4"lanatory. The theory of t6o re.elations that the
Traditionists had "ro"agated is Fe6ish in origin and had its %eginning in the teaching of
scholar@"riest -zra, idolized %y the Fe6s as the son of 0od, and his follo6ers.

2e should note that this theory, %uilt 6ith such ela%orateness, is demolished %y the <uran in
Aust t6o 6ords 6ith its declaration that the Pro"het %elie.es in 0od,s 6ords5

&herefore, you hall belie0e in 1od and Hi meen/er, the /entile prophet, #ho
belie0e in 1od and His words, and follo# him that you may be /uided.


A!()m+*t T0o$ 2O4+y th+ &+ss+*(+!' &+a*s
2U"ho3d th+ Hadith'

The second "rinci"al argument ad.anced %y the Traditionists relates to 0od,s commandment to
the %elie.ers to o%ey the messenger, 6hich they ha.e inter"reted to mean %elief in the
hadithMsunna. ShafiIi used this argument as his "rinci"al argument and tirelessly re"eated it in
his %oo?, al@(isala. /e said,

3ut 6hate.er is decided %y him in the sunna 0od has decreed that 6e should o%ey, and /e considers
PourQ o%edience to him as o%edience to /im, and PourQ refusal to o%ey him as our denial of /im, 6hich
6ill not %e forgi.en ...

The Traditionists use the famous .erse J589 as 6ell as t6o other .erses as their "ro"s for this
argument. *et us loo? at the .erses carefully5

@ you #ho belie0e, you hall obey 1od, and you hall obey the meen/er and thoe in char/e
amon/ you. If you dipute in any matter, you hall refer it to 1od and the meen/er, if you
truly belie0e in 1od and the ;at >ay. &hi i better for you and pro0ide you #ith the bet
olution.

Any /ained poil that the meen/er /i0e you, you hall accept, and #hate0er he forbid you,
you hall deit from.

Ce0er, by your ;ord, #ill they be conidered belie0er, unle they a) you to jud/e bet#een
them, then find no heitation #hatoe0er in their heart re/ardin/ your jud/ement, and unle
they ubmit completely.

The Traditionists desire to con.ey t6o ideas %y these Euotations. 'irstly, the messenger is an
inde"endent "o6er to %e o%eyed a"art from 0od. Secondly, o%edience to the messenger means
u"holding the hadithMsunna. Are they right in theseK

It seems o%.ious that o%edience to the messenger in the a%o.e .erse and in other similar .erses
means o%edience to 0od, since the messenger is not an inde"endent agency. As messenger, he
6as the agency that deli.ered the message, and o%edience to him 6as eEui.alent to o%edience
to 0od. As stated in the <uran se.eral times, <&he ole function of the meen/er i to deli0er
the mea/e.< It should %e noted that the <uran uses the 6ord Imessenger, and not
IMuhammad,. The o%edience is, therefore, to the messenger, that is, to the message that he
%rought from 0od. In short, 0od and messenger in this conte4t constitute one conce"t 6hich
should not %e se"arated.

2e ha.e said earlier that the <uran e4"lains itself. Such .erses 6here o%edience to 0od is
cou"led 6ith o%edience to the messenger is e4"lained %y other .erses 6here o%edience is made
due only to 0od. The follo6ing are e4am"les5


Say, <I exhort you to do only one thin/5 that you totally ubmit to 1od in pair or a
indi0idual, then reflect. :our friend i not crazy2 he only alert you to e0ade terrible
retribution.<

:ou hall be obedient to your ;ord and totally ubmit to Him before the retribution
come to you.

The second idea that o%edience to the messenger means u"holding the hadith is therefore
categorically reAected %y the <uran.

A Euestion may still %e as?ed5 1id Muhammad the messenger not "ronounce and act outside
the <uranK It is only too o%.ious that he did and must ha.e done so. /e did so as leader of the
then Muslim community and as an ordinary human %eing. Under such circumstances, the
<uranic directi.e regarding leadershi" and o%edience in .erse J589 a""lies5 that the "eo"le are
duty@%ound to o%ey their rightful leader or leaders in so far as he or they do not tres"ass the
%ounds of 0od. 2e may assume that Muhammad, the leader and the man, 6ould not ha.e said
or done anything contrary to the di.ine message he %rought, after he ?ne6 the message.
Therefore, the truly genuine hadith can only %e the ones that do not contradict the <uran.

!ertain decisions he made as leader of the community that history has recorded must
necessarily %e circumscri%ed %y the conditions of the time. The Madinah !harter is a good
e4am"le. Although the "rinci"les of religious freedom, inter@communal eEuality and unity,
local autonomy and Aust go.ernment underlying the charter conform to the teachings of the
<uran, the forms they too? 6ere conditioned %y the circumstances then "re.ailing. In the same
manner, his decisions on other matters concerning methods that the <uran, for o%.ious reasons,
does not sti"ulate 6ere determined %y historical circumstances and do not %ind the Muslims
after him. /istory records that this 6as "recisely the attitude of the four righteous cali"hs,
although they did consider those decisions as "recedents. That "ast decisions are "recedents is
normal legal "rocedure.


A!()m+*t Th!++$ 2Hadith I*t+!"!+ts th+ 1)!a*'

The Traditionists claim that Pro"het Muhammad is the inter"reter of the <uran, and that this
inter"retation is o%taina%le through the hadith. 2ithout the hadith, they assert, 6e cannot
understand and carry out the commands of 0od in the <uran. A ty"ical statement of the
Traditionists is as follo65

If the e4"lanations of the Pro"het C"%uhD regarding general matters 6ere not "reser.ed and guaranteed
from foreign interference, it is certain that <uranic commands cannot %e im"lemented. In this 6ay, a
great "art of <uranic directi.es 6hich are %inding on us 6ill la"se. In this 6ay, 6e shall %e una%le to
?no6 the true "ur"ose of 0od.

The Traditionists Euote the follo6ing .erses to su""ort their contention5

$e re0eal to you thi Reminder o that you may explain to the people #hat i re0ealed
to them and to let them reflect.
$e did not end thi cripture do#n to you except that you may explain to them o0er #hat they
dipute, and to pro0ide /uidance and mercy for thoe #ho belie0e.

!ommenting on these .erses, one 6riter said that the Pro"het detailed general or uni.ersal
matters in the <uran, such as the times and num%er of "rostrations of "rayer and the rate of
za)at or o%ligatory charityL the Pro"het clarified matters that 6ere not mentioned in the <uran,
such as the time of ima) Cearly morning Aust %efore da6n 6hen fasting %egins in (amadanDL
the Pro"het s"ecified general commands in the <uran, such as di.ision of family "ro"erty
6here, it 6as claimed, that the hadith for%id any share for children 6ho ?illed their "arentsL and
the Pro"het defined the limits of <uranic orders, such as determining the methods of carrying
out the "unishment for cutting off the hand.

It is clear from the a%o.e that 6hat is meant %y the Traditionists is the role of the Pro"het as
leader, contained in the <uranic conce"t ulil-amr Cthose in authorityD that has already %een
e4"lained.

As regards e4"laining and inter"reting the <uran, <uranic statements and historical e.idence
ha.e sho6n that it is not gi.en to Pro"het Muhammad or to any su%seEuent teachers to do so
fully and all at once. The <uran, %eing from the omniscient ?no6ledge of 0od, cannot all %e
understood fully, e4ce"t through a "rolonged "rocess of rational understanding and scientific
studies. The long history of <uranic e4egeses "ro.e this. The <uran itself attests to this 6hen it
declares a%out the allegorical .erses5



Co one )no# their correct interpretation, except 1od and thoe #ell-/rounded in )no#led/e.

2hile this .erse refers only to the understanding of allegorical .erses, 0od clearly states that it
is /e 6ho teaches and e4"lains the <uran. This means, on the one hand, that the <uran
e4"lains itself and, on the other, that 0od 6ill, at the "ro"er time, gi.e man the necessary
?no6ledge to understand it. The .arious disco.eries and findings of modern science 6ithin the
last four hundred years ha.e thro6n light on the meanings and corro%orated the statements
made in the <uran fourteen centuries ago 6hen modern science 6as not yet %orn.


&od+ o, P!ay+!

The Traditionists in.aria%ly as?s5 If 6e do not ha.e the hadith, ho6 do 6e "rayK This sho6s
that they ha.e not studied the <uran nor Ara% history "rior to Muhammad carefully. The <uran
clearly states that the o%ligatory "rayers and all other religious o%ser.ances of Islam 6ere
originally taught to A%raham. All the "ro"hets and their true follo6ers since A%raham "racticed
them, %ut, as the <uran also informs us, later generations, including the Ara%s at the ad.ent of
Muhammad, had lost these "rayers. The "rayers of the Ara%s at the Shrine at the time 6ere
descri%ed %y the <uran as Bno more than deceit and alienation.B

It should also %e noted that the .ery early re.elations, such as the cha"ter 7H entitled al@
Muzzammil 6hich 6as the third in order of re.elation, already mentioned alat and za)at,
indicating that these religious o%ser.ances 6ere 6ell@?no6n and 6ere %eing "racticed. This is
confirmed %y early historical sources, such as I%n IshaE,s %iogra"hy of the Pro"het. All these
conclusi.ely "ro.e that our alat "rayers today 6ere not originally gi.en to Muhammad during
the )ight Fourney, as the Traditionists claim.

A moment,s thought 6ill also ma?e us realize that 6e do not learn ho6 to "ray from the hadith.
2e learn to do so from our "arents and teachers 6ho inherit the "ractice through the
generations from the first source, that is Pro"het A%raham.

Although the <uran needs no longer teach us ho6 to "ray, since 6e ha.e learnt and "racticed it
from the time of A%raham, still it gi.es us the main features of alat "rayer, i.e. the normal
a%lution C85$D, the a%normal a%lution CJ5JHD, the "ro"er dress C75H1D, standing and facing the
qiblah C751JJD, the times C11511J, 1757&, 7J58&, 757H&, H9517@1& and 7951H9D, the %o6ing and
"rostrating C75JH,178,H5J7, 77577, J&579D, using moderate .oice 6hen saying "rayers C175119D,
not calling anyone else %esides 0od in "rayer C7751&D and modified mode of "rayer at unusual
times CJ5191,19HD. It is Euite o%.ious that many im"ortant details regarding the mode of "rayer
are gi.en in the <uran.

It should %e remem%ered that the <uran re"eatedly teaches the "eo"le to %e concerned 6ith
doing good sincerely and not to %e concerned 6ith form. It is o%.ious 6hy this should %e so.
An o%session 6ith form 6ould defeat the "ur"ose of an action. The incidence of Saudi Prince
Sultan Salman 6ho accom"anied the American s"ace mission, Diso.+!y, in 19&8 and 6ho
e4"osed the ina%ility of the traditional Saudi ulama to ans6er the Euestion of ho6 he should
"ray in the s"ace shuttle 6as a good modern illustration of the error of o%session 6ith form.


A!()m+*t Fo)!$ 2Th+ E7am"3+ o, th+ P!o"h+t'

This is the fourth and last argument of the Traditionists5 that the Pro"het constitutes a good
e4am"le for the %elie.ers to follo6, and follo6ing his e4am"les means follo6ing the sunna.
They %ase this argument on the follo6ing .erses of the <uran5

&he meen/er of 1od i a /ood example for you, for any of you #ho truly ee) 1od
and the Hereafter and commemorate 1od frequently.

(eferring to this .erse and the follo6ing .erse
:ou are indeed endo#ed #ith a /reat character

one traditionalist 6riter remar?ed5

The messenger C"%uhD is a "erfect man. /e is the foremost e4am"le to %e follo6ed in all as"ects and fields,
e4ce"t in those that cannot %e follo6ed.

According to the hadith scholar, M.M. Azami,

If 6e consider the Pro"het as the model for the community, the Muslims ha.e to follo6 his e4am"le in e.ery
6ay, es"ecially as they ha.e %een s"ecifically commanded to do so %y Allah.

-.en the late modern scholar Prof. 'azlur (ahman tal?s of the e4istence of the e4em"lary
conduct of the Pro"het. /o6e.er, if 6e loo? at the conte4t of .erse HH571 Euoted a%o.e, it is
clear that it does not refer to e.ery detail of the Pro"het,s %eha.ior, such as his eating, dress,
slee"ing and other "ersonal ha%its. Actually, it refers to the Pro"het,s faith in 0od,s hel" and
.ictory. The .erse is "ut in the middle of the account of the 3attle of the Allies 6hen the
%elie.ers 6ere really sha?en and thought that the cause of Islam 6as lost. )e.ertheless, it
6ould not %e 6rong if 6e deri.e a general meaning for this .erse that the Pro"het "ro.ided a
good e4am"le for Muslims to follo6. The Pro"het,s e4am"le is none other than his staunch
faith in 0od and strict adherence to the <uran.

That the "hrase u#ah haanah, meaning Ia good e4am"le, in this .erse, refers to one,s
con.iction, stand and struggle, and not to one,s "ersonal %eha.ior, can %e "ro.ed %y its usage,
t6ice, for Pro"het A%raham 6ho 6as a staunch monotheist. :erse J of Surah $9 e4"lains the
meaning of the "hrase5

A good example has 4++* s+t ,o! yo) 4y A4!aham a*d thos+ 0ith him8 Th+y said to th+i!
"+o"3+9 -#+ diso0* yo) a*d th+ ido3s yo) s+t )" 4+sid+s God8 #+ !+:+t yo)9 a*d yo) 0i33
s++ ,!om )s *othi*( 4)t +*mity a*d o""ositio* )*ti3 yo) 4+3i+.+ i* God a3o*+8-

The a%o.e .erse e4"lains the meaning of u#ah haanah as referring to one,s religious
con.iction, ideological "osition and struggle. This is an instance of ho6 the <uran e4"lains and
inter"rets itself.

It is unreasona%le and unthin?a%le that 0od 6ould as? the Muslims to follo6 the "ro"het,s
"ersonal mode of %eha.ior, %ecause a "erson,s mode of %eha.ior is determined %y many
different factors, such as customs, his education, "ersonal u"%ringing and "ersonal inclinations.
The "ro"het,s mode of eating, of dress and indeed of general %eha.ior cannot %e different from
that of other Ara%s, including Fe6s and !hristians, of that time, e4ce"t regarding matters 6hich
Islam "rohi%ited. If the Pro"het had %een %orn a Malay, he 6ould ha.e dressed and eaten li?e a
Malay. This is a cultural and a "ersonal trait 6hich has nothing to do 6ith one,s religion.

So 6ere the methods of the Pro"het,s 6ars and his administration of the Medina city@state. The
6ea"ons he used, such as s6ords, s"ears, arro6s and shields, 6ere in accordance 6ith the
"re.ailing technology. Today, 6ith the de.elo"ment of modern 6ea"ons, the Muslims
o%.iously cannot fight 6ith the medie.al 6ea"ons used %y the Pro"het, although they must
emulate his staunch faith in 0od and com"lete adherence to 0od,s teachings.

In "olitical administration, the same Islamic "rinci"les o"erate. Some e4am"les5 so.ereignty of
the "eo"le under 0od,s so.ereignty, go.ernment %ased on Aust la6s, com"lete freedom of
religious 6orshi", o%edience to 0od and due o%edience to leaders, leadershi" to %e e4ercised
%y those 6ho are com"etent and morally u"right, and go.ernment through consultation.
/o6e.er, methods and the institutions .ary according to time and circumstances. The methods
and institutions used %y the Pro"het are not uni.ersally and eternally %inding.

Actually, the 6ays of the Pro"het 6ere in strict conformity 6ith the teachings of the <uran. /e
held firmly to the <uran and o%eyed its inAunctions. Therefore, follo6ing the e4am"le of the
Pro"het means u"holding the <uran. The claim of the Traditionists that the <uran is general
and reEuires the hadith to e4"lain it and ma?e it s"ecific is %ased on a false understanding of
the <uran. This claim has %een "artially dealt 6ith here. It 6ill %e fully dealt 6ith in !ha"ter :
6here 6e shall discuss the com"rehensi.eness of the <uran as a guide.


Th+ 1)!a* is Com"3+t+9 P+!,+t a*d D+tai3+d

The hadith 6riters, allegations are clearly misleading. To say that the <uran is incom"lete or
unclear can only %e %las"hemous. Such an o"inion %elittles 0od,s "o6er %y im"lying that /e
ga.e us an incom"lete or unclear "roduct. It is Aust li?e the !hristian 3i%le insisting that 0od
created the hea.ens and the earth in si4 days and then on the se.enth day /e had to ta?e a
%rea?. In the <uran, 0od tells us that /e created the hea.ens and the earth and 0od does not
need to ta?e any %rea?s for such is the "o6er of 0od.

Indeed your ;ord i 1od2 the one 1od #ho created the hea0en and the earth in ix
day, then aumed all reponibility.

It is not li?ely that the 0od 6ho created the 6hole 6ide uni.erse and then assumed all
res"onsi%ility including re.ealing the <uran and teaching and e4"laining it 6ould re.eal a
<uran that 6as incom"lete or unclear.

Also consider the follo6ing5

Any creature on earth and any bird that flie #ith #in/, are all nation li)e you. $e
did not lea0e anythin/ out of thi cripture. &o their ;ord they #ill all be /athered.
&hoe #ho reject our re0elation are deaf, dumb and in total dar)ne.

So if 0od Bdid not lea.e anything out of this scri"ture,B ho6 can the <uran %e incom"leteK

&he #ord of your ;ord i complete, in truth and jutice. Cothin/ hall abro/ate Hi
#ord. He i the Hearer, the ,no#er.

$e ha0e cited for the people e0ery )ind of example, that they ma)e ta)e heed.

These e4am"les referred to in the a%o.e .erse ser.ed the Pro"het 6ell such that he in turn 6as
a%le to learn from these e4am"les and %ecome a good e4am"le himself for his follo6ers. /o6
then can the hadith 6riters insist that the <uran is incom"lete 6hen it also has e.ery ?ind of
e4am"le Euoted for man?ind,s referenceK The <uran therefore contains details for all our
needs. The <uran states general "rinci"les in "laces 6here it 6ould %e too %urdensome for us if
0od 6ere to ma?e strict rules. This is es"ecially true 6hen the <uran touches on socio@cultural
matters as they differ from "lace to "lace and among different "eo"les.

3ut still, ho6 do 6e come to a solution for a "ro%lem that 6e ha.e to sol.e %y oursel.es, for
e4am"le, 6hen Prince Sultan Salman 6anted to "ray a%oard the s"ace shuttle Diso.+!yK 0od
ans6ers5

@ you #ho belie0e, you hall obey 1od, and you hall obey the meen/er and thoe in
char/e amon/ you. If you dipute in any matter, you hall refer it to 1od and Hi
meen/er, if you truly belie0e in 1od and the lat day. &hi i better for you and
pro0ide you #ith the bet olution.

&hey repond to their ;ord and ober0e the alat prayer. &heir affair are decided by
conenu amon/ them, and from our pro0iion to them they donate.

The only 6ay 6e can refer anything to 0od and /is messenger today is %y using the teachings
of 0od Almighty that is still 6ith us in the <uran. 2e must use our o6n intelligence to
deli%erate among oursel.es to sol.e our "ro%lems, %ut al6ays guided %y 0od, i.e. through
?no6ledge of the <uran.

There are some matters 6here%y 0od clearly s"ells out e4actly 6hat 6e are reEuired to do. The
rights of indi.iduals, o6nershi" of "ro"erty, the rules of marriage and di.orce, the la6s of
inheritance, "enal la6s, the rules of 6itness, dietary la6s, the methods of a%lution, and so on
are all clearly detailed in the <uran.

At other "laces, 6hene.er 0od "leases, /e "ro.ides us %oth the "rinci"les and the methods.
*et us e4"lore further the issue of "enal la6s. The "unishments of hand@cutting for theft and a
hundred lashes for adultery mentioned in the <uran are ,o!ms, not "rinci"les, of "unishment.
'urthermore, these forms are connected to s"ecific historical circumstances.

2hat, then, are the <uranic "rinci"les for "unishmentK There are t6o, or one can say three, if
6e include the "rinci"le that all crimes must %e "unished and not o.erloo?ed. The t6o
"rinci"les are5 firstly, that e.ery crime must %e "unished in accordance 6ith the se.erity of the
crime, i.e. the "rinci"le of eEui.alenceL and secondly, the "rinci"le of mercy, as e.idenced %y
the follo6ing .erses5

$hoe0er #or) e0il mut be punihed.

&hey counter a//reion #ith an equi0alent repone. Ho#e0er, thoe #ho pardon and
conciliate recei0e a better re#ard from 1od.

&hey counter e0il #ith /ood.

According to the first "rinci"le, e.ery crime must %e "unished, %ut follo6ing from the second
"rinci"le, the "unishment meted out must match the crime. This is the "rinci"le of Austice
designed to deter criminals. 3ut the last "rinci"le gi.es the "o6er to our courts to lighten
"unishments of crimes u" to the "oint of "ardon to encourage reformation on the "art
indi.idual criminals. 2hat a %eautiful "enal system this isN

Similarly, 0od "ro.ides us the guiding "rinci"les and the detailed methods of di.iding "ro"erty
for inheritance "ur"oses.
&he man hall /et a hare of #hat the parent and relati0e lea0e, and the #omen hall /et a
hare of #hat the parent and the relati0e lea0e, be it small or large, a decreed share.

This .erse therefore sets the "rinci"le that men and 6omen can inherit "ro"erty.

1od decree #hat you hall bequeath for your children2 the male hall /et the hare of t#o
female.

It 6ill %e seen that the a%o.e .erses esta%lish the general "rinci"le of inherita%ility %y %oth
males and females, 6hile at the same time fi4es the "ortions. The Euestion arises5 are the fi4ed
"ortions of t6o for men and one for 6omen historically determined or a%soluteK Is it fair that
6or?ing 6omen 6ho also share the %urden of family e4"enses %e gi.en less "ortionK At a time
6hen 6omen loo?ed after the home and men 6ere sole %read6inners, such "ortioning 6as fair.
3ut 6hen economic conditions change and 6omen %ear eEual %urden, is it allo6ed for us to
ma?e adAustments, im"lying that 6e consider the second .erse as historically determinedK
C/int5 the a%o.e .erses also tal? a%out 6illL see also 751&9, 7J9D. This is something, as in many
other matters, that Muslim society, through council and through their rightful leaders, must
decide.

The <uran also ma?es "ro.isions for Muslims to handle "ro%lems in difficult or e4traordinary
circumstances. 'or e4am"le, foods that are for%idden to eat under normal circumstances, li?e
"or?, %ecome "ermissi%le out of necessity and not %y choice.

Thus, the <uran contains guidance and solutions to handle all of our affairs. The <uran is
com"lete, "erfect and detailed. If 0od Blea.es anything outB of the <uran at all, it is only
%ecause 0od has "ut in "lace, else6here throughout the <uran, sufficient guidance 6ith 6hich
human %eings can guide their li.es.

1od ne0er end any people atray #ithout firt pointin/ out the conequence for
them. 1od i fully a#are of all thin/.

In s"ite of re"eated 1i.ine "roclamations that the <uran is com"lete and "erfect, the hadith
6riters insist that 6hen the <uran is silent on some issues, the Pro"het ste"s in CallegedlyD and
"ro.ides the hadith to fill in the ga"s. Since, according to them, all the Pro"het,s 6ords are
ins"ired %y 0od, therefore, it is actually 0od /imself 6ho indirectly fills the ga"s that /e
/imself created in the first "laceN A .ery neat and tidy e4"lanation to Austify their going around
in circles. /o6e.er, 0od re"lies in the follo6ing .erse5

@ you #ho belie0e, do not a) about thin/ if re0ealed to you, you #ill be hurt. If you
conider them in the li/ht of the +uran, you #ill realize that 1od left them out a an
alle0iation. 1od i !or/i0er, Dlement.

Muhammad Ali inter"rets this .erse thus5

As Islam discouraged religious "ractices, such as monastic life, it also "rohi%ited Euestions relating to details on
many "oints 6hich 6ould reEuire this or that "ractice to %e made o%ligatory, and much 6as left to the indi.idual
6ill or circumstances of the time and "lace. The e4ercise of Audgement occu"ies a .ery im"ortant "lace in Islam
and this gi.es am"le sco"e to different nations and communities to frame la6s for themsel.es and to meet ne6
and changed situations. The hadith sho6s that the Pro"het also discourages Euestions on details in 6hich a
Muslim could choose a 6ay for himself.

0od does not mention some things altogether or in detail for t6o reasons. 'irstly, li?e the
regular "rayer, %ecause /e has taught man?ind these things %efore Muhammad. Secondly,
%ecause such things concern the forms their "rinci"les ta?e at different times and different
"laces. These forms are therefore decided %y the society,s council or %y customs or %y "ersonal
"reference. The "rinci"les of decision@ma?ing through council, or through customary usage, or
through using reason are clearly enunciated in the <uran.

It is clear that the <uran, %eing the last of 0od,s scri"tures to man?ind, is the only infalli%le
source of our guidance.
+ther sources, including "re.ious scri"tures as 6ell the hadithMsunna, are su%Aect to <uranic
criticism. 2hat "asses this criticism is acce"ta%leL 6hat fails is automatically reAected. This is
"lain, as the follo6ing .erses state5

Shall I ee) other than 1od a a ource of la#, #hen He re0ealed to you thi 9oo) fully
detailedE F0en thoe #ho recei0ed pre0iou cripture reco/nize that it came do#n from your
;ord, truthfully. &herefore, you hall not harbor any doubt.




... &hoe #ho do not rule accordin/ to 1od' cripture are the unjut.

:ou hould jud/e amon/ them accordin/ to 1od' cripture and do not follo# their idea, and
be#are let they di0ert you from ome of 1od' re0elation to you. If they turn a#ay, then you
hould )no# that 1od #ant to punih them for their in. Indeed, many people are #ic)ed. I
it the la# of the day of i/norance that they #ant to applyE $hoe la# are better than 1od',
for thoe #ho are firm belie0erE

&hoe #ho fabricate fale doctrine are the one #ho do not belie0e in 1od' re0elation. &hey
are the liar.

Shall #e treat the "ulim li)e criminalE $hat i #ron/ #ith youE Ho# do you jud/eE >o
you ha0e another boo) that you applyE @ne that /i0e you anythin/ you #antE

So, do the hadith 6riters ha.e another %oo? that they a""lyK +ne that gi.es them e.erythingK Is
this 6hy 0od re.ealed the earth@sha?ing .erse that 6e ha.e Euoted se.eral timesK

&he meen/er #ill ay, <"y ;ord, my people ha0e deerted thi +uran.<

2e cannot, therefore, use any other %oo? other than the <uran to ma?e our la6s and "unish the
guilty, attri%uting these la6s to 0od. 3ut 6hat do the hadith 6riters sayK They say that anyone
6ho does not acce"t the hadith %oo?s immediately %ecome un%elie.ers. They insist that the
hadith, although it is not the <uran, must %e acce"ted. To them the hadith is Bthe other %oo?
that they a""ly, one that gi.es them anything they 6ant,B as the <uran "uts it "recisely and
%eautifully.

2hat does 0od say to these allegationsK

$ho i more #ic)ed than one #ho lie about 1od, or reject Hi re0elationE Indeed,
the #ic)ed ne0er ucceed. @n the day #hen $e /ather them all to/ether, $e #ill ay to
the idol #orhipper, <$here are the idol you had fabricatedE< &heir only repone
#ill be, <9y 1od, our ;ord, #e #ere not idolaterB< Cote ho# they lied to themel0eB
$hate0er they ha0e in0ented ha0e miled them.

$hen 1od alone i ad0ocated, the heart of thoe #ho do not belie0e in the hereafter
hrin) #ith a0erion. 9ut #hen other are mentioned beide Him, they rejoice.

&hey follo# idol #ho decree for them reli/iou la# ne0er authorized by 1od. If it
#ere not for the predetermined deciion, they #ould ha0e been jud/ed immediately.
&he #ic)ed ha0e deer0ed painful retribution.

&hi i becaue #hen in0ited to #orhip 1od alone, you dibelie0ed, but #hen other
#ere made partner beide Him, you belie0ed. Ala the jud/ement ha been decreed by
1od, the "ot Fxalted, the 1reat.

1od cite the example of a man #ith partner #ho contradict one another and a man #ho
relie on one conitent ource5 are they the ameE =raie be to 1od, the majority do not )no#.

To "lace the hadith on an eEui.alent footing 6ith re.elation is to create another source of
guidance G an idol. This is the maAor "ro%lem 6ith the hadith. 2hen 6e in.ite them to %elie.e
in 0od alone through the <uran, they hesitate, %ut 6hen 6e thro6 in the false hadith and other
false teachings, then they are ha""yN

In conclusion, the theory or doctrine that the hadith is an eEual source of guidance 6ith the
<uran, "ro"ounded %y ShafiIi, is the most im"ortant as"ect of the hadith Euestion. -.en though
6e totally reAect this doctrine, 6e do not reAect the hadith as a secondary source, "ro.ided that it
does not contradict the <uran. +n this .ie6 also, 6e say that the hadith is an im"ortant source
of early Muslim social history. 2e shall ha.e more to say a%out this in the last cha"ter.

CHAPTER III

SOURCE9 REASON AND EFFECTS OF HADITH


1od created the hea0en and the earth baed on &ruth.

'+uran, G45HH(

-.erything has its reason for %eing and, in turn, has its conseEuences. )othing that ha""ens is
6ithout its cause and, in turn, 6ithout its effect. This is a di.ine natural la6, stated in the .erse
6e Euote a%o.e, and ac?no6ledged %y all man?ind. This la6 a""lies eEually to the hadith
"henomenon. 2e shall sho6 that the so@called Pro"hetic traditions did not originate from the
Pro"het. They gre6 from the "olitico@religious conflicts that arose in the Muslim society then,
during the first and second centuries. It constituted a ne6 teaching altogether, seriously
de.iating from the <uran that Pro"het Muhammad %rought to them. It 6as done against his
6ill, %ut s?illfully attri%uted to him.

According to the Traditionists, Pro"het Muhammad left t6o legacies to his follo6ers5 a di.ine
scri"ture and his unna. 2e shall sho6 later that this hadith is a fa%rication. As a matter of fact,
history has fully sho6n that at the time of the Pro"het,s death, only the com"leted 6ritten
<uran, duly arranged into cha"ters %y the Pro"het, e4isted as his only legacy. It 6as not yet
com"iled into %oo? form, %ut com"lete 6ritings of it on "archments and other 6riting materials
6ere ?e"t in the Pro"het,s house and other houses of the Pro"het,s scri%es. The Pro"het also
taught many !om"anions to memorize the <uran follo6ing the cha"ter arrangements he
himself had made.
1uring the second cali"h A%u 3a?r,s administration, A%u 3a?r himself ordered the Pro"het,s
secretary, Oaid i%n Tha%it, to com"ile the <uran into %oo? form, ta?ing care that all its contents
6ere corro%orated %y t6o or more 6itnesses. 2hen the third cali"h, Uthman, "re"ared his
official .ersion of the <uran for dissemination throughout the length and %readth of Islam, he
%ased it on this .ersion. Thus, the <uran fully satisfies the reEuirements of a 6ell@corro%orated
te4t.

The <uran itself "roclaimed the com"letion of Islam and of Muhammad,s mission eighty@one
or eighty@t6o days %efore Muhammad,s death 6ith the follo6ing famous .erse5

&oday I ha0e perfected your reli/ion for you and completed "y fa0or to you and I ha0e
choen Ilam a a reli/ion for you.


Th+ B+(i**i*(s o, Hadith

Although some traditions may ha.e e4isted during the time of the Pro"het, thus gi.ing rise to
his "rohi%ition, their num%er dou%led and tri"led only se.eral decades after his death. At the
time of their com"ilations, stretching o.er a "eriod of t6o to four centuries after his death, they
e4isted in hundreds of thousands. The com"ilations 6ere made against Muhammad,s e4"ressed
order, %ut the Traditionists argued that this "rohi%ition 6as conditional to his desire to a.oid
mi4ing traditions 6ith the <uran. 2hen this condition no longer e4isted, the "rohi%ition 6as
lifted. /o6e.er, a historical re"ort e4ists stating that thirty years after the Pro"het,s death, the
"rohi%ition 6as still on, sho6ing that it had ne.er %een lifted.

As 6e ha.e seen, 6hat came to %e regarded %y the Sunnites as the ISi4 Authentic 3oo?s,
com"iled %y 3u?hari, Muslim, A%u 1aud, I%n MaAa, Tirmidhi and al@)asaIi, and the four
Shi,ite com"ilations %y al@#ulaini, I%n 3a%u6ayh, al@Murtada and FaIafar Muhammad al@Tusi
did not e4ist at the time of the Pro"het,s death, as the <uran did, %ut 6ere made %et6een 719
and J19 years later. 2hy 6ere the com"ilations not made earlierK 1oes not this fact alone sho6
that the hadith 6as a ne6 de.elo"ment, not sanctioned %y the Pro"hetK

Se.eral modern hadith scholars claim that they "ossess ne6 e.idence to "ro.e that the hadith
6ere 6ritten do6n at the time of the Pro"het. They 6ere memorized and handed do6n from
generation to generation until the second and third Islamic centuries 6hen the official
com"ilations 6ere made. The still unans6ered Euestion, e.en if 6e 6ere to acce"t the claim, is
this5 B2hy 6as the official com"ilation not made earlier, es"ecially during the time of the
righteous cali"hs 6hen the first re"orters, i.e., the eye 6itnesses, 6ere still ali.e and could %e
e4aminedKB 2hen 6e remem%er that there 6as an alleged statement %y the Pro"het, made at
his final Pilgrimage +ration and heard %y tens of thousands, e4horting his follo6ers to hold on
to the <uran and his sunna, it is most unreasona%le not to e4"ect the great early cali"hs to order
the 6riting do6n and com"iling of the Pro"het,s sayings. That none of them did so could only
mean that the Pro"het ne.er made the statement, and that it 6as a later in.ention attri%uted to
him.

The ans6er gi.en %y the Traditionists that the hadith 6as not 6ritten do6n during the time of
the Pro"het to a.oid confusing them 6ith the <uran is not satisfactory. )ot only did it
contradict their o6n claim that the hadith 6ere already %eing recorded during the lifetime of the
Pro"hetL se.eral documents of the Pro"het, such as the Medina !harter, his treaties and letters,
had %een 6ritten on his orders. The hadith too could similarly %e 6ritten do6n %y indicating
that they 6ere hadith, and not the <uran. /o6e.er, this constraint no longer a""ly 6hen the
<uran 6as com"leted, 6ritten do6n and com"iled into a %oo?, and the fear of mi4ing the
<uran 6ith the hadith 6as no longer a .alid concern. =et the hadith 6as not immediately
com"iled. The only concei.a%le reason 6hy they 6ere not com"iled 6as "recisely the
Pro"het,s standing order "rohi%iting it. It is a""arent that later generations ignored this order.

2e also ha.e later historical sources 6hich say that the !ali"h A%u 3a?r %urnt his notes of
hadith Csaid to %e 899 in allD for fear that they might %e false, and that !ali"h +mar i%n #hatta%
cancelled his "lan to com"ile the hadith %ecause he did not 6ant to di.ert the attention of the
Muslims from the <uran to the hadith. It is Euite "ossi%le that these statements said to ha.e
%een made %y the first t6o cali"hs are false, ha.ing %een fa%ricated %y u"holders of the hadith
in order to "ro.e that hadith had already %een 6ritten do6n at this early stage, %ut 6ere not
com"iled %y A%u 3a?r and +mar not %ecause of the Pro"het,s "rohi%ition C6hich they must
?no6D, %ut %ecause of other reasons.

1ue to the fact that early historical 6ritings a%out Muhammad and the early Muslim society
6ere not done until a hundred or a hundred and fifty years after the Pro"het,s death, such as the
6or?s of I%n IshaE Cd. 189D and I%n SaId Cd. 1$&D, it is im"ossi%le to o%tain documentary
e.idence Ca"art from the <uran, of courseD on the "recise "osition of the hadithMsunna %et6een
the time of the Pro"het,s death and the time of these 6or?s. /o6e.er, I%n SaId, an early maAor
historian, sho6ed that the first three cali"hs did not use the hadith at all. In any case, it is
interesting to note, as 6e ha.e seen in !ha"ter II, that the "hrases Ithe "ro"het,s hadith, or the
Ithe "ro"het,s sunna, are ne.er used in the <uran. This sho6s that these conce"ts did not e4ist
in Ara% society at the time of the Pro"het. +n the other hand, the "hrases Itri%al sunna, or Ithe
sunna of the "eo"le, to mean Icustoms, 6ere in .ogue. It is this conce"t of sunna that 6as later
transformed to mean the Pro"het,s "ractice.

3asing oursel.es on the <uran, 6e learn that a community did not %rea? u" into sects after the
coming of di.ine re.elation to them e4ce"t due to Aealousy and to .ested interests. 2hen
Aealousy and considerations of .ested interests o.ercame them, di.isions occurred and sects
emerged5

He ha decreed for you the ame reli/ion decreed for Coah, and #hat i re0ealed herein, and
#hat #a decreed for Abraham, "oe and %eu. *:ou hall uphold the one reli/ion, and do
not be di0ided.' It i imply too difficult for the idol #orhiper to accept #hat you ad0ocate.
1od i the one #ho brin/ to#ard Him #home0er He #ill2 He /uide to#ard Himelf thoe
#ho ubmit. &hey became di0ided after )no#led/e had come to them due to heer jealouy. If it
#ere not for a predetermined deciion, they #ould ha0e been jud/ed immediately. F0en thoe
#ho inherited the cripture continued to harbor doubt. :ou hall preach and uphold thi
cripture a commanded and do not follo# their #ihe.

:ou hall hold fat to the rope of 1od, all to/ether, and do not be di0ided. 9e appreciati0e of
1od' fa0or upon you2 you ued to be enemie and He reconciled your heart. 9y Hi /race,
you become brethren. 1od thu explain Hi re0elation for you that you may be /uided. ;et
there be a community amon/ you #ho preach /oodne, ad0ocate ri/hteoune and forbid
e0il. &hee are the #inner. >o not be li)e thoe #ho became di0ided and diputed amon/
themel0e, depite the profound re0elation that had come to them.

The a%o.e .erses e4"lain t6o things. 'irstly, the di.ine re.elations %rought %y Muhammad and
other messengers, although true and %eneficial, 6ere hard to acce"t %y the idol 6orshi"ers.
They acce"ted them for a 6hile and then la"sed into their former condition. Secondly, they
re.erted to their former condition %ecause of Aealousy to6ards one another and %ecause of their
lo.e of material things. In short, human "ro"ensity for materialism and Aealousy for one another
made it difficult for them to follo6 the teachings of the "ro"het@messengers, including "ro"het
Muhammad. These are the factors that cause di.ision into sects and factions after the teachings
had come to them.
2e shall see that many hadith %egan to emerge and multi"ly at the same time as the emergence
of di.isions in the early Muslim community in three ci.il 6ars, %eginning under Ali,s rule right
u" to the end MuIa6iya rule. The relations %et6een these t6o "henomena 6ere direct5 "o6er
struggles gi.ing rise to di.isions led to the fa%rication of hadith to su""ort each contending
grou", and the fa%rications of hadith further dee"ened di.isions. It is clear that the di.ision
originated in the "o6er struggle to fill the "ost of cali"h to succeed the Pro"het, %ut hadith
6ere fa%ricated to use the name of the Pro"het to %olster "olitico@religious sectarianism.


Po3itia3 Co*,3its

A study of original sources, such as I%n SaId Cd. 7H9M&J8D, Mali? I%n Anas Cd. 179M798D,
Tayalisi Cd. 79HM&1&D, /umaydi Cd.719M&HJD and I%n /an%al Cd. 7J1M&88D 6ill sho6 that all
Ifour guided cali"hs, made use of .ery little unna in their administrations. The .ery term Bthe
Pro"het,s sunnaB 6as ne.er used %y the Pro"het himself and did not emerge until the si4th and
se.enth decades after the Pro"het in the administration of +mar A%dul Aziz Cd. 779D, and 6as
first used %y him. 3ut later sources, such as I%n <ayyim Cd.$91M1797D, had connected the
names of the great cali"hs A%u 3a?r and +mar i%n #hatta% 6ith the "ractice of follo6ing the
sunna. It is clear that the Iauthentication, of the sunna 6as carried out %y the Traditionists to
6ard off o""osition to the hadith %y using the names of these t6o great authorities.

The de.elo"ment of the hadith, it seems, %egan in the form of stories a%out the Pro"het, told %y
"rofessional story@tellers, as "raises for Ali and A%u 3a?r and as guidance in matters "ermitted
and "rohi%ited. These 6ere later gi.en the form of hadith.

!om"ositions in the form of eulogies for Ali and A%u 3a?r 6hich came into %eing after the
Pro"het,s death reflected the first "olitical conflict %et6een su""orters of Ali Cthe ShiIitesD and
those of A%u 3a?r Cthe 3a?riyyaD. I%n A%i,l@/adid Cd. $88M1787D, commentator of the
com"ilation of famous sayings attri%uted to Ali A%i Tali%, )ahA al@3alaghah, admitted that it
6as the Shi,ite "arty 6ho %egan to create hadith eulogies. /e said,

... #no6 that the origins of fa%rications in fada'il traditions 6ere due to the Shi,ite, for they forged in
the first instance traditions concerning their leader. -nmity to6ards their ad.ersaries dro.e them to this
fa%rication ... 2hen the 3a?riyya sa6 6hat the Shi,ite had done, they fa%ricated for their o6n master
traditions to counter the former ... 2hen the Shi,ite sa6 6hat the 3a?riyya had done, they increased
their efforts ...

The same 6riter further 6rote regarding hadith forgeries s"onsored %y cali"h MuIa6iya to
o""ose Ali. According to him5

Then MuIa6iya 6rote to his go.ernors saying5 B/adith a%out Uthman has increased and s"read in
e.ery city, to6n and region. 2hen this letter from me reaches you, summon the "eo"le to relate the
merits of the !om"anions and the first cali"hs. And do not let any Muslim relate anything a%out Ali
6ithout %ringing something contradicting this a%out the !om"anions. This I li?e %etter and it "leases
me more, it in.alidates A%u Tura%,s claims and those of his Shi,ite in a more definiti.e 6ay and it is for
them more difficult to %ear than the .irtues and the merits of Uthman.B
MuIa6iya,s letters 6ere read out to the "eo"le. And many forged re"orts concerning the merits of the
!om"anions, in 6hich there 6as no Pgrain ofQ truth, 6ere related. The "eo"le 6ent out of their 6ay in relating
re"orts in this .ein until they s"o?e thereof in glo6ing terms from the "ul"its. The teachers in the schools 6ere
instructed to teach their young "u"ils a .ast Euantity of these until they related them Aust as they studied the
<uran and they taught these to their daughters, 6i.es and ser.ants. 0od ?no6s ho6 long they "ersisted in this.

It is a%undantly clear from the a%o.e e.idence that one of the sources of hadith forgery at the
early stage 6as the "olitical ri.alry %et6een the su""orters of Ali and those of A%u 3a?r, 6hich
continued una%ated until Uthman,s administration and then to the enmity and conflict %et6een
the ShiIites and the Umayyad. This and other sources 6ere "ointed out %y a modern Ara%
historian, 1r. Ahmad Amin, in his %oo? The 1a6n of Islam. According to him, fi.e factors
6ere res"onsi%le for the fa%rication of hadith. These are "olitical conflicts %et6een .arious
factions, differences of o"inions regarding matters of theology and Auris"rudence, materialistic
am%itions among certain religious scholars, the desire to "romote good and for%id e.il %y
fa%ricating hadith to encourage and to discourage 'tarhib #a-tar/hib(, as 6ell as to "ro.ide a
medium for transmitting good teachings from non@Islamic sources.

Although most of these hadith forgeries can no longer %e found in the classical com"ilations,
anyone 6ho studies the hadith carefully and o%Aecti.ely can still o%ser.e the characteristics
mentioned a%o.e. /adith eulogies for the !om"anions in the Mish?at@ul@Masa%ih com"ilation
still "ortrayed "olitical conflicts %et6een the Shi,ite faction and the follo6ers of A%u 3a?r and
sho6s that the hadith 6as fa%ricated %y the factions to su""ort their res"ecti.e sides. )ote the
follo6ing hadith5
Anas re"orted that the Pro"het ascended Uhud 6ith A%u 3a?r, +mar and Uthman. It trem%led 6ith them and so
he struc? it 6ith his foot and said5 B3e firm, + Uhud, and .erily on you there are a "ro"het, a truthful man and
t6o martyrs.B C3u?hariD

Oerre@%@/u%aish re"orted that Ali said5

B3y +ne 6ho s"lits seeds and creates %reath, the illiterate "ro"het ga.e me a co.enant5 I)o%ody e4ce"t a
%elie.er 6ill lo.e me, and no%ody e4ce"t a hy"ocrite 6ill hate me., B CMuslimD

The a%o.e traditions ha.e %een "ic?ed out at random from many others as e4am"les to sho6
the characteristic "artiality of hadith. The o%.ious omission of Ali in the first hadith "oints to
its fa%rication %y his detractors5 there 6as no other reason 6hy Ali 6as not in that com"any.
The second one ta?es the o""osite side, ha.ing the Pro"het affirm Ali,s faith and condemn
those 6ho maligned him.

2e shall %e ta?ing a lot of time if 6e are to gi.e e4am"les of each ty"e of hadith fa%rication. It
is not necessary. 2e shall %e satisfied 6ith Euotations from a fe6 hadith scholars, namely
Ahmad Amin, 'azlur (ahman, 0oldziher and M.M. Azami.

CaD I%n ,Adli stated, BAt the time 6hen a forger of hadith %y the name of A%dul #arim i%n A%u al@,AuAa 6as
ta?en to the "lace of hanging, he said, II ha.e forged four thousand hadith for you 6here%y I "rohi%ited and
"ermitted.,B

C%D In the same %oo? the author further noted, BMuslim re"orted from Muhammad i%n =ahya i%n Said al@<attan,
and from his father, 6ho said, II ha.e ne.er seen good "eo"le telling more lies in any matter than 6hen they do
6ith the hadith., Muslim e4"lained these 6ords5 IThe lies 6ere not intentional., Some "eo"le 6ho forged false
hadith 6ere moti.ated %y good intentions, i.e. they sincerely %elie.ed that all that they had heard 6ere true. In
their hearts there 6as no desire to lie, and they re"eated 6hat they had heard. Then other "eo"le "ic?ed u" from
them %ecause they 6ere decei.ed %y their out6ard sho6 of truth.B

CcD That o""osing "olitical "arties tried to influence "u%lic o"inion through the medium of the hadith and used
the names of great authorities of Tradition is a fact no one con.ersant 6ith the early history of Islam may deny.

CdD ... -.ery stream and counter@stream of thought in Islam has found its e4"ression in the form of a hadith, and
there is no difference in this res"ect %et6een the .arious contrasting o"inions in 6hate.er field. 2hat 6e learn
a%out "olitical "arties holds true too for differences regarding religious la6, dogmatic "oints of difference etc.
-.ery ra'y Co"inionD or ha#a C"ersonal desireD, e.ery unna and bid*a Cinno.ationD has sought and found
e4"ression in the hadith.

CeD ... Most li?ely the first fa%rication of traditions %egan in the "olitical circles, citing and discrediting the
"arties concerned. In the 6ell@?no6n 6or? of al@Shau?ani concerning s"urious and similar tradition 6e find J7
s"urious traditions a%out the Pro"het, H& s"urious traditions a%out the first three cali"hs, 9$ s"urious traditions
a%out Ali and his 6ife 'atima PandQ 1J s"urious traditions a%out MuIa6iya. Therefore, it loo?s as if the s"urious
traditions %egan to originate for "olitical "ur"oses at and a%out the "eriod of the 6ar %et6een Ali and MuIa6iya,
and continued later on as a counter@attac? on the Umayyad dynasty ...

'rom the time of MuIa6iya,s rule C$$1@$&9D until the end of the second century /iArah 6hen
the hadith 6ere officially com"iled, the fa%rication of hadith 6as done on a 6ide scale. )ot
only did the hadith %ecome the medium of stories and instrument for .arious "olitical factions
and theological sects to su""ort their sectarian "ositions, %ut, as Maurice 3ucaille said,

In .ie6 of the fact that only a limited num%er of hadiths may %e considered to e4"ress the Pro"het,s thoughts
6ith certainty, the others must contain the thoughts of the men of his time.

In order to sto" the continued fa%rication of the hadith and contain further di.isions of Muslim
society at that time, there arose a mo.ement to fi4 the sources of la6 in Islam and to
standardize the hadith. This is the main social determinant 6hich ga.e rise to the maAor
Auris"rudential figure in Islam in the "erson of ShafiIi. /e laid do6n the %ases of Islamic
classical Auris"rudence 6ith his theory that the sources of Islamic la6 6ere the <uran, the
/adith, Ijma' or consensus of religious scholars, and +iya or analogy.


Th+ Com"i3atio* o, Hadith

It 6as a%out this time that the hadith throughout the length and %readth of Islam 6ere collected,
sifted and 6ritten do6n. 2hat 6ere later called the ISi4 Authentic /adith 3oo?s, of the
Sunnites finally came into %eing. These are the com"ilations of 3u?hari, Muslim, I%n MaAa,
A%u 1aud, al@Tirmidhi and al@)asa,i. The Shi,ites had their o6n four collections of hadith,
com"iled each %y al@#ulaini, I%n 3a%u6ayh and t6o %y Fa,afar Muhammad al@Tusi. These
com"ilations 6ere made 6ithin a "eriod %et6een 779 and J99 years after the death of the
Pro"het.

2ith the .ictory and general acce"tance of ShafiIi,s Auris"rudential theory 6here the hadith 6as
gi.en a "osition of almost eEual im"ortance 6ith the <uran Cthe formula is Bsecond "rimary
sourceBD, the use of creati.e thought or ijtihad for all "ractical "ur"oses 6as a%olished. This
came to %e ?no6n later as Ithe closing of the door of ijtihad' and the %eginning of the regime of
taqlid or %lind imitation of the great masters, a "eriod %eginning from a%out the fourteenth
century till the end of the nineteenth or %eginning of the t6entieth centuries A1.

It can %e seen from the a%o.e account that the conflict %et6een the trend fa.oring creati.e
thought an the trend fa.oring unna Cin %oth senses of the "eo"le,s tradition and the "ro"het,s
"racticeD in early Muslim community 6as 6on %y the unna "arty. If ShafiIi,s aim 6as to
com%ine and harmonize these t6o trends and there%y to contain the "rocess of disunity in
Muslim society, it 6as o%.ious that he failed. 1isunity continued to "re.ail in theology and
la6. 3y institutionalizing the hadith to achie.e 6hat he termed as consensus, he 6ith one stro?e
?illed creati.e thought in Muslim society. 'azlur (ahman rightly o%ser.ed5

It is clear that al@ShafiIi notion of Ijma' 6as radically different from that of the early schools. /is idea of Ijma'
6as that of a formal and a total one5 he demanded an agreement 6hich left no room for disagreement ... 3ut the
notion if Ijma' e4hi%ited %y the early schools 6as .ery different. 'or them, Ijma' 6as not an im"osed or
manufactured static fact %ut an ongoing democratic "rocessL it 6as not a formal state %ut an informal natural
gro6th 6hich at each ste" tolerates and, indeed, demands fresh and ne6 thought and therefore must li.e not
only 6ith %ut also u"on a certain amount of disagreement. 2e must e4ercise Ijtihad, they contended, and
"rogressi.ely the area of agreement 6ould 6idenL the remaining Euestions must %e turned o.er to fresh Ijtihad
or +iya so that a ne6 Ijma' could %e arri.ed at. 3ut it is "recisely the li.ing organic relationshi" %et6een
Ijtihad and Ijma' that 6as se.ered in the successful formulation of al@ShafiIi. The "lace of the li.ing Sunna-
Ijtihad-Ijma' he gi.es to Pro"hetic Sunna 6hich, for him, does not ser.e as a general directi.e %ut as something
a%solutely literal and s"ecific and 6hose only .ehicle is the transmission of the Hadith ...

Thus, %y re.ersing the natural order, Ijtihad-Ijma' into Ijma'-Ijtihad, their organic relationshi" 6as se.ered.
Ijma', instead of %eing a "rocess and something for6ard@loo?ing ; coming at the end of a free Ijtihad ; came
to %e something static and %ac?6ard@loo?ing. It is that 6hich, instead of ha.ing to %e accom"lished, is already
accom"lished in the "ast. Al@ShafiIi,s genius "ro.ided a mechanism that ga.e sta%ility to our medie.al socio@
religious fa%ric %ut at the cost, in the long run, of creati.ity and originality.

The "rocess of su%stituting ijtihad 6ith the hadith 6as a com"le4 "rocess, 6hich too? t6o
centuries to com"lete. The social and historical factors causing it are still not clear to us. There
is no dou%t that anti@Islamic forces from the nations conEuered %y the Muslim Ara%s, es"ecially
the Persians and the Fe6s, had infiltrated the .arious grou"s and "layed their su%.ersi.e role to
di.ert the early Muslims from the true teachings of the Pro"het, i.e. the <uran, to other
teachings in order to destroy them from 6ithin.

/o6e.er, loo?ing at the matter from our modern "ers"ecti.e, 6e cannot hel" %ut %eing amazed
as to 6hy the conser.ati.e and indeed reactionary forces 6ere a%le to defeat the dynamic and
"rogressi.e forces, des"ite the constant "rodding of the <uran for human creati.e role and the
freedom of a community to administer its affairs.
Th+ E,,+ts o, th+ Hadith

+ne of the most im"ortant as"ects, neglected so far in any study of the hadith, is their collecti.e
im"act and effects on Muslim society. 2e ha.e seen that the fa%rication of hadith too? "lace
%ecause of the "olitico@religious di.isions 6hich later resulted in the emergence of sects and
legal schools. 2e ha.e also seen that the hadith %ecame the instrument to channel .ie6s,
"reAudices, customs and su"erstitions current in society then. Most of these .ie6s and ideas
6ere nothing %ut su"erstitions and customs reAected %y Islam.

It is logical for us to assume that Pro"het Muhammad 6ould not ha.e said or done anything
contrary to the teachings of the <uran. 2e ma?e this assum"tion %ecause he 6as .ery
con.ersant 6ith the teachings of the <uran that he himself had %rought from 0od. As a
messenger of 0od, he 6ould not ha.e acted contrary to those teachings. This assum"tion is
most reasona%le and consistent 6ith his high moral character. Therefore, the greatest 6ea?ness
of most hadith, deemed to %e Iauthentic, %y classical criticism, is that they contradict the <uran.
They are therefore false and could not ha.e originated from him, %ut 6ere falsely attri%uted to
him. They actually originated from the .arious factions and grou"s 6ho, due to reasons 6hich
6e ha.e stated, "ut into the hadith all manner of su"erstitions and customs current in society
then.

The <uran tells us that 0od in /is mercy has al6ays sent /is guidance to man?ind through /is
messengers. /e guides man?ind 6ith /is re.elations to the "ath of sal.ation, in this 6orld and
in the /ereafter. These "ro"het@messengers %egan 6ith Adam in the remote Primiti.e Age,
through A%raham at the %eginning of the Ancient Age to the last "ro"het Muhammad at the
da6n of the Scientific Age. 1e.iations from these di.ine re.elations and a6ay from the "ath of
sal.ation, 6hich is Islam Cthis is the meaning of the "rofound .erse that the true religion 6ith
0od is IslamD, s"ells doom and destruction for the de.iating society. The <uran tells us of the
destruction of se.eral ancient societies and ci.ilizations as a conseEuence of their de.iations. In
the modern age CImodern, here is ta?en to mean the %irth of the scientific method %eginning
6ith the rise of MuhammadD, 6e ha.e seen the destruction of the early Muslim em"ire and
ci.ilization and the destruction of se.eral -astern medie.al states and -uro"ean em"ires.
3ecause this historical la6 o"erates o%Aecti.ely for all nations and ci.ilizations, the decline and
fall of Muslim society must ine.ita%ly %e connected 6ith the historical de.iation from di.ine
teachings that they had committed. 2e shall e4amine %riefly the role of hadith in this historical
de.iation.


CaD Sectarianism

+ne of the first maAor conseEuences of the hadith is the di.ision of early Muslim community
into t6o maAor sects, the Sunnites and the Shi,ites. The Sunni sect s"lits into four maAor legal
schools, and the Shi,ite has se.eral of its o6n, each 6ith its o6n "olitical and theological
%eliefs. 2ithout dou%t, this di.ision had its ground in the still strong Ara% feeling of tri%alism
of the "eriod of ignorance. Although Muhammad succeeded in %rea?ing Ara% tri%alism and
uniting them, this tri%al s"irit did not die 6ith Muhammad. 2hen he "assed a6ay, the
resurrected tri%alism led to the "o6er struggle for the "osition of cali"h. 3ecause of the .ery
strong <uranic "rohi%ition against ma?ing factions in religion and the fact that they 6ere
una%le to use the <uran to su""ort factional interests, the com"eting "arties had to recourse to
the hadith ; a con.enient and cle.er 6ay out. The Shi,ite faction that 6anted Ali to %e the
cali"h after the "ro"het,s death fa%ricated hadith to su""ort their contention. They claimed that
the "ro"het had stated %efore his death5

2hoe.er recognized me as their master, Ali too is their master.

This forged hadith 6as then countered 6ith another forged hadith %y the o""osing 3a?riyya
grou". This then 6as ho6 forged hadith came into %eing ; to su""ort "olitical factions.

)o6, let us assume for a moment that the hadith did not e4ist Cin line 6ith the Pro"het,s 6ishes
that nothing should %e 6ritten do6n from him e4ce"t the <uranD. This did not automatically
mean that the s"lit %et6een the su""orters of A%u 3a?r and the su""orters of Ali 6ould not
ha.e e4isted. As the s"lit 6as "olitically moti.ated, it 6ould ha.e ha""ened any6ay. 3ut no6,
6ithout the hadith, the 3a?riyya and the Shi,ites 6ould ha.e had only the <uran for their
guidance. In that case, ho6 6ould they ha.e sol.ed their "ro%lemsK

0od ans6ers this Euestion for us5

&hey repond to their ;ord, and ober0e the alat prayer. &heir affair are decided by
conultation amon/ them, and from our pro0iion to them they donate.

2ithout the hadith they 6ould ha.e had to read the <uran. Thus, they 6ould ha.e had to read
the .erse Aust Euoted a%o.e. And they 6ould ha.e had to come to a consensus among them,
%ecause they 6ere all Muslims, su%mitters to 0od, Bthose 6ho res"ond to their *ord and
o%ser.e the salat "rayers.B 3ut such things ne.er ha""ened %ecause they had more than enough
hadith 6hich they could "ull out of their hats and use it to sta% each other. -.en if the Sunnites
and the Shi,ites could not %e reconciled, e.en if they had resorted to ?illing each other C6hich
they didD, they still 6ould not ha.e had more e.il thoughts to "ro.o?e them had there not
e4isted any hadith. They 6ould ha.e %een forced to refer to the <uran. Therefore, sooner or
later, they are %ound to ha.e sol.ed their differences.

3ut unfortunately, history has merely re"eated itself. The de.ils had laid their "lan 6ell. The
Muslims listened to anything and e.erything e4ce"t the <uran. The result is that they fell into
the "its, and they are still there todayN


C%D Anti@Intellectualism

3eside factionalism %et6een the Sunnites and the Shi,ites, the Sunnites themsel.es are di.ided
into different madhab or schools of thought. They %ro?e u" into many schools of thought
%ecause of the differences of o"inion %et6een their founders. At the %eginning of the
esta%lishment of these schools, o.er 1$ of them came to e4ist, %ut today only the /anafi, the
Mali?i, the ShafiIi and /an%ali schools "redominate. There e4ist maAor differences %et6een the
four dominant schools as 6ell, due largely to the differences %et6een Imam A%u /anifa and
Imam Mali?, the res"ecti.e founders of the /anafi and Mali?i schools, 6hich su%seEuently
influenced the /an%ali and ShafiIi schools.

Imam A%u /anifa Cd.7$7D "ioneered the use of creati.e thin?ing or ijtihad to settle his affairs.
/e li.ed in 1amascus, far a6ay from the /iAaz and thus out of regular contact 6ith any
descendants of the Pro"het or his com"anions. /ence, he had little o""ortunity to listen to any
hadith or sayings of the Pro"het. CThese four theologian@Aurists imams all e4isted %efore the
6riting of the official hadithD. /e settled dis"utes %y referring to the <uran and %y e4ercising
his reason.

Imam Mali? Cd. 798D on the other hand li.ed in Medina. Throughout his life, he ne.er tra.eled
outside Medina e4ce"t once to ma?e the "ilgrimage to Mecca. Unli?e Imam A%u /anifa, Imam
Mali? had the lu4ury of meeting 6ith many descendants of the Pro"het and his !om"anions.
Therefore, he could refer to many hadith to sol.e his "ro%lems. Thus, 6hile A%u /anifa
ad.ocated creati.e thin?ing or ijtihad, Imam Mali? ad.ocated ijma' or referring to the hadith.

To com"ound this "ro%lem, the rulers at that time de"ended .ery much on these scholars to
ad.ise them. More often than not, the o"inions of a "articular scholar 6ho 6as eminent under a
"articular ruler %ecame the esta%lished rule in that territory.

Instead of %eing testimony to the dynamism of the <uran 6hich allo6ed such di.erse o"inions
to e4ist and thus ser.e as a catalyst for Muslims to continuously e4ercise their intellect, these
differences of o"inion ga.e %irth to the rise of the li?es of Imam ShafiIi Cd. &79D 6ho found it
difficult to handle the freedom of thought and o"inion that is allo6ed %y the <uran. Imam
ShafiIi came to .ie6 differences of o"inion as a "ro%lem. To sol.e this "ro%lem he came u"
6ith his neat little idea to freeze e.erything as it 6ere. In other 6ords, ShafiIi came to the .ie6
that all o"inions e4isting at that time 6ould %e acce"ta%le, %ut nothing more than that G no ne6
thin?ing could %e allo6ed. The tatu quo 6ould %e set in stone 6ith no "ossi%ility of ne6
"artici"ants. Thus the idea of ijma' first and ijtihad later 6as crystallized and gi.en an official
authority.

!onformity %ecame the norm. This 6as follo6ed %y the "assi.ity and %lind o%edience that had
to %e fostered to maintain this conformity. The conformity and the "assi.ity soon fused
together to %reed the "essimism and the fatalism 6hich is a natural result of dead intellect. This
came to %e the character of the maAority of Muslims until today.

+n the other hand, the -uro"eans, 6ho 6ere o.era6ed %y the success of the Ara%s in the
earlier "art of Muslim history, realized the im"ortance of inEuiry and free thought. The
-uro"eans ha.e "rogressed e.er since %ecause they ne.er closed their doors to free thin?ing.
The e4am"le that the -uro"eans co"ied 6as an e4cellent e4am"le of a Muslim "eo"le
unim"eded %y any false teachings. The early Muslims stro.e hard and achie.ed the success
here on earth, "recisely as 0od 6anted them to achie.e. 3y doing so, they earned the credits to
gi.e them an honored "lace in the /ereafter.

As for the hadith 6riters, 0od tells them5

Shall #e treat the "ulim li)e the /uiltyE $hat i #ron/ #ith youE Ho# do you jud/eE
>o you ha0e another boo) that you applyE @ne that /i0e you anythin/ you #antE

The Muslims de.elo"ed the hadith that ga.e them e.erything they 6anted. In fact, the hadith
6ould en.elo" the 6hole of Muslim %eha.ior right from "rescri%ing the BcorrectB methods of
slee"ing to eating, dressing, etc. The Muslims under the ulama, therefore, effecti.ely ?illed
themsel.es off. 'or some ulama loo?ing for easy follo6ers, the hadith %ecame a most effecti.e
tool to achie.e that end. 'or other ulama 6ith no "ro"er o%Aecti.es in sight, the hadith %ecame
an end in itself.


CcD Pessimism and Political +""ortunism

Among the many myths that ha.e also found their 6ay into the hadith is the %elief in the
Mahdi. The Mahdi is e4"ected to arise to6ards the *ast 1ays and is e4"ected to sa.e all the
Muslims from their cruel o""ressors. The <uran tells us to continuously stri.e to do good
deeds and to ma?e strong efforts to im"ro.e oursel.es. The Muslims are commanded to
encourage the good and to o""ose e.il. All this means continuous hard 6or? in the "ath of 0od
to achie.e good o%Aecti.es.

1od doe not chan/e the condition of any people, unle they chan/e themel0e.

Therefore, encouraging the Muslims to hang their ho"es on something called the Mahdi is
actually a su%tle attem"t to ma?e defeatists and "essimists out of them. The suffocating %elief
in fate5 to ma?e the Muslims su%missi.e to other than 0od and to 6ait for someone else to
come along to sa.e them. The truth is that no one 6ill hel" us unless 6e hel" oursel.es first.

This "essimism, ho6e.er, is further ensconced in another eEually de%ilitating hadith a%out the
attestation of faith or the )alimah hahada. This fa%ricated hadith says that Aust %y reciting the
)alimah hahada at the time of death, one can %e forgi.en %y 0od and ma?e it to Paradise.
Such hadith 6as a necessary "recursor to the "essimism and the "assi.e lethargy that 6as
im"osed u"on Muslims. 'or ho6 else could the "eo"le %e made to resign themsel.es to such
docilityK The "romise of a sa.ior, the "romise of /ea.en, the B?eysB to /ea.en etc. 6ere
necessary tools to maintain the "eo"le,s su%ser.ience to the hadith and to the "eo"le 6ho
"ro"agated such hadiths.

These are Aust t6o of the .ery many fa%ricated hadith that can %e Euoted. )ot only thatL these
fa%ricated hadith, unli?e other fa%ricated hadith, sought to freeze the dynamic thin?ing
encouraged %y the <uran. These hadith sought to ma?e .egeta%les of the "eo"le and hence
ma?e them totally su%ser.ient to the hadith "ro"onents. The result is that the Muslims lost
e.erything that they had stri.en so hard to achie.e.

2e also list here a fe6 hadith that are attri%uted to the Pro"het %y 6ay of /udhayfa, a
!om"anion of the Pro"het. They are set in a conte4t of the ci.il conflict engulfing the
su""orters of A%u 3a?r and Ali. These hadith see? to im"ose a certain 6ill on the "eo"le so
that the "eo"le may ser.e as useful tools for the .ested interests %ehind these hadith. 2e %egin
6ith a hadith 6hich most cruelly attri%utes the Eualities of a soothsayer to the Pro"het.

The messenger of 0od too? a stand to address us in 6hich he did not omit to mention anything that 6ill
occur in that "lace of his u" to the occurrence of the *ast /our. 2hoso got it to memory remem%ered it
and 6hoso did not remem%er it forgot it. These com"anions of mine learnt it, and there 6ill occur
something therefrom 6hich I forgot. 2hen it is sho6n to me, I remem%er it, Aust as a man remem%ers
the face of a man 6hen he remains a%sent from him, %ut 6hen after6ards he sees him, he recognizes
him. C3u?hari and MuslimD

The "eo"le used to as? the Messenger of 0od of .irtues, and I used to as? him of e.ils, fearing lest they might
o.erta?e me. I as?ed, B+ Messenger of 0odN !ertainly 6e 6ere in ignorance and corru"tion. Then 0od %rought
this good for us. 2ill there %e corru"tion after this goodKB B=es,B he re"lied. I as?ed, B2ill there %e good after
this corru"tionKB B=es,B he re"lied. I as?ed, B2ill there %e good after that corru"tionKB B=es,B he re"lied. BThere
6ill %e dar?ness therein.B I as?ed, B2hat is dar?nessKB /e said, BA "eo"le 6ho 6ill introduce 6ays other than
my 6ays and 6ill gi.e guidance other than my guidance. So you 6ill recognize some of them and reAect some.B
I as?ed, B2ill there %e corru"tion after that goodKB B=es,B he re"lied. BThere 6ill %e those 6ho 6ill in.ite
to6ards the doors of /ell. 2hoso 6ill res"ond to them 6ill %e thro6n therein.B I as?ed, B+ Messenger of 0od,
gi.e us their descri"tion.B /e said, BThey 6ill %e our "eo"le, and they 6ill s"ea? 6ith our tongues.B I as?ed,
B2hat do you enAoin me if I reached that timeKB /e re"lied, B=ou shall stic? to the united %ody of Muslims and
their leader.B I as?ed, BIf they ha.e no united %ody and no leaderKB /e said, BThen ?ee" aloof entirely from
those "arties though you should ha.e to clea.e to the root of a tree till death o.erta?es you ...B C3u?hari and
MuslimD

The messenger of 0od said, BThere 6ill soon a""ear calamities in 6hich one,s sitting 6ill %e %etter than one,s
standing, and one,s standing 6ill %e %etter than one,s 6al?ing, and one,s 6al?ing 6ill %e %etter than one,s
running...B C3u?hari and MuslimD

The messenger of 0od said, B... #ee" to your house and hold your tongue, and ta?e 6hat you recognize and gi.e
u" 6hat you do not ?no6, and mind your o6n %usiness and gi.e u" the affairs of the "u%lic.B CTirmidhiD

The hadith concerning the Mahdi and the attestation faith and the hadith concerning the *ast
1ays Euoted a%o.e all ad.ocate a "assi.e, "essimistic and su%missi.e community. It is totally
contrary to the Islamic s"irit of stri.ing for the good in the name of 0od and in the 6ay of 0od.
2hy did the ulama ad.ocate such defeatist hadithK 'azlur (ahman says that these hadith reflect
the ulama,s thin?ing and their o%Aecti.es 6ith regard to the factionalism and the ci.il 6ar that
6as going on %et6een the Muslim factions. To them the hadith a""eared as .ery handy tool to
neutralize the dissenting and damaging effects of the #ha6ariA and the MuItazilites cam"s. 3y
this sim"le means of creating hadith and attri%uting it the Pro"het, the orthodo4 Ahl'ul-Sunna
#a'l-%amaah ho"ed to sa.e the community from its internecine 6arfare.

Although these false hadiths 6ere ad.ocated to ser.e as a %ridge to lin? u" all the 6arring
factions in "eace and harmony, it %ecame e.ident soon enough that these false hadith standing
on their false foundations 6ould colla"se. /o6 could the ad.ocating of "essimism and
"assi.ity guarantee "eace and harmony, unity and AusticeK +%.iously the orthodo4 scholars
6ere .ery short sighted. And on to" of e.erything, all these false teachings 6ere clearly against
the teachings of the <uran. It 6ould %ecome all too clear ho6 easily the corru"ted and cruel
rulers, the foreign in.aders and the colonialists 6ould o.er6helm a docile and almost indolent
Muslim "o"ulace. The Muslims had %een "erfectly molded into its su%missi.e and ser.ile form
through the indoctrination of all these false hadith. This 6as the cause of their fall.

As 6e ha.e stated, the "assi.e "olitical "hiloso"hy ad.ocated %y these hadith 6ere com"letely
against the s"irit of the <uran 6hich ad.ocated e4actly the o""osite "hiloso"hy u"on all
Muslims. 0od enAoins %elie.ers in the <uran to get fully in.ol.ed in community affairs, to
consistently ad.ocate good and to o""ose e.il.

Therefore, did the <uran not "ose a serious "ro%lem for the hadith 6riters thenK Any careful
reading of the <uran and any serious discussion 6ould definitely "oint out the errors of the
hadith. So, ho6 did the ulama handle this "otential threat to their hadithK :ery sim"le. They
sought to cut off all intellectual discussion and inEuiry in Islam. They came u" 6ith the not@
too@original %ut effecti.e idea that only the ulama, the "riestly class, 6ould %e allo6ed to
handle all matters "ertaining to the religion.

They 6ould teach "eo"le that they 6ere the inheritors of the Pro"het,s mission. 1es"ite the fact
that Islam ne.er allo6ed any "riesthood, the ulama 6ould go on to successfully set u" not only
a "riestly class %ut a 6hole hierarchy of "riests. Much li?e the 3rahmins of /induism, they
6ould see? to im"ose this hierarchy u"on the Muslim masses and deny the masses any access
to a true understanding of the religion 6ithout first %eing screened %y them. Unfortunately,
these ulama ha.e %een most successful to this day. +nce again, to sustain their "osition and to
nic? any %uds of dissent that might decide to %loom, the ulama resorted to their good old
"anacea for all their ills ; the hadithN !onsider these5

The ulama are the heirs to the Pro"het. CA%u 1aud and TirmidhiD

I%n A%%as re"orted that the Pro"het said, B2hoe.er see?s to inter"ret the <uran using his o6n
intellect, he should also "re"are to %urn in the hell fire.B CTirmidhiD

The follo6ing must remain a Ae6el among all the false hadith5

Fundu% re"orted that the Pro"het said, B2hosoe.er inter"rets the <uran, and his inter"retation is
correct, that "erson has committed a sin.B CTirmidhi and A%u 1audD

It should not come as a sur"rise to us that after a thousand years of adhering to the false
teachings of such hadith, the Muslims, condition has "rogressi.ely 6orsened as 6e ha.e sho6n
in !ha"ter I. If the "resent Islamic mo.ement for reform and regeneration aims to achie.e its
o%Aecti.es, it a%solutely must face u" to the reality of the corru"ting influence of the hadith and
other false teachings arising from it, and return to the di.ine <uran. There is no e.ading the
issue. There is no shortcut to the truth e4ce"t through the destruction of falsehood.


CHAPTER IV

CRITICIS& OF THE HADITH


&hee are 1od' re0elation that #e recite for you #ith the truth. In #hich hadith
beide the re0elation of 1od, do they belie0eE

'+uran, HA5?(

It is a recorded historical fact, as 6e ha.e seen in the last cha"ter, that at the time of the
Pro"het,s death in the 11th year of the /iAra C$H7 A1D, the 6hole of the <uran, 6hich had %een
re.ealed to the Pro"het, had %een carefully 6ritten do6n and arranged in an order as directed
%y the Pro"het himself. This historical testimony su""orts the 1i.ine assertion of the <uran,s
arrangement under 1i.ine direction.

+n the other hand, there e4ists no hadith collection that Muhammad himself authenticated. In
fact, he 6as re"orted to "rohi%it the 6riting do6n of any hadith. -.en among the religious
scholars there is much contro.ersy o.er 6hat is termed the muta#attir hadith, or multi"le@
source re"orts. Some say that there are se.en of these, some say only one 6hile others say none
at all. If the hadith scholars cannot agree on the num%er of the .ery fe6 multi"le@source re"orts,
ho6 could they im"ose the $,999@odd so@called authentic hadiths of 3u?hari on the Sunnite
Muslim communityK 2e also ?no6 that the Shi,ite Muslim community ha.e their o6n hadith
collections.

As 6e ha.e seen in !ha"ter III, the so@called authentic hadith collections came into %eing after
much editing %y the li?es of 3u?hari and Muslim only a%out 789 years after the Pro"het,s
death. The Iauthentic, or Igenuine, 'ahih( la%el attached to the collected and edited 6or?s of
these si4 collectors is a su%Aecti.e classification %ased on certain criteria, 6hich may not %e
agreed to %y other scholars. This is the source of the hitherto endless de%ate on the authenticity
of the hadith.

2hat is not realized %y the general Muslim community no6 is that all these hadith re"orters
and scholars in their o6n day had their critics 6ho are no6 con.eniently forgotten. In some
cases, a "articular scholar,s o"inion or 6riting came to dominate the Muslim mind %ecause
those 6ritings recei.ed su""ort from the cali"h or 6hate.er authority e4isting at that time. A
good e4am"le is the action of !ali"h /arun Al@(ashid 6ho 6anted to %an the 6ritings of all
Muslim scholars e4ce"t the %oo? Al@Mu6atta of Imam Mali? i%n Anas. The cali"h insisted on
ma?ing Al@Mu6atta as the standard te4t %y 6hich to formulate the ShariIa or Islamic la6.
'ortunately, it 6as through the insistence of Imam Mali? himself that such a course of action
6as denied, hence allo6ing de%ate and fruitful discussion to continue in the cali"h,s realm.
Imam Mali? felt com"elled to s"ea? u" %ecause he understood that, after all, his 6ritings could
%e mista?en. The human intellect is eminently falli%le.

!om"ared to all these 6ea?nesses 6hich %eset the hadith, the <uran is com"letely .ouchsafed
for its authenticity %y no less an authority than 0od /imself.

&he majority follo# only conjecture, and conjecture i no ubtitute for the truth. 1od i fully
a#are of e0erythin/ they do. 9ut the +uran can ne0er be in0ented by other than 1od. It
confirm all pre0iou cripture, and conummate them. &here i abolutely no doubt that it
come from the ;ord of the -ni0ere.


C!itiism o, th+ Hadith Has A30ays E7ist+d

!riticism of the hadith, e.en the reAection of the hadith theory ad.ocated %y Imam ShafiIi, is
not something ne6. !riticism of it e4isted from the earliest times. At the time of Imam ShafiIi,
the MuItazilite rationalist school, one of the earliest Muslim theological schools, ad.anced t6o
.ery sound arguments to refute the hadith theory. They stated that the hadith 6as merely
guess6or? and conAecture, and that the <uran 6as com"lete and "erfect, and did not reEuire the
hadith or any other %oo? to su""lement or com"lement it.

/o6e.er, as 6e mentioned earlier, the hadithMsunna school mustered significant social and
"olitical su""ort for its teachings. The MuItazilite school 6as therefore su%Augated and the
sunna school %ecame dominant. It is not 6ithin the "ro.ince of this %oo? to del.e much dee"er
into this interesting contro.ersyL it suffices to say that much remains to %e understood from the
causes and effects of this contro.ersy alone.

!loser to our time, namely to6ards the end of the nineteenth century, the reform mo.ement
s"earheaded %y Famaluddin Al@Afghani and Muhammad A%duh sought to cur% the em"hasis on
taqlid, or %lind conformity to the o"inions of early Imams. /o6e.er, little effort 6as made to
address the "ro%lems of the hadith itself. These t6o reno6ned scholars only 6ent so far as to
further tighten the criteria for acce"ting the hadith. At the same time, they still acce"t the hadith
as a "rinci"al source of la6 on "ar 6ith the <uran.

+ther schools of thought did arise in -gy"t, India and Indonesia, see?ing to Euestion and e.en
re"udiate the hadith. Although detailed information a%out them is rather scarce, in -gy"t
Muhammad Ta6fiE SidEi Cd. 1979D and Mahmud A%u (ayya, 6hose %oo? on the hadith 6as
"u%lished in !airo in 198&, Euestioned the relia%ility of the hadith. In India, the ahlul-+uran
grou" led %y 0hulam Ahmad Par.ez arose during the 19H9,s to ta?e Muslims %ac? to the
<uran. It is most "ro%a%le that similar mo.ements ha.e s"rung u" in other Muslim societies
throughout Islamic history. Therefore, it is im"ortant for us to ?ee" in mind that criticism of the
hadith has al6ays %een e4tant since the day the hadith 6as 6ritten do6n.


Th+ U*d+!3yi*( #+a'*+ss o, th+ Hadith$
Co*:+t)!+ a*d G)+ss0o!'

*ately it has %ecome a no.elty for some 6riters to allude to historical e.idence to "ro.e the
e4istence of 6ritten hadith records from the time of the Pro"het. These 6riters claim that
.arious ahifah or "ersonal diaries of .arious !om"anions ha.e %een found. Unfortunately for
these 6riters, such 6ritings do not e4ist at all. Perha"s the im"etus for this ahifah theory 6as
s"ar?ed %y the reference to the records of /ammam i%n Muna%ih Cd. 191 or 197 /iArahD, a
"u"il of A%u /uraira. /ammam i%n Muna%ih is re"orted to ha.e recorded 1J9 alleged sayings
of the Pro"het from A%u /urairah. 3ut 6e do not ha.e conclusi.e e.idence for the e4istence of
these "ersonal diaries. The scholars ha.e differing o"inions on this su%Aect. Therefore, to .ouch
for the e4istence of a com"lete set of ahifah 6ritings can only %e an intellectual flight of
fancy.

It is also "ertinent to note that the collecting, collating and editing of the hadith into the si4
dominant %oo?s that 6e ha.e today has ne.er %een conclusi.ely 6itnessed or .ouched for. To
ma?e matters e.en more com"licated for the hadith 6riters, there is a recorded hadith of the
Pro"het 6hich claims that the Pro"het himself had e4"ressly for%idden the 6riting do6n of any
hadithN According to Muslim and i%n /an%al5

A%i Said al #hudri re"orted that the Pro"het said, B1o not 6rite do6n anything from me e4ce"t the
<uran. 2hoe.er 6rites do6n anything other than the <uran must erase it.B

The hadith 6riters come u" 6ith the retort that the Pro"het said 6hat he said in order to "re.ent
his follo6ers from confusing the <uran, 6hich 6as still %eing re.ealed at that time, 6ith the
hadith. /ence, his "rohi%ition. It 6as later re"ealed, they argued, 6hen the danger of mi4ing
the <uran 6ith the hadith no longer e4isted.

3ut this a""ears to %e a rather lame e4cuse to Austify the 6riting of the hadith. -.en after the
Pro"het,s death and e.en .ery much after the <uran had %een carefully %ound into its "resent
form, the true follo6ers of the Pro"het still refused to 6rite do6n anything of the so@called
hadith. This is clear from another re"ort of I%n /an%al5

BOayd i%n Tha%it Cthe Pro"het,s "ersonal aide and scri%eD 6as .isiting the house of MuIa6iya and 6as
narrating to the !ali"h a story a%out the Pro"het. The !ali"h, 6ho %ecame much im"ressed 6ith the
story, immediately as?ed his scri%e to record the story. Oayd then cautioned the !ali"h, IThe holy
"ro"het has for%idden us from 6riting do6n anything from his hadith., B

There is also the story regarding the first cali"h A%u 3a?r 6ho could not lay his head do6n to
slee" u"on finding out that there 6ere some 6ritten records of the Pro"het,s sayings in the
house of his daughter Aisha, 6ho 6as the Pro"het,s 6ife. )ot until he had "ersonally %urnt the
6ritten records 6as he a%le to slee" "eacefully again. The second cali"h +mar i%n #hatta% also
refused to allo6 anyone to com"ile the hadith for fear that the "eo"le may ta?e to them and
discard the <uran.

This is Aust another "roof to deny the authority of the hadith. )ot only that, %ut since the hadith
6riters can sho6 us other hadiths that does allo6 for the 6riting do6n of the hadith, it only
goes further to sho6 that the hadith e.en contradict one another. To attri%ute all these
conflicting and "re"osterous hadiths to the Pro"het and also to eEuate these hadiths 6ith the
<uran is only %eing "resum"tuous and %elittling the mission of the Pro"het.

It 6ould ha.e %een im"ossi%le for the Pro"het to eEuate any of his o6n sayings 6ith the <uran.
It 6ould also %e Euite illogical for him to 6ant his "eo"le to follo6 a set of 6ritings 6hich he
ne.er authorized and 6hose authenticity 6ould later gi.e rise to so much confusion and
hardshi" for the Muslims. 2e must also remem%er that the <uran itself, although re.ealed fully
to the Pro"het, 6as ne.er fully com"iled into one %oo? during the Pro"het,s o6n lifetime. It
6ould only %e %ound into one com"lete %oo? under the cali"hs A%u 3a?r and +mar. So if this
6as the case for the <uran, can the case for the hadith %e strongerK 1efinitely not. The hadiths
6ere ne.er 6ritten do6n in the "resence of the Pro"het and neither 6as the Pro"het "resent to
su"er.ise the Itransmission, of any of his sayings. That is 6hy the hadiths differ so much. That
is 6hy 6e ha.e the s"lit in Islam into the Sunnite and the Shi,ite sects, and among the Sunnites
into the ShafiIi, the /anafi, the Mali?i, the /an%ali maAor and numerous other minor schools.
They all Euote their o6n hadith to color their "articular shade of ideology.

Another illuminating e4am"le that must %e Euoted is the hadith that records the Pro"het,s last
sermon during his final "ilgrimage. This hadith has t6o chains of re"orters5 one as re"orted %y
Fa%ir i%n A%dullah C6hich itself has t6o .ersionsD and another as re"orted %y Mali? i%n Anas.

'irst let us Euote the t6o different .ersions attri%uted to Fa%ir i%n A%dullah5

CaD Fa%ir i%n A%dullah re"orted during his fare6ell sermon the Pro"het said, B ... and I ha.e left 6ith
you one thingL if you hold on to it firmly, you 6ill ne.er stray, i.e. 0od,s Scri"ture. %o) 0i33 4+ as'+d
a4o)t m+8 So 0hat 0i33 yo) say/B They said, B2e 6ill .ouchsafe that you ha.e truthfully and
com"letely deli.ered the message and %rought the remainder.B CMuslimD C-m"hasis addedD

C%D Fa%ir i%n A%dullah re"orted that the Pro"het said in his fare6ell sermon during his final "ilgrimage, BAnd I
ha.e left among you one thingL if you hold on to it firmly, you 6ill ne.er stray G 0od,s Scri"ture a*d 0hat+.+!
yo) ha.+ (ai*+d ,!om ;)+stio*i*( m+ <hadith= CMuslimD C-m"hasis addedD

Surely Fa%ir i%n A%dullah could ha.e narrated only one of the a%o.e .ersions. :ersion C%D 6ith
its e4tra 6ording is an o%.ious addition to the original.

The second Cor actually the thirdD record of this same e.ent is attri%uted to Anas i%n Mali? Ca
com"anionD 6ho concedes that it is only a 6ea? hadith. It says5

I ha.e left you t0o things, so long as you hold tightly to them %oth, you 6ill ne.er stray G Allah,s /oly <uran
and the Sunnah of /is Messenger CMu6attaD C-m"hasis addedD

It is interesting to note that this hadith is classified as a I6ea?, hadith %y the hadith 6riters
themsel.es. To further highlight this incongruity, I%n IshaE, another early chronicler, re"orts,

Al@Ouhri informed me from Anas i%n Mali?5 B2hile A%u 3a?r 6as recei.ing allegiance from the follo6ers the
day after the Pro"het had died, +mar stood u" and s"o?e to the "eo"le, I+ Peo"leN 0od has left you /is
Scri"ture, 6ith 6hich /e guided /is Messenger., B

It is Euite e.ident that the Pro"het instructed us to hold on to the <uran only. This is consonant
6ith the later testimony and conduct of the !ali"hs A%u 3a?r and +mar regarding the hadith.
The allegation that the Pro"het also made reference to the hadith in his 'are6ell Sermon can
only %e a falsification of the truth. This falsification might li?ely ha.e cre"t in after the death of
+mar, at the earliest, %ecause 6e are a6are that !ali"h +mar i%n #hatta% 6as a strict man and
a stic?ler for correct %eha.ior.
/o6e.er, it is the <uran itself that gi.es us the final say regarding the hadith. In !ha"ter II 6e
ha.e referred to the usage of the 6ords Ihadith, and Isunna, in the <uran. 2e ha.e seen that not
e.en in one of these references in the <uran is there any indication for the e4istence of the
"ro"hetic hadith or tradition. The 6ord Ihadith, in all its forms is used thirty@si4 times in the
<uran, ele.en of 6hich refer to the <uran, 6hile none refers to 6hat has later %een termed the
hadith or sunna. 2hen 6e "onder on those .erses containing the 6ord Ihadith, in the <uran, 6e
shall notice a su%tle criticism of the so@called hadith5

&hee are 1od' re0elation that #e recite for you #ith the truth. In #hich hadith
beide the re0elation of 1od, do they belie0eE

1od ent do#n the bet hadith, a cripture that i conitent, repeatin/.

It i a re0elation from the ;ord of the -ni0ere. Are you then e0adin/ thi hadithE

The first .erse Euoted a%o.e clearly for%ids us from acce"ting anything other than the <uran as
a source of guidance and criterion for measuring things religious. The second ma?es reference
to the <uran as %eing the %est hadith. The third chides us for resorting to sources that 6ish to
re"lace the <uran.

To further clarify any dou%ts that 6e might ha.e a%out the su"remacy of the <uran com"ared
to the distorted and fa%ricated recordings of the hadith, 0od uses an ingenious techniEue to
im"ress u"on us that the <uran and only the <uran is our source of guidance. This must %e "art
of 0od,s "romise to "ermanently "rotect /is teachings, i.e. the <uran. 2e refer in "articular to
.erse H15$ of the <uran5

Some people uphold 0ain hadith in order to di0ert other from the path of 1od #ithout
)no#led/e, and to create a moc)ery out of it. &hee ha0e deer0ed humiliatin/
retribution.

In .erse H957H 0od refers to the <uran as ahan'al- hadith or Ithe %est hadith,. In H15$ /e refers
to the fa%ricators of false teachings as u"holding I.ain hadith, 'lah#'al-hadith( to di.ert the
"eo"le from the "ath of 0od. These "eo"le, needless to say, are to %e condemned. Therefore,
0od uses the 6ord Ihadith, in t6o contradictory conte4ts to im"ress u"on us the %asic
difference %et6een /is teachings and the teachings of those 6ho deny /im.

It is clear no6 that most of the hadith attri%uted to the Pro"het are, in fact, nothing %ut .ain tal?
'lah#'al-hadith( 6hich only ser.e to Bdi.ert others from the "ath of 0od 6ithout ?no6ledge.B


#+a'*+ss+s i* th+ &+thodo3o(y o,
Chai*-R+"o!t+!s o! 2Is*ad'

The hadith 6riters are fond of saying that the collection and collating of the hadith 6as
underta?en 6ith much care and accuracy, es"ecially %y 3u?hari and Muslim G t6o of the
hadith 6riters held in the highest regard %y their o6n follo6ers. 3u?hari and Muslim are
su""osed to ha.e used strict and meticulous techniEues to criticize and e.aluate the sources of
their hadith "rior to 6riting them do6n.

The hadith 6riters founded a 6hole ne6 %ranch of learning called Ilm al-%arh #a al-&a'dil Cthe
science of acce"ting and reAecting narrationsD 6here%y the narrators are e4amined for their
honesty and integrity. Although 6e must a""reciate and "raise them for the la%or they had "ut
into the tas?, 6e cannot turn a %lind eye to the %asic 6ea?ness of their methodology.

2e note that the maAority of the hadith only a""eared during the time of the tabi*in, i.e.
successors to the !om"anions, and the time of the tabi* tabi*in Csuccessors to the successors of
the !om"anionsD. 2ho 6ere the tabi*in and the tabi* tabi*inK The tabi*in 6ere the generations
that succeeded the !om"anions of the Pro"het. This is t6o and a half to four generations or 79
to 179 years therea%outs after the Pro"het. The tabi* tabi*in 6ere those "eo"le 6ho succeeded
the aforementioned grou", that is, four and a half to si4 generations or around 1H9 to 199 years
after the Pro"het. That means the maAority of the hadith arose around a hundred to t6o hundred
years after the Pro"het.

/o6e.er accurate the methodology of the inad, the scholars first started tal?ing a%out it and
started 6riting it do6n only a%out 189 @ 799 years after the deaths of the .ery last tabi*i tabi*in.
This means that 6hen the research to esta%lish the inad got started, none of the !om"anions,
the succeeding generation or the generation coming after them 6ere a.aila%le to "ro.ide any
?ind of guidance, confirmation or re%uttal. Therefore, the authenticity of the statements cannot
%e .ouched for at all.

It is not our intention to say that 3u?hari, Muslim and others 6ere fa%ricators. /o6e.er, e.en
students of elementary "sychology or communication 6ill testify that a sim"le message of, say,
18 6ords 6ill get distorted after "assing through only a%out fi.e messengers. C+ur readers are
6elcome to try out this e4"erimentD. #ee" in mind that the hadith contains thousands of
detailed and com"le4 narrations ; e.erything from a%lution to Auris"rudence. These narrations
"assed through hundreds of narrators 6ho 6ere s"read out o.er thousands of miles of desert,
and s"anned o.er t6o to three hundred years of history. All this at a time 6hen ne6s tra.eled at
the s"eed of a camel gait, recorded on "ieces of leather or %one or scrolls in a land that had
neither "a"er nor the a%undance of scri%es to 6rite anything do6nN

-.en today in this modern day and age of the t6entieth century, there ha.e %een maAor
historical e.ents, 6hich although 6ell documented, still elicit much contro.ersy. 2e cite, for
e4am"le, the assassination of President Fohn '. #ennedy ; an e.ent that is surrounded %y
much mystery. 2e also ha.e the contro.ersy surrounding the e4act causes of the 'irst 2orld
2ar. In our o6n country, there is much de%ate as to the true story %ehind Mahsuri and /ang
Tuah. In e.ery family there are al6ays conflicting stories or .ersions of stories to e4"lain
certain e.ents that ha""en 6ithin families.

Therefore, it is not li?ely that the .arious hadith 6riters could ha.e %een accurate, ho6e.er
much they 6anted to, in chec?ing the authenticity of the hadith 6hich they 6rote do6n. A
camel Aourney from Mecca to 1amascus might ta?e a month or t6o. In fact, any Aourney %y
camel %et6een the maAor "o"ulated areas of the Ara%ian deserts too? much time. It ma?es it
highly unli?ely that the hadith 6riters chec?ed out all the thousands of details "ersonally.
+ther6ise, they must ha.e s"ent a large "art of their li.es sitting on the %ac?s of .ery fast@
mo.ing camels. /istory has recorded 6ho these hadith 6riters 6ere, 6here they li.ed and ho6
much tra.elling they undertoo?. As for the camels, a camel,s gait remains much the same then
as it is no6.

It stands to reason that the hadith 6riters de"ended on much story@telling to fill in the %lan?s.
Many Iauthentic, narrators 6hom the hadith 6riters allude to in their chains of inad 6ere
6holly fa%ricated names. To o.ercome this ty"e of logical criticism, the hadith 6riters came u"
6ith an ingenious de.ice to actually "ull the 6ool o.er our eyes. They came u" 6ith the
conce"t of ta*dil of the !om"anions. This conce"t states that the !om"anions of the Pro"het
are 6holly "rotected from committing any error 6hene.er they recall or narrate the sayings of
the Pro"hetN

Although this conce"t is "re"osterous and defies all logic, 6e must note that Muslims 6ere not
the first to ma?e such %latant claims. In fact, the hadith 6riters ha.e ta?en a "age from the
!hristian %oo?s. Although Fesus did not 6rite anything do6n, the disci"les and follo6ers 6rote
do6n the .arious %oo?s of the 3i%le. To lend credence to their 6or?, these 3i%le 6riters 6ere
also deemed to ha.e %een Bins"iredB and 6ithout fault 6hene.er they undertoo? to record Ithe
2ord of 0od,. In fact, there are e.en "arts of the 3i%le that a""eared to one of the 3i%le 6riters
in a dream 6hile he 6as aslee"N

*et us e4amine t6o e4am"les of inad for hadith com"iled %y the famous 3u?hari.

P!o"h+t &)hammad P!o"h+t &)hammad
1. +mar i%n #hatta% 1. Aisha
7. Al <anmah i%n 2aEEas al@*aithi 7. Ur6ah i%n Al@Ou%ayr
H. I%ni I%rahim at Taimi H. I%ni Shiha%
J. =ahya i%n Said al Ansari J. UEail
8. Sufyan 8. Al@3aith
$. A%dullah i%n Az Ou%air $. =ahya i%n 3u?hair
B)'ha!i B)'ha!i
As 6e ha.e mentioned earlier, these inad 6ere recorded at least 189 years after the last tabi*
tabi*in had died. Therefore, 6hat real "roofs are there to sho6 that +mar i%n #hatta% or Aisha
6ere the real sources of this "articular inad K The "roofs sim"ly do not e4ist. The only things
made a.aila%le to us are strongly@held o"inions and neat conce"ts li?e the ta*dil of the
!om"anions.

3ut 6hat does 0od Almighty ha.e to say a%out all theseK 2e Euote5

Additionally #e ha0e appointed for e0ery prophet enemie from amon/ the human
de0il and the jinn de0il, #ho in0ent and narrate to each other fancy #ord in order to
decei0e. Had your ;ord #illed, they #ould not ha0e done it. :ou hall dire/ard them
and their in0ention. &hi i 1od' #ill o that the mind of thoe #ho do not really
belie0e in the Hereafter may liten thereto, and accept it, and to ha0e them commit
#hat they are uppoed to commit. Shall I ee) other than 1od a a ource of la#,
#hen He re0ealed to you thi boo) fully detailedE F0en thoe #ho recei0ed pre0iou
cripture reco/nize that it came do#n from your ;ord, truthfully. &herefore, you hall
not harbor any doubt. &he #ord of your ;ord i complete, in truth and jutice. Cothin/
hall abro/ate Hi $ord. He i the Hearer, the ,no#er. If you obey the majority of
people on earth, they will divert you from the path of God. hey only follow
conjecture, and they only guess.

he majority follows only conjecture, and conjecture is no substitute for the truth. 1od i
fully a#are of e0erythin/ they do. 9ut the +uran can ne0er be in0ented by anythin/ other than
1od. It confirm all pre0iou cripture, and conummate them. &here i abolutely no doubt
that it come from the ;ord of the -ni0ere.

In the .erses a%o.e, 0od 6arns us that many Ireligious, %oo?s 6ritten %y men are merely
guess6or? and conAecture. !an anyone deny that the hadith %oo?s are also religious %oo?s
6ritten %y mere mortalsK

3ut the hadith 6riters are still insistent. According to some, at least 3u?hari,s hadith is
infalli%le. 2hyK 3ecause 3u?hari is re"orted to ha.e sifted through more than $99,999 hadiths
and had "ic?ed only 7,778 to %e included in his Iauthentic, collection. This fact is "ut for6ard
to im"ress u"on the reader that 3u?hari 6as meticulous and thorough in his life,s 6or?.
3u?hari merely too? 1.78R of all the hadiths he came across as authentic. 3ut a sim"le
calculation 6ill sho6 that these figures are "re"osterous and im"ossi%le to %e achie.ed %y
3u?hari or any other human %eing.

If, on the a.erage, a hadith consists of three sim"le sentences Cin truth many hadiths run into
"aragra"hsD, then 3u?hari 6ould ha.e had to collect, read, in.estigate, e.aluate and record o.er
1.& million sentences o.er a "eriod of J9 years. This is the eEui.alent of researching C6hich
include the long camel Aourneys to and fro across the desertD and attesting to the authenticity of
o.er H99 %oo?s, each eEui.alent to the thic?ness and com"le4ity of a <uran, o.er a "eriod of
J9 yearsN !om"are this to the $HJ$ .erses only of the one <uran 6hich 0od in /is all
encom"assing mercy ga.e to the Pro"het o.er a "eriod of 7H yearsN

According to another source, I%n /an%al re"orted that there 6ere o.er 7 million Iauthentic,
hadiths. If this 6ere true, then 6or?ing for 7H years at a "ace of 1& hours a day, se.en days a
6ee?, the Pro"het 6ould ha.e had to "roduce one hadith e.ery 77 secondsN There 6ould
definitely ha.e %een no time left at all for the Pro"het to ha.e done anything li?e li.ing his life
and carrying out his mission as a Pro"hetN

It is e.ident that to rely on the inad alone to .ouch for the hadith is 6holly unacce"ta%le. It
6ould %e more correct to e.aluate a hadith %ased on its content and logic of the content. Any
hadith 6hose inad is satisfactory Cto the hadith 6ritersD %ut 6hose content does not satisfy
logic must %e reAected as unacce"ta%le. If 6e use this sim"le method, 6e 6ill most "ro%a%ly
disco.er that the maAority of the hadith in the si4 collections cannot %e acce"ted anymore.

The 6ea?ness of the hadith can %e analyzed from three as"ects. 'irstly, its contradiction 6ith
the <uran. Such hadith is automatically reAected. Secondly, its contradiction 6ith history,
scientific facts or common sense. Such hadith must also %e reAected. Thirdly, its self@
contradiction. 2ith such hadith, it is "ossi%le that one of them may %e true and acce"ta%le.


Th+ Coh+!+*+ Th+o!y o, th+ Hadith

Again in antici"ation of criticism, the hadith 6riters came u" 6ith other neat tric?s to safeguard
their "osition. Imam ShafiIi "ostulated the theory of the coherence of the hadith. 3y this
fantastic theory, ShafiIi held that the hadith could ne.er contradict the <uran, or another hadith.
If any contradictions 6ere found to e4ist, these 6ere merely out6ard a""earances %ut not real
contradictions. These rather sim"le tric?s of 6ord@"lay 6ere set u" to co.er the o%.ious
discre"ancies and contradictions that e4ist in the hadith. 3ut 6hether this theory can really sa.e
the hadith is another matter. 2e 6ill see that this theory only condemns the hadith further.

To "ro.e his "oint that the hadith can ne.er contradict the <uran or itself, ShafiIi "ro.ides the
follo6ing con.oluted e4"lanation. /e ta?es the Pro"het not only as a 1i.ine messenger %ut as
a 1i.ine s"o?esman 6hose e.ery 6ord and action is di.inely ins"ired. The Pro"het must %e
o%eyed a%solutely in e.ery single 6ay %ecause it is only the Pro"het 6ho has the necessary
?no6ledge to e4"lain those matters that are discussed in rather general terms in the <uran. In
this 6ay, there can %e no conflict %et6een the sunna and the <uran. !ontradictions may
sometimes %e seen %et6een one sunna and another due to certain "eculiar circumstances 6hich
ga.e rise to such sunna, or due to incom"lete re"orting of the sunna, %ut in reality the
contradictions do not e4ist. )ote the follo6ing dialogue %et6een ShafiIi and a Euestioner
6here this confusing and contradicting theory is e4"lained5

/e Ci.e. the EuestionerD as?ed5 2ould it %e "ossi%le for the sunna to contradict the 3oo? Pof 0odQK

PShafiIiQ re"lied5 Im"ossi%leN 'or 0od, glorified %e /is "raise, im"osed on men the o%ligation Pof
o%edience to the la6Q through t6o a.enues G the origin of %oth is in /is 3oo? G /is 3oo? and the
sunna5 PThe latter is %inding %y .irtue ofQ the duty of o%edience laid do6n in the 3oo? that it should %e
follo6ed. So it 6as not "ermissi%le for the A"ostle to allo6 the sunna to %e a%rogated P%y the 3oo?Q,
6ithout the A"ostle himselfQ "ro.iding another sunna to a%rogate it. The a%rogating sunna is ?no6n
%ecause it is the later one, 6hile most of the a%rogating PcommunicationsQ of the 3oo? can %e ?no6n
only %y Pindications "ro.ided inQ the sunna of the A"ostle.

ShafiIi does not "ro.ide any hard e.idence or good e4am"les to "ro.e this coherence theory.
2hat he attem"ts to e4"lain is 6hat the hadith scholars allege to %e the function of the sunna to
e4"lain and detail the general rules mentioned in the <uran. 2e ha.e already discussed this in
detail in !ha"ter II. /o6e.er, let us discuss ShafiIi,s handling of a clear@cut case, the
"unishment for adultery, 6here the hadith clearly contradicts the <uran.

+n the su%Aect of adultery, the <uran clearly lays do6n the "unishment as follo6s5

&he adultere and the adulterer, you hall #hip each one of them one hundred lahe,
and do not be #ayed by pity from carryin/ out 1od' la#, if you truly belie0e in 1od
and the ;at >ay. And let a /roup of belie0er #itne their punihment.

+n the other hand, the hadith holds the follo6ing5

+mar re"orted that 0od had sent /is messenger Muhammad and re.ealed the Scri"ture to him. Among
the .erses re.ealed %y Almighty 0od is the commandment to stone Cthe adulterersD until death. The
Pro"het stoned Cthe adulterersD until death and li?e6ise 6e also stoned Cthe adulterersD until death.
Stoning until death in the Scri"ture is truly "rescri%ed for hus%ands and 6i.es 6ho commit adultery, if
they are found guilty, or %ecome "regnant, or confess their sins.

ShafiIi e4"lains this contradiction as follo6s5

The sunna of the A"ostle s"ecified that the "enalty of scourging 6ith a hundred stri"es for Pfornication
on the "art of theQ free unmarried cou"le 6as confirmed, %ut that it 6as a%rogated concerning the
marriedL and that the "enalty of stoning for Padultery on the "art of theQ free married cou"le 6as
confirmed.
This is an e4tremely interesting inter"retation. )ot only does the sunna "unishment clearly
contradict the "unishment in the <uran, %ut it is also gi.en the "o6er to confirm or o.errule the
<uranN 3ut sur"risingly, in other "laces, ShafiIi does not allo6 the sunna to contradict the
<uran or .ice .ersa. /e only allo6s the <uran to a%rogate the <uran and the sunna to a%rogate
the sunna. It is o%.ious that the coherence theory of the hadith is confusing and unacce"ta%le.

The greatest 6ea?ness of the hadith is its contradiction 6ith the 2ord of 0od, i.e. the <uran.
2e Euote here Aust a fe6 of the sam"les5

1. The (ise of Imam Mahdi to6ards the *ast 1ays

The hadith a%out the coming of the Mahdi to sa.e man?ind from the tri%ulations of the >ajjal
or Anti@!hrist to6ards the end of the 6orld is not consistent 6ith the teachings of the <uran.
0od commands us to stri.e in 0od,s cause and to command good and to for%id e.il e.ery
second of our li.es. These hadith instead ad.ocate a "assi.e res"onse and surrender to Ifate,
and a6ait the Mahdi,s arri.al to sa.e us.

The %elief in the Mahdi arose from the Fe6ish %elief in the coming of a sa.ior. Actually this
sa.ior, as foretold in their scri"ture, 6as Pro"het Muhammad 6hom they reAected 6hen he
arose among the Ara%s. It is also consonant 6ith the !hristian %elief a%out the Second !oming
of !hrist. The ShiIites, 6hen they lost "olitical "o6er to the Umayyads, similarly created their
o6n myth a%out the return of the 17th Imam. /e 6as %elie.ed to ha.e disa""eared, and 6ill
return to6ards the *ast 1ays as the Mahdi 6ho 6ould rule the 6orld 6ith Austice.

7. The Miracles of Pro"het Muhammad

There are Euite a fe6 hadiths that Euote many miracles "erformed %y the Pro"het. The <uran
tells us clearly that the Pro"het did not "erform any miracles. The only miracle gi.en to the
Pro"het 6as the <uran itself, as 6itness the .erse5

<&hey aid, *Ho# come no miracle #ere ent to him from hi ;ordE' Say, *"iracle
come only from 1od, and I am no more than a #arner'. I it not enou/h of a miracle
that #e ent do#n to you thi cripture, #hich i bein/ recited to themE Indeed, it i a
mercy and a mea/e for thoe #ho belie0e.<

H. The Pro"het,s Intercession

Many other hadiths gi.e the "o6er of intercession to the Pro"het. 3ut there are many .erses of
the <uran that clearly testify that no one can intercede on anyone,s %ehalf. :erse 7578J states5

<@ you #ho belie0e, you hall /i0e to charity from our pro0iion to you, before a day
come #herein there #ill be no trade, no fa0oritim and no interceion. It i the
dibelie0er #ho chooe #ic)edne.<

)o intercession is allo6ed. -.en if it is allo6ed, it can only %e 6ith 0od,s "ermission, i.e. in
accordance 6ith 0od,s 6ill only. In this case, intercession cannot %e limited Aust to Pro"het
MuhammadL it can %e from anyone 6hom 0od allo6s. To insist that only Pro"het Muhammad
can intercede is to discriminate among 0od,s "ro"hets, as 6ell as to restrict 0od,s omni"otence
in ma?ing decisions.

J. Punishment for A"ostasy

The hadith "rescri%es the death "enalty for a"ostasy. BIf anyone lea.es his religion, then ?ill
him.B C3u?hari and A%u 1audD The <uran, on the other hand, ma?es no "ro.ision for the
?illing of a"ostates. :erse 858J states5

<@ you #ho belie0e, if any of you re0ert from hi reli/ion, then 1od #ill brin/ people
#hom He lo0e a they lo0e Him, and humble themel0e to#ard the belie0er, #hile
bein/ tern to#ard the dibelie0er2 and tri0e in the caue of 1od2 and ne0er #orry
about any blamer #ho mi/ht blame them. Such i 1od' /race that He beto# upon
#home0er He #ill. 1od i bounteou, omnicient.<

:erse 7578$ affirms com"lete freedom of religious %elief5

<&here hall be no compulion in reli/ion ...<

+n the contrary, the <uran informs us that the leaders of mis%elief "racticed murder or stoning
to death of those 6ho %elie.ed in 0od, as 6itness this .erse5 <.... If they find out about you,
they #ould tone you, or force you bac) into their reli/ion...< This refers to the story of the
monotheistic youths, the se.en slee"ers of -"hesus, 6ho too? refuge in a ca.e from the
"ersecution of !hristians 6ho had de.iated from the monotheistic teachings of !hrist around
the time of the "romulgation of the )icene !reed in H78 A1. In this res"ect, it is most
interesting to note that the +ld Testament "unishment for a"ostasy is also death.

8. (e6ard of Paradise %y Fust Uttering the Attestation of 'aith
3efore 1eath

A num%er of hadith "romise Paradise to anyone 6ho utters the )alimah hahada or attestation
of faith %efore death. This hadith see?s to annul all of 0od,s teachings that only sound faith and
good 6or?s 6ill get one to /ea.en. Fust %y mentioning a fe6 6ords is not going to cause one
to gain an entry into /ea.en, Aust as forgetting or not mentioning these 6ords does not mean
that /ea.en is for%idden. 1eath can sometimes a""roach us suddenly 6ithout any 6arning.
The e4am"le of the dro6ning Pharaoh uttering the hahada and reAected %y 0od from /is
Paradise in the <uran sho6s that faith must %e nurtured %y good 6or?s %efore it can ta?e root
in any indi.idual. This hadith is self@a%rogating.

$. -ncouraging Passi.ity

2e ha.e already Euoted se.eral hadiths that ad.ocate "assi.ity and 6ithdra6al from acti.e
"artici"ation in society. This is clearly in contradiction not only 6ith the <uran %ut 6ith the
6hole "ur"ose of Islam. Surely if the Pro"het had chosen to %e "assi.e, none of us 6ould %e
Muslims todayN

7. Punishment for Adultery

2e ha.e already discussed this.

&. The !ommand to Pray

2e ha.e already dealt 6ith this su%Aect in detail.

9. The Pro"het,s Pro"hecies

Many hadiths tell us a%out the Pro"het,s o6n "ro"hecies regarding the future. This contradicts
the <uran,s assertion that the Pro"het does not ?no6 the future. :erse 751&& states5

<Say '@ "uhammad(, *I poe no po#er to either benefit or harm myelf. @nly #hat
1od #ill ta)e place. Had I )no#n the future, I #ould ha0e increaed my #ealth, and
no harm #ould ha0e afflicted me. I am no more than a #arner and preacher for thoe
#ho belie0e.' <

:erses 77578@77 inform us thus5

<Say, *I ha0e no idea ho# oon or ho# far i that #hich i promied to you. @nly 1od
i the )no#er of the future2 He let no one ele acquire uch )no#led/e. @nly the
meen/er that He chooe may be /i0en certain information concernin/ the pat or
the future.'<


19. 'atalism

The si4th "illar of faith, dra6n from the hadith, teaches fatalism among Muslims. This must %e
one of the chief causes of Muslim decline in the last thousand years. This hadith is annulled %y
the <uran in t6o .erses, 6hich states5

<Anyone #ho dibelie0e in 1od, Hi an/el, Hi cripture, Hi meen/er and the
;at >ay ha indeed trayed far a#ay.<

<$here0er you may be, death #ill catch up #ith you, e0en if you are in formidable catle.
$hen omethin/ /ood happen to them, they ay, *&hi i from 1od,' and #hen omethin/ bad
happen to them, they ay, *&hi i becaue of you.' Say, *All thin/ come from 1od.' $hat i
#ron/ #ith thee people that they can hardly undertand any preachin/E $hate0er /ood that
happen to you i from 1od. $hate0er bad that happen to you i a conequence of your o#n
#or)...<


S+3,-Co*t!aditio* o, Hadith

As 6e ha.e said, the hadith reflects the .ie6s and o"inions of .arious factions and grou"s,
many 6ith .ested interests, e4isting in society then. It is to %e e4"ected, therefore, that many of
them contradict one another. 2e list a fe6 here5

1. /adith on the (ecording of /adith

There e4ist Iauthentic, hadiths 6hich for%id as 6ell as allo6 the 6riting do6n of hadith %esides
the <uran. +ne that for%ids the 6riting do6n of hadith reads as follo6s5 BA%i Said al #hudri
re"orted that the Pro"het said, I1o not 6rite do6n anything from me e4ce"t the <uran.
2hoe.er 6rites anything other than the <uran must erase it., B C3u?hari and I%n /an%alD. An
o""osite hadith is the follo6ing5 BA%dullah i%n Amr re"orted that the Pro"het said, I1eli.er
from me e.en one sentence ... 2hoe.er %etrays me intentionally let him "re"are to %urn in
/ell.,B C3u?hariD

M. /amidullah claims that the "rohi%ition 6as made due to certain circumstances, %ut that it
6as later re.o?ed. This is a .ery 6ea? argument, as 6e ha.e indicated earlier.

7. The 'are6ell Sermon

2e ha.e already discussed this.

H. Punishment for Adultery

2e ha.e sho6n earlier ho6 the hadith on this matter contradicts the <uran. The earlier hadith
that 6e Euoted 6rongfully sets do6n the death "enalty C%y stoningD for adultery. !om"are that
6ith the follo6ing hadith5

BFa%ir i%n A%dullah re"orted that the Messenger of 0od said, I=ou ha.e rights o.er your 6i.es, such
that they should not %ed 6ith anyone else. If they transgress in this matter, you may %eat them 6ithout
causing any inAury., B C3u?hari and MuslimD.

It should %e noted that this hadith ma?es adultery a light matter. It should also %e noted that
stoning to death for adultery 6as a "unishment sti"ulated in the +ld Testament.

J. Stri.ing in the !ause of 0od

2hile some hadith ad.ocate "assi.ity, there are others that call for stri.ing in the 6ay of 0od.

8. The Status of the Pro"hets

There are some hadith 6hich correctly o%ey the <uran and for%id discriminating %et6een the
Pro"hets. =et there are hadith 6hich see? to glorify the Pro"het Muhammad o.er other
"ro"hets.

$. +n the <uran

Some hadith e4"licitly reEuire us to refer to the hadith %esides the <uran. 3ut once again, there
are other hadiths 6hich 6arn us of going astray if 6e 6ere to see? guidance from other than the
<uran.

There are many more hadiths that contradict one another. 2e ha.e Euoted Aust a fe6 for our
readers. Surely if 6e del.e dee"er into this area of hadith research, 6e can disco.er e.en more
contradictions. Perha"s this %oo? 6ill ser.e to stimulate further thought in this area.


Hadith Co*t!aditi*( Si+*+9 Histo!y a*d Lo(i

'inally, 6e must test the hadith for their congruence 6ith scientific facts, historical facts and
sim"le common sense. 0od tells us in the <uran that /is signs are manifest in the "hysical
uni.erse that surrounds us. :erses 1958@$ inform us5

<1od i the @ne $ho made the un luminecent, and the moon a li/ht, and He dei/ned
it phae to pro0ide you #ith a timin/ de0ice. 1od did not create all thi in 0ain. He
explain the re0elation for people #ho )no#. &he alternation of the ni/ht and day, and
of the thin/ that 1od created in the hea0en and the earth, pro0ide i/n for the
ri/hteou.<

Therefore, the "hysical 6orld is full of 0od,s signs. The natural la6s of "hysics, %iology,
chemistry and e.erything else are merely a manifestation of the system "ut into )ature %y 0od
Almighty. 2hene.er our scientists Iin.ent, something ne6, it is not an in.ention, instead it is
merely unco.ering or coming to gri"s 6ith a system that has already %een "ut there. Therefore,
scientific o%ser.ation and scientific ?no6ledge can only confirm 6hat 0od has "laced in
)ature, the Un6ritten 3oo? of 0od. This is 6hat the <uran, the 2ritten 3oo? of 0od, already
tells us. -sta%lished scientific facts are, therefore, in com"lete consonance 6ith the <uran. Any
fact that cannot %e scientifically esta%lished cannot %e consonant 6ith the <uran.

The same is true for recorded history. Anything that really ha""ened in history can ne.er
contradict the <uran. Therefore, if any Ihistorical fact, contradicts any <uranic teachings, that
Ifact, cannot %e true. It must ha.e %een fa%ricated. The same a""lies also for sim"le logic and
common sense. *ogic and common sense can ne.er contradict the <uran.

In these res"ects, the hadith again fails misera%ly. An eminent 'rench "hysician and mem%er of
the 'rench Academy of Sciences, 1r. Maurice 3ucaille, a Muslim 6ho has made a dee" study
of the contents of the <uran and the hadith, has stated5

BThe difference is in fact Euite staggering %et6een the accuracy of the data contained in the <uran,
6hen com"ared 6ith modern scientific ?no6ledge, and the highly Euestiona%le character of certain
statements in the hadith on su%Aects 6hose tenor is essentially scientific... In .ie6 of the fact that only a
limited num%er of hadith may %e considered to e4"ress the Pro"het,s thought 6ith certainty, the others
must contain the thoughts of men of his times, in "articular 6ith regard to the su%Aects referred to here.
2hen these du%ious or inauthentic hadith are com"ared to the te4t of the <uran, 6e can measure the
e4tent to 6hich they differ. This com"arison highlights ... the stri?ing difference %et6een the 6ritings
of this "eriod, 6hich are riddled 6ith scientifically inaccurate statements, and the <uran, the 3oo? of
2ritten (e.elation, that is free from errors of this ?ind.B

2e can "ro.ide numerous e4am"les of the hadith contradicting scientific facts, historical facts
and sim"le logic. Some of them are as follo6s5

1. The Mo.ement of the Sun

A hadith records the follo6ing,

BA%u Oarr re"orted that the Messenger of 0od said that 6hen the sun 6ishes to set, it tra.els until it
"rostrates itself %elo6 the 1i.ine Throne. It reEuests for "ermission and is granted. It "rostrates %ut its
su""lication is not acce"ted and it 6ill reEuest for "ermission %ut is not granted. It 6ill then %e
commanded to return to 6hence it came. So it 6ill rise at the "lace 6here it sets ...B C3u?hari and
MuslimD

A"art from the fact of its contradiction 6ith 6hat 6e ?no6 from science, the reader should note
6hat the <uran says on this matter. :erses H$5H&@J9 inform us5

B&he un run in a pecific orbit. Such i the dei/n of the Almi/hty, the @mnicient.
And #e dei/ned the moon to appear in ta/e until it re0ert to a thin cur0e. &he un
ne0er catche up #ith the moon, nor doe the ni/ht prematurely o0erta)e the day. Fach
float in it o#n orbit.<

)ot only is the hadith a%o.e ignorant of the <uran, %ut it also "laces the earth in the center 6ith
the sun or%iting around it, 6hen the truth is much to the contrary.

7. The !ommand to Pray

2e ha.e seen that the 1i.ine command to "ray, as 6ith other religious rituals, 6as first gi.en
to Pro"het A%raham and his follo6ers, and this ritual "rayer 6as handed do6n from generation
to generation until Pro"het Muhammad. This is testified %oth %y the <uran and %y history.
H. 1iscrimination Against 2omen

A hadith Euotes A%u Sayeed al #hudri as re"orting that a 6oman came to the Pro"het and
com"lained that her hus%and had forced her to %rea? her fast in order to ha.e se4ual intercourse
6ith him. To this the Pro"het is alleged to ha.e re"lied, BA 6oman cannot fast 6ithout her
hus%and,s "ermission.B CA%u 1aud and I%n MaAahD

This hadith tries .ery hard to cast a terri%le slur on the Pro"het,s good name. Such an attri%ute
is clearly against the chi.alrous and good@natured character of the Pro"het. Moreo.er, it is also
contrary to the <uranic teachings concerning the method of fasting and ho6 to interact 6ith our
6i.es and other human %eings around us.

J. 1iscouraging S"ort

A hadith Euotes +Ea%ah i%n A,mer as re"orting that the Pro"het allegedly said, BAll ty"es of
s"ort is for%idden for men e4ce"t archery, horse riding and "laying 6ith their 6i.es.B
CTirmidhi, I%n MaAa and A%u 1audD.

8. Anti@(eason

2hile 0od insists that 6e use our minds to thin?, some hadith falsely allege that humans can
ne.er thin?. BFundu% re"orted that the Messenger of 0od said, I2hoe.er inter"rets the <uran
using his o6n intellect, e.en if the inter"retation is correct, he is committing a grie.ous sin., B
CTirmidhi and A%u 1audD

Co*3)sio*

As the <uran says so .ery "recisely and accurately, many of the hadith contained in the si4
Iauthentic, %oo?s of hadith are nothing %ut B.ain tal? in order to di.ert others from the "ath of
0od 6ithout ?no6ledge, and to create a moc?ery of it.B

The hadithMsunna, therefore, can ne.er %e referred to as an infalli%le source of guidance, as the
<uran is. This is not to say that 6e ha.e to %urn all the hadith %oo?s. They are useful social and
historical records, reflecting "eo"le and e.ents of their times. /o6e.er, 6e cannot agree 6ith
the an4iety of the late Pa?istani scholar, Professor 'azlur (ahman, 6ho said that if 6e 6ere to
neglect the hadith, then the historical %asis for the e4istence of the <uranic teachings 6ould %e
destroyed. This argument has often %een re"eated and stressed %y the hadith "arty on %ehalf of
the hadith, %ut it really has no %asis. The historical "roofs for the <uran and for Pro"het
Muhammad 6ho %rought it to man?ind is the <uran itself, the e4istence of the Muslim
community throughout history and the e4istence of many historical records. The <uran,
6ithout the hadith, is not in the least affected. So is Pro"het Muhammad. +n the contrary, the
Pro"het 6ill emerge in a much %etter light 6ithout the fa%rications of many so@called
hadithMsunna that had %een attri%uted to him.

As historical records, the hadith is useful. /o6e.er, as historical records go, they cannot %e
fully acce"ted as true until they are criticized and e.aluated %y scientific, historical and di.ine,
i.e. <uranic, criticism.


CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION$
RETURN TO PROPHET &UHA&&AD'S
ORIGINAL TEACHING > THE 1URAN


:ou hall obey 1od and obey the "een/er and be#are. If you turn a#ay, then you
hould )no# that the sole function of our messenger is to deliver the message.
'+uran, A54G(

Say, <@ people, I am 1od' meen/er to all of you. &o Him belon/ the )in/dom of the
hea0en and the earth. &here i no 1od except He. He /rant life and death.<
&herefore, you hall belie0e in 1od and Hi meen/er, the /entile prophet, #ho
belie0e in 1od and His Words and follo# him, that you may be /uided.
'+uran, 756A8(

2hen Pro"het Muhammad died, he left 6ith us only the <uran and nothing %ut the <uran as a
guidance for Muslims and indeed for all man?ind. This has %een sho6n %y solid historical
e.idence. Moreo.er, the <uran "ronounced this fact as 6ell 6hen 0od stated se.eral times that
the function of the messenger 6as only to deli.er the message. :erse 97 of Sura 8 that 6e
Euote a%o.e is one of them. 2e also Euote :erse 18& of Sura 7 6hich states that Pro"het
Muhammad himself %elie.es in the di.ine 6ords, i.e. the <uran.

)e.ertheless, the "re.ious cha"ters ha.e sho6n ho6 Muslim society %et6een 799@789 years
after the death of the Pro"het, through their religious scholars C"articularly ShafiIiD %uilt a ne6
doctrine to the effect that the Pro"het has left them the <uran a*d the hadith and that they must
hold on to %oth.

)ot6ithstanding the conflicting .ersions of hadith that say other6ise, historical facts also "ro.e
%eyond any shado6 of dou%t that there 6ere no hadith collections e4isting at the time of the
Pro"het,s death. /istory also "ro.es that the early cali"hs "re.ented the dissemination or
recording of hadith. Al@Mu6atta, of Mali? i%n Anas Cd. 978D may %e said to %e the first hadith
collection, although, "ro"erly s"ea?ing, it 6as a la6@%oo? rather than a hadith collection. 2e
?no6 that the official collections 6ere made only after ShafiIi "ronounced the hadith to %e also
di.ine and a source of la6 on "ar 6ith the <uran.

2hether to go %ac? and refer to the <uran alone to sol.e our many "ressing "ro%lems today, or
to "ersist in our thousand@year old error of clinging to the unauthorized hadith and heresies
resulting out of it ; this is the greatest dilemma facing the Muslims today. Are 6e %ra.e
enough to admit our mista?e, retrace our ste"s and ma?e amendsK +r, shall 6e continue
arrogantly to cling to and defend traditions that 6e ha.e inherited from our forefathersK To let
oursel.es drift aimlessly in confusion, %ac?6ardness, degradation and disunity that ha.e
"lagued us all these thousand yearsK To %e di.ided not only among oursel.es, %ut, more
im"ortantly, di.ided 6ithin our o6n indi.idual sel.es a%out 6hat is right and 6hat is 6rong,
6hat is BreligiousB and 6hat is Bsecular,B 6ho is an BalimB and 6ho is not and the thousand
other conflicting teachings fed to us %y the hadithK 2hat a tremendous achie.ement indeed for
the hadithN

So 6hat are 6e to do no6K Is there any 6ay outK Is there no BSecond !omingsB for us, for
man?indK 3ut there is. -.erything that 6e need, the "rimordial element, lies in the <uran,
latent and merely 6aiting for us to reach out to it again. The clearest s"ring 6ith its "urest fount
of ?no6ledge still runs straight and true in the <uran, Aust as it has from the day it 6as first
re.ealed %y 0od Almighty in /is All@-ncom"assing Mercy for all man?ind.

As 6e contem"late the fate of the Muslims and agonize o.er traditions that many of us ha.e
come to lo.e and fear to reAect, let us %e reminded %y these .erses5

<$hen they are told, *!ollo# 1od' commandment only,' they ay, *$e follo# #hat #e
found our parent doin/.' $hat if their parent lac)ed undertandin/ and /uidanceE
&he example of uch dibelie0er i that of a parrot2 they repeat #hat they heard
#ithout undertandin/. >eaf, dumb and blind, they fail to undertand.<

So, 6e shall not %e deaf, dum% and %lind anymore. 2e shall not %e li?e "arrots and re"eat 6hat
others tell us 6ithout first Euestioning and understanding things. The ans6er to our dilemma,
therefore, lies in our going to the <uran for guidance.

<$hy do they not tudy the +uran carefullyE If it #ere from other than 1od, they #ould
ha0e found many contradiction therein.<

Such is the challenge 6ritten in the <uran. 2e are challenged to find e.en one contradiction
6ithin it. 1oes any other %oo?, re.ealed or not, ha.e any such statementK 1oes the hadith allo6
us to Euestion itself, or does one %ecome a heretic to do soK Is the hadith %eyond re"roach G
"erha"s it occu"ies a "lane higher than the a%o.e .erseK

Th+ T!)+ Positio* o, th+ Hadith?S)**a

As 6e ha.e e4"lained, our reAection of the hadithMsunna as an infalli%le source of guidance on
"ar 6ith the <uran in no 6ay means our reAection of Pro"het Muhammad. +n the contrary, this
reAection is "recisely to clear the name of the Pro"het from false teachings attri%uted to him
against his 6ill, in the same manner as the false teachings that Fesus is the Son of 0od has %een
attri%uted to Fesus %y later !hristians. *et us summarize our reasons for our reAection of the
hadithMsunna as an infalli%le source of guidance as follo6s5

C1D The <uran is com"lete, "erfect and detailed. It is the fundamental la6 and the %asic
guidance for man?ind co.ering e.ery as"ect of life. +ther %oo?s are merely e4"ositions either
for or against the grand ideas contained in the <uran.

C7D The sole mission of Pro"het Muhammad 6as to deli.er the di.ine message, the <uran. /e
6as, of course, also an e4em"lary leader and teacher, %ut these roles 6ere secondary.

CHD The hadith com"iled %y hadith scholars consist of re"orts of alleged sayings and actions of
the Pro"het and cannot %e a%solutely guaranteed as to their authenticity. Those hadith that
conform to the <uran are acce"ta%le, 6hile those that conflict 6ith it are automatically reAected.

CJD (eligious duties of regular "rayer, fasting, charities and the o"tional "ilgrimage 6ere not
deli.ered %y 6ay of hadith, %ut 6ere religious "ractices handed do6n through generations from
the time of Pro"het A%raham.

C8D 3esides %eing "ro"het and messenger of 0od, Muhammad 6as also a leader of the Medina
city@state and later the Ara% nation@state. In that role, he im"lemented the di.ine im"erati.es in
the conte4t of 7th century Ara%ia. It is im"ossi%le that he 6ould ha.e done anything contrary to
0od,s commands.

2e ha.e 6ith us records of the Medina !harter, the .arious letters sent %y the Pro"het to other
leaders and also the Pro"het,s treaties. If anything, these should %e the real hadith. 3ut
strangely, none of these treaties, constitutions etc. are made %inding on us or gi.en much
credence, e.en %y the hadith 6riters themsel.es. /o6e.er, it is only the <uran that is %inding
u"on us all, for all time. The status of the Medina !harter, for e4am"le, is the status of a legal
"recedent. It is not %inding on us %ecause in it the Pro"het a""lied <uranic "rinci"les of
administration to se.enth century Ara% tri%al society. +ur modern nation@state can study it and
learn 6hate.er lessons 6e can from it.

3ut the hadith can still %e read, Aust as 6e read other %oo?s5 religious, "hiloso"hical, historical
or any other ?ind. 2hate.er good teachings that can %e found in them ; and there are many
; 6e can and should follo6 them. 3ut those that are against historical facts, scientific facts,
reason, or the <uran, are o%.iously unacce"ta%le. This should %e "lain.


A R+)!!i*( #+a'*+ss o, &a*'i*d

/istory is a good teacher to man?ind as it %ears true testimony. So let us loo? at history. 0od
sent Pro"het Fesus to the children of Israel to %ring them the 0os"el and teach them to 6orshi"
the +ne 0od. /o6e.er, some three hundred years after his death, the religious leaders
instituted a ne6 doctrine not taught %y him that he 6as the Son of 0odN 3efore that, 0od send
Pro"het Moses to the same children of Israel 6ith /is scri"ture, the Torah. 3ut a fe6 centuries
after his death, their religious leaders set u" another %oo?, the Talmud, 6hich they follo6ed
6hile ignoring the Torah.

Ironically, after ?no6ing all these, the Muslims re"eated the same mista?es. 0od sent Pro"het
Muhammad G the last "ro"het G to man?ind 6ith /is final scri"ture, the grand <uran, to correct
once and for all the de.iations that had %een made %y the Fe6s and the !hristians. 3ut a%out
789 years after his death, our religious scholars set us the hadith to re"lace the <uranN Thus,
history re"eated itselfN

2hy did this ha""enK It does seem that this is man?ind,s "erennial disease5 the desire to
associate 0od 6ith gods. Peo"le set u" idols thin?ing that these idols 6ill %ring them closer to
0od. 3ut this is only an e4cuse. Actually, they set u" these idols %eside 0od %ecause they 6ant
an illegal share in 0od,s ?ingdom 6ithout ha.ing to 6or? for it, and 6ithout ha.ing to ans6er
for their crimes. Through these idols, they legalize their 6hims and fancies 6ithout "aying the
least regard to 0od,s la6s. This is 6hat 0od has e4"lained in the follo6ing .erses5

Additionally #e ha0e appointed for e0ery prophet enemie from amon/ the human de0il and
jinn de0il, #ho in0ent and narrate to each other fancy #ord in order to decei0e. Had your
;ord #illed, they #ould not ha0e done it. :ou hall dire/ard them and their in0ention. &hi i
1od' #ill in order that the mind of thoe #ho do not really belie0e in the Hereafter may liten
thereto, and accept it, and to ha0e them commit #hat they are uppoed to commit.


Th+ 1)!a*$ Th+ Fi*a3 So3)tio* to A33 D+.iatio*s

3efore Muhammad, it 6as not "ossi%le to "reser.e 0od,s re.elations to the .arious
communities of man?ind due to certain historical and intellectual circumstances of human
society. 2ith Muhammad, ho6e.er, the true scientific age of man?ind %egan. Thus, 0od
commissioned Muhammad to deli.er /is final scri"ture, the <uran, not Aust to a s"ecific
national community %ut to all man?ind. This scri"ture is not only com"lete, "erfect and
detailed, %ut also "rotected %y 0od against human corru"tion. The aim of this scri"ture is to
finally free man?ind from all manner of shac?les, %urdens and 6rong teachings as 6ell as to
lead man?ind along the Path of Peace to the *ight of 0od.

At the %eginning, i.e. during a "eriod of a%out three hundred years, the Muslim community
adhered to the teachings of the <uran. They scaled the heights of ci.ilization and "rogress so
ra"idly, sur"assing the t6o su"er"o6ers of 3yzantium and Persia then, that it astounded the
6orld. They created the greatest material, intellectual and s"iritual ci.ilization at that time. The
names of statesmen and administrators li?e cali"hs A%u 3a?r, +mar i%n #hatta%, Uthman i%n
Affan and Ali i%n A%i Tali% and others, military geniuses li?e #halid i%n 2alid and A%ul IAs,
%rilliant scientist li?e Al@3iruni, Al@#h6arizmi and Al@(azi, 6orld@class "hiloso"hers li?e Al@
#indi, Al@'ara%i and I%n Sina, and famous historians li?e Al@Ta%ari, Al@3aladhuri and Al@
Masudi are names that ma?e the first Muslim ci.ilization Austly famous. These are names
enshrined in the history of 6orld culture. It is this su"reme achie.ement of the first Muslim
ci.ilization that made the famous 3ritish science historian, 0. Sarton, remar?5

BThe main tas? of man?ind 6as accom"lished %y Muslims. The greatest "hiloso"her, Al@'ara%i, 6as a
Muslim, the greatest mathematicians, A%u #amil and I%rahim i%n Sinan, 6ere Muslims, the greatest
geogra"her and encyclo"aedist, Al@MasIudi, 6as a MuslimL the greatest historian, al@Ta%ari, 6as a
Muslim.B


&)s3ims D+.iatio*

The "rocess of change in Muslim %eliefs from the <uran to the hadith, or the <uran a*d hadith,
6ith the hadith at)a33y o.ershado6ing the <uran, did not occur 6ithin a short "eriod or
smoothly. It too? a "eriod of a%out four to fi.e centuries, %eginning from the second and lasting
in the si4th century of Islam. This 6as the "eriod of the "olitical infighting and the alignment
of the .arious "o6er@%locs among the inheritors of the Pro"het,s legacy.

Prior to the "olitical and ideological conflicts, caused %y nothing more than greed and "ride, the
Muslims had al6ays settled their issues %y referring to the <uranic teachings. Therefore, they
had remained united and strong. 0uided %y the <uran, they did not discriminate %et6een the
6ea? and the "o6erful, the fe6 and the many, and %et6een factions and tri%es. The <uran
"oints out the truth and the right course of action for them to follo6.

3ut the hadith allo6ed lee6ay for some grou"s to still i*sist on an inde"endent course of
action and attri%ute it to the Pro"het and to 0od. Therefore, it 6as in their .ested interests to
tout the hadith as a source of theology and la6. 3eside hel"ing the .arious factions to maintain
a s"ecific station, the hadith also introduces s"lits and di.erse o"inions that are al6ays a
necessary cost to gi.ing u" a unified %elief and 6orld@.ie6. Soon after this came the factional
fighting, the moral decay and the demise of the Muslim "re@eminence. That is 6hy the
+mniscient 0od, ?no6ing that this 6ould ha""en, in /is incredi%le mercy to the Muslims and
to man?ind, "ut this 6arning in /is <uran5

&he meen/er #ill ay, <"y ;ord, my people ha0e deerted thi +uran.< $e thu
appointed for e0ery prophet enemie from amon/ the criminal. 1od uffice a /uide
and protector.

2e should note that 0od ne.er said, and neither did the Pro"het, that some day the "eo"le
6ould desert the hadith. This is %ecause the hadith is not the 2ord of 0od and neither is it the
6ord of the Pro"het. The hadith are merely conAectures and o"inions of 3u?hari, Muslim, A%u
1aud, Tirmidhi, I%n MaAah, al@)asaIi and others 6ho too? it u"on themsel.es to record stories
a%out the Pro"het and then accord these stories the la%els of Iauthentic,, I6ea?,, etc. Since the
Pro"het had e4"licitly for%idden the 6riting do6n of the hadith Cas 6itnessed %y the hadith
itselfD, therefore the hadith contradicts the teachings of the Pro"het %y its .ery e4istence.
It is logical, therefore, that if our intention today is to honor and follo6 Pro"het Muhammad,
6e must return to his original and true teachings, i.e. the <uran, and cleanse his name of all the
heresies that ha.e %een falsely attached to him. 2e cannot a.oid this res"onsi%ility, although
some of us do not li?e it. The Pro"het himself told us that his mission 6as to deli.er the <uran,
and he himself follo6ed the <uran and nothing %ut the <uran.

The negati.e de.elo"ment that has occurred in Muslim society, as 6e ha.e stated a%o.e, is due
to the general human 6ea?ness of 6anting to idolize human %eings. In his history human
%eings ha.e idolized "ro"hets, saints, religious scholars and "riests, leaders, material 6ealth,
their o6n egos and, of course, lifeless idols. This mista?e has %een committed %y all religious
communities, not e4ce"ting the Muslims. The %est 6ay to a.oid and o.ercome this 6ea?ness is
to a""ly Islamic scientific criticism to all %eliefs, theories, "hiloso"hies and man@made systems
and to6ards all "u%lic figures, as 6e ha.e e4"lained in !ha"ter I. +nly in this 6ay can 6e
se"arate truth from falsehood and ma?e the truth u""ermost and falsehood lo6.

1ue to the regime of taqlid or %lind imitation, im"osed in the name of religion from a%out the
17th century until the end of the 19th century, the Muslims s6allo6ed the teachings of the so@
called I'our 0reat Imams,, e.en the 6holesale medie.al theology and Auris"rudence, in toto.
There 6ere many factors that ga.e rise to this %lind imitation regime of that "eriod and 6e
cannot discuss them here. )e.ertheless, it is im"ortant for us to realize that after nearly a
hundred years since the reo"ening of the door if ijtihad or critical thin?ing %y Muhammad
A%duh,s reform mo.ement, this taqlid regime is still 6ith us.

The confusion surrounding this tal? is a clear e.idence of the Muslims, ser.ile and
unEuestioning adherence to traditional religious authorities. If the Muslims, "articularly their
leaders and intelligentsia, had held fast to 0od,s command not to acce"t anything 6ithout
.erification, to listen to all .ie6s and follo6 the %est, and to a""ly Islamic scientific criticism
to6ards all im"ortant theological 6or?s as the intelligentsia of -uro"e had done, it is certain
this taqlid regime 6ould not ha.e lasted for se.en centuries. In my o"inion, the re@e.aluation of
the 6hole Islamic heritage is one of the %iggest tas?s that has to %e underta?en %y the Muslim
intelligentsia in the ne4t thirty years.


Th+ 1)!a* P!omis+s Sa3.atio* to &a*'i*d A(ai*

The <uran informs us that the monotheistic religion, named %y 0od as IIslam, Cmeaning I"eace,
or Isurrender,D, is taught %y all "ro"hets of 0od. It %egins from Adam, through Idris, )oah and
A%raham C6ho 6as gi.en the religious "ractices of "rayer, fasting, charity and "ilgrimageD, and
handed do6n to Moses, Fesus and ending 6ith Pro"het Muhammad, 6hen the di.ine teachings
to man?ind 6ere com"leted, "erfected and fore.er "rotected in /is final scri"ture, the 0rand
<uran. Although the religion is the same, the la6s introduced %y Muhammad are different from
those %rought %y Fesus and Moses. This is due to the different social conditions. 2hile at the
times of Moses and Fesus, human society 6as tri%al and still at a lo6er social e.olution, 6ith
Muhammad it 6as entering a "eriod of the international society and scientific@technological
era.

'or that reason, the most im"ortant feature of the ne6 la6s is the li%eration of man?ind from
all forms of su"erstitions and 6rong %eliefs. This li%erating feature of the la6 is stated thus in
the <uran5

...1od aid, <"y retribution afflict #home0er I #ill, and "y mercy encompae all thin/.
Ho#e0er, I hall dei/nate it for thoe #ho #or) ri/hteoune, /i0e to charity and belie0e in
@ur re0elation. Alo for thoe #ho follo# the meen/er, the 1entile prophet, #hom they find
#ritten in their &orah and 1opel. He exhorts them to wor! righteousness and refrain from
evil, and he permits for them the good things and prohibits the bad, and he unloads the
burden of their covenant and remove the chains that bind them. &hu, thoe #ho belie0e in
him, honor him and follo# the li/ht that #a ent do#n to him, they are the #inner.<

3y this message, 0od freed the Pro"het Muhammad and his follo6ers from the restrictions and
co.enants of the "ast. 2ith this ty"e of freedom thrust u"on them, together 6ith the
illuminating magnificence of the <uran to guide them, the Pro"het and his follo6ers 6ent on,
6ithin a .ery short s"ace of H99 years, to %uild a ci.ilization that is yet un"aralleled in terms of
the ra"idity of its ad.ancement and in terms of the Austice of its la6s.

At a time 6hen -uro"e 6as in the 1ar? Age, the Muslims founded an intellectual and material
ci.ilization that 6ould ser.e as the model and source of ?no6ledge for the rise of modern
-uro"e later. 3ut it 6ould %e a -uro"e that 6ould inherit the mantle from the Muslims. The
?no6ledge founded %y the Muslims 6as the s"ar? that 6ould ignite -uro"e. -uro"e 6ould
de.elo" further on this %orro6ed ?no6ledge and %uild u" a leadershi" in the intellectual arena
that "erha"s has not %een sur"assed till this day. The Muslims, on the other hand, settled into a
com"lacency that 6ould smother them until today and "erha"s for some time to come. The
Muslims ha.e ignored the source of their greatness and instead ha.e shac?led themsel.es 6ith
su"erstitious and silly ideas. The teachings of the <uran ha.e %een almost com"letely "ut
aside. Today, 6ith the hadith in their hands, the Muslims are still gro"ing in the dar?. They can
only e4aggerate and fall %ac? u"on the memory of a great "ast that no6 esca"es them.


Th+ T0i*-D+.iatio* o, th+ &od+!* #o!3d

/o6e.er, -uro"e has also faltered. After 6a?ing u" 6ith a .engeance from the suffocating
strangulation of the !hurch, #ant,s stirring e4hortation to B1are to ?no6B hel"ed to se.er the
!hurch from all I6orldly, affairs. There %egan the distinction %et6een the secular and the
s"iritual. 2estern ci.ilization has therefore cri""led itself. The com"lete se.ering of ties 6ith
0od o"ened a Pandora,s %o4 of ideologies and humanism that has %rought the 2est to the
"resent relati.istic ideologies and "hiloso"hies 6ith nothing "ermanent or true to hold on to.

2e can thus denigrate the 2est. 3ut 6hat a%out the MuslimsK 3et6een the tur%ans and the
modern suits and e.en the "ost@modern Islamists, the common denominator is the em"ty
rhetoric 6hich, 6ithout any material and intellectual %ac?ing to it, these Muslims are "erha"s
in a 6orse@off situation than the 2est. At least, the 2est has some tangi%le %enefits 6hich it
can call its o6n. *et us remind oursel.es again of the old 6arning5 <&he meen/er #ill ay,
*"y ;ord, my people ha0e deerted thi +uran.' <

)ot only the Muslims, %ut the !hristians, the Fe6s and e.eryone else ha.e yet to li.e u" to the
lofty moral and intellectual "osition that 0od has assigned to them. The Pro"het and the <uran
6ere sent as a %lessing and a guidance for all man?ind. 2hile the 2est has adorned itself 6ith
the material successes of its humanism, the Muslims ha.e cho?ed themsel.es 6ith the alleged
s"irituality of the hadith and their IMuslim fundamentalism., All of this is surely 6rong. 2e all
need to return to the <uran ; no6. Muslims es"ecially need to read the <uran ; Aust to read
it in any language of their choice if a translation e4ists in that language. )o6adays, the <uran
is a.aila%le in most 6orld languages. 2hat is im"ortant is to ma?e each of us communicate
directly 6ith the 6ritten 6ords of 0od /imself. )o matter ho6 many %oo?s of hadith 6e read,
it cannot com"are 6ith e.en one 6ord of the <uran. -.en if truly authentic, the hadith are only
the 6ords of a mortal human %eing. +n the other hand, e.en one 2ord of the <uran is still the
2ord of 0od.


H)ma*ity U3timat+3y H+ad+d To0a!ds Th+ 1)!a*

<&hi i the path of 1od, $ho poee e0erythin/ in the hea0en and the earth. &o
1od all matter ultimately return.<

So goes :erse 8H of Sura J7 of the <uran. Therefore, in the end, all of our affairs must return
to 0od. 3y returning to 0od 6e do not only mean the *ast 1ay and the 1ay of Fudgement.
-.en long %efore that, all our earthly affairs also ha.e to %e according to 0od,s 2ill.

This is sim"ly %ecause it is 0od 2ho created us, 2ho designed the earth and the uni.erse and
on the %asis of 2hose la6s 6e act out our li.es in this 6orld. Therefore, all our %eha.ior, in
order for it to reach a "ro"er le.el of efficiency and to %e of ma4imum %enefit to us, must %e
according to ho6 the Master@1esigner 6ants us to %eha.e. The detailed instructions on ho6 to
conduct oursel.es are e4"licitly 6ritten do6n in the <uran.

In fact, a closer affinity to6ards 0od is manifesting itself in many %ranches of science and
technology. Ta?e the design of automo%iles, for e4am"le. 1esign engineers are disco.ering that
a "articular, streamlined sha"e is %est for the cars to ha.e the least coefficient of resistance.
This is 6hy more and more cars no6adays are all %eginning to loo? ali?e, 6ith their similar
cur.es and rounded edges. 2ind resistance is due to air molecules, 6hich in turn is a function
of gra.ity that holds the air molecules do6n. It is 0od 6ho "rogrammed the force of gra.ity
into the earth.

1lorify the name of your ;ord, the "ot Hi/h. He created and perfected. He dei/ned and
/uided. He produce the pature. &hen He turn it into li/ht hay. $e hall recite for you, o do
not for/et. F0erythin/ i in accordance #ith 1od' $ill. He )no# #hat i declared and #hat i
hidden.

The same also a""lies in the realms of "hiloso"hy, religion, the social sciences and the arts.
There can only %e one o"timum form 6hich 6ill ma4imize the efficiency of all social %eha.ior
in human societies. U" till no6, human %eings ha.e %een struggling and are still struggling and
gro"ing in the dar? to find a solution and achie.e a sta%le form of conducting their li.es. Till
no6, e.erything has failed us. As 6e mentioned earlier, secular humanism, encom"assing
e.erything from li%eralism to Mar4ism, is colla"sing. All the holding on to rather man@made
religions Cincluding the current "ractices of !hristianity, Fudaism and IslamD ha.e all failed us.
So 6hat is going to re"lace this large ga" in human societyK

This t6entieth century human anguish has %een "oignantly e4"ressed %y the Irish "oet, 2illiam
3utler =eats5


Things fall a"artL the centre cannot holdL
Mere anarchy is loosed u"on the 6orld,
The %lood@dimmed tide is loosed, and e.ery6here
The ceremony of innocence is dro6nedL
The %est lac?s all con.iction, 6hile the 6orst
Are full of "assionate intensity.
Surely some re.elation is at handL
Surely the Second !oming is at hand.

Surely the Second !oming is at handN 3ut the second coming is none other than the return of a
3oo?, the <uran, the s"irit of 0od in 6ritten form, the Scri"ture that 6as for a %rief "eriod 6ith
the Muslims and then 6as reAected for more than a thousand years. The necessary "recursors
for the esta%lishment of the "hiloso"hy and the system of 0od are already %eing laid do6n.
1es"ite the agnosticism and the atheism of logical "ositi.ism or dialectical materialism, there
has al6ays %een a strong undercurrent of theism running through all of modern thin?ing. Man
is al6ays yearning for his real 0od.

In the last four to fi.e decades this theistic stream of thought is gaining momentum. A
"rofessor of "hiloso"hy has 6ritten5

The "hiloso"hy of nature is thus "art of the area of o.erla" %et6een science and "hiloso"hy as s"ecies
of ?no6ledge. Modern science has "rogressed %eyond the em"irical attitude and tends to %ecome
"hiloso"hical. Mean6hile modern "hiloso"hy has more and more %ecome allied to the sciences and our
foremost "hiloso"hers are eminent scientific figures. This is no ne6 situation in the history of
thought .... 3ut the mo.ement %egun at the (enaissance, in reaction against the theological tyranny of
the Middle Ages, to s"lit off the sciences as disci"lines inde"endent of "hiloso"hy, has no6 come full
circle, as science in the course of its o6n inde"endent in.estigations, has come to ado"t a "hiloso"hical
"osition 6hich is at the same time integral to the %ody of scientific theory ... Similarly, the 19th@century
conflict %et6een science and religion has "assed a6ay ... the e4istence of 0od is the a%solute and most
indis"ensa%le "resu""osition of science, and so far from there %eing an alienation of science from
religion in the modern era, there is and can only %e the closest rapprochement %et6een them if %oth
scientific and religious conce"ts are rightly inter"reted ...

The same thing is also ha""ening in Islam. 1es"ite the heresy of certain conce"ts li?e taqlid or
%lind imitation that ha.e %een dominant since the 17th century, there has al6ays %een a strong
anti@taqlid mo.ement that has manifested itself through the li?es of I%n (ush Cd. 119&D, I%n
#haldun Cd. 1J9$D and Shah 2aliyullah Cd. 17$7D. The anti@taqlid mo.ement o%tained its
strongest im"etus from the reform mo.ement of Muhammad A%duh to6ards the end of the
nineteenth century. It is most li?ely that 6ithin a short "eriod of a fe6 decades, the anti@taqlid
mo.ement in Islam and the theistic s"irit that is gro6ing in -uro"e 6ill unite and return to the
<uran in its entirety. This is a real "ossi%ility.

B(eturn to the <uranB ; this is the most fitting slogan for the "eo"le of Muhammad, %ecause it
is the <uran 6hich is the message that he %rought to man?ind, and %ecause it is the most
a""ro"riate res"onse to his famous com"laint in the <uran. 3ut, once again, a return to the
<uran does not mean that 6e destroy all the %oo?s of hadith and all the %oo?s of the religious
scholars, nor do 6e mean that 6e no longer need the religious scholars. It o*3y m+a*s that 0+
m)st !+,+! to th+ 1)!a* a3o*+ as i*,a33i43+ ()ida*+ ,o! o)! o*d)t8 As !+(a!ds oth+!
4oo's9 4+ th+y 4oo's o, hadith9 4oo's o, !+3i(io)s sho3a!s9 4oo's o, th+ &a!7ist shoo3 o!
o, th+ 3i4+!a3 shoo39 0+ sha33 )s+ o)! dis!imi*ati*( ,a)3ty +ith+! to a+"t o! !+:+t9
"a!tia33y o! tota33y9 th+i! i*t+!"!+tatio*s9 +7"3a*atio*s a*d !+omm+*datio*s i*
ao!da*+ 0ith th+ t+ahi*(s o, th+ 1)!a* a*d th+ *++ds o, mod+!* 3i,+8 +ur religious
scholars 6ho, all this 6hile, ha.e %een trained according to the medie.al method of rote
learning only in religious ?no6ledge, must master the im"ortant secular sciences, according to
the modern critical and historical method, to ena%le them to ha.e an integrated ?no6ledge of
the 6orld. The same thing a""lies to the secular intelligentsia5 they too must muster the
religious sciences. +nly such "eo"le can %e called ulama, or learned.

As 6e conclude this %oo?, 6e can say that Muslims ha.e three maAor tas?s that they must
underta?e. 'irstly, they must e.aluate critically e.erything that has %een inherited from their
Islamic tradition, in strict accordance 6ith the %idding of the <uran. Secondly, Muslims ha.e to
learn to acce"t things that are from outside their fold %ut 6hich %y themsel.es are inherently
good and therefore originate from 0od. Modern 2estern ci.ilization and the other -astern
ci.ilizations ha.e disco.ered many good things through much effort and "ain. 2e too can learn
from these ci.ilizations, if there is any good to %e learnt.

If Muslims can learn to do these t6o things, then they can go on to the third and final tas?. To
%uild the second Islamic ci.ilization that 6ill dou%tless %e far su"erior to the first %ecause it
6ill %e the com%ined efforts of all united humanity. All these three tas?s are inter@related. +ur
Muslim thin?ers must also see? to reach out to those intellectuals and thin?ers in other faiths
and cultures, for they also see? to do good in the 6orld. They must coo"erate 6ith the
follo6ers of other religions, those B6ho %elie.e in 0od and the *ast 1ay and do good,B in order
to carry out the maAor tas?s of humanity at the closing decade of the t6entieth century and in
the coming t6enty first.

There 6ill %e no Second !oming of !hrist and neither 6ill there %e any su"erhuman sa.ior to
sa.e the 6orld. +ur sal.ation lies in our o6n hands and through a""lying the teachings of the
<uran creati.ely and scientifically.

This is a tas? 6hich 6e must em%ar? u"on. There is no need at all to feel intimidated or o.er@
a6ed. 2e must ta?e courage, ins"iration and encouragement from 2ords of 0od /imself5

I ha0e made it a duty upon "yelf to /i0e 0ictory to the belie0er.

He i the @ne #ho ent Hi meen/er #ith the /uidance and the reli/ion of truth, to ma)e it
pre0ail o0er all reli/ion. 1od uffice a #itne.

Say, *&he truth ha come, and falehood 0anihed. Surely, falehood i detined to 0anih.'

1od ha decreed, *I and "y meen/er, #ill al#ay #in.' 1od i =o#erful, Almi/hty.

The Pro"het and his follo6ers 6ere "eo"le 6ho firmly %elie.ed in these di.ine "romises, held
on tight to the <uran, /is re.elations, and scaled the heights of success, as no human
community had done %efore. 'ollo6ing him and the early Muslim generations, 6e shall also
achie.e success, far greater than any human society had e.er achie.ed.

ADDENDU&

A SCIENTIFIC &ETHODOLOG%
FOR UNDERSTANDING THE 1URAN


<$hat did your ;ord ayE<
&hey #ill an#er, <&he truth.< '+uran, 3H5G3(

&he 9eneficent.
He teache the +uran. '+uran, AA56-G(

Some "eo"le argue that, e.en if 6e hold on to the <uran, 6e shall still %e faced 6ith the
"ro%lem of different inter"retations, and this in turn 6ill %ring a%out disunity. It is for "ur"oses
of ans6ering this Euestion that 6e include this cha"ter. The t6o .erses that 6e Euote a%o.e not
only tell us that the <uran contains the truthL they also tell us that in the final analysis it is 0od
2ho teaches us the <uran.

This to"ic itself can %e the su%Aect of a %ig .olume, %ut our intention is not an e4hausti.e study
from all angles. 2e are not discussing history and com"arati.e study of <uranic e4egeses,
history of the <uran, <uranic language, its relations 6ith "re.ious scri"tures and so on. 2e
shall only discuss the Euestion of a scientific methodology for understanding the <uran.

2hat 6e ha.e to a.oid is not differences of o"inion, %ut differences in aims. 2e can resol.e
differences in o"inion through discussions. 3ut differences in aims cannot %e settled in that
6ay, since %oth sides %egin from different %ases. Ta?e for e4am"le the difference %et6een a
colonial "o6er and a colonized "eo"le5 this contradiction can only %e resol.ed through "ressure
of the colonized "eo"le,s mo.ement against the colonial "o6er.
A C3+a! Boo'

There is no dou%t that there are differences in <uranic inter"retation. This is "ro.ed %y the
e4istence of many translations. /o6e.er, 0od tells us that the <uran is Iclear, and Ieasy.,
I!lear, here means Istraight,, Inot croo?ed,, Inot de.iating,. It also means Ieasy,, %ecause the
<uran has %een sent do6n as guidance for all, and not for any elite class of "eo"le. Still, since
the <uran co.ers all matters, including (esurrection, /ea.en, /ell, the creation of the uni.erse,
the creation of man?ind and the "ur"ose of creation G su%Aects 6hich are still %eyond human
com"rehension G it is not easy in a tri.ial sense.

It is due to the <uran,s clarity that no one can falsify it or ma?e it croo?ed. )or can anyone
else, e4ce"t 0od, in.ent it. It is in this sense that the teachings of the <uran cannot contradict
science and reason, for science and reason are nothing %ut manifestations of the la6s created %y
0od in nature, human society and the human "syche. Therefore, 0od has "roclaimed that there
is no discre"ancy %et6een the .erses of the <uran. It is on this %asis G the integrity and unity of
<uranic .erses G that if 6e hold on to the <uran 6e shall succeed.
T0o Ty"+s o, V+!s+s$ D+isi.+ a*d A33+(o!ia3

The <uran itself has gi.en us a %asic rule of inter"retation, contained in the follo6ing .erse5

He i the @ne $ho re0ealed to you thi cripture. @f it 0ere, ome are decii0e,
contitutin/ the eence of the cripture2 other are alle/orical. &hoe #ho harbor
doubt in their heart d#ell on the alle/orical 0ere, to create confuion and
mirepreentation. Co one )no# it interpretation except 1od and thoe #ell-
/rounded in )no#led/e...

The .erse tells us that the <uran has t6o ty"es of .erse5 those 6hose meanings are clear and
decisi.e, forming the %ases of <uranic teachings, called muh)amat, and those 6ith allegorical
meanings, called mutahabihat, 6hose inter"retation should not %e attem"ted %y the "eo"le %ut
should rather %e left to the e4"erts in the field.

*et us test this di.ision %y ta?ing one e4am"le of each ty"e of .erses. 3elo6 6e Euote fourteen
muh)amat .erses containing a list of fourteen commandments5

6. :ou hall not et up beide 1od any other /od, let you end up depied and
di/raced.

G. :our ;ord ha decreed that you hall not #orhip except Him, and your parent hall be
honored. !or a lon/ a they li0e, one of them or both of them, you hall not pea) harhly to
them, nor mitreat them2 you hall pea) to them amicably. And lo#er for them the #in/ of
humility and )indne, and ay, <"y ;ord, ha0e mercy on them, for they brou/ht me up from
infancy.< :our ;ord i fully a#are of your innermot thou/ht2 if you are ri/hteou, #hene0er
you turn to Him, you #ill find Him for/i0in/.

3. And you hall re/ard the relati0e, the needy, the poor and the alien equitably.

H. 9ut do not be extra0a/ant, for the extra0a/ant are brethren to the de0il, and the de0il i
unappreciati0e of hi ;ord.

A. If you ha0e to brea) up #ith any of them, in the caue of your ee)in/ your ;ord' mercy,
you hall continue to pea) to them amicably.

?. >o not )eep your hand tied to your nec), nor open it completely, in excei0e charity, let
you end up blamed and remoreful. :our ;ord increae the pro0iion for #homoe0er He
#ill, and #ithhold it. He i fully A#are of Hi creature, Do/nizant.

7. :ou hall not )ill your children for fear of po0erty2 $e pro0ide for them alon/ #ith you.
Indeed, )illin/ them i a /ro offene.

8. :ou hall not commit adultery, for it i a 0ice and a #ic)ed path.

4. :ou hall not )ill anyone, for life i made acred by 1od, except in the coure of jutice.
Anyone #ho i )illed unjutly, $e /i0e hi )in authority to a0en/e2 thu, he hall not a0en/e
excei0ely2 he #ill then be helped.

6I. :ou hall not touch the orphan' money, except for hi o#n /ood, until he /ro# up.

66. :ou hall fulfil your co0enant2 you are reponible for your co0enant.
6G. :ou hall /i0e full meaure #hen you trade, and #ei/h #ith an equitable balance. &hi i
better and more ri/hteou.

63. >o not accept anythin/ that you yourelf cannot acertain. :ou are /i0en the hearin/, the
eye and the mind in order to examine and 0erify.

6H. >o not #al) on earth proudly, for you can ne0er rend the earth, nor become a tall a the
mountain. All the e0il thin/ are dili)ed by your ;ord.

2e ha.e deli%erately gi.en an e4am"le of a long series of muh)amat .erses, %ecause they
contain fourteen command@ments that 6e need to carry out. If they are difficult to understand,
if their meanings are not clear, ho6 are 6e to carry them outK This e4am"le ser.es to
demonstrate to us the meaning of muh)amat or decisi.e .erses. Their meanings are clearL there
is no am%iguity 6hatsoe.er.

+n the other hand, the mutahabihat or allegorical .erses refer to a "henomenon that man?ind
does not yet ?no6, li?e (esurrection, /ea.en, /ell, or e.en the creation of man and the
uni.erse. +%ser.e the follo6ing .erses5

If you fail to do thi, and mot certainly you #ill fail, then be#are of hellfire #hoe fuel i
people and roc)2 it a#ait the dibelie0er. And /i0e /ood ne# to thoe #ho belie0e and #or)
ri/hteoune that they ha0e deer0ed /arden #ith flo#in/ tream. $hen /i0en a fruit
therein, they #ould ay, <&hi i #hat #a /i0en to u before.< &hey #ill be /i0en the ame
)ind. &hey #ill ha0e pure poue therein, and abide therein fore0er. &hu, 1od doe not hy
a#ay from any )ind of alle/ory, from do#n to a moquito and hi/her. &hoe #ho belie0e )no#
that it i the truth from their ;ord, #hile the dibelie0er #ould ay, <$hat did 1od mean by
uch an alle/oryE< He milead many thereby and /uide many thereby, but He ne0er milead
any except the #ic)ed.

The a%o.e .erses dra6 a "icture of /ea.en and /ell. They are allegorical, %ecause man does
not, and ne.er can, ?no6 the conditions in /ea.en or /ell until those conditions themsel.es
e4ist on the 1ay of Fudgement.

There are, of course, instances 6hen the allegorical .erses refer to something that, at the time
of the Pro"het, 6as not yet ?no6n, %ut 6ould later %e ?no6n through scientific and
technological disco.eries. The Miracle of !ode 19 is an e4am"le. )ote the follo6ing .erses5

I #ill commit him to retribution. $hat a retributionB &horou/h and compreheni0e. @b0iou to
all the people. "ver it is nineteen. $e appointed an/el to be /uardian of Hell, and $e
ai/ned their number to diturb the dibelie0er, to con0ince the Dhritian and the %e#, to
tren/then the faith of the faithful, to remo0e all trace of doubt from the heart of Dhritian
and %e# a #ell a the belie0er, and to expoe thoe #ho harbor doubt in their heart, and
the dibelie0er, for they #ill ay, <$hat did 1od mean by thi alle/oryE< 1od thu end
atray #home0er He #ill, and /uide #home0er He #ill. Cone )no# the oldier of your
;ord except He.

These .erses in the %eginning seem to indicate that the num%er 19 refers to the angels guarding
/ell, %ut later state that the num%er is allegorical, and finally deny that it refers to the guardian
angels of /ell.
There are .erses 6hich, at the time of their coming do6n, relate to future e.ents, and they are
"lain, straightfor6ard .erses, %elonging to the muh)amat category, although they are not
command .erses. +ne of them is 6ith regard to the s"litting of the atom, an e.ent mentioned in
the <uran more than 1,H99 years %efore it actually ha""ened. At the time 6hen the <uran 6as
%eing sent do6n, the 6orld ?ne6 the atom to %e the smallest "article. +nly to6ards the end of
19th the century did -uro"ean "hysicists disco.er that the atom can %e %ro?en into smaller
constituents.

The disco.ery of the remains of Merne"tah, the son of (amses II, the -gy"tian Pharaoh 6ho
6as dro6ned in the (ed Sea, is another e4am"le of a scientific disco.ery, not ?no6n at the
time of the Pro"het, %ut 6as foretold in the <uran.

The muh)amat .erses differ from the mutahabihat ones in their function. The function of the
first ty"e is to clarify di.ine commandments, to state a "rinci"le or a rule, or sim"ly to gi.e
information. 2e ha.e seen the a%o.e@Euoted 17577@H& .erses 6hich contains fourteen
commandments. *i?e6ise, the short "itchy Sura Al@I?hlas CSura 117D, also contain muh)amat
.erses that inform us of fi.e .ery im"ortant attri%utes of 0od.

+n the other hand, the mutahabihat .erses %ring to us information regarding the in.isi%le
6orlds through the language of allegories. 2e ha.e gi.en some e4am"les a%o.e. +ther
e4am"les of mutahabihat .erses are those referring to Man,s creation, the creation of the
Uni.erse and to the coming of 0og and Magog or Anti@!hrist to6ards the *ast 1ay. These are
not command .erses 6hich reEuire our o%edience to them. Therefore, the ordinary "eo"le need
not concern themsel.es 6ith their inter"retations. 2e are reEuired to %elie.e in them, %ut 6e
are to lea.e them to %e inter"reted %y 0od and those 6ho are e4"erts in the field.

2e use meta"hor or allegorical language in order to e4"lain something 6hich our listeners do
not ?no6 or ha.e no e4"erience of. 'or e4am"le, a father trying to im"ress u"on his t6o@year
%a%y not to touch or "lay 6ith fire. +r a teacher trying to e4"lain the Aoys of married life to his
students of fi.e or si4 years old. Such listeners ha.e not yet the ?no6ledge of these things, and
so 6e use allegorical language to ma?e them understand. =et, they 6ill later come to ?no6 of
these things. In the same 6ay, 0od uses meta"horical language to let us ?no6 /im, the 1ay of
(esurrection, /ea.en, /ell and other in.isi%le things. 2hen the time comes, 6e too shall ?no6
the 6orlds that are no6 incom"rehensi%le to us.

This %asic rule of inter"retation taught %y the <uran in order to understand its .erses "ro"erly
6ill ena%le us to a.oid the "itfalls of misinter"reting the mutahabihat .erses. There are other
rules, com"rising 6hat 6e may call a scientific methodology for understanding the <uran, that
6e need to follo6 to get a %etter understanding of the di.ine %oo?. An e4am"le of
misinter"retation can %e sho6n in the case of the famous .erse concerning the sources of la6,
.erse 89 of Sura J, although this is not a mutahabihat .erse. 2e shall come to this later.


A Si+*ti,i &+thodo3o(y o, I*t+!"!+tatio*

2hat do 6e mean %y this scientific methodologyK 2hate.er man 6ishes to do, from eating,
%athing, slee"ing and "laying to the understanding of his 0od, there is a method. This method
must of necessity %e scientific, %ecause only a scientific method can guarantee success. +n the
other hand, an unscientific method can only result in failure.

If 6e 6ish to study Plato,s "hiloso"hy, not only do 6e ha.e to read (e"u%lic and Sym"osium,
6e ha.e to read all his dialogues. 2e also ha.e to study the history of Athens around the time
of Plato, learn a%out other "hiloso"hers 6ho 6ere his contem"oraries and go through his
genealogy and character. +nly then can 6e gain a full and "ro"er understanding of Plato,s
"hiloso"hy. The same a""lies to the <uran.

/o6e.er, 6hen 6e come to the <uran, 6e are in a more fortunate "osition. Understanding the
<uran is, in fact, easier than understanding Plato. This is %ecause 0od,s re.elations are
consistent and not self@contradictory. 'urthermore, the <uran gi.es us a com"lete set of rules
for its o6n inter"retation. 2e shall list out the follo6ing nine "rinci"les of scientific <uranic
inter"retation5

1. T6o ty"es of .erses that must %e distinguished, 6hich esta%lish the "rinci"le of distinction
%et6een straightfor6ard and meta"horical language. C<uran, H57D
7. The "rinci"le of unity of the <uran,s contents, meaning that its .erses are not contradictory,
%ut in "erfect harmony. CJ5&7D
H. The congruence of <uranic teachings 6ith truth and logic, esta%lishing the "rinci"le of truth,
and its congruence 6ith science and right reason. CJ15J1@J7L J757JL 7H579@71L &57@&L 175&1L
195199D

J. The "rinci"le of self@e4"lanation, i.e. that <uranic .erses e4"lain one another. C8851@7L
7851&@19D

8. The "rinci"le of good intention, i.e. that the <uran cannot %e com"rehended %y anyone 6ho
a""roaches it 6ith %ad intention. CJ15JJL 8$577@79L 17@J8@J$D

$. The "rinci"le of to"ical conte4t, i.e. that the meaning of any .erse or .erses must %e
understood in the conte4t of the to"ic under discussion. C1758&L 8H5H@JL 8957D

7. The "rinci"le of historical conte4t, i.e. that .erses relating to a "articular historical condition
must %e inter"reted in the light of that condition. CJ578, 97L J5HD

&. The "rinci"le of easy "ractica%ility, i.e. that the teachings of the <uran are meant to facilitate
and not to render things difficult for man?ind. C7757&L 7957L 85$, 191@197L J57&D

9. The "rinci"le of distinction %et6een "rinci"le and methodology and "utting "rinci"le a%o.e
methodology. C775$7L 75$7@71D


P!oo, o, th+ T!)th o, This Si+*ti,i &+thodo3o(y

These are nine "rinci"les of scientific inter"retation gi.en either directly or indirectly in the
<uran. 2hen 6e use these "rinci"les to e.aluate e4isting translations, 6e shall disco.er se.eral
6ea?nesses. *et us e4amine a fe6 cases.
CaD (egarding Sources of *a6

The famous .erse sti"ulating the t6o sources of la6 reads as follo6s5

@ you #ho belie0e, you hall obey 1od and you hall obey the meen/er and thoe in
char/e amon/ you. If you dipute in any matter, you hall refer it to 1od and the
meen/er, if you belie0e in 1od and the ;at >ay.

At first glance, it 6ould seem that the .erse sti"ulates three sources of la65 0od, the
messenger, and any secular authority. 3ut, u"on closer reading, and in reference 6ith other
.erses regarding o%edience G 6here o%edience to the messenger means o%edience to 0od G and
regarding the function of the messenger solely to deli.er the message, it %ecomes a%solutely
clear that the .erse refers to t0o sources of la6. The "rimary source is, of course, 0od, 2ho is
the A%solute So.ereign. /is *a6 is the fundamental la6 for man?ind. +%eying 0od and the
messenger means o%eying 0od, %ecause the messenger, %eing 0od,s instrument, cannot %e
se"arated from /im in this case. Therefore, o%eying 0od and the messenger means u"holding
/is 3oo?, the <uran, as the fundamental la6.

The secondary source of la6 is the recognized or duly constituted human authority in any
social unit, from the family right u" to the nation. This source, ho6e.er, is not inde"endentL it
deri.es its authority from the *a6gi.er 0od and acts only in consonance 6ith /is *a6. Thus,
the secondary source can only dra6 u" su""lementary la6s to im"lement the fundamental la6.
It can in no 6ay "romulgate la6s contradicting the fundamental la6. If it does, then such la6s
%ecome null and .oid.
)o6 almost all translations of the <uran inter"ret o%edience to 0od to mean u"holding the
<uran, and o%edience to the messenger to mean u"holding the so@called hadithMsunna of
Pro"het Muhammad. Although such an inter"retation flies in the face of incontro.erti%le
<uranic e.idence, it is claimed that it is %ased on an Iauthentic, hadith.

C%D (egarding Man,s A%ility To #no6

The .erse informing us of the t6o ty"es of <uranic .erses that 6e discussed a%o.e ha.e %een
translated in t6o 6ays. More translators thin? that no one ?no6s the inter"retation of the
mutahabihat e4ce"t 0od, 6hile others thin? that a class of "eo"le, the e4"erts, can ha.e such
?no6ledge %y 0od,s lea.e.

3asing oneself on the <uranic "remise that the 6hole <uran 6as meant %y 0od as a guidance
for man?ind, it is not logical to say that any of its .erses are %eyond human com"rehension.
Moreo.er, .erses H9@HJ of Sura 7 tell us that 0od has endo6ed man 6ith the a%ility to ?no6 all
of /is creations, a%o.e the ?no6ledge e.en of /is angels. It is, therefore, conclusi.ely "ro.ed
that the second minority grou" of translators are correct in this case.

CcD (egarding the 1eath of Fesus !hrist

This is one of the good e4am"les of the classical Auris"rudential doctrine that the hadith
inter"rets the <uran. The <uran is Euite clear a%out the death of Fesus !hrist, although it denies
that he 6as ?illed on the !ross, as his enemies alleged. It states the fact on fi.e occasions,
either directly or indirectly. *et us see the .erse 6here the misinter"retation is made.

&hu, 1od aid, <@ %eu, I am terminatin/ your life on earth, raiin/ you to me and
riddin/ you of the dibelie0er. I hall raie thoe #ho follo# you abo0e thoe #ho
dibelie0e from no# until the >ay of Reurrection. &o "e i your ultimate return. &hen
I hall jud/e amon/ you re/ardin/ e0erythin/ you diputed.<

)ote the t6o ?ey "hrases used in this5 Ito terminate your life, 'muta#affi)a( and Ito raise you,
'rafi*u)a(. There is no am%iguity 6hatsoe.er. 'irst, 0od too? Fesus, lifeL then /e raised his soul
as /e does to all human souls 6hen the %ody dies.

The a%o.e translation is (ashad #halifa,s. *et us loo? at the "o"ular Marmadu?e Pic?thall,s5

'And remember( #hen Allah aid5 <@ %euB ;oB I am /atherin/ thee and cauin/ thee
to acend to me, and am cleanin/ thee of thoe #ho dibelie0e ...B

The "hrase II am gathering thee, is am%iguous and is a mistranslation. 2hyK The ans6er lies in
the hadith that s"ea?s not of Fesus,s death %ut of his ascension and his Second !oming in the
*atter 1ays and the desire of many translators to %end the 6ords of 0od to conform to the
hadithN Thus, the doctrine that the hadith inter"rets the <uran is here falsified.

So far, 6e ha.e tal?ed only of the translation of the rele.ant .erse as against its te4t. 2hen 6e
a""ly the "rinci"le of internal consistency of <uranic te4t, it %ecomes o.er@6helmingly clear
that this .erse cannot mean other than 6hat it says, that is that Fesus died, though not on the
!ross, as claimed %y his "ersecutors 6ho 6anted to ?ill him.

CdD (egarding the Idolization of Muhammad

Muslims throughout the 6orld 6ill deny .ehemently that they ha.e idolized Muhammad, Aust
as the !hristians had Fesus and other religious communities had their leaders. 3ut it is highly
enlightening to loo? closely at the <uranic .erse that has %een used to "romote this idolization.
It goes as follo6s5

1od and Hi an/el honor the prophet. @ you #ho belie0e, you hall honor him and
re/ard him a he hould be re/arded.

+n the %asis of this .erse, Muslims 6ould call for the %lessings of 0od on him e.ery time his
name is mentioned. Strangely, the mention of 0od,s name does not e.o?e the same res"onse
from themN /o6e.er, a careful reading the <uran 6ould immediately tell us not to do so.
'irstly, a fe6 .erses %efore the a%o.e@Euoted .erse C.erse JHD, 6e are told that 0od and /is
angels honor the %elie.ers to lead them out of dar?ness into light Cthe same Ara%ic root 6ord
alla is usedD. This means that 0od "uts the %elie.ers and the "ro"het on the same le.el,
deser.ing of 0od,s and /is angels, honor. /o6 is that this .erse has not %een %rought out
together 6ith the other .erse so that the Muslims 6ould ha.e a "ro"er understanding of Pro"het
Muhammad,s statusK

Secondly, Muslims should ?no6 that 0od "rohi%its them from discriminating /is "ro"hets and
messengers. They are all on the same le.el and 6e are not to ele.ate any of them a%o.e the
others.
CeD (egarding Touching the <uran 2ithout A%lution

The %elief the <uran cannot %e touched "rior to ta?ing a%lution is %ased on a misunderstanding
of the follo6ing .erse5

&hi i an honorable +uran. In a perfectly preer0ed boo). Cone can /rap it except
the ri/hteou.

A literal translation of the .erse in Euestion 6ould gi.e us5 B)one can to)h it e4ce"t the
3+a*.B 2hen these .erses are com"ared to others regarding the understanding of the <uran, it
%ecomes clear that the 6ord Itouch, means Igras", or Iunderstand, and the 6ord Iclean, means
I"ure,, Irighteous, or I%elie.er,, so that the .erse can %e "ara"hrased thus5 B)one can achie.e an
understanding of the contents of the <uran, e4ce"t those 6ho %elie.e in it and stri.e sincerely
to understand it.B

Such a translation is much more logical, for if it 6ere a matter of touching, the dis%elie.ers
ha.e %een touching and reading it too, for centuriesN 2hat they did not do is understand its
message.

CfD (egarding *oss of A%lution Through Touching 2omen

The ShafiIi school of thought holds that touching 6omen of the marriagea%le categories results
in loss of a%lution. This erroneous %elief is %ased on a misinter"retation of the Ara%ic 6ord
lamatum 6hose literal meaning is Iyou touch, in .erse JH of Sura J. In fact, it is an idiom
meaning Iyou ha.e se4ual intercourse,. This is "ro.ed %y a reference to Sura H, .erse J7 6hich
s"ea?s of Mary, the mother of Fesus, Inot %eing touched, %y man, using the same root 6ord
maa. /ere, again, 6e arri.e at a correct understanding %y using the "rinci"les of logic,
internal consistency and easy "ractica%ility mentioned a%o.e.
&+thodo3o(y o, C3assia3 @)!is"!)d+*+

Studying the <uran 6ithout a scientific methodology definitely gi.es rise to many "ro%lems.
+rthodo4 translation uses the methodology of classical Auris"rudence 6hich is %ased on the
teachings of Imam ShafiIi Cd. &79 /iAraD. According to him, the four sources of Islamic la6
are 5 <uran, /adithMSunna, Ijma' or consensus of scholars and +iya or analogy. This
methodology "laces the hadith as inter"reter of the <uran, in contradiction to the <uranic
"rinci"le of self@e4"lanation CPrinci"le JD. +n the to" of that, according the ijma' "rinci"le of
classical Auris"rudence, it is ijma' that determines the authenticity of hadith as 6ell as the
correctness or 6rongness of <uranic inter"retation.

It is due to this unscientific methodology of classical Auris"rudence that the inter"retation of
many <uranic .erses has %een rendered su%Aecti.e, ar%itrary and contradictory. 2e ha.e seen
ho6 the famous .erse J589 on legal authority has %een misinter"reted %y this methodology to
mean that Pro"het Muhammad %rought t6o %oo?s, namely <uran and hadith. 2e ha.e also
sho6n other misinter"retations. 2e can add to these e4am"les.

The "rinci"le of to"ical conte4t CPrinci"le )o. $D is such an elementary "rinci"le in any
understanding of any te4t that one 6onders ho6 any educated "erson can ma?e an error on this
"oint. =et the error has %een made regarding at least t6o crucial .erses on the issue of the role
of the Pro"het. *et us loo? at the .erses5

&he poil of #ar that 1od beto#ed upon Hi meen/er from the banihed
inhabitant of the to#n hall /o to 1od and the meen/er in the form of charity to the
relati0e, the needy and the alien. In thi #ay, it #ill not be monopolized by the rich
amon/ you. $hate0er the meen/er /i0e you, you hall accept, and #hate0er he
forbid you, you hall for/o.

9y the fallin/ tarB :our friend i neither atray, nor a liar. He doe not pea) on hi
o#n. &hi i a di0ine inpiration. A teachin/ from a "i/hty @ne. &he =oeor of
omnipotence. So he attained to perfection.

As can %e seen, the first "assage s"ea?s of the di.ision of the s"oils of 6ar. 0od ordered the
Muslims to acce"t 6hate.er the Pro"het ga.e them and to desist from ta?ing 6hate.er /e
for%ade them. /o6e.er, the Ahlul-Hadith ha.e inter"reted it to refer to hadithN 2hat a far cryN

The Ahlul-Hadith inter"ret the statement B/e does not s"ea? on his o6nB in the second "assage
to mean that all the Pro"het,s 6ords and actions are eEually ins"ired, di.ine re.elation not
%eing confined to the <uran alone. This inter@"retation is o%.iously a mista?e, %ecause the
"assage clearly s"ea?s of the "rocess of <uranic re.elation to the Pro"het. Moreo.er,
Muhammad, %eing a human %eing li?e the rest of his follo6ers, 6ere su%Aect to the same
human 6ea?nesses. It 6as only 6hen he 6as recei.ing and reciting the re.elation that B/e does
not s"ea? on his o6n.B


Th+ A4!o(atio* Th+o!y

The "rinci"le of <uranic unity CPrinci"le )o. 7D, stating that no <uranic .erse contradicts
another, is a .ery im"ortant "rinci"le in our scientific methodology. This "rinci"le is found in
the follo6ing .erse5

$hy do they not tudy the +uran carefullyE If it #ere from other than 1od, they #ould
ha0e found many contradiction in it.

Since the <uran is a "erfect di.ine re.elation, it is logical that 6e do not find any
contradictions in its teachings. Although 6e ?no6 from history that a "eriod of t6enty@three
years lay %et6een the first and the last re.elations, the entire teachings of the <uran remain
integral and harmonious. If the <uran 6ere a human com"osition, 6e shall no dou%t find many
a contradiction in its "arts, since human %eings change.

/o6e.er, human thin?ing is su%Aect to the la6s of e.olutionL it is to %e e4"ected that many
students of the <uran, including famous translators, see Icontradictions, in its teachings. 1ue to
their failure to sol.e these Icontradictions, in a logical 6ay, some of them came to erect this so@
called theory of a%rogation, meaning that some .erses of the <uran ha.e %een a%rogated %y
some other .erses. They %ase this theory on the follo6ing .erse5

Any mea/e #hich $e annul or coni/n to obli0ion $e replace #ith a better or
imilar one. >o you not )no# that 1od ha the po#er to #ill anythin/E

The Ara%ic 6ord ayat is used here to mean Imessage, or Ire.elation,. This is clear from the
conte4t. Some translators ha.e mistranslated it as I.erse,, thus gi.ing rise to this a%rogation
theory. The to"ic under discussion, ho6e.er, is a%out the un%elie.ers from among the Fe6s and
the !hristians as 6ell as the idol 6orshi""ers 6ho did not li?e the idea of a ne6 message %eing
gi.en to the Ara%s. This meaning of the .erse is su""orted %y .erse 1$5191 6hich reads5
$hen $e ubtitute one re0elation in place of another, and 1od i fully a#are of #hat He
re0eal, they ay, <:ou made it upB< Indeed, mot of them do not )no#.

2hen 6e ta?e into consideration the .erses 6hich reAect totally the a%rogation of any of its
"arts, this theory colla"ses.

Ta?e an e4am"le of a .erse alleged to ha.e %een a%rogated, according to this theory. :erse $ of
Sura 199 on the freedom of religious "ractice, re.ealed in Mecca, is said to ha.e %een
a%rogated %y .erse 8 of Sura 9, re.ealed later in Medina, ordering Muslims to ?ill un%elie.ers.
/o6e.er, this .ie6 is falsified on our "rinci"le of historical conte4t CPrinci"le )o. 7D. The
historical conte4t of the .erse in Euestion 6as a 6ar situation %et6een the Muslims and the
idolatrous tri%es of Ara%ia. /ence the order to ?ill those enemies 6ho %ro?e their treaties 6ith
the Muslims. Thus, there is no contradiction %et6een this order and the fundamental "olicy of
the freedom of religion "roclaimed %y Islam.


Histo!ia3 Co*t+7t

The "rinci"le of historical conte4t is another im"ortant "rinci"le of <uranic inter"retation,
6hich, if neglected, 6ould render the <uran to %e an o%solete teaching. This can %e sho6n in
matters relating to sla.es, status of 6omen, la6 of inheritance and "enal la6.

A careful study of the <uran 6ould re.eal that its contents consist of t6o ty"es of statements5
the uni.ersal and the "articular. The uni.ersal statements refer to a%solute truths, 6hile the
"articular statements refer to relati.e truths that are limited to certain concrete situations. Ta?e
the e4am"le of the conce"t of 0od itself5 one the one hand, the <uran mentions I*ord of the
Uni.erse,, and Ithe 0od of man?ind, Cthe uni.ersal conce"tDL on the other, it mentions Imy
*ord,, Iyour *ord,, or Ithe 0od of Moses, or Ithe 0od of your fathers A%raham, Ishmael and
Isaac, Cthe "articular conce"tD.

The same a""lies to other matters. Man?ind is one and eEual as creatures of 0od, %ut from a
historical "oint of .ie6, there e4isted sla.e communities o""ressed %y free "o6erful
communitiesL there e4isted communities 6here the 6omen 6ere o""ressed %y the men 6ith
la6s that 6ere not eEuita%le to 6omen, and there e4isted harsh "enal la6s. All these
ineEualities can %e e4"lained %y a recourse to historical circumstances and a historical "rocess
6hich de.elo"ed from a "rimiti.e human society to conditions of ci.ilization, eliminating
sla.ery, gi.ing eEual status to 6omen and "racticing humane "enal la6s.

The <uran ac?no6ledges the e4istence of sla.es in the Ara%ia of the time the Pro"het arose,
%ut ad.ocates their freedom. The <uran ac?no6ledges the lo6 status of 6omen at the time
6hen the Pro"het arose, %ut it esta%lishes the eEuality of men and 6omen and ad.ocates ste"s
to6ards achie.ing that. The <uran ac?no6ledges the harsh la6s that 6ere in e4istence in the
Ara%ian Peninsula at the time of Pro"het Muhammad, Aust as they e4isted in other countries,
%ut o"ens the 6ay for lighter and more humane "unishments.

In the matter of inheritance la6s, the t6o "ortions gi.en to men is a rule sti"ulated in the light
of historical conditions. These historical conditions refer the times and "laces 6hen and 6here
men assume the role of %read@6inners, thus deser.ing of t6o "ortions5 one for the family and
one for himself. 3ut 6hen this condition changes and 6omen %ecome eEual and assume an
eEual role for the family, the rule also changes, as "ro.ided for %y this general rule5
&he men /et a hare of #hat parent and relati0e lea0e. &he #omen too hall /et a hare of
#hat parent and relati0e lea0e. $hether it i mall or lar/e, a definite hare.


A P!atia3 #ay o, Li,+

0od has made the religion of Islam easy for man?ind to "ractice CPrinci"le )o. &D, %ecause
0od, %eing Merciful to /is creatures, does not 6ant to o.er%urden men. This is another
"rinci"le that 6e must remem%er 6hen inter"reting the <uran. 2e can gi.e many e4am"les.
/ere 6e cite three.

'irst5 the "rohi%ition against liEuor or into4icants. This "rohi%ition is gi.en in three stages.
1uring the first stage, 0od says that liEuor contains more harm than good, %ut sto"s short from
"rohi%iting it. 1uring the second stage, 0od "rohi%its us from "raying 6hile in a state of
drun?enness, yet not "rohi%iting liEuor totally. The final stage comes 6hen 0od "rohi%its
liEuor totally.

It 6ould %e 6rong for us to say that .erses 8599@91 6hich %ring the total %an against liEuor
ha.e a%rogated .erses 75719 and J5JH. Such an inter"retation sho6s that 6e fail to ta?e into
consideration this "rinci"le of easy "ractica%ility. This "rinci"le teaches us this 6ise strategy
6hen 6e con.ert idolaters 6ho normally are hea.y drin?ers to Islam. This does not mean, of
course, that those 6ho can gi.e u" liEuor at once, cannot do so. 3ut, generally, most "eo"le do
not "ossess such strong 6ill "o6er to accom"lish that. Most "eo"le need timeL hence this
fle4i%ility is gi.en %y 0od to them.

The second e4am"le is the method of regular "rayer. In e4traordinary circumstance, 6e are
allo6ed to "erform "rayers in any manner suiting the circumstances 6e are in5 as 6e 6al? or as
6e tra.el in any ty"e of .ehicle, or 6hile sitting or lying do6n, if 6e are "re.ented from
standing. +nly under normal circumstances are 6e reEuired to "erform these "rayers in the
usual 6ay.

The last e4am"le is the allo6ance for the sus"ension of ordinary la6s under circumstances of
e4treme danger. +rdinarily, "or? is "rohi%ited, %ut in circumstances 6hen "or? is the only food
a.aila%le to ?ee" oneself from star.ing, its eating %ecomes "ermissi%le. -.en out6ardly
committing dis%elief under com"ulsion is allo6ed.


P!i*i"3+ Is &o!+ Im"o!ta*t Tha* Fo!m

2hat is meant %y the difference %et6een "rinci"le and form CPrinci"le )o. 9D has %een
e4"lained a%o.e in the case of "enal la6s. The form of "unishment may .ary according to time
and "lace, %ut the "rinci"le of "unishment occurs uni.ersally. That a""lies to other matters as
6ell.

There is a story in the <uran a%out the Fe6s %eing as?ed %y 0od to ma?e a sacrifice. They 6ere
reluctant to do it and as?ed Moses all ty"es of Euestions a%out the size, age and color of the
co6 to %e sacrificed in order to e.ade it. This story teaches us that form is less im"ortant than
the "rinci"le. Are 6e "re"ared to ma?e sacrifices in the 6ay of 0odK If 6e are, only that
mattersL ho6 6e do it should de"end on our ca"a%ility and our situation.

The same a""lies to "rayer. The "ur"ose of "rayer is to 6orshi" 0od, to "raise and to
su""licate /im for man,s o6n self@de.elo"ment. Although the alat "rayer has its definite
form, in the end this form is not im"ortant, as this .erse tells us5

!or e0ery community $e ha0e etablihed it o#n de0otional practice. &herefore, do
not let yourelf be dra//ed into ar/ument about thee, but continue to in0ite to your
;ord. "ot auredly, you are on the ri/ht path.

2hat 6e ha.e e4"lained a%o.e regarding the "rinci"les of historical conte4t and the su"remacy
of "rinci"le o.er form also conforms to the "rinci"le of truth and logic CPrinci"le )o. HD, a .ery
im"ortant "rinci"le in this scientific methodology. This is %ecause the <uran is the 2ord of
0od and contains the Truth, as the .erse 6e Euoted at the %eginning of this cha"ter sho6s. It is
a %oo? of guidance for man?ind designed to ta?e them out from the realm of dar?ness into the
realm of light, from falsehood into truth, from inAustice into Austice and from sla.ery into
freedom.

!an such a grand %oo? not encourage to free the sla.es, not gi.e eEual status to 6omen, not
ad.ocate Aust and humane la6s, not ad.ocate fundamental human rights, not ad.ocate science
and technology and scientific, rational and logical thin?ing for man,s ad.ancementK
Im"ossi%leN +nly those 6ho are narro6@minded, 6ho cannot com"rehend that 0od is the Most
3eneficent and the Most Merciful 6ho 6ould thin? other6ise. +ur scientific methodology
must su%sume these "rinci"les.

Although e4isting translations of the <uran, es"ecially those in the Malay language, suffer
from certain 6ea?nesses, it is far %etter that our "eo"le read and study the <uran in these
translations rather adhering to the old customs of Ireading, the %oo? in Ara%ic 6ithout
understanding. 3y reading the translation, they 6ill ha.e direct access to the source of their
religion. This is a thousand times %etter than Aust de"ending on middle men to teach their
religion for them.


BIBLIOGRAPH% AND LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS


The follo6ing %i%liogra"hy contains only 6or?s 6hich ha.e %een Euoted in this %oo? and does not aim
at %eing com"lete. As to Euotations from the <uran, I ha.e used mainly 1r. (ashad #halifa,s
translation C19&1 editionD, %ut I ha.e also used T. 3. Ir.ing, A. =usuf Ali, Maulana Muhammad Ali,
Marmadu?e Pic?thall and Muhammad Asad as 6ell. A%%re.iations are in %rac?ets.



Adams, !harles !., BThe Authority of the Pro"hetic /adith in the -yes of Some Modern
Muslims,B in 1onald P. *ittle C-d.D, -ssays on Islamic !i.ilization, -.F. 3rill, *eiden, 197$.
CThe AuthorityD

Ahmad Amin, 'aAar Islam Ctrans. Mohd. Marzu?i /A. ShafieD, 1e6an 3ahasa dan Pusta?a,
#uala *um"ur, 19&9. C'aAar IslamD

Ahmad I%rahim, Islamic *a6 in Malaya, Malaysian Sociological (esearch Institute, Singa"ore,
19$8. CIslamic *a6 7D

Ahmad :on 1enffer, IUlum al@<uran, The Islamic 'oundation, *ondon, 19&H. CUlum al@
<uranD

3riffault, (., The Ma?ing of /umanity, Islamic 3oo? 'oundation, *ondon 197&. C/umanityD

!oulson, ).F., A /istory of Islamic *a6, -din%urgh Uni.ersity Press, -din%urgh, 19$J.
CIslamic *a6 HD

'azlur (ahman, Islam, 2eidenfeld and )icolson, *ondon, 19$$. CIslamD

SSSSSSSSSS, Islamic Methodology in /istory, !entral Institute of Islamic (esearch, #arachi,
19$8. CIslamic MethodologyD

0oldziher, Ignas, Muslim Studies, .ol. II, 0eorge Allen and Un6in, *ondon, 1971. CMuslim
StudiesD

/aAi Said /aAi I%rahim, Penola?an Terhada" Penilaian Semula /adith, Media /asda, #uala
*um"ur, 19&7. CPenola?anD

/arris, -rrol -., )ature, Mind and Modern Science, 0eorge Allen T Un6in, *ondon, 198J.
CModern ScienceD

/i%%ert, !hristo"her, The (oots of -.il, Penguin 3oo?s, /armonds6orth, Middlese4, 19$$.
C(oots of -.ilD

/itti, Phili" #., /istory of the Ara%s, 19th edition, Macmillan Press *td., *ondon, 197J.
CAra%sD

/A. Ismail %in /A. =usoff et.al., Salah 'aham Terhada" /adith5 Satu PenAelasan, MaAlis Ugama
#elantan, #ota 3aharu, 19&$. CSalah 'ahamD

I%n IshaE, The *ife of Muhammad Ctrans. A. 0uillaumeD, +4ford Uni.ersity Press, *ondon,
1988. C*ifeD

Fuyn%oll, 0./.A., The Authenticity of the Traditional *iterature, -.F.3rill, *eiden, 19$9.
CAuthenticityD

SSSSSSSSSS, Muslim Tradition, !am%ridge Uni.ersity Press, *ondon, 19&H. CMuslim
TraditionD

#assim Ahmad, /adis ; Satu Penilaian Semula, Media Intele?, Petaling Faya, 19&$. C/adisD

SSSSSSSSSS, Teori Sosial Moden Islam, Pener%it 'aAar 3a?ti, Petaling Faya, 19&J. CTeori
SosialD


*a(ouche, *yndon /., The Science of !hristian -conomy, -I(, 2ashington, 1.!., 1991.
C!hristian -conomyD

Mahmud Saedon A. +thman, Al@Sunnah5 #edudu?an dan Peranannya di dalam Syariah Islam,
1e6an 3ahasa dan Pusta?a, #uala *um"ur, 1999. CAl@SunnahD

MaAid #hadduri Ctrans.D, Islamic Furis"rudence5 ShafiIi ,s (isala, Fohns /o"?ins Press,
3altimore, 19$1. CShafiIi ,s (isalaD

Mali? i%n Anas, Al@Mu6atta Ctrans. Aisha A%darrahman dan =a,Eu% FohnsonD, 1i6an Press,
)or6ich, -ngland, 19&7. CAl@Mu6attaD

Mish?at@ul@Masa%ih Ctrans. 'azlul #arimD, .ol. I@I:, *ahore 3oo? /ouse, !alcutta, 19H&.
CMish?atD

Mohamed S. -l@A6a, Punishment in Islamic *a6, American Trust Pu%lications, Indiana"olis,
19&7. CPunishmentD

Mohammad Mustafa Azami, Studies in -arly /adith *iterature, 3eirut, 19$&. C-arly /adithD

SSSSSSSSSS, Studies in /adith Methodology and *iterature, American Trust Pu%lications,
Indiana"olis, 1977. C/adith MethodologyD

Mohammad Thali%, Se?itar #riti? Terhada" /adis dan Sunnah Se%agai 1asar Ilmu /u?um,
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Mohd. )or %in )gah, BIslamic 2orld@.ie6 of Man, Society and )ature among the Malays in
MalaysiaB in Mohd. Tai% +sman C-d.D, Malaysian 2orld@.ie6, Institute of Southeast Asian
Studies, #uala *um"ur, 19&8. C2orld@.ie6 of MalaysD
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C19th -ditionD. CSahifah /ammamD

Muhammad /usain /ae?al, SeAarah /idu" Muhammad, Tintamas, Fa?arta, 19&7. C/ae?alD

Muhammad IE%al, The (econstruction of (eligious Thought in Islam, S.M. Ashraf, *ahore,
198&. C(econstructionD

)az6ar Syamsu, Al@<uran Tentang Manusia dan Masyara?at, 0halia Indonesia, Fa?arta, 19&H.
CMasyara?atD

(ashad #halifa, The !om"uter S"ea?s5 0od,s Message to the 2orld, (enaissance Productions
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SSSSSSSSSS, <uran5 :isual Presentation of the Miracle, Islamic Productions, Tucson 19&7.
C:isual PresentationD

SSSSSSSSSS, <uran5 The 'inal Scri"ture, Islamic Productions, Tucson 19&1. C<uranD

SSSSSSSSSS, <uran5 The 'inal Testament, Islamic Productions,
Tucson, 19&9. C'inal TestamentD

SSSSSSSSSS, <uran, /adith and Islam, Islamic Productions, Tucson, Arizona, 19&7. C/adithD

Sahih Al@3u?hari Ctrans. Muhammad AsadD, 1ar Al@Andalas, 0i%raltar, 19H&. C3u?hariD

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CScienceD


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CIdealsD

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C+riginsD

Soro?in, P. A., Modern /istorical and Social Philoso"hies, 1o.er Pu%lications, )e6 =or?,
19$H. C/istorical Philoso"hiesD



INDEA

A

A%duh, Muhammad5 H, 11, 17, 7&, 118, 17H.
A%raham5 79, 71, 77, H&, 79, &&.
A%u 3a?r5 79, H1, H7, HH, HJ, J7, J&.
A%u #amil5 $&.
A%u /uraira5 J&.
A%dul #arim i%n A%u al@A6Aa5 HJ.
a%rogation theory5 &7.
A%u 1aud5 1, H9, H$, $9.
A%u /anifa5 J9.
Adam5 H&, 79.
adultery5 1J, 8$, 89, $9.
agnosticism5 7H.
Ahmad Amin5 HJ.
Ahlul@/adith5 9, 17, &$.
Ahlul@<uran5 J7.
AishaL 8H.
al@'ara%i5 $&.
al@0hazali5 19.
al@#ulaini5 1, H9, H$.
allegorical .erses5 79, 7&.
al@MasIudi5 $&.
al@Murtada5 1, H9, H$.
al@)asaIi5 1, H9, H$, $9.
al@Ta%ari5 $&.
al@(isala5 1H, 17.
Ali A%i Tali%5 1, H7, HH, HJ, H8, H&, H9, J7.
another %oo?5 77, J1.
anti@reason5 $H.
anti@taqlid mo.ement5 7J.
a"ostasy5 8&.
Ara%5 79, J9.
Ara%ic science5 11.
ascension5 &H.
atom, s"litting of5 79.
atheism5 7H.
authoritarianism5 &.
Azami, M. M.5 71, HJ.


B

3acon, (oger5 11,
3a?rite5 HH, H9.
3attle of the Allies5 77
3enna%i, Mali?5 7,
3i%le5 7H, 8H.
3riffault, (o%ert5 11.
3ucaille, Maurice5 $1.
3u?hari5 1, H9, H$, J7, J$, 87, $9.


C

!amus, Al%ert5 8.
!atholic !hurch5 7.
!hristian5 7, 7, 71.
!hristianity5 77.
!ode 195 79.
!old 2ar5 8.
com"uter5 7.
creation of Man5 &9.
creation of the Uni.erse5 &9.
culture5 J.




D

decision@ma?ing, "rinci"les of5 7$.
details5 7$.
dialectical materialism5 7H.
1isco.ery5 71, 7J.
1ostoye.s?y5 8.


E

-gy"t5 19, J7.
-liot, T.S.5 8.
-uro"e5 7, $, 7, 11, 17, J9@J1, 71, 7J.
e4istentialism5 8.
-zra5 1$@17.


F

'are6ell Sermon5 J9@89, $9.
fatalism5 J9, 89.
'azlul #arim5 1$.
'azlur (ahman5 77, HJ, H$, JH, $H.
'irst 2orld 2ar5 87.
food5 7$.
form5 7J, &9@99.


G

0emara5 1$.
0hulam Ahmad Par.ez5 J7.
0od5 H, 7, &, 1J, 71, 77, 7H, 7J, 7&, J7.
0reat 1isorder5 8.
0oldin, Fudah5 1$.
0oldziher5 HJ.
0os"el5 $$.
H

hadith5
@ A%u 3a?r,s collection %urnt %y himself5 J&@J9.
@ %eginnings of5 79@H1.
@ cause of Muslim do6nfall5 J1@JJ.
@ coherence theory of5 88@8$.
@ contradicting science, history and logic5 $1@$H.
@ e4"ressions of contrary .ie6s5 H8, $9.
@ e4"ressions of "olitical conflicts5 H7@H8.
@ effects of5 H7@JJ.
@ fa%rication of5 HJ.
@ gi.en eEual im"ortance 6ith <uran5 H$.
@ +mar refused to com"ile5 J9.
@ officially com"iled 799 years later5 1, H9.
@ on <uran5 $1.
@ "rohi%ited %y Muhammad5 H9, J&.
@ "rotracted "rocess of change to5 $&.
@ scarcely used %y the four righteous cali"hs5 H7.
@ started as stories5 H7@HH, H8.
@ theory of5 17@77, J7.
@ use of 6ord in <uran5 89@81.
@ 6ea?ness of inad methodology5 81@8H.
/ammam i%n Muna%%ih5 J&.
/ang Tuah5 87.
heresy5 7J.
humanism5 7, &.
/umaydi5 H7.
hy"ocrites5 9.


I

I%rahim I%n Sinan5 $&.
I%n 3a%u6ayh5 1, H9, H$.
I%n /an%al5 H7, J&, 88.
I%n IshaE5 79, H1.
I%n #haldun5 1, $, 7J.
I%n MaAah5 1, H9, H$.
I%n <ayyim5 H7.
I%n (ushd5 19, 7J.
I%n SaId5 H1, H7.
I%n Sina5 19.
I%n Taimiya5 19.
ideology5 H, J, 8.
idol5 7&, $7.
idol 6orshi""ers5 9, 7&.
idolatry5 1J, $7.
Idris5 79.
Ijma'5 H$, H7, J9, &8.
ijtihad5 H$, H7, J9, $9.
India5 19.
Indonesia5 19.
inheritance5 78, &&.
intercession5 8&.
into4icant5 &&. CSee also liEuor.D
IE%al5 7.
Iran5 $.
Iran@IraE 2ar5 $.
Islam5 9, 17, 77, 77, 7J.
Islamic li%eralism5 &.


@

Famaluddin Al@Afghani5 7, $, J7.
Fesus5 $$, 79, &H.
Fe65 7, 71, &9.
Fudaism5 77.


K

#ennedy, Fohn '.5 87.
#halifa, (ashad5 7.
#ha6ariA5 JH.
L

la6, t6o sources of5 &7.
li%eralism5 8, &, 77.
liEuor5 &&@&9. CSee also into4icant.D
logical "ositi.ism5 8, 7H.
*uEman5 1J.


&

Mahdi, %elief in5 J1, 87.
Mahmud A%u (ayya5 J7.
Mahsuri5 87.
Mali?, Imam5 17, H7, J9, J$.
Mao Oedong5 8.
Mar4ism5 7, &, 77.
Medina !harter5 19, $$.
Medina city@state5 77.
Merne"tah5 &9.
messenger5 H, 1&.
Middle Ages5 7H.
miracle5 87, 79.
Mishnah5 1$.
monotheism5 H.
Moses5 $7, 79, &9.
MuIa6iyah5 HH, HJ, H8.
Muhammad5
@ claimed to ha.e %rought t6o %oo?s5 J9@89, &8.
@ idolization of5 &J.
@ last "ro"het5 79.
@ letters of5 $$.
@ messenger to all man?ind5 $J, $7.
@ only tas? to deli.er <uran5 $J, $$.
@ treaties of5 $$.
@ u"holds <uran5 $J.
Muhammad Ali5 1J, 7$.
Muhammad Ta6fiE SidEi5 J7.
muh)amat .erses5 77, 7&, &9.
mutahabihat .erses5 77, 7&, &9, &H.
Muslims5
@ dilemma faced %y5 $J@$8.
@ tas?s of5 7J.
Muslim Ccom"iler of hadithD5 1, H$, H9, J7, J&, $9.
MuItazilite5 JH, J7.
muta#attir hadith5 J$.
Mu6atta,5 17, J$, $J.


N

)ahA al@3alaghah5 HH.
)asr, Seyyed /ossein5 9.
nationalism5 $, &.
)azism5 8.
)icene !reed5 8&.
)oah5 79.


O

+ld Testament5 $9.
+mar I%n #hatta%5 H1, H7, HJ, 8H.
+rientalists5 9.


P

"aganism5 H.
"assi.ity5 89.
"enal la6s5 &&, &9.
Persia5 7.
"essimism5 $, J9@J1, JH.
Plato5 &1.
"olytheism5 H.
"or?5 7$, &9.
"ragmatism5 8.
"recedent5 19, $$.
"rayer5 19, 79, 71, 1J, 7$, $7, $$, &9. CSee also alat.D
"riesthood5 JJ.
"unishment, "rinci"les of5 78.


1

<uran5
@ arrangement of5 79, J$.
@ authenticated %y 0od5 J7.
@ coherence 6ith science and reason5 77.
@ com"lete, "erfect and detailed5 7H@7&, $$.
@ di.ine "rotection of5 $7.
@ dis%elie.ers %arred from understanding5 &J.
@ 0od, teacher of5 7$.
@ hadith on5 $1.
@ li%erates man?ind5 79.
@ Muhammad,s original teaching5 $J ff.
@ "ur"ose of5 $7.
@ rules of inter"retation5 &1@&7.
@ self@consistent5 77.
@ t6o ty"es of statement in5 &7@&&.


R

(amadan5 19.
(ashid (idha5 7.
reform5 7, $.
rennaissance5 7, 8, 17, 7H.


S

ahifah5 J&.
alat5 79, 7J, &9. CSee also "rayer.D
sacrifice5 &9.
Sarton, 0.5 $&.
Sartre, Fean@Paul5 8.
scientific methodology5 19, 7$, &9, 99.
schools of la65 H9@J9, J9.
Second !oming5 8, 87, $8, 7H, 78, &H.
Second 2orld 2ar5 $.
sectarianism5 H7.
secularization5 J, &.
Se.en Slee"ers of -"hesus5 8&.
ShafiIi5 1, 19, 1H, 17, H$, H7, J9, J7, 88, 8$, $J, &8.
Shah 2aliyullah5 19, 7J.
Sharia5 $.
Shi,ite5 1, HH, HJ, H&, H9, J$, J9.
sla.ery5 &&.
Son of 0od5 $7.
Soro?in5 P.A., 8.
Sultan Salman5 71, 7J.
Sunna5 1, 17, 1H, 18, 1$, 17, 1&, 71, 77, 79, H1, H7, H$, &8.
Sunnite5 1, H&, H9, JH, J$, J9.


T

ta*dil of !om"anions5 8H.
Talmud5 1$, $7.
taElid5 H$, J7, $9, 79, 7J.
Tayalisi5 H7.
Third 2orld5 $.
Tirmidhi5 1, H$, $9.
Torah5 1$, 17, $7.
tradition, 17, 1H, 79, $8.
Traditionist5 17, 18, 17, 1&, 19, 79.





U

Uhud5 HJ.
ulil-amr5 79.
ulama5 JJ, 7J.
Umayyad dynasty5 H8.
United )ations5 $.
United States5 7
u#ah haanah5 77.
Uthman5 79, HH, HJ.


#

6omen5 $7, &&.


%

=eats, =.3.5 8, 7H.


B

Oaid i%n Tha%it5 79, J&.
za?at5 19.