Is the Quran complete? If so, why do we need Hadith? [closed]

Question

I am hoping to seek a final affirmed answer to a question that has plagued me for a long while.

Though i cannot claim myself to be a good muslim like most of the people here, i do hope that with your help and input i am able find answers.

I hope to attain the strength to be a better Muslim by your opinions.

We all understand that the Holy Quran was sourced or created by means of divinity. This is to say that the words of the Holy Quran have come directly from Allah and nowhere else. No muslims would deny that. All muslims agree that the Holy Quran are the words of Allah and thus it must command the utmost respect.

If all Muslims accept that the Holy Quran is the word of Allah then it must also be accepted that any rules, regulations or guidance set out to us by Allah via the Holy Quran must be followed….. unless of course you have already chosen Hell fire as your eternal abode.

One such rule, regulation or guidance (for want of a better word) stipulated within the Holy Quran prohibits ALL muslims from placing any written connotation on a par (whether level or not) with the Holy Quran. Though i can't recollect what part of the holy Quran this is contained in (perhaps someone would be kind enough to clarify this passage from the Holy Quran for me) it is abundantly clear that Allah forbids us from placing any material (written or otherwise) on the same pedestal as the Holy Quran. Neither should we take the words of another book or series of books in place or in the same Holy 'Sphere' of the Quran.

The New Testament (Bible) is a clear example of what can happen if this is allowed. The New Testament contains the Torah (Jewish Holy book) and Christian scriptures detailing events of Jesus' (Issa) life, his teachings form people who may or may not have encountered him. Aside form the Torah, these teachings were merely recollections at best from sources that were either good or bad depending on which side of the Christian denomination you sit on. This was open to misrepresentation and The New Testament was systematically and deliberately used for personal gain and slowly changed over a long period of time until it reached a point today whereby the message of Issa (peace be upon him) is completely mis-understood. Let's not forget it was a Roman emperor who put together the very first Bible. Not Jesus, not God. The Bible is a religious volume which contains the Torah (Old testament) and these scriptures (New Testament). The Roman Emperor, Augustos, determined which scriptures to use and which to leave out. So in essence it was his book, not the book of god.

Thus the dangers of intertwining the word of man with the word of God should be clear to us and we should not take it upon ourselves to add written works (however authenticated it may seem) to our 'holy bookshelf'. The Quran has all the answers. That is the point of the Quran. To have all of the answers. A divine book that can guide and teach us. If Allah felt we need to acquire additional knowledge by reading other materials, then those materials or subject matters would have been included in the Holy Quran? Allah is most wise and i simply cannot comprehend that he may have 'missed' things out or 'forgot' to include them.

Which brings me to my main point and the crux of my post…………..

If we agree with that the Holy Quran is the single most important source of information on how to be a Muslim properly and live your life accordingly, and also agree that we should only use the Holy Quran as a guide in our life as stipulated by Alllah Almighty………...then why do we place so much importance on the Hadith?

The Hadith (and i am talking about all of them from the most authenticated to the least) all share one common denominator……….they are not from Allah.

The hadith, a collection of written accounts on the Prophet, his life and teachings by various people from one of his wives to other people whom he may or may not have encountered, were all written after the the world was enlightened with the truth of the Quran.

Surely, if you place holy importance on the Hadith, then in essence what you are saying is that the Holy Quran isn't/wasn't as complete as it should be. If it was, you wouldn't need anything else.

This post is not meant to antagonise or disenfranchise anyone. I'm simply seeking answers to a contentious discussion point that has wrestled my mind for decades.

Im hoping with your input i shall finally find my answer.

Let's discuss.

Al-Saracen

Answer 1

According to your Question you regard "that the Holy Quran is the single most important source of information" as you said.

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I have a "sensibility" about the word "Holy" but i regard that Quran is our most and 1st important source. And i must admit i have also a kind of sensibility about some ahadith (hadiths) that even might be regarded as sahih but i will never reject all of them! And as the rules of sahih ahadith are very clear and hard i must accept that sahih hadiths are the 2nd important source ... One should always be careful and check if a Hadith isn't contradictory to a Quranic Verse! Also note that rejecting sahih hadith means indirectly rejecting the Quran as both have similar if not identical ways of transmission.

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To start we should know that Allah said in (16:44)

And We revealed to you the message that you may make clear to the people what was sent down to them and that they might give thought.

So this means that Quran can't be understood as a standalone source, we need to know how the Prophet (Peace be upon him) practiced it's teaching, therefore some madhabs had a ranking of Sunna in their osol, where the practiced Sunna (ahadith where it is explained what and how the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) used to practice something) is much higher then the verbal Sunna (hadith with verbal orders or prohibitions)!
This Verse is as i think very clear about the matter that Sunna (Hadith) is an explanation (often practical) in how the Quran should be understood and as you read the Prophet (peace be upon him)n is asked to explain and teach it to them. Explaining is what we find in the Sunna!

I will now quote some more verses of the Quran where the Sunna is indicated and try to refer to them later!

1) Lord, raise up from among them a Messenger who shall recite Your Revelations to them and teach them the Book الْكِتَابَ and Wisdom الْحِكْمَةَ and purify their lives. You art All-Powerful and All-Wise"
[Surat al-Baqara 2:129]

2) just as (you have found from this: that) We sent the Messenger to you from among you, who recites to you Our Revelations آيَاتِنَا; who purifies your lives; who instructs you in the Book الْكِتَابَ and in Wisdom الْحِكْمَةَ and teaches you those things that you did not know.
[Surat al-Baqara 2:151]

3) As a matter of fact, it is the great favour of Allah to the Believers that He has raised up in their midst from among themselves a Messenger who recites to them His Revelations آيَاتِهِ, purifies their lives and teaches them the Book الْكِتَابَ and Wisdom الْحِكْمَةَ, though before this these very people had been in manifest error.
[Surat Al-I'mran 3:164]

4) ... Allah has sent down the Book and the Wisdom ...
[An-Nissa' 4:113]

وَأَنزَلَ اللّهُ عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ

5) Tell them plainly, "This is my way. I invite you to Allah. I myself see my Way in full light and my followers see it, too. And Allah is free from any defect, and I have nothing to do with those who practice shirk."
[Surat Yusuf 12:108]

6) And remember what is recited in your houses of the verses of Allah آيَاتِ اللَّهِ and wisdom الْحِكْمَةِ.
[Surat al-Ahzaab 33:34]

7) He it is Who has raised a Messenger among the gentiles from among themselves, who recites to them His Revelations آيَاتِهِ, purifies them and teaches them the Book الْكِتَابَ and the Wisdom الْحِكْمَةَ, whereas before this they were indeed lost in manifest error.
[Surat al Jumu'a 62:2]

In most of these verses (1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7) you may find the words the book الْكِتَاب and Wisdom الْحِكْمَة: In most tafassir the book is interpreted as the Quran and the Wisdom is interpreted as the sunna (according to Qatada) or as the knowledge about the Ahkam of islam (halal/haram etc.). Now as the messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is the one who teaches us this Wisdom it's clear that Wisdom and Sunna overlap, as without what our Prophet taught us we wouldn't know the number of raka'at in the Prayer at what time to pray and manasik al Hajj and many many things.

The 5th Verse in the above list is only an example of that one should follow the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) (there might be more expressive Verses for example 59:7) and following him means doing as he did this means in Arabic following his Sunna السنة!

The 6th Verse is also very expressive as it orders the wives or women of the houshold of the Prophet (peace be upon him) to spread out the wisdom and the revelations of Allah -which they heard/saw in their houses- to people! This verse is a clear order as it quotes Quran on one side and the wisdom (hadith) on the other. And we know a lot of sunnan from the wives of the prophet as they saw him in his house and only they could describe him as a husband or father etc.

All these verses (and many more) indicate the necessity of Hadith and Sunna.

At least here is a Hadith narrated in other Versions in other books mentioning that Quran isn't the only source of islamic wisdom!

Narrated Al-Miqdam ibn Ma'dikarib: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Beware! I have been given the Qur'an and something like it, yet the time is coming when a man replete on his couch will say: Keep to the Qur'an; what you find in it to be permissible treat as permissible, and what you find in it to be prohibited treat as prohibited. Beware! The domestic ass, beasts of prey with fangs, a find belonging to confederate, unless its owner does not want it, are not permissible to you If anyone comes to some people, they must entertain him, but if they do not, he has a right to mulct them to an amount equivalent to his entertainment.

Sunan abi Dawod

حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْوَهَّابِ بْنُ نَجْدَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو عَمْرِو بْنُ كَثِيرِ بْنِ دِينَارٍ، عَنْ حَرِيزِ بْنِ عُثْمَانَ، عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ أَبِي عَوْفٍ، عَنِ الْمِقْدَامِ بْنِ مَعْدِيكَرِبَ، عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَنَّهُ قَالَ ‏ "‏ أَلاَ إِنِّي أُوتِيتُ الْكِتَابَ وَمِثْلَهُ مَعَهُ أَلاَ يُوشِكُ رَجُلٌ شَبْعَانُ عَلَى أَرِيكَتِهِ يَقُولُ عَلَيْكُمْ بِهَذَا الْقُرْآنِ فَمَا وَجَدْتُمْ فِيهِ مِنْ حَلاَلٍ فَأَحِلُّوهُ وَمَا وَجَدْتُمْ فِيهِ مِنْ حَرَامٍ فَحَرِّمُوهُ أَلاَ لاَ يَحِلُّ لَكُمْ لَحْمُ الْحِمَارِ الأَهْلِيِّ وَلاَ كُلُّ ذِي نَابٍ مِنَ السَّبُعِ وَلاَ لُقَطَةُ مُعَاهِدٍ إِلاَّ أَنْ يَسْتَغْنِيَ عَنْهَا صَاحِبُهَا وَمَنْ نَزَلَ بِقَوْمٍ فَعَلَيْهِمْ أَنْ يَقْرُوهُ فَإِنْ لَمْ يَقْرُوهُ فَلَهُ أَنْ يُعْقِبَهُمْ بِمِثْلِ قِرَاهُ ‏"‏ ‏.

*In Arabic: it said I have been given the book so the translator used the interpretation kitab=book=Quran!

Answer 2

The Qur'an is complete and contains everything we need. However the Hadiths are important because they are the actions and sayings of Muhammad (saw). Muhammad is the perfect role model and teacher for all of us so we should try to live our lives in the same manner that he did. In the Qur'an it says: "What Allah's Messenger brings for you accept that. and what he has forbidden you. refrain from that."

The Prophet was sent down to teach and explain the region to us so we can follow it properly. The Qur'an also tell us that if we ever have a question or in doubt about anything then we should refer to the Qur'an and the Messenger.

Answer 3

I like this question but we must take heed from this kind of thinking. The Prophet (saws) was the living Quran among his duty was to explain the revelation that was being delivered.

Here is an instance found in the hadith.

"I came to the Prophet (ﷺ) while I had a cross of gold around my neck. He said: 'O 'Adi! Remove this idol from yourself!' And I heard him reciting from Surah Bara'ah: They took their rabbis and monks as lords besides Allah (9:31). He said: 'As for them, they did not worship them, but when they made something lawful for them, they considered it lawful, and when they made something unlawful for them, they considered it unlawful.'"

حَدَّثَنَا الْحُسَيْنُ بْنُ يَزِيدَ الْكُوفِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ السَّلاَمِ بْنُ حَرْبٍ، عَنْ غُطَيْفِ بْنِ أَعْيَنَ، عَنْ مُصْعَبِ بْنِ سَعْدٍ، عَنْ عَدِيِّ بْنِ حَاتِمٍ، قَالَ أَتَيْتُ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَفِي عُنُقِي صَلِيبٌ مِنْ ذَهَبٍ ‏.‏ فَقَالَ ‏"‏ يَا عَدِيُّ اطْرَحْ عَنْكَ هَذَا الْوَثَنَ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ وَسَمِعْتُهُ يَقْرَأُ فِي سُورَةِ بَرَاءَةََ ‏:‏ ‏(‏ اتَّخَذُوا أَحْبَارَهُمْ وَرُهْبَانَهُمْ أَرْبَابًا مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ ‏)‏ قَالَ ‏"‏ أَمَا إِنَّهُمْ لَمْ يَكُونُوا يَعْبُدُونَهُمْ وَلَكِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا إِذَا أَحَلُّوا لَهُمْ شَيْئًا اسْتَحَلُّوهُ وَإِذَا حَرَّمُوا عَلَيْهِمْ شَيْئًا حَرَّمُوهُ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ غَرِيبٌ لاَ نَعْرِفُهُ إِلاَّ مِنْ حَدِيثِ عَبْدِ السَّلاَمِ بْنِ حَرْبٍ ‏.‏ وَغُطَيْفُ بْنُ أَعْيَنَ لَيْسَ بِمَعْرُوفٍ فِي الْحَدِيثِ ‏.‏

Grade : Da'if (Darussalam) English reference : Vol. 5, Book 44,

Hadith 3095 Arabic reference : Book 47, Hadith 3378

Aside from explaining the Quran we also have Hadith that mention certain elements that are to take place that are not mention, mention indirectly or mention but doesn't go in all the details.

For instance Ad-Dajjal (Anti-Christ, False Messiah) is not mention directly in the Quran but some verse may indirectly refer to him. This is a well know being that will reveal itself in the end times to deceive mankind (even Christians take it as important).

Once Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) stood amongst the people, glorified and praised Allah as He deserved and then mentioned the Dajjal saying, "l warn you against him (i.e. the Dajjal) and there was no prophet but warned his nation against him. No doubt, Noah warned his nation against him but I tell you about him something of which no prophet told his nation before me. You should know that he is one-eyed, and Allah is not one-eyed."

حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدَانُ، أَخْبَرَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ، عَنْ يُونُسَ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ، قَالَ سَالِمٌ وَقَالَ ابْنُ عُمَرَ ـ رضى الله عنهما قَامَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فِي النَّاسِ فَأَثْنَى عَلَى اللَّهِ بِمَا هُوَ أَهْلُهُ، ثُمَّ ذَكَرَ الدَّجَّالَ، فَقَالَ ‏ "‏ إِنِّي لأُنْذِرُكُمُوهُ، وَمَا مِنْ نَبِيٍّ إِلاَّ أَنْذَرَهُ قَوْمَهُ، لَقَدْ أَنْذَرَ نُوحٌ قَوْمَهُ، وَلَكِنِّي أَقُولُ لَكُمْ فِيهِ قَوْلاً لَمْ يَقُلْهُ نَبِيٌّ لِقَوْمِهِ، تَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهُ أَعْوَرُ، وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ لَيْسَ بِأَعْوَرَ ‏"‏‏.‏

Sahih al-Bukhari 3337

Book 60, Hadith 12

These are just a few instances of what we find in hadith's.

So to answer your question: Surely, if you place holy importance on the Hadith, then in essence what you are saying is that the Holy Quran isn't/wasn't as complete as it should be. If it was, you wouldn't need anything else.

I woudn't say we place "Holy Importance" some group within this Ummah might do that. But the important aspect of the Hadith is to explain events that took place in the time of the Prophet (saws), which includes explaining the Quran and living the Quran aswell. Also a hadith must be well authenticated and one must not give more importance to hadith then Quran.

Answer 4

Ahadith in essence means historical text which refers to the words and actions of prophet Mohammad (pbuh). I don't believe anyone claims Ahadith are in the same caliber as the Quran, Ahadith for that reason are scrutinized to establish its level of authenticity, while the Quran isn't.

The Ahadith are not an extension of the Quran, but it is merely Islamic culture. Mohammad (pbuh)'s sayings in Ahadith are not from Allah (swt) otherwise they would be in the Quran.

Muslim give Ahadith importance just like any other people give their own history importance. Americans for example give importance to the history of their founding fathers.

History is there to learn from, it is a source of wisdom, in the Quran there are many mentions of historical events, it is mentioned to remind people what happened in the past, so it is an encouragement to remind ourselves also as we do have the capability to see glimpses of the past.

Ahadith is a source of wisdom that Muslim learn from, others copy it because it has become a culture, there's nothing wrong with such a culture, until the culture is detached from its fundamental beliefs.

For example Mohammad (pbuh)'s wives were in danger of being attacked by Islam's enemies, so it was ordered for them to cover themselves for their own protection. The practice of "covering oneself" came from the belief that oneself was in danger, to cover one's identity. Today, this has manifested itself in to a culture of "Burqah", this culture is detached from the actual belief. People don't wear Burqah because they're in some sort of danger, rather because they copy what the wives of Mohammad (pbut) did.

To give you a future scenario, take for example how the "Islamic State" fighters cover their face, they do so because they would fall prey to their enemy if identified, so there is an underlying belief for the practice of covering their faces. In the future, people might forget the underlying belief, and one day you could have a culture of Burqah for men.

I hope that's detailed enough.

Answer 5

The Quran tells us how to be muslims, what's halal and what's haram, but we need hadiths as they tell us the lifestyle that the prophet peace be upon him and the sahaba lived,(who were the best of muslims on this earth) so we can follow there example. May Allah guide you inshallah.