KHUTAb V: 7. INKᾹR AL-SUNNAH (1)
7. INKᾹR AL-SUNNAH (1)
)THE REJECTION OF
THE SUNNAH)
Prophet
Muhammad s.a.w. said:
أَلَا
هَلْ عَسَى رَجُلٌ يَبْلُغُهُ الْحَدِيثُ عَنِّي وَهُوَ مُتَّكِئٌ عَلَى
أَرِيكَتِهِ فَيَقُولُ بَيْنَنَا
وَبَيْنَكُمْ
كِتَابُ اللَّهِ فَمَا وَجَدْنَا فِيهِ حَلَالًا اسْتَحْلَلْنَاهُ وَمَا وَجَدْنَا
فِيهِ حَرَامًا حَرَّمْنَاهُ
وَإِنَّ
مَا حَرَّمَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ كَمَا حَرَّمَ
اللَّهُ
.(رواه
الإمام أحمد وأبو داود وابن ماجه)
See
that a man might reach him a hadith from
me while he was leaning against a sofa,
and said:
“Between us and you is the Book of
Allah, whatever
we find in it is ḥalāl we make it ḥalāl
(permitted),
And what we find ḥarām in it, we make it
ḥarām
(prohibited), and verily, what the
Messenger of
Allah s.a.w. prohibited it is as
prohibited by
Allah.” (Reported
by Imam Aḥmad,
Abū
Dā’ūd, and Ibn Mājah)
In
another ḥadīth the Prophet s.a.w. said:
لَا
أُلْفِيَنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ مُتَّكِئًا عَلَى أَرِيكَتِهِ يَأْتِيهِ أَمْرٌ مِمَّا
أَمَرْتُ بِهِ أَوْ
نَهَيْتُ عَنْهُ فَيَقُولُ لَا أَدْرِي مَا
وَجَدْنَا فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ اتَّبَعْنَاهُ".
(رواه الإمام أحمد فى مسنده
وأبو داود والترمذى
وابن ماجة والدارمى فى سننهم)
Verily, one of you would lean
comfortably
a
sofa when an order or prohibition from me
reached him he would say: “I do not know,
we (only) follow what we find in the
Book of Allah (the Qur’ān).”
(Reported
by Aḥmad, al-Tirmidhī, Abū Dā’ūd,
Ibn Mājah and al-Dārimī)
In another ḥadīth, he said:
تَرَكْتُ
فِيْكُمْ أَمْرَيْنِ لَنْ تَضِلُّوْا مَا تَمَسَّكْتُمْ بِهِمَا:
كِتَابَ اللهِ وَسُنَّةَ نَبِيِّه (رواه الحاكم)
I have left you two things, you will
never
go astray as
long as you stick to them: the
Book of Allah and the Sunnah of
His
Prophet. (Reported by al-Ḥākim).
(Similar version is also reported by
al-Bayhaqī)
The Prophet also said:
أَلَا
إِنِّي أُوتِيتُ الْكِتَابَ وَمِثْلَهُ مَعَهُ أَلَا إِنِّي أُوتِيتُ الْقُرْآنَ
وَمِثْلَهُ مَعَهُ لا يُوشِكُ
رَجُلٌ
يَنْثَنِي شَبْعَانًا عَلَى أَرِيكَتِهِ يَقُولُ عَلَيْكُمْ بِالْقُرْآنِ فَمَا
وَجَدْتُمْ فِيهِ مِنْ حَلَالٍ
فَأَحِلُّوهُ وَمَا وَجَدْتُمْ فِيهِ مِنْ حَرَامٍ فَحَرِّمُوهُ (رواه الإمام أحمد)
Be informed
that verily the Book was
brought to
me and a similar thing with it
(i.e. the Sunnah
of the Prophet), and a similar
thing with it, know that a man leaning on a sofa
while he is
full is on the point of saying: “Stick
to the Qur’ān,
so whatever you find in ḥalāl,
then make
it ḥalāl, and whatever you find
in it ḥarām, then make
it ḥarām.”
(Reported by Aḥmad)
This is
the prophecy and warning of our Prophet, that some people would later ignore
the Sunnah (sayings, practices, and tacit approvals of the Prophet) as
the source of Islamic law, and claim that the Qur’ān is the sole source of
Islamic law. This view is called “inkār al-sunnah” (the Rejection of the
Sunnah). It appeared at the end
of the 1st Century and the beginning of the 2nd Century of Hijrah.
This view appeared out of misunderstanding the Qur’ānic texts, and the
ignorance of the significance of Sunnah in Islam. When they were
explained to people who misunderstood them, they abandoned this view and came
back to the right one. For example, a man asked Abū Nujayd, one the companions
of the Prophet, to explain to him something exclusively from the Qur’ān, he told him that many things were not
explained in details in the Qur’ān, but
in the Sunnah. For example, how to perform the prayers, how many units (raka‘āt)
they are, fasting, paying the zakat and performing the hajj (pilgrimage) are
all explained in details in the Sunnah. Similar questions were posed to
al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, the great ‘alim in Basrah. After giving the explanation of
the significance of the Sunnah, the questioner prayed for him: لَقَدْ أَحْيَيَتَنِي أَحْيَاكَ الله “You have enlivened me, may Allah enliven you.”
A man asked the scholar ‘Imrān ibn Ḥiṣṣīn r.a. about a certain issue. He
gave his answer from the Sunnah. The man said: “I am asking you (the
answer) from the Book of Allah, and do not tell me other than it.” ‘Imran said: “Do you find in the Book of
Allah that the Zuhr prayer is four rak’ahs (units) cited with low voice,
the number of prayers, the number of zakats, and the like?” Then he said: “Do
you find this explained in the Book of Allah? Verily, Allah made it general,
and the Sunnah explains it.”
Al-Imām al-Shāfi‘ī was asked one day whether he still
followed the Sunnah. He told the questioner whether he had seen him coming
out of the church, namely, no longer a Muslim. He dealt with this issue of inkār
al-sunnah in his book al-Umm, with arguments in details, so that
people would keep following the Sunnah. Later, al-Suyuti in his book Miftāḥ
al-Jannah fi ‘l-Iḥtijāj bi’ l-Sunnah (“The Key of Paradise in Applying Sunnah
as Arguments”), and stated that whoever denied it as one of the sources of the
Sharī‘ah would became non-Muslim, like the Jews and the Christians.
Unlike the
classical inkār al-sunnah which emerged only out of ignorance, modern inkār
al-sunnah, although started with individuals’ view of people who have full
conviction to it, later became a group of people who call themselves Ahl
al-Qur’ān (the Upholder of the Qur’ān), whereas their opponents call their
view Inkār Sunnah. This view emerged post the era of colonization, in
Egypt and Indian Sub-continent (Pakistan). In Egypt, Ahmad Amin in his Fajr
al-Islām (“The Dawn of Islam”) showed his doubt about the significance of
the Sunnah, and Maḥmūd Abū Rayyah in his book Aḍwā’ ‘alā ‘l-Sunnah al-Muḥammadiyyah (“Light on the Muhammadan Sunnah”) where he rejects
the authority and authenticity of the Sunnah. In the Indian Subcontinent
(Pakistan) Ghulam Ahmad Parves (Perves) rejected many hadiths widely accepted
as authentic and declared a heretic by some Muslim scholars for the same view, denying
the authority and authenticity of the
Ḥadīths
(Sunnah).
In modern time we have Dr. Ahmed Sobhi Masour, a
friend of the late Rashad Khalifah who claimed to be a prophet, and Sa‘d al-Dīn
Ibrāhīm, the Director of Ibn Khaldūn Centre who was arrested and accused of
treason in 2002. Dr. Ahmed Sobhi was graduated from the Department of Arabic
Language at al-Azhar University, but expelled from it in 1987 for spreading his
view. In 2002 he obtained a political asylum in the USA where he established
his internet website in 2004 called Ahl al-Qur’ān, to spread his view
against the Sunnah attacking
hadiths and its scholars like Imam Bukhari. His books and articles have been
translated into English. He said that the trend of the salaf (earlier
generation, such as of the ṣaḥābah and the tābi‘īn) is mainly
based the ḥadīths written after the death of the Prophet and then
attributed to him. This is the Sunnah which he did not agree. The Sunnah
for him and for the Ahl al-Qur’ān is what the Qur’ān states and put into
practice. The only hadith they believe is the hadith of Allah in
the Qur’ān, as Allah said: (فَبِأَيِّ حَدِيثٍ بَعْدَهُ يُؤْمِنُونَ (الأعراف: 185) “In what ḥadīth (message) after this
will they then believe?”(Q. 7:185)
Their argument in the Qur’ān is as follows:
وَنَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ تِبْيَانًا لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ ( النحل :89)
…And We have sent down the
Book (The Qur’ān)
as an exposition of everything…(Q. 7:185)
Therefore, for
them, there is no need
for Sunnah or hadiths.
The answer to
this allegation is in the Qur’ān itself. Allah said:
وَأَنْزَلْنَا
إِلَيْكَ الذِّكْرَ لِتُبَيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ مَا نُزِّلَ إِلَيْهِمْ وَلَعَلَّهُمْ
يَتَفَكَّرُونَ (النحل:44).
…And we have also sent down to you
(O Muhammad)the Dhikr [reminder and
the advice, i.e. the Qur’ān],that you may
explain clearly to men what is sent
down to them, and that they may
give thought. (Q. 7:44)
Based on this verse the Prophet has a duty to explain
the meanings of the revealed verses and their application into practice. The ṣaḥābah
(companions) used to ask his explanation whenever they have problem in
understanding and applying the verses. For example, a man asked him what would
happen to his fasting when he had eaten forgetting that he was fasting. The
Prophet told him to keep fasting, and that Allah had fed and given him to
drink. The Prophet’s answer was based on the Qur’ānic verses:
رَبَّنَا لا تُؤَاخِذْنَا إِنْ نَسِينَا أَوْ
أَخْطَأْنَا) البقرة: 286)
…Our Lord! Punish us not if we forget
or fall into
error (Q. 2:285).
ولَيْسَ عَلَيْكُمْ جُنَاحٌ فِيمَا أَخْطَأْتُمْ بِهِ وَلَكِنْ مَا
تَعَمَّدَتْ قُلُوبُكُمْ (الأحزاب:5)
…And there
is no sin on you concerning that in which
you made
mistake, except in regard to what your
hearts deliberately intend…(Q. 33:5)
Other verses
justifying the validity of the Sunnah as the second source of the
Shari‘ah are as follows:
وَمَا آَتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ
عَنْهُ فَانْتَهُوا وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ
إِنَّ اللَّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ (الحشر:7) .
…and
whatsoever the Messenger gives you, take it; and
whatsoever he forbids you, abstain from it.
And fear
Allah; verily, Allah is Severe in punishment. (Q. 59:7)
قُلْ أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ فإِن تَوَلَّوْاْ
فَإِنَّ اللّهَ لاَ يُحِبُّ الْكَافِرِينَ (آل عمران :
32 )
Say (O
Muhammad) “Obey Allah and the Messenger
(Muhammad.”But if they turn away, then Allah
does
not like the
disbelievers (Q. 3:32).
وَمَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍ وَلَا مُؤْمِنَةٍ إِذَا
قَضَى اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَمْرًا أَنْ يَكُونَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ مِنْ
أَمْرِهِمْ وَمَنْ يَعْصِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَقَدْ
ضَلَّ ضَلَالًا مُبِينًا (الأحزاب :
36 ) .
It
is not for a believer, man or woman, when Allah and
His Messenger have decreed a matter that they
should
have any option in their decision. And
whoever
disobeys Allah and His Messenger, he has
indeed strayed into a plain error.(Q.
33:36)
مَنْ يُطِعِ الرَّسُولَ فَقَدْ أَطَاعَ اللَّهَ (النساء:
80).
He who
obeys the Messenger [Muhammad],
has indeed
obeyed Allah (Q. 4:80)
Some examples where the Prophet prohibited things not
mentioned in the Qur’ān are as follows:
- Abu Hurayrah r.a., said that the Messenger of
Allah prohibited from marrying a woman together with her paternal or maternal
aunt, whereas in the Qur’ān it is mentioned the prohibition of marrying a woman
together with her sister only (Reported by al-Bukhārī and Muslim).
وَأَنْ تَجْمَعُوا بَيْنَ الْأُخْتَيْنِ (النساء :23) ...
…and two sisters in wedlock at
the same time,…
(Q. 4:23)
- ‘Ali ibn Abū Ṭālib said that the Prophet held silk
in his right hand and held gold in his left hand, then said: “These two
things are prohibited to the males of my ummah.” (Reported by Abū Dā’ūd,
Ibn Mājah, al-Nasā’ī, and Aḥmad)
In
conclusion, the duty of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. is not only to convey the message of Islam in
the Qur’ān, but also to explain it when
it is not clear to some ṣaḥābah, giving examples through practice, and a
to be law maker. All these are found in the Sunnah (sayings, deeds and
tacit approvals of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.) which is the second source
of Islamic law. (CIVIC, 21.12.12)
Sources:
المكتبة الشاملة
Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
http://quran-m.com/container.php?fun=artview&id=1005
(Kesesatan kelompok inkar Sunnah)
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