Prof. Mohammad Najmul Ehsan Fatmi :
The word ‘Hadith’ lends itself to a rich variety of meanings depending on the context in which this word is used. It could mean narration, as when the Quran narrates a particular event or a situation:
“That day (the world) will narrate its annals.” (99.4)
It could refer to a discourse, as when the Quran speaks with consternation:
“Is it such a Message which ye would hold in light esteem ?” (56.81)
… the Bounty of thy Lord rehearse and proclaim” (93.11)
Or it could allude to a particular story, legend or role:
“Has the story reached thee of the honoured guests of Ibrahim.” (51.24)
“Has the story of Musa reached thee.” (79.15)
The Quran also uses the word Hadith when it puts words in the mouth of the Prophet Muhammad (Sm) when he consoles his dear friend and companion Abu Bakar (Ra) in a cave they were hiding from fear of pursuit by the enemies of Islam,
“when these two were (hiding) in the cave, (and) the Apostle said to his companion, ‘Grieve not : verily Allah is with us’ … ” (9.40)
The Quranic Revelations tasked Prophet Muhammad (Sm) with the responsibility of proclaiming Allah’s Message to the whole of mankind:
“… And upon you (too) have We bestowed this reminder so that you might make clear unto mankind all that has ever been thus bestowed upon them and they might reflect.” (16.44) ” …. and teach you the Book and Wisdom and what you did not know: “(2.151)
This, the Prophet faithfully did as he continued to receive the Revelation, warned, reminded and instructed mankind and served as a role model until the last day of his life.
In the literal sense, Hadith means what happens later as opposed to the idea of what happened before (qadim – or the former). In the context of the preceding paragraph, Hadith would imply explaining and elucidating all that happened or came before (meaning the Quranic Revelation). In the religious and technical sense therefore, Hadith refers to the report of words and deeds, approval or disapproval of Prophet Muhammad (Sm) as these relate to the explanation and elucidation in details of the Quranic teachings and injunctions. The word Hadith is also used synonymously with Sunnah, with the latter referring simply to the deeds of the Prophet while the former involves his reported statements.
The use of the word Hadith can also be traced to statement of Prophet Muhammad (Sm) (Tirmidhi reporting on the authority of Zayd bin Thabit):
May Allah bestow freshness upon one who listens Hadith from me and conveys it to others, and to the statement of the faithful companions (Sahaabah) of the Prophet, when Sahih Bukhari reports that once Abu Hurairah (Ra) told the Prophet : I listen to many Hadith from you, (but) I forget.
It is a sad commentary on the state of Islamic faith that a seemingly needless controversy have sucked in quite a significant number of followers of the faith into a belief that Hadith is redundant since the Quran explains everything and that nothing else is needed. These people argue that Hadiths are simply sayings and doings of the Prophet as narrated by persons located in distant lands several centuries after the demise of the Prophet and where such narrations are traced to a “chains of narrators” culminating in the companions of Prophet Muhammad. They further argue that no mention of these Hadith (authentic or otherwise) occur in the Quran and that unlike the Quran, there is no Divine Protection offered to such Hadiths.
As evidence to back their claim the following Ayats from the Quran are invoked:
“Allah has sent down the very best discourse in the form of Book consistent with itself repeating its teaching in various aspect …” (39.23)
“There is not an example they (the rejecters of faith) advance to which We do not give you a right answer and better explanation.” (25.33)
The same people also allude to the practice of the Prophet in discouraging the transcending of his words and deeds, and in one such saying, he is reported to have said:
Do not write any Hadith. Whoever writes the Ahadith (plural of Hadith) in addition to the Quran, it is incumbent on him to delete them. However, the Hadith may be (orally) conveyed and there is nothing wrong in it. Whoever intentionally attributes false report to me should make his abode in fire.
Finally, the adherents of this group argue that what the Prophet left for mankind is not a book of Hadith, he left for them only the Quran which alone suffices for everything.
Apparently, these sound like powerful logic and strong pieces of arguments. But like its very nature logical argument can cut both ways and not infrequently one may end up accepting bizarre but logical situations that distract from the main issue at hand. What is perhaps missing in these lines of thoughts is a fine balance between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. Islam consistently tows the golden mean and teaches us moderation, justice and fairness.
So when it is argued that the Quran has an answer to everything, it is taken too literally. Yes it does have a solution to fundamental problems faced by humanity given the basic nature of man and his propensities. But if we were to look for specific details in the ordinary business of life and living we would not find it.
The second set of arguments establishing the redundancy or the unreliability of Hadith is based on the fact that the tradition of collecting and compiling the sayings and doings of the Prophet began several centuries after the death of Prophet Muhammad (Sm) and the practice originated from Persia. The fact that the Hadith was not transcribed in the same zeal with which the Quranic Revelations were done in the life time of the Prophet was attributable not only to the explicit reluctance on the part of Prophet Muhammad (although there have been instances where he did not object to some of his companions writing them – as when some had a weak memory) to have it transcribed, but also perhaps from the urgency to avoid taxing the loyalty of the Muslim Ummah in attaching varying importance to his words as against the words of Allah. He did not want his Urnmah to repeat the same mistake of the Jews and Christians of establishing a likely supremacy of a secondary document over that which was originally revealed to earlier prophets. In other words he did not want the Quran to suffer the same fate as the Torah and the Injeel did. He also decried the divinity which Christians imposed on Prophet Isa (As) (Jesus) and naturally did not want the Muslims to do the same to him. He was very categorical and emphatic on how his sayings and doings were to be interpreted by the Ummah:
“After me, many Ahadith will come to you. If any report is attributed to me, evaluate it in the light of the Quran. If it is in accordance with the Quran, accept it, otherwise reject it.” It therefore comes as no surprise to find virtually nothing documented (the Hadith) during the life time of the Prophet. All of the traditions remain circulated and rolled by word of mouth by those companions who were nearest to him. The companions of the Prophet were fiercely faithful to their faith and unflinching loyalty to their teacher. They would vie with one another in practicing piety and righteousness all for the sake of Allah’s Good Pleasure and a heavenly abode in the Hereafter. They were also fearful of the reminder from their teacher not to falsify any Hadith attributed to him.
But there were imminent signs that the nagging fears of the Prophet (Sm) were to unfold in the coming centuries. Things were not really the same after the demise of the Prophet. Old rivalries re-ignited and old scores were sought to be settled. Mischief mongers were there in plenty, and it gave everybody literally a free hand in getting back at the now rapidly emerging faith. The practice of fabricating and adding spurious Ahadith received a great spur in the reign of Khalifa Umar bin Abdul Aziz when Ibn Hihab Zuhri not happy with the phenomenal rise of Islam forced the Khalifa to order a compilation of Ahadith. Zuhri found in such compilation a secure avenue to introduce legally many concocted traditions of the Prophet. But there were other reasons why fabricated Ahadith crept in. Suhaib Hassan, a scholar lists them as follows:
1. political differences; 2. factions based on issues of creed; 3. fabrications by zanadiqah (enemies-within spreading heretical beliefs);
4. fabrications by story-tellers; 5. fabrications by ignorant ascetics; 6. prejudice in favour of town, race or a particular Imam; 7. inventions for personal motives; 8. proverbs turned into ahadith.
It was not until sufficient damage was done by these spurious Ahadith that Islamic scholars alarmed by the growing trend began to take remedial measures. What followed was a vigorous framework for testing the authenticity of a Hadith. Their effort was the forerunner of the exacting science of Hadith.
Muslim scholars working on determining the authenticity of a reported tradition of the Prophet came up with two major criteria:
(a) checking the isnad or the chain of reporters and their reliability, and (b) checking the matn on the texual contents of the reported tradition.
While a particular matn may sound reasonably correct but without an authentic isnad it cannot pass the test of reliability. As ‘Abdullah b. al-Mubarak (d. 181 AH), the illustrious teacher of Imam al Bukhari opined: “Isnad is part of the religion: had it not been for the isnad, whoever wished would have said whatever he liked”.
The literature on Hadith also contain a rich array of classificatory schemes based on the following distinctions :
1. the reference to a particular authority , 2. the links in the isnad, 3. the number of reporters involved in each stage of the isnad , 4. the manner in which the Hadith is reported , 5. the nature of the text and isnad, 6. a hidden defect found in the isnad or text of a hadith, 7. the reliability and memory of the reporters.
According to most scholars of Hadith, the final verdict on a Hadith based on the above sum up to the following grade or strength of a reported Hadith :
1. sahih (sound), 2. hasan (good), 3. da’if (weak) or 4. maudu’ (fabricated, forged)
“A sahih Hadith is the one which has a continuous isnad, made up of reporters of trustworthy memory from similar authorities, and which is found to be free from any irregularities (i.e. in the text) or defects (i.e. in the isnad).” Ibn al-Salah.
Hasan Al-Tirmidhi defines a hasan Hadith as one which is not shadhdh (irregular), nor contains a dubious reporter in its isnad, and which is reported through more than one route of narration. A Hadith which does not pass the test of a hasan Hadith is a da’if Hadith. A discontinuity in isnad is a causative factor in making a Hadith da’if. The greater the defects/discontinuity in magnitude and frequency, the closer a Hadith phases into a maudu’ (fabricated ) Hadith. Technically, a maudu’ Hadith is one where the matn (the textual contents) is inconsistent with the we;; established norms and nature of the Prophet’s sayings, or involving a reporter in isnad who was a liar. There is a consensus among scholars of the Hadith that Bukhari stand out as the most respected of the collectors and narrators of the sahih Hadith followed by Sahih Muslim, but while Muslim would include a reporter who was simply found out to be a contemporary to his immediate authority in reporting, Bukhari would opt for those reporters who had met with each other at least once in their lifetime.
The following six compilers of the sahih Hadith (also known as the Six Correct Compilations) have between them a staggering number of Ahadith considering the stupendous numbers of all kinds of reported Ahadith from which these authenticated collections have been sifted and compiled:
1. Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Ismai’il al Buhari (194AH/81OAD – 256AH/870AD)
2. Abu Hasan Muslim bin Hajjaj al Qushairi (204AH/820 –261AH/875AD)
3. Abu Abdullah Muhammad binYazid bin Majah al Quzwini (209AH/825 – 273AH/886)
4. Abu Da’ud Sulaiman bin al Ash’ath As Sajistani (202AH/818AD – 275AH/888AD)
5. Abu Isa Muhammad bin Isa Tirmidhi (209AH/825AD- 279AH/892AD)
6. Abu Abdur Rahman Ahmad bin Shuayb an Nasa’i (214AH/829AD – 303AH/916AD).
Despite all these monumental works left as legacies by these towering personalities, serious doubts and cynicism remain. The science of Hadith have stagnated over the centuries and still smarting under the influences of the most vociferous of its critics, both Muslims and non-Muslim. There appears to have emerged a polarization of beliefs bordering more on emotions and dogmas than on an appeal to reason. There are people who would assert that refusing to accept a single narrative from either Bukhari or Muslim would instantly render any Muslim a most deviated one while there is no dearth of people who would go to the other extreme of questioning whether the so-called “authentic Ahadith are indeed what the Prophet of Islam said and did since he never entertained any idea of his traditions being compiled for any future use. The hard truth evidently lies somewhere in between.
There can be no second thought on what the Quran commands the Muslims to do. Consider the various Ayats of the Quran that emphatically tells what they should do:
“Ye have indeed in the Messenger of Allah an excellent exemplar.” (33:21)
“So take what the Messenger gives you and, and refrain from what he prohibits you. ” (59:7)
“He who obeys the Messenger, obeys Allah.” (4:80)
“But no by thy Lord, they can have no (real)faith until they make thee judge in all disputes between them.” (4:65)
“It is He Who has sent amongst the unlettered a messenger from among themselves, to rehearse to them His sign, to purify them, and to instruct them in the Book. “(62:2)
Which book (other than the Quran) do you think our Prophet sought his instructions from? What teaching was he going to impart to the Ummah other than what was contained in the Quran? Which other person in the whole wide world could better instruct what was in the Quran? And finally, how would he have taught us if he had not lived the life he lived from the time he first began to receive Allah’s Revelation down to his last breath in this ephemeral world.
This having said, let us not overdo it. We should be accepting the Hadith as it should be accepted – an additional albeit complementary exposition of what is contained in the Quran. If there are any douhts about a particular tradition, the guideline is succinctly clear, the Quran takes precedence over the concerned Hadith. This is precisely what the Prophet asked us to do :
“After me, many ahadith will come to you. If any report is attributed to me, evaluate it in the light of the Quran. If it is in accordance with the Quran, accept it, otherwise reject it.”
A real authentic Hadith cannot therefore contradict the Quran, believing otherwise is going beyond the realm of the religion or ‘Deen’.
What remains for the Ummah to do is to resume the incomplete work of screening out and the flawed Ahadith and “codifying a single authorized corpus of authentic traditions by a body of competent scholars representing the entire Islamic world.
Meanwhile, we should start embracing what are basically Quran-validated Hadith and re-ordering our lives on the precepts set by the Last Messenger of Allah.
–Rediscovering The Quran
The word ‘Hadith’ lends itself to a rich variety of meanings depending on the context in which this word is used. It could mean narration, as when the Quran narrates a particular event or a situation:
“That day (the world) will narrate its annals.” (99.4)
It could refer to a discourse, as when the Quran speaks with consternation:
“Is it such a Message which ye would hold in light esteem ?” (56.81)
… the Bounty of thy Lord rehearse and proclaim” (93.11)
Or it could allude to a particular story, legend or role:
“Has the story reached thee of the honoured guests of Ibrahim.” (51.24)
“Has the story of Musa reached thee.” (79.15)
The Quran also uses the word Hadith when it puts words in the mouth of the Prophet Muhammad (Sm) when he consoles his dear friend and companion Abu Bakar (Ra) in a cave they were hiding from fear of pursuit by the enemies of Islam,
“when these two were (hiding) in the cave, (and) the Apostle said to his companion, ‘Grieve not : verily Allah is with us’ … ” (9.40)
The Quranic Revelations tasked Prophet Muhammad (Sm) with the responsibility of proclaiming Allah’s Message to the whole of mankind:
“… And upon you (too) have We bestowed this reminder so that you might make clear unto mankind all that has ever been thus bestowed upon them and they might reflect.” (16.44) ” …. and teach you the Book and Wisdom and what you did not know: “(2.151)
This, the Prophet faithfully did as he continued to receive the Revelation, warned, reminded and instructed mankind and served as a role model until the last day of his life.
In the literal sense, Hadith means what happens later as opposed to the idea of what happened before (qadim – or the former). In the context of the preceding paragraph, Hadith would imply explaining and elucidating all that happened or came before (meaning the Quranic Revelation). In the religious and technical sense therefore, Hadith refers to the report of words and deeds, approval or disapproval of Prophet Muhammad (Sm) as these relate to the explanation and elucidation in details of the Quranic teachings and injunctions. The word Hadith is also used synonymously with Sunnah, with the latter referring simply to the deeds of the Prophet while the former involves his reported statements.
The use of the word Hadith can also be traced to statement of Prophet Muhammad (Sm) (Tirmidhi reporting on the authority of Zayd bin Thabit):
May Allah bestow freshness upon one who listens Hadith from me and conveys it to others, and to the statement of the faithful companions (Sahaabah) of the Prophet, when Sahih Bukhari reports that once Abu Hurairah (Ra) told the Prophet : I listen to many Hadith from you, (but) I forget.
It is a sad commentary on the state of Islamic faith that a seemingly needless controversy have sucked in quite a significant number of followers of the faith into a belief that Hadith is redundant since the Quran explains everything and that nothing else is needed. These people argue that Hadiths are simply sayings and doings of the Prophet as narrated by persons located in distant lands several centuries after the demise of the Prophet and where such narrations are traced to a “chains of narrators” culminating in the companions of Prophet Muhammad. They further argue that no mention of these Hadith (authentic or otherwise) occur in the Quran and that unlike the Quran, there is no Divine Protection offered to such Hadiths.
As evidence to back their claim the following Ayats from the Quran are invoked:
“Allah has sent down the very best discourse in the form of Book consistent with itself repeating its teaching in various aspect …” (39.23)
“There is not an example they (the rejecters of faith) advance to which We do not give you a right answer and better explanation.” (25.33)
The same people also allude to the practice of the Prophet in discouraging the transcending of his words and deeds, and in one such saying, he is reported to have said:
Do not write any Hadith. Whoever writes the Ahadith (plural of Hadith) in addition to the Quran, it is incumbent on him to delete them. However, the Hadith may be (orally) conveyed and there is nothing wrong in it. Whoever intentionally attributes false report to me should make his abode in fire.
Finally, the adherents of this group argue that what the Prophet left for mankind is not a book of Hadith, he left for them only the Quran which alone suffices for everything.
Apparently, these sound like powerful logic and strong pieces of arguments. But like its very nature logical argument can cut both ways and not infrequently one may end up accepting bizarre but logical situations that distract from the main issue at hand. What is perhaps missing in these lines of thoughts is a fine balance between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. Islam consistently tows the golden mean and teaches us moderation, justice and fairness.
So when it is argued that the Quran has an answer to everything, it is taken too literally. Yes it does have a solution to fundamental problems faced by humanity given the basic nature of man and his propensities. But if we were to look for specific details in the ordinary business of life and living we would not find it.
The second set of arguments establishing the redundancy or the unreliability of Hadith is based on the fact that the tradition of collecting and compiling the sayings and doings of the Prophet began several centuries after the death of Prophet Muhammad (Sm) and the practice originated from Persia. The fact that the Hadith was not transcribed in the same zeal with which the Quranic Revelations were done in the life time of the Prophet was attributable not only to the explicit reluctance on the part of Prophet Muhammad (although there have been instances where he did not object to some of his companions writing them – as when some had a weak memory) to have it transcribed, but also perhaps from the urgency to avoid taxing the loyalty of the Muslim Ummah in attaching varying importance to his words as against the words of Allah. He did not want his Urnmah to repeat the same mistake of the Jews and Christians of establishing a likely supremacy of a secondary document over that which was originally revealed to earlier prophets. In other words he did not want the Quran to suffer the same fate as the Torah and the Injeel did. He also decried the divinity which Christians imposed on Prophet Isa (As) (Jesus) and naturally did not want the Muslims to do the same to him. He was very categorical and emphatic on how his sayings and doings were to be interpreted by the Ummah:
“After me, many Ahadith will come to you. If any report is attributed to me, evaluate it in the light of the Quran. If it is in accordance with the Quran, accept it, otherwise reject it.” It therefore comes as no surprise to find virtually nothing documented (the Hadith) during the life time of the Prophet. All of the traditions remain circulated and rolled by word of mouth by those companions who were nearest to him. The companions of the Prophet were fiercely faithful to their faith and unflinching loyalty to their teacher. They would vie with one another in practicing piety and righteousness all for the sake of Allah’s Good Pleasure and a heavenly abode in the Hereafter. They were also fearful of the reminder from their teacher not to falsify any Hadith attributed to him.
But there were imminent signs that the nagging fears of the Prophet (Sm) were to unfold in the coming centuries. Things were not really the same after the demise of the Prophet. Old rivalries re-ignited and old scores were sought to be settled. Mischief mongers were there in plenty, and it gave everybody literally a free hand in getting back at the now rapidly emerging faith. The practice of fabricating and adding spurious Ahadith received a great spur in the reign of Khalifa Umar bin Abdul Aziz when Ibn Hihab Zuhri not happy with the phenomenal rise of Islam forced the Khalifa to order a compilation of Ahadith. Zuhri found in such compilation a secure avenue to introduce legally many concocted traditions of the Prophet. But there were other reasons why fabricated Ahadith crept in. Suhaib Hassan, a scholar lists them as follows:
1. political differences; 2. factions based on issues of creed; 3. fabrications by zanadiqah (enemies-within spreading heretical beliefs);
4. fabrications by story-tellers; 5. fabrications by ignorant ascetics; 6. prejudice in favour of town, race or a particular Imam; 7. inventions for personal motives; 8. proverbs turned into ahadith.
It was not until sufficient damage was done by these spurious Ahadith that Islamic scholars alarmed by the growing trend began to take remedial measures. What followed was a vigorous framework for testing the authenticity of a Hadith. Their effort was the forerunner of the exacting science of Hadith.
Muslim scholars working on determining the authenticity of a reported tradition of the Prophet came up with two major criteria:
(a) checking the isnad or the chain of reporters and their reliability, and (b) checking the matn on the texual contents of the reported tradition.
While a particular matn may sound reasonably correct but without an authentic isnad it cannot pass the test of reliability. As ‘Abdullah b. al-Mubarak (d. 181 AH), the illustrious teacher of Imam al Bukhari opined: “Isnad is part of the religion: had it not been for the isnad, whoever wished would have said whatever he liked”.
The literature on Hadith also contain a rich array of classificatory schemes based on the following distinctions :
1. the reference to a particular authority , 2. the links in the isnad, 3. the number of reporters involved in each stage of the isnad , 4. the manner in which the Hadith is reported , 5. the nature of the text and isnad, 6. a hidden defect found in the isnad or text of a hadith, 7. the reliability and memory of the reporters.
According to most scholars of Hadith, the final verdict on a Hadith based on the above sum up to the following grade or strength of a reported Hadith :
1. sahih (sound), 2. hasan (good), 3. da’if (weak) or 4. maudu’ (fabricated, forged)
“A sahih Hadith is the one which has a continuous isnad, made up of reporters of trustworthy memory from similar authorities, and which is found to be free from any irregularities (i.e. in the text) or defects (i.e. in the isnad).” Ibn al-Salah.
Hasan Al-Tirmidhi defines a hasan Hadith as one which is not shadhdh (irregular), nor contains a dubious reporter in its isnad, and which is reported through more than one route of narration. A Hadith which does not pass the test of a hasan Hadith is a da’if Hadith. A discontinuity in isnad is a causative factor in making a Hadith da’if. The greater the defects/discontinuity in magnitude and frequency, the closer a Hadith phases into a maudu’ (fabricated ) Hadith. Technically, a maudu’ Hadith is one where the matn (the textual contents) is inconsistent with the we;; established norms and nature of the Prophet’s sayings, or involving a reporter in isnad who was a liar. There is a consensus among scholars of the Hadith that Bukhari stand out as the most respected of the collectors and narrators of the sahih Hadith followed by Sahih Muslim, but while Muslim would include a reporter who was simply found out to be a contemporary to his immediate authority in reporting, Bukhari would opt for those reporters who had met with each other at least once in their lifetime.
The following six compilers of the sahih Hadith (also known as the Six Correct Compilations) have between them a staggering number of Ahadith considering the stupendous numbers of all kinds of reported Ahadith from which these authenticated collections have been sifted and compiled:
1. Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Ismai’il al Buhari (194AH/81OAD – 256AH/870AD)
2. Abu Hasan Muslim bin Hajjaj al Qushairi (204AH/820 –261AH/875AD)
3. Abu Abdullah Muhammad binYazid bin Majah al Quzwini (209AH/825 – 273AH/886)
4. Abu Da’ud Sulaiman bin al Ash’ath As Sajistani (202AH/818AD – 275AH/888AD)
5. Abu Isa Muhammad bin Isa Tirmidhi (209AH/825AD- 279AH/892AD)
6. Abu Abdur Rahman Ahmad bin Shuayb an Nasa’i (214AH/829AD – 303AH/916AD).
Despite all these monumental works left as legacies by these towering personalities, serious doubts and cynicism remain. The science of Hadith have stagnated over the centuries and still smarting under the influences of the most vociferous of its critics, both Muslims and non-Muslim. There appears to have emerged a polarization of beliefs bordering more on emotions and dogmas than on an appeal to reason. There are people who would assert that refusing to accept a single narrative from either Bukhari or Muslim would instantly render any Muslim a most deviated one while there is no dearth of people who would go to the other extreme of questioning whether the so-called “authentic Ahadith are indeed what the Prophet of Islam said and did since he never entertained any idea of his traditions being compiled for any future use. The hard truth evidently lies somewhere in between.
There can be no second thought on what the Quran commands the Muslims to do. Consider the various Ayats of the Quran that emphatically tells what they should do:
“Ye have indeed in the Messenger of Allah an excellent exemplar.” (33:21)
“So take what the Messenger gives you and, and refrain from what he prohibits you. ” (59:7)
“He who obeys the Messenger, obeys Allah.” (4:80)
“But no by thy Lord, they can have no (real)faith until they make thee judge in all disputes between them.” (4:65)
“It is He Who has sent amongst the unlettered a messenger from among themselves, to rehearse to them His sign, to purify them, and to instruct them in the Book. “(62:2)
Which book (other than the Quran) do you think our Prophet sought his instructions from? What teaching was he going to impart to the Ummah other than what was contained in the Quran? Which other person in the whole wide world could better instruct what was in the Quran? And finally, how would he have taught us if he had not lived the life he lived from the time he first began to receive Allah’s Revelation down to his last breath in this ephemeral world.
This having said, let us not overdo it. We should be accepting the Hadith as it should be accepted – an additional albeit complementary exposition of what is contained in the Quran. If there are any douhts about a particular tradition, the guideline is succinctly clear, the Quran takes precedence over the concerned Hadith. This is precisely what the Prophet asked us to do :
“After me, many ahadith will come to you. If any report is attributed to me, evaluate it in the light of the Quran. If it is in accordance with the Quran, accept it, otherwise reject it.”
A real authentic Hadith cannot therefore contradict the Quran, believing otherwise is going beyond the realm of the religion or ‘Deen’.
What remains for the Ummah to do is to resume the incomplete work of screening out and the flawed Ahadith and “codifying a single authorized corpus of authentic traditions by a body of competent scholars representing the entire Islamic world.
Meanwhile, we should start embracing what are basically Quran-validated Hadith and re-ordering our lives on the precepts set by the Last Messenger of Allah.
–Rediscovering The Quran
