Encyclopedia about Hadith Inventions

Dozen reasons why Muslims should follow
the Quran and nothing but the Quran

1- The Quran contains clear commands to all Muslims to follow the Quran Alone, and reject all hadith. The Arabic word hadith in general means all human sayings, narrations, talk, stories., etc. In a more specific sense, the word 'hadith' refers to the personal sayings of the prophet Muhammad, and is regarded by the majority of scholars to be the second source of law after the Quran. This is despite the clear command given in the Quran to follow the Quran alone and reject all hadith. The following are examples:

- "These are God's revelations (Quran) that We recite to you truthfully. In which hadith other than God and His revelations (Quran) do they believe?" 45:6

- "Shall I seek other than God as a source of law, when He has revealed to you this book fully detailed?" 6:114

- "This scripture (Quran) has been revealed to you - you shall not harbour doubt about it in your heart - that you may warn with it, and to provide a reminder for the believers. You shall all follow what is revealed to you from your Lord; do not follow any idols besides Him. Rarely do you take heed." 7:2-3

- "Among the people, there are those who uphold baseless hadith, and thus divert others from the path of God without knowledge, and take it in vain. These have incurred a shameful retribution.

And when our revelations (Quran) are recited to the one of them, he turns away in arrogance as if he never heard them, as if his ears are deaf. Promise him a painful retribution." 31:6-7

2- The word 'sunna' which is used in the Quran, means the way of doing things or methodology. Millions of Muslims today have been brought up to believe that all Muslims should follow the Quran and also the sunna of the prophet Muhammad.

However, the Quran confirms that the only sunna is the sunna of God. No where in the Quran is there any mention of a sunna for Muhammad!

"You will find that the sunna of Allah is the only sunna" (33:62....35:43.....48:23)

3- The Quran confirms that the only duty of Muhammad (or of any messenger) is to deliver God's message. Messengers are not sent to advocate their own personal teachings. They are called messengers of God because they deliver a message from God.

"The only duty of the messenger is to deliver God's message" 5:99

The same message is found in 5:92, 16:35, 16:82, 24:54, 29:18, 42:48 and 64:12.

4- God commands the believers to obey God and obey the messenger, but God also makes sure that the obedience to the messenger is linked to obeying the message he delivered and nothing else. Obeying the messenger does not mean that the messenger issued additional teachings outside of the Quran.

The confirmation that the obedience of the messenger is linked to obeying the message he delivered (the Quran) is confirmed in the following verse:

"Obey God and obey the messenger. If you shall turn away then the sole duty of the messenger is to deliver the message (the Quran)" 64:12

Note how the obedience to the messenger and the deliverance of the Quran are linked in the same verse. For more details on the meaning of "obey the messenger" please go to: Obey God and obey the messenger

5- We never read any where in the Quran words like 'Obey God and obey Muhammad' or obey Jesus, or Moses. The words always say "the messenger". This is to emphasise that what is to be obeyed is the message of the messenger and not his personal words.

6- The Quran also confirms that Muhammad was commanded not to teach any other teachings, otherwise he would incur severe punishment from God:

"It (the Quran) is a revelation from the Lord of the universe. Had he (Muhammad) uttered any other teachings, We would have grabbed him by the right, and We would have severed his Wateen (Major artery of the heart), none of you could have helped him." 69:43-47

7- Muhammad was made to swear that the only revelation he received from God was the Quran. This exposes all the allegations which claim that Muhammad received revelations from God independent of the Quran, and which is referred to as 'Hadith Al-Qudsy' (sacred hadith).

"Say (O Muhammad) what is of the greatest testimony? Say: God is the witness between me and you, and this Quran has been inspired to me, that I may warn you and whomever it reaches" 6:19

If the 'Hadith Al-Qudsy' was truly a revelation received by Muhammad from God (as is falsely claimed) we would expect the Quran, being fully detailed, to include such confirmation. Needless to say, no where in the Quran is there any indication that Muhammad received anything from God other than the Quran.

8- Prophet Muhammad himself commanded his people not to write his hadith, this is documented in the collection of 'Muslim' and other books:

"Do not write down anything from me except the Quran. Whoever writes other than that should delete it" (Ahmed Ibn Hanbal, Vol. 1, page 171 also Sahih Muslim, Book 42, Number 7147)

9- For the first 150 years to 200 years after the death of the prophet, and in accordance to his commands, the writing of his hadith was forbidden. The first one to document a comprehensive collection of hadith was Al-Bukhari, note that Al-Bukhari was born in the year 194 After Hijrah. What this means is that the first of what is regarded as authentic hadith (sahih) to be compiled was written more than two whole centuries after the death of the Prophet!

Even if we were to follow the hadith (something which is clearly prohibited in the Quran), we would still be faced with the question: how accurate can a collection of sayings documented two centuries after the death of the Prophet be?

Please see: Chinese Whispers

10- God commands the Prophet in the Quran to say that he is infallible in the revelation he delivers, but that he may commit errors in his personal words and hadith:

"Say: If I err, I err because of my shortcomings, and if I am rightly guided it is due to the revelation I receive from my Lord" 34:50

In spite of the above confirmation of the fallibility of the Prophet, together with six incidents in the Quran where the Prophet was reprimanded by God for errors he committed, still the ones who idolise the Prophet claim that Muhammad was infallible! The six incidents are found in 8:67-68, 9:43, 9:113-114, 33:37, 66:1 and 80:1-11.

11- The Quran confirms that for every prophet there will be enemies of human and jinn devils who will fabricate fancy sayings (hadith) and attribute them to the Prophet to deceive the people:

"We have permitted the enemies of every prophet, human and jinn devils, to inspire in each other fancy sayings, in order to deceive" 6:112

God also asserts that only the disbelievers will uphold such fabrications (see 6:113).

12- Finally, the Quran contains everything the genuine believer needs for the following reasons:

A- The Quran is complete and does not need an annex:

"The word of your Lord is complete in truth and justice" 6:115

B- The Quran is not in need of an explanatory supplement since it is clear and is not ambiguous:

"A.L.R. These are the signs of the clear book" 12:1

"We have made it (the Quran) easy to understand and in your own tongue (language) may you take heed." 44:58

C- The Quran is not in need of a correction manual since it is perfect and harbours no contradictions:

"A.L.R. This is a book whose verses have been perfected" 11:1

D- The Quran is not in need of a 'details' supplement since it is fully detailed:

"Shall I seek other than God as a source of law, when He has revealed to you this book fully detailed?" 6:114

For all these reasons, all Muslims should follow the Quran, the whole Quran and nothing but the Quran.

Praise God