Does Quran forbid hadith?

 

        Does Quran forbid hadith?

 

Many people who consider themselves  Qu’an only followers (or Quranists) disregard hadith for any theological purpose. The people who constitute Quransits have a wide variety of beliefs and man do not have a clear ideological agenda. There are a small group of Quranists group that take a stronger stance against hadith however. They aregue that not only should hadith be disregarded but that hadith is forbidden by the Qur’an Dr. Rashad Khalifa and his students argued that hadith is a satanic innovation.  To make their point Dr. Khalifa and his followers argued that the Qur’an explicitly forbids hadith from use. Furthermore, they argue that the use of hadith constitutes idolatry. Does the Qur’an forbid the use of hadith?  We will explore the arguments of the Quranists.

 

The start of our enquiry demands it appropriate we define out terms. What is a hadith? A hadith is considered for a narration that records the words and actions attributed to the Prophet Muhammad.  This is the definition of hadith that is widespread for colloquial in Arabic and other languages. A hadith in this context may have a broader meaning to include sayings and actions of companions, without reference to the Prophet. There are many such hadiths included in the popular “sahih” books that are considered hadith despite not having the Prophet mentioned as a source.  In any case this definition of hadith as a narration that refers to the Prophet is the one subject of debate between Quranists and everyone else.  This definition of hadith however as information that refers in some way to the Prophet Muhammad is a limited definition that developed at some time in history.  Before there was a Bukhari or Muwatta collection, the word hadith had a more expansive definition.  Therefore, we are obligated to seek a more expansive understanding of hadith that won’t get trapped in  anachronistic reasoning. Would the Prophet and his companions understand our use of the word hadith in the same way? No.

 

What is the definition of hadith according to the Qur’an?How the Qur’an and people contemporary to the Qur’an’s revelation are vital to understand the meaning of hadith. The Qur’an provides a number  of examples for us. We should review them and then come up with a general idea on how we can understand hadith based on the Qur’an alone.

The way that Rashad Khalifa and his followers understand hadith is what most of us are concerned with. There are verses in the Qur’an that refer to information outside the Quran as hadith. These references appear to be negative. We will cite verses that Dr. Khalifa used for arguments against hadith.  “ [7:185] Have they not looked at the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and all the things GOD has created? Does it ever occur to them that the end of their life may be near? Which Hadith, beside this, do they believe in?”, “[77:50] Which Hadith, other than this, do they uphold?” [31:6] The previous two verses require more comment but just need to be told for now. Another verse speaks about “baseless” hadith. 31:6 “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. “        Surely, if a hadith is baseless it could not have much value. The above verses are listed in Quranists polemics.

 

But the Qur’an does not limit the definition of hadith to this outside information.  In fact, the  Qur’an refers to itself as hadith:”[39:23] GOD has revealed herein the best Hadith; a book that is consistent, and points out both ways (to Heaven and Hell). The skins of those who reverence their Lord cringe therefrom, then their skins and their hearts soften up for GOD's message. Such is GOD's guidance; He bestows it upon whomever He wills. As for those sent astray by GOD, nothing can guide them.” The Qur’an is called the best hadith. The Quranists are aware of verses like this and cite them as evidence against hadith they do not like (Bukhari, sunan hadith,etc.) The Qur’an tells us how bad it is to reject a hadith such as the holy writ : 68:44] Therefore, let Me deal with those who reject this Hadith; we will lead them on whence they never perceive.”   If the Qur’an is hadith then obviously not all hadith is bad. The Qur’an is included in the definition of hadith and therefore a more expansive definition of hadith is required.

 

The references to the past prophets are found throughout the Qur’an. “51:24] Have you noted the history of Abraham's honorable guests?” The story about Abraham and his guests is found in the book of Genesis, the first book of the Torah. Elsewhere the Qur’an makes mention of Moses “[20:9] Have you noted the history of Moses?” This verse also references the Torah. Both of the cited verses use the word “hadth” in arabic to refer to the narration of those stories which are found in the bible. The use of the word “hadith” is positive in these cases. The Qur’an is making reference to the stories from previous scriptures to teach a lesson to the readers.  The use of the term hadith may not be known to followers of Dr. Khalifa because he  did not choose to leave the word “hadith” untranslated in these cases. However, students of the Qur’an even with minimal knowledge would be aware that references to biblical stories are marked by the term hadith. It is therefor evident that a type of hadith exists outside of the Qur’an which has a positive nature.  The Qur’an is referencing the Torah and other books of the bible like the Gospels or Zubor to prove a point. But for the Qur’an to use these stories the reader is expected to accept the validity of the stories to the degree that the Qur’an deems necessarily.  If all hadith, other than Qur’an, were deemed false than the Qur’an would not use the term “hadith” to refer to previous revelatory dispensations.

 

References to the bible are not the only information that the Qur’an refers to as hadith.  “[12:6] "Your Lord has thus blessed you, and has given you good news through your dream. He has perfected His blessings upon you and upon the family of Jacob, as He did for your ancestors Abraham and Isaac before that. Your Lord is Omniscient, Most Wise." There is a whole Surah in the Qur’an entitled Joseph. The prophet Joseph was recognized as an interpreter of dreams. The verse in the original arabic uses the word hadith to refer to dreams in fact.  Again in the same chapter we read “[12:21] The one who bought him in Egypt said to his wife, "Take good care of him. Maybe he can help us, or maybe we can adopt him." We thus established Joseph on earth, and we taught him the interpretation of dreams. GOD's command is always done, but most people do not know.” The word hadith is used in the arabic to refer to dreams that must be interpreted.  Dreams share a rank in the information sources similar to that of biblical narrations in the view of the Qur’an.  Both these information sources are considered valid paths for knowledge. Both also serve to elucidate the passages in the Qur’an.   Dreams, like biblical narrations, are a source of information outside the Qur’an which are seen in a positive light and are thus referred to as “hadith.” We also should note that Dr. khalifa did not choose to interpret the word “hadith” to refer to dreams here.

 

One last example of the word “Hadith” in the Qur’an comes from Surah 66.” [66:3] The prophet had trusted some of his wives with a certain statement, then one of them spread it, and GOD let him know about it. He then informed his wife of part of the issue, and disregarded part. She asked him, "Who informed you of this?" He said, "I was informed by the Omniscient, Most Cognizant."   In this case the Prophet learned information directly from God concerning a matter with one of his wives.  The word hadith is use here in this verse. Pay attention to the words “He then informed his wife of part of the issue, and disregarded part.” The literal translation would be "he made known a part of it and avoided a part." Dr. Khalifa’s use of the word “issue” although not incorrect, does not reflect the plain meaning of the text.  The arabic word “part of it (badahu)” is referring to the arabic “hadith” in the same verse. Thus God gave the Prophet information (hadith) about something related to his wives. In that process of revelation some of the information (hadith) was invalidated but other parts of the information was deemed truthful. Thus we see that the Qur’an did not totally invalidate the “hadith” in question. Instead, the Qur’an affirmed part of the hadith and denied the other part. If al hadith was condemned by the Qur’an we would not expect to see such a statement like that of 66:3.

 

No where in the Qur’an does it explicitly reject hadith in general. There is no verse that says all hadith are bad. Dr. Khalifa and his followers constructed such claims by ignoring the way the Qur’an actually discusses hadith. There are times when hadith is accepted and other times when hadith is rejected. Ultimately, one could construct an argument against hadith independent of what the Qur’an says. But the claim of some Quranists, that all “hadith” is denied by Qur’an does not hold up to scrutiny.