Which hadith besides the Qur’an do they believe in?

 

Which hadith besides the Qur’an do they believe in?

 

Does the Qu’ran contain instructions to deny all information outside of the qur’an? The disciples of the Qur’an only movement argue that the holy writ does people explicitly to disregard hadith. They often quote Dr. Rashad Khalifa’s translation wherein it is asked “in which hadith do they believe in other than the Qur’an?” This question appears in multiple forms in the following verses: 7:185, 45:6, 52:34 and 77:50.  Is the Qur’an making this statement to deny any hadith besides the Qur’an? Our discussion of the four verses will seek to understand if the common Qur’anist interpretations line up with a contextual analysis.

 

[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?

 

We first encounter the question “Which hadith do they believe in?” with Surah Araf. We are encountered in 7:185 with a question about divine providence in the universe that a believer should note when the world is contemplated.  With the vastness of the heavens and the short life span of human beings we should note that there must be something more to the world than what the foolish attribute to it. It is obvious when it is asked, “Which Hadith, beside this, do they believe in?” that “besides this” refers only to the Qur’an. What does the Qur’an have in mind that it is juxtaposing itself to a hadith? The context makes this clear. “[7:182] As for those who reject our revelations, we lead them on without them ever realizing it.” We are told that the Qur’an has something to say about the rejectors and their claim that the Prophet was crazy (ibid 184.)  It is the context of encountering rejectors of divine revelation that 7:185 seeks to elucidate.  The verse is essentially asking us to complete the universe for God’s signs.  The Qur’an is our guide to understand the world and our purpose in it. By asking the disbelievers “which hadith” do they believe in besides the Qur’an, they are being asked if they have a better explanation for the world. What information do they have to counter the message of the Qur’an?

 

45:6] These are GOD's revelations that we recite to you truthfully. In which Hadith other than GOD and His revelations do they believe?

Dr. Rashad Khalifa believes Surah jathiyah 45:6 is antagonistic to hadith when it is asked “in which hadith other than God and His revelations do they believe?”  Dr. Khalifa writes in the footnote to the verse, “God condemns "Hadith" by name, and informs us that it is a blasphemous fabrication.” But the context to the discussion appears just as we saw in Surah araf. “[45:5] Also, the alternation of the night and the day, and the provisions that GOD sends down from the sky to revive dead lands, and the manipulation of the winds; all these are proofs for people who understand.” The verse right before Surah 45:6 asks us to reflect on the world at large. Earlier we noted the vase expanse of the universe but here in surah 45 we are talking about the movement in time. Just as we see a change from the night till day in a continuous cycle and we see the change of seasons as reflected by the earth’s vegetation, we should understand our place in the cycle of things.  In 45:3 the Qur’an says that the world is “full proof” for believers.  Yet the disbelievers do not listen and must be warned of a painful retribution 45:8.

 

If the disbelievers deny God’s signs in the universe than what else do they have to offer as an explanation? Which other hadith do they believe in?  Obviously, a hadith talking about the Prophet’s interactions with people has nothing to do with what type of “hadith” the Qur’an has in mind. The Qur’an is asking the unbeliever for an alternative explanation. Perhaps one can be sought in a popular atheist publication. The challenge is there just as we saw in surah Araf.

 

What about Dr. Khalifa’s footnote where he alleges “God condemns hadith by name.”  Dr. Khalifa must have read the Qur’an in the most superficial or deceptive manner to come up with this conclusion. We have discussed earlier how hadith has a range in meanings. The Qur’an is called the best hadith. Dreams are called hadith and accepted as valid information.  The Qur’an condemns “vain hadith.” The previous scriptures has stories referred to as hadith.  We see that hadith has a vast amount of meaning that all deal with information of one sort or another. The highest level of hadith is the qur’an itself which is highly praised. Lower levels of hadith include other types of revelation such as dreams, intuition but any information such as a book or a book of hadiths would be included in category of hadith.  The Qur’an obviously does not condemn all these categories of hadith but only the lowest categories.  That every “ hadith is condemned by name” is false. Nor is the Qur’an even discussing the type of hadiths that are attributed to the prophet and the companions, as we discussed above.

[52:34] Let them produce a Hadith like this, if they are truthful.

 

Surah Tour presents us with a challenge to produce a hadith like the Qur’an in 52:34.  Dr. Khalifa writes in the subtitle on top of the verse ,” "Mohammedans" Challenge God and Produce Hadith.” He evidently thinks the “hadiths” mentioned here are the same hadiths of the writings of the narration collections attributed to the prophet and early personalities. Is this really so?

 

The context for 52:34 provides us with the frame for the discussion.  On the allegations made against the Prophet ,” you are neither a soothsayer, nor crazy” (52:29.) The allegation that the Prophet was mentally unsound is mentioned a couple of times in the Qur’an. The disbelievers call the Prophet a “poet.” (ibid 30) The disbelievers doubt the prophet’s mission so strongly they advise each other to wait for his death. The Qur’an tells the prophet to respond that he will wait with them.  52:31.  The Qur’an asks the disbelievers furthermore if they allege the prophet forged the revelation.  The disbelievers are asked if the universe was created from nothing or if they themselves contributed to their creation(ibid 35)

 

The question, “which hadith” do they believe, is a challenge to the disbelievers just as the previous verses were. We are asked to contemplate the creation of the universe and this time the prophet’s mission specifically.  When the Qur’an asks if people really believe it is a forgery we are asked to contemplate the verses themselves so we can ascertain the truth for ourselves.

 

The question “which hadith.. like the Qur”an” is similar to another question we see mentioned several times in the holy writ. [2:23] If you have any doubt regarding what we revealed to our servant,* then produce one sura like these, and call upon your own witnesses against GOD, if you are truthful.” The challenge to produce a work like the Qur’an is well known. The challenges to produce a work of information are one and the same.  There is no reason to believe the vast amount of orthodox Muslims are being challenged with any of these verses.

 

And of Dr. Khalifa’s subtitle to 52:31 “Mohammedans" Challenge God and Produce Hadith” ? Obviously,52:31 is not a challenge to the believers in hadith. The verse is a challenge to the disbelievers in the Qur’an’s revelation.  The disbelievers deny the divine origins of the planet and the existence of revelation. The so-called Mohammedans deny neither.  The subject matter of the hadith books hardly deal with matters of creation and revelation. The hadith books are mostly records about worship, ethical dealings, applied jurisprudence, etc.

 

[77:50] Which Hadith, other than this, do they uphold?

 

The last verse of Surah Musalaat asks “Which hadith” other than this(quran) do they uphold.  We ask who is the Qur’an talking to? The previous verse 77:49 warns the rejectors of truth and those that refuse to bow down (ibid 48.) The refusal to bow before God is a trademark of Satan.  The question posed to the disbelievers is the same question posed as the other verses  proclaim.  It is not a question for people who believe in the Qur’an and also hadiths.

 

As we saw in our analysis of the above verses, the challenge to the disbelievers does not have anything to do with juxtaposing Qur’an with “hadiths” of the canonical type in the way Dr. Khalfia wants us to believe.  To claim that the “hadith” being attacked in the Qur’an refers to the modern hadith collections (Which didn’t exist at the time of the Prophet) is anachronistic as we learned. Hadith has an expansive meaning in the Qur’an and not all hadiths are condemned.  The hadith referred to in these challenges are specific information juxtaposed to what the Qur’an is saying. In other words, if the Qur’an is saying that the world was crate by God then what information do disbelievers have to counter the divine claim?  Aside from contradictory hadith, the vast majority of hadith are congruent with the information in the Qur’an or have nothing to do with the subject matter. Obviously the claim of being congruent has nothing to do with the authenticity of hadith.  But there is no reason to conclude that the canonical hadiths are being challenged here.  Although any work that contradicts the Qur’an should be disputed.

 

If one wants to ask the question, “which hadith do they believe in?” outside of the context of the Quranic discussion then that is their right.  I would agree with the Quranists that the above verses could be used to argue against hadith and any other information that contradicts the Qur’an. But to juxtapose those Quranic questions to any and all information outside of the Qur’an is out of place and incoherent. If the Qur’an denied all outside information there would be more proof of this throughout the Qur’an. But the Qur’an never denies every source of information. The Qur’an as the Furqan is the means of discernment between good and bad information. Therefor if the Quranists ask “which hadith do you believe in” other than Qur’an then the response is any information is believed which is congruent with the Qur’an.