QUR AN AND HADITH 

The Hadith Inevitably follows the Holy Qur'an. The two together furnish the fundamental law of Islam. It is appropriate, therefore, to begin with the importance of Hidith and the nature of its link with the Qur'an. At numerous places the Qur'an commands Muslims to obey the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him). It says, for Instance: "Whatsoever he forbids you, abstain from it” (59:7) Another verse expresses the same idea more forcefully. “Who so obeys the Messenger obeys Allah indeed" (4:80). These as well as other similar verses give us some idea of the Qur'anic concept of Hadith which is by no means an unimportant discipline, but is to be treated almost at a par with the Holy Qur'an. Take the example of an ambassador carrying a message of his master to another sovereign. It is obvious that the letter given to him will not carry much detail. In the discussion that follows on the subject every word uttered by an envoy would be taken as the word of his sovereign. The purpose in citing the example is to underline the fact that both the Qur'an and the Hadith are essentially the same thing. They carry an equal status. 

Yet another example will help elucidate this thesis more clearly. Suppose the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) is alive today. One of us goes to meet him and announces his conversion to Islam. Addressing the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him), he then proceeds to say: "The Qur'an is the word of God and I accept it. But the Hadith is your own word and I am not obliged to accept it or act on it. The result of such an assertion would be expulsion from the ummah. To say in the presence of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) that what he orders is his personal opinion and is not binding on a Muslim is tantamount to repudiating Islam. 

The status of an order given by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) is the same as that ot a command given by God. The difference between the two has arisen only because the process of collection, collation and preservation ot the Qur'an has been different from the one followed in respect of the Hadith. Thus, the problem that arises is that of authentication and investigation. There was no need of proof during the life of the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be to him). Whatever he uttered was surely seen to be his command. The problem arose only later. For example, I hear something from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) and relate it to you. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) is absolutely right but, as a human being, I have my human weaknesses. My memory can fail me. My understanding of his word can be faulty. It is possible that I did not hear the statement properly, perhaps owing to lack of requisite attention or owing to noise. In brief, there can be many a reason for inaccurate reporting. That is why the transmission of the Hadith after the death of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) does not possess that status of absolute certainty which the Qur'an does. The Qur'an was compiled personally by him. For its preservation he adopted measures which no other Prophet did. At least, no such example is offered by history. This is not the case, however, in regard to Hadith. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) did not pay it the attention that was given to the Qur'an. 

PROPHET'S SAYINGS AND REVELATION 

Everything that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) says is based on revelation. When he receives a revelation he makes no mistake in communicating it in its entirety. When he does not receive a revelation he simply waits because he has no control over it. God reveals when He desires; and when He does not, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) has no choice but to wait for he cannot pass on his own thoughts as the revealed truth. 

A Messenger can be a good example and a perfect model only if he remains within human bounds, i.e., he does what other human beings can do. If, on the contrary, he becomes a superman he will cease to be a good example for us. 

IMPORTANCE OF HADITH 

The importance of the Hadith is by no means less than that of the Qur'an. The only difference is that the Holy Qur'an has been preserved intact exactly in the same form as it existed fourteen hundred years ago in the days of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him). Not a word, not a letter, not even a dot has changed. This cannot be said about the Hadith. Scriptures similar to the Qur'an are found in other communities. The Jews, for example, have the Torah. Other nations also claim to possess revealed scriptures. But while we have examples of revealed books corresponding to the Qur'an, we do not see an example corresponding to the Hadith. Something similar exists in Buddhism but it does not enjoy the importance that we attach to Hadith. The basic scripture of Buddhism is somewhat like the sayings of a saint collected by his disciples. The sayings of Buddha have been collected by one person. But Hadith has been collected and narrated by different persons. This characteristic is conspicuous by its absence in others religions. The Hadith, then, is a *branch of knowledge whose equivalent is not to be found in other religions. Under the circumstances, therefore, the possibility of a comparative study does not exist. We shall have to content ourselves only with the history of the traditions of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him).  

Let us begin with a few technical terms. There is the word Hadith and there is the word Sunnah The two are almost synonymous. Both have the same meaning and convey the same thing i.e., the sayings of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him). An account of his actions falls in the same category e.g. someone states that he saw the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) do a certain act or say a certain thing. And also that which scholars describe as taqrir — i.e., tacit approval. These are matters which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) allowed by his silence. He saw, for example, a Companion perform a certain task and he did not stop him or kept quiet. His silence amounts to approval. It means that his silence can also become a source of Islamic law. It is the duty of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) to forbid evil. In brief, the Hadith comprises three elements, viz. the sayings of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him), his actions, and his tacit approval of a statement or action of someone else. The technical term for the third category is taqrir. 

The firs! two terms i.e. Hadith and the Sunnah were initially different but they are now synonymous. Hadith denotes speech or word, and Sunnah means 'the way of doing'. Now the word and deed have both become the same because the narrations of the Companions refer both to the sayings and the deeds of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him). It was difficult to deal separately with saying and deed. By usage, therefore, the expression Hadith and Sunnah now denote both the words and deeds of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him). The difference between the two has practically disappeared. 

There is a third category between the Qur'an and the Hadith and that is hadith qudsi. There is not much material difference between the two kinds of Hadith but to a degree both are to be treated separately. Hadith qudsi, too, is a tradition narrated by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him), but it always begins with the words "God says". This is an indication that the entire statement is based on revelation. We can agree that all statements of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) are based on Divine revelation. ("Nor does he speak out of his own desire. It is nothing but pure revelation that has been revealed by God.") (53:3-4). But in a narration where the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) himself begins the statement with "God says", the scholars accord it a superior status and record it as Hadith qudsi.

[Source: The Emergence of Islam by Muhammad Hamidullah]