The Status of the Sunnah according to the Qurʾan and the Arguments Against it Amongst the Qurʾan-Absolutists

Abstract

From the Islamic point of view, there are two major groups of sources of sharīʿah which are the primary sources and the secondary sources. In this regard, the sunnah of the Prophet is recognised as the second primary source of sharīʿah after the Qurʾan. In other words, many verses of the Qurʾan and the texts of the Prophetic ḥadīths have stated that the Qurʾan is the direct speech of Allah, whereas the Sunnah is the indirect one. Hence, it is very obvious that there is a strong link between the Qurʾan and the Sunnah. On the contrary, some people have argued that the Qurʾan is already perfect and complete; in which it contains every necessary law and regulation of the sharīʿah. Hence, this group of people believe that it is not compulsory and sensible to follow the Sunnah of Prophet PBUH. Moreover, according to the anti-Hadith movement, depending on the Sunnah apart from the Quran for legislation is equal to believing in other Gods besides Allah, or assigning partners to Allah. Therefore, this paper is aimed at clarifying and removing the confusions among true Muslims about these misleading arguments. In this regard, this paper argues that relying on the Sunnah together with the Qurʾan in Islamic legislation is definitely not equal to ascribing another partner to Allah or committing shirk. The people who follow the Sunnah besides the Qurʾan are following the commands of Allah to obey the Prophet PBUH. Additionally, this paper would also attempt to present the Qurʾan and the Sunnah as two undivided foundations of the religion of Islam.