Uloom al Hadith Status and Authority of the Sunnah in Islam

Uloom al-Hadith: Status and Authority of the Sunnah in Islam

By Navaid Aziz

Opening

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

(بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ - bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim)

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِهِ الْكَرِيمِ، وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ

Introduction: The Blessing of the Quran

As we've mentioned previously in other lectures, we know that the Quran is one of the greatest blessings and miracles from Allah. Allah says in Surah Al-Imran ayah 103:

"And hold fast to the rope of Allah, all together, and do not differ from one another."

Reference: Quran 3:103

In the Musnad of Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him), the Prophet ﷺ said that the rope of Allah is none other than the Quran that hangs from the heavens to the earth. So Allah's Messenger ﷺ himself made tafsir of this ayah explaining what the rope of Allah is.

And it is from the true miracles and blessings of Allah that if you were to look at the various sects of Islam and the various understandings of Islam and the various methodologies that are within the fold of Islam, they all agree to the divinity of the Quran. Meaning that they all agree that it is a source of guidance and a source of legislation.

The Rejection of the Sunnah

Now sadly this is not the case with the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. A lot of the sects, a lot of the groups do not hold the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ as a form of guidance or a form of legislation. And it is even a sadder fact that a lot of the groups and sects even reject the authenticity of the Prophet ﷺ.

They claim that it is not possible that the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ can be preserved. Now this actually comes, the basis to this is actually a historical point of view that if you were to look in history, you know the famous people that have existed from any of them besides the Messengers and the Prophets, or even the Messengers

and the Prophets if you include them – the likes of Adam, Nuh, Isa, Musa, Ibrahim – these are from the Anbiya.

Adam was a Messenger.

Then you take the people that were alive during the Renaissance or who the Westerners look up to – the likes of Descartes and the likes of Freud and the likes of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo and all these people, all these famous people that people recognize and know who they are when their names are mentioned none of their lives are documented and recorded as the life of the Prophet ﷺ.

Meaning that if you were to look into the lives of these people, it is true that we might know when they were born, when they died and how they lived, but to have each single point of their lives documented is something that no one ever did. So now people come and say that, you know, throughout history this has never been done, so how is it, what makes this one individual so special – the Prophet ﷺ – that every single action, every single statement, every single thing that he did was documented and preserved? How is that physically possible that it is as it was, meaning that it went unchanged and it was preserved?

So they come at it from a historical angle and thus they reject it because obviously they try to combine, you know, one and one and try to say it was three. But the Prophet ﷺ was not your average human being. He was the Messenger of Allah and Allah promised to preserve the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.

The Importance of Establishing the Authority of the Sunnah

So before actually getting into the fact of how the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ was preserved, I think it is very important to discuss how we can prove the hujjiyah or the authority of the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ – how we use it as a source of legislation, how it is an authority amongst the Muslims, and how it is a distinguishing factor that a person who accepts the Prophet ﷺ as a messenger and as an authority to legislate is a Muslim, and anyone who rejects his Prophethood and his authority then he has rejected in actuality the religion of Islam.

Because when we say the shahada, what do we actually say? We say:

أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ

"I testify that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah, and I testify that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger."

Our shahada doesn't end over there though, but rather it continues and we go on to testify that Muhammad ﷺ was the slave and messenger of Allah as well. So this goes on to show that if you only accept Allah as a form of guidance and a form of legislation and as a form of divinity to a certain degree, then this is inaccurate. You have to accept the Prophet ﷺ as well.

So a lot of the people that come in our times that reject the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ, they restrict themselves to the Quran alone. So now let us take a deeper look into some of the ayat of the Quran where Allah commands us with obedience to the Prophet ﷺ.

Proof 1: Love of Allah Through Following the Prophet

Firstly, when going into debates and arguments, you always try or want to try at least to keep the debate or discussion at a very friendly and simple level, meaning that you don't want to get it to get heated even though it eventually does. You don't want to try to get into that, so you try to avoid all those tangents and all those angles that would lead into controversy.

So when dealing with such people, the first thing you want to bring up with them is: Do you love Allah? And if they're Muslim or even attribute themselves to Islam, they will say with assurity: Yes, I do.

Then you ask them: How does one go about showing their love for Allah? They will mention the salah, the siyam, the zakat, giving charity, being kind to your Muslim brothers and all this and other than that. And we'll say: No, we agree with you.

Then we go on to say: Are there any ayat in the Quran that talk about loving Allah? And then they'll mention a couple of ayats, but they'll always leave out one key ayah – an ayah in Surah Al-Imran, ayah 31 and 32. Allah says:

"Say: If you truly love Allah, then follow me; Allah will love you and forgive your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful."

Reference: Quran 3:31

So this is usually the best way of discussing things with these people – that Allah clearly and explicitly says and directly says over here that if you love Allah, then follow the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. This is the best way and one of the only explicit ways that Allah talks about His love – that if you want to show your love to Allah and show that you actually care about Allah, then follow the Messenger ﷺ.

Now what are the actual rewards of this? Allah doesn't just say "If you love Allah, follow me." Allah goes on to say:

يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ

"Allah will love you."

That Allah will then love you. That is a conditional statement that Allah is mentioning over here – that if you love Allah and you follow His Messenger, then as a result and in return, Allah will love you as well.

Now the love of Allah, as we mentioned in yesterday's question and answer session, it encompasses the wilayah of Allah, meaning the more you love Allah and the more you follow His Messenger, the higher you get in the ranks of wilayah. Meaning that there is the al-wilayah al-amma which everyone is encompassed by – that Allah protects us and prevents us from our own selves from harming our own selves.

Then there is the protection which Allah grants to the believers, meaning that He will either prevent them from the hellfire or He will prevent them from greater adversities in this dunya. Then there is the wilayah of the muttaqeen – the more righteous of the believers – that Allah will protect them and grant them greater favours. Then you have the nabiyeen and then the siddiqeen and then the shuhada and other than them. So the wilayah increases in level and this is all due to the love that Allah has for these individuals.

Now it doesn't just stop there. Allah also adds in this conditional statement that as a result of loving Allah and following the Messenger ﷺ, not only will Allah love you as well, but He will forgive you for your sins as well.

وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ

"And He will forgive your sins."

So people always ask: What are ways that Allah will forgive me for my sins? What are ways that Allah can erase and just wipe out any mistakes that I may have committed? A simple solution is given here. Allah clearly and explicitly says that He will forgive you for your sins as a result of following the Prophet ﷺ.

So when we commit sins, find a sunnah from the Prophet ﷺ and implement that sunnah and follow the ways of Allah's Messenger ﷺ, and as a result of this, Allah will forgive your sins.

Now again, it doesn't just end off over here. Allah continues after this ayah and He says:

"Say: Obey Allah and the Messenger. But if they turn away, then indeed Allah does not love the disbelievers."

Reference: Quran 3:32

Now what is the general concept that we derive from this second ayah? After Allah talks about His love and how we show our love of Allah through following the Messenger, Allah now says: Follow and obey, obey Allah and His Messenger. Allah is testing us now that obey Allah and obey His Messenger. But if you turn away, then Allah does not love the disbelievers.

This is what Allah is using as a criteria – that loving Allah is not enough, obeying Allah is not enough if you disobey His Messenger and disobey any commandment that He makes and follow a path other than the path of Rasulullah. Then Allah is the one who has just called you a disbeliever. Then indeed it is Allah who does not love the disbelievers.

So this is one of the first ayat that one should generally use in discussing with those people who reject the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.

Proof 2: Obeying the Messenger is Obeying Allah

And this having being said, we will now take 3 or 4 other explicit examples where Allah mentions the obedience of the Prophet ﷺ.

In another ayah in Surah An-Nisa, ayah number 80, Allah says:

مَّن يُطِعِ الرَّسُولَ فَقَدْ أَطَاعَ اللَّهَ

"Whoever obeys the Messenger has indeed obeyed Allah."

Reference: Quran 4:80

Now when people claim that, you know, Allah is sufficient for them and the Quran is sufficient for them, they don't need the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ, what happens to looking at these ayat in the Quran where Allah is being more than explicit and direct? You cannot get any more direct than this ayah – that Allah says that whoever obeys the Messenger, then he has indeed obeyed Allah.

And this is also found in the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ where he said that whoever obeys me has indeed obeyed Allah, and whoever disobeys me has indeed disobeyed Allah. And as we mentioned yesterday, this is all under the general prescript of what the Prophet ﷺ was ordered to convey from the Quran when Allah says:

وَمَا يَنطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَى إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا وَحْيٌ يُوحَى

"Nor does he speak from his own desire. It is not but a revelation revealed."

Reference: Quran 53:3-4

That Allah's Messenger ﷺ does not speak of his own desires. He doesn't speak from his own whims. But rather everything that he said pertaining to the deen was from Allah. It is nothing except revelation and inspiration to him. So anything the Prophet ﷺ said is just as much an authority as the direct kalam of Allah.

Now likewise in the tafsir of these ayat, you'll note various things that Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) mentions in his tafsir that it was the job or the task of Allah's Messenger ﷺ to convey the message, and it is upon us to either accept or reject this message. Meaning that it is upon us to either obey Allah by obeying the Prophet ﷺ, or we disobey Allah by disobeying the Messenger.

And likewise Imam Ash-Shawkani (may Allah have mercy on him) also had a famous tafsir which he called Fathul Qadeer, and in Fathul Qadeer, in discussing this ayah, he mentions that this ayah is a clear proof that anything the Prophet ﷺ said was indeed inspiration and revelation from Allah. This again pertaining to the deen – anything the Prophet ﷺ said pertaining to the deen, this ayah is a proof that it came directly from Allah and not from the Prophet ﷺ himself.

So this is another explicit ayah that shows us the direct link between Allah and His Messenger, and how obedience to one necessitates obedience to the other. That if you accept the obedience to Allah, then know that the only way you will be totally obedient to Allah is by obeying His Messenger ﷺ as well.

Proof 3: Returning Disputes to Allah and His Messenger

Now in another ayah in Surah An-Nisa, ayah number 59, Allah says:

ARABIC TEXT (CRITICAL - PRESERVE EXACTLY)

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"O you who believe, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. And if you differ in anything, then return it to Allah and the Messenger, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is best and better in interpretation."

So now understand the wording of this ayah because we'll be referring to the wording quite a bit. Allah says: O you who believe – may all people who claim iman – obey Allah and obey His Messenger and those in authority above you. And if you differ in any matter, then return it to Allah and His Messenger, if indeed you believe in Allah and the Last Day, for that which is best and it is the best of understandings.

So now there are certain understandings or implications of this ayah. Firstly, we mentioned: Pay close attention to the wording of this ayah.

Allah says (يَا أَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓاْ - ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo) – that anyone who claims iman. Now I think this is an important point to stop at. Why is it that Allah says (يَا أَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓاْ - ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo) and not (يَا أَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ أَسۡلَمُوٓاْ - ya ayyuha allatheena aslamoo) – that "all people who have believed" and not "all people who have submitted"?

That we know that there is a difference between islam and iman. We know from the famous hadith of Jibreel that, you know, Islam is the five pillars and iman are the six articles of faith – the Islam being the shahada, salah, siyam, zakah and hajj, and then the articles of faith – believing in Allah and His Messengers and His books and the Last Day, and in qadr, the good of it and the bad of it, and believing in the Last Day.

So this is the Prophet explaining the difference between the two. But does this mean that obedience to Allah's Messenger is only for the people who have iman, or is it for the Muslims as well?

People will try to come with these type of doubts and shubuhat. But again, as Ahlul Sunnah, we derive principles and we establish principles. And the principle of Ahlul Sunnah in understanding these texts – let's start with (يَا أَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓاْ - ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo) – is that:

إِذَا ٱجۡتَمَعَا ٱفۡتَرَقَا، وَإِذَا ٱفۡتَرَقَا ٱجۡتَمَعَا

"If Islam and iman are mentioned together, then they mean different things – that Islam is of the lower level and iman is of the higher level. But if they are separate from one another, then they mean one and the same thing."

So any ayah that starts with (يَا أَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓاْ - ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo) - meaning "all people, all you who believe" – it includes the people who have submitted as well. Because by using this principle, Allah doesn't need to repeat it again and say (يَا أَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ أَسۡلَمُوٓاْ - ya ayyuha allatheena aslamoo). But rather when He says (يَا أَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓاْ - ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo) it includes the lower level as well and means the same thing (يَا أَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ أَسۡلَمُوٓاْ - ya ayyuha allatheena aslamoo) as

So this is the first point to keep in mind.

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Point number two: Allah says (أَطِيعُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ ٱلرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي ٱلۡأَمۡرِ مِنكُمۡ - atee'oo Allaha wa atee'oo ar-Rasoola wa ulee al-amri minkum) – that Allah explicitly says "obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority above you."

Now as we see over here, Allah says (أَطِيعُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ ٱلرَّسُولَ - atee'oo Allaha wa atee'oo ar-Rasoola) – that "obey Allah and obey His Messenger" – and those in authority above you. Why is it that Allah didn't mention (أَطِيعُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ ٱلرَّسُولَ وَأَطِيعُواْ أُوْلِي ٱلۡأَمۡرِ مِنكُمۡ - atee'oo Allaha wa atee'oo ar-Rasoola wa atee'oo ulee al-amri minkum)?

The wisdom behind this, as the scholars of tafsir mention, is that (أَطِيعُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ ٱلرَّسُولَ - atee'oo Allaha wa atee'oo ar-Rasoola) is unconditional, meaning that anything the Prophet says and anything Allah says, we close our eyes and we accept it. It is our deen, we submit to it unconditionally.

Whereas the people in authority who are above us, if they say that which is in agreement with the Quran and the Sunnah, we accept it from them. But if they say anything that is in disobedience to the Quran and the Sunnah, we reject it and we abstain from it.

Now an example of this is seen in the sunnah of the Prophet, as the Prophet said that obedience to the ameer is like obedience to me – that if you are obeying your ameer or your leader, then it is as if you are obeying me. And he goes on to further give an example that there was a ruler of the people of the past who asked his people to enter the fire and kill themselves.

This ruler told the people: Enter the fire and kill yourselves. And the Prophet said that if they were to do this, they never would have left it, meaning that if they obeyed the ruler and entered the fire, that Allah would have put them in Jahannam. Meaning that this was an act which is evil, and when obeying the creation in that which is disobedience to Allah, then this is something which is not allowed.

You disobey the creation in anything that is disobedience to Allah. And this is when we established the other foundation or other principle:

لَا طَاعَةَ لِمَخۡلُوقٖ فِي مَعۡصِيَةِ ٱلۡخَٰلِقِ

"There is no obedience to the creation in disobedience to the Creator."

So this is what we understand from this first portion of the ayah – that obedience to Allah and His Messenger is unconditional, whereas obedience to anyone else is conditional to the Quran and the Sunnah. If it's in agreement, we obey them, and if it doesn't agree with the Quran and the Sunnah, then we disobey them.

A third point that we have to understand over here is that Allah goes on to say in the ayah:

فَإِن تَنَٰزَعۡتُمۡ فِي شَيۡءٖ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ وَٱلرَّسُولِ

"If you differ in any matter, then return it back to Allah and His Messenger."

Allah over here is equating the authority of Allah to the authority of the Prophet. Surah An-Nisa, ayah 59 – this is one ayah we're still discussing, the same ayah where Allah says (فَإِن تَنَٰزَعۡتُمۡ فِي شَيۡءٖ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ وَٱلرَّسُولِ - fa in tanaza'tum fee shayin fa ruddoohu ila Allahi wa ar-Rasool)

I mentioned previously that you need to pay close attention to the wording of this ayah because a lot of the deeper understanding is in the wording. Now Allah didn't say over here (فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ ثُمَّ إِلَى ٱلرَّسُولِ - fa ruddoohu ila Allahi thumma ila ar-Rasool). He didn't say

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this, but rather Allah says (فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ وَٱلرَّسُولِ - fa ruddoohu ila Allahi wa ar-Rasool)

Allah over here is equating the authority of Allah to the authority of the Messenger. And if you go back to the tafsir of this ayah, you will see how the companions of Allah understood this – that during the time of the Prophet, they understood that obeying Allah means refer to the Quran, and obeying Allah's Messenger means obeying Him while He is alive. But obeying Him after He has passed away means following His sunnah.

This is how the companions of Allah understood it. And if you go back to the tafsir of Ibn Kathir and At-Tabari, you will see that they have quotations upon quotations from the companions. So you can just go back and get some of the quotes from there.

Fourthly, in this very same ayah, Allah goes on to say that it is the true believers who return their disputes to Allah and His Messenger. Allah goes on to say:

إِن كُنتُمۡ تُؤۡمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلۡيَوۡمِ ٱلۡأٓخِرِ

"If you believe in Allah and the Last Day."

That you believe in Allah, then you refer your disputes to Allah and His Messenger.

And lastly, Allah mentions over here that those people who want good for their akhira – and this necessity is good for the dunya because nothing is good for your akhira except that it is good for your dunya as well in an absolute sense – that Allah says in the ending of the ayah:

ذَٰلِكَ خَيۡرٞ وَأَحۡسَنُ تَأۡوِيلٗا

"That is best and better in interpretation."

That which is best for your akhira, and like we mentioned, that which is best for your akhira is best for your dunya as well – that you will refer all of your disputes to Allah and His Messenger.

Proof 4: Opposing the Messenger Leads to Hellfire

Now we move on to our next ayah where Allah says again in Surah An-Nisa, ayah 115:

"And whoever opposes the Messenger after guidance has become clear to him and follows other than the way of the believers, We will give him what he has taken and drive him into Hell – and what an evil destination."

Allah says over here that anyone who opposes the Messenger – meaning anyone who disobeys the Messenger of Allah - after guidance has been given to him, meaning that he knows that this is the sunnah of the Prophet and Allah's Messenger commanded us with such a thing or prohibited us from such a thing, and then he

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goes against this, then he not only is following a way other than that of the believers, but also he is disobeying Allah, and Allah thus makes his destination al-Jahannam.

This is something that has to be taken in its complete context – that Allah says whoever disobeys the Messenger of Allah and opposes him and contends him after guidance has been given to him, that after he knows this is what Allah's Messenger ordered or after this is what he prohibited, and he follows a path other than that of the believers.

So Allah is saying over here that the path of the believers is in obedience to the Messenger. So after he abandons this path of the believers and disobeys and opposes the Messenger of Allah, what is the result of this action? Allah says that his destination is Jahannam and it is the worst of abodes.

So this ayah is pretty straightforward in its explanation as well.

Proof 5: The Company of the Righteous

Now yesterday when we were discussing tafsir of the Quran, the Quran briefly mentioned in the question and answer session, we mentioned how Allah establishes the khilafah of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) through Surah Al-Fatihah. And we mentioned that Allah does this with the ayah:

"Guide us to the straight path, the path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor."

And then we mentioned who those people were that Allah has favoured in another ayah in Surah An-Nisa, ayah number 69, and this is an ayah which we will now be discussing. Allah says:

"And whoever obeys Allah and the Messenger – those will be with those whom Allah has favored: the Prophets, the truthful, the martyrs, and the righteous. And excellent are those as companions."

So Allah says over here – and this is something, pay close attention to it – that whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger will be with those people whom Allah has favoured.

In Surah Al-Fatihah, when we mentioned the path of those whom Allah has favoured, Allah is mentioning those people right now: (فَأُوْلَٰٓئِكَ مَعَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنۡعَمَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَيۡهِم مِّنَ ٱلنَّبِيِّـۧنَ - fa-ulaika ma'a allatheena an'ama Allahu 'alaihim mina an-nabiyyeen)

So the people whom Allah has favoured are:

. النَّبِيِّـۧنَ )the Prophets) – the Prophets of Allah and His Messengers

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. الصِّدِّيقِينَ )the Siddiqeen) – those people who easily and willingly accept the truth. That's why Abu Bakr As-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) was called As-Siddiq, meaning that he easily affirmed the Messengership of the Prophet without any argumentation and without any hesitation

• الشُّهَدَآءِ )the Shuhada) – those people who die in the way of Allah

. الصَّٰلِحِينَ )the Saliheen) – meaning those people who are generally righteous

So this is the path of – these are the people whom Allah has favoured and whom we ask Allah guidance for to follow their path.

So just to briefly recap what we mentioned, as some of the brothers went there yesterday, that Allah mentions whom those people are that He has favoured, and they are the Nabiyeen, As-Siddiqeen, Ash-Shuhada and As-Saliheen.

So when the Prophet passed away, meaning that the Nabiyeen are taken out from this category, who are left? As-Siddiqeen, Ash-Shuhada and As-Saliheen. So we follow the path then thereafter, after the Siddiqeen. And who was the Siddiq at the time of the Prophet? He was none other than Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him).

So thus after the Prophet, Abu Bakr As-Siddiq became the khalifa. And this is how we do the tafsir of the Quran with the Quran. So with this ayah, we now establish the khilafah of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him).

So now, further discussing this ayah, Allah mentions that if you want to be in the blessed company of these people – the company of the Prophets, the company of those people whom Allah has selected and chosen to have no hesitation in accepting Islam, and those people who have died in the way of Allah, and those people who are just generally righteous – if you want to be in their companionship and you want to accompany them, then obey Allah and His Messenger.

Allah says:

"Those people who obey Allah and His Messenger, then they will be with this companionship."

So Allah is saying: If you want to enter Jannah, if you want to go to Jannah, then obey Allah and His Messenger.

Another explicit ayah and proof.

Proof 6: Warning Against Opposing the Messenger

And our second to last proof before we move on is an ayah in Surah An-Nur, which is Surah number 24, ayah number 63. Allah says:

Proof 7: The Necessity of Accepting the Prophet's Judgment

Now our last ayah which we will be discussing before the break is an ayah in Surah An-Nisa, ayah number 65. As you see, Surah An-Nisa has quite a few ayahs establishing the authority of the Prophet. Allah says in this ayah:

"But no, by your Lord, they will not believe until they make you judge concerning that over which they dispute among themselves, and then they find within themselves no discomfort from what you have judged and submit in full submission."

So there are several parts to this ayah. Again I'll repeat the translation because we need to pay attention to the wording of this ayah.

Allah says:

فَلَا وَرَبِّكَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ – "But no, by your Lord, they will not believe"

حَتَّى يُحَكِّمُوكَ فِيمَا شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ – "Until they take you as a judge in that which has arisen between them"

ثُمَّ لَا يَجِدُوا فِي أَنفُسِهِمْ حَرَجًا مِّمَّا قَضَيْتَ – "Then they do not find any discomfort within themselves from that which you have ordered"

وَيُسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا – "And they submit in complete submission"

So now let us break down the ayah bit by bit.

Allah begins this ayah by swearing by Himself. Now the general understanding of anything that Allah swears by is of great significance and of great magnitude. And Allah has the right and authority to swear by anything that He pleases. And as for mankind, then they are only allowed to swear by Allah.

This is a matter of aqeeda which we will not get into. But Allah shows the importance of certain things when He swears by them. So now when Allah swears by time, He shows the importance of it. Thus we see (وَالْعَصْرِ - by time), (وَالضُّحَى - by the morning brightness), (وَالْفَجْرِ - by the dawn) – all these times, specifically Allah swears by them to show the importance of that time.

Now, when Allah swears by Himself in this ayah, what does it mean? It means that anything that is coming after this is of the utmost importance. Thus Allah is not swearing by His creation, but rather is swearing by Himself over here.

He says: فَلَا وَرَبِّكَ – "And know by your Lord" – لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ – "that they will not believe, you will never have faith" – until what? Until they take the Messenger of Allah as a judge in that which has arisen between the people.

Meaning that any dispute a person has, he should take Allah's Messenger or the sunnah of Allah's Messenger – take it, analyze it, understand it, and use the principles from the sunnah to resolve the dispute.

And then even after that, it's not enough that they should just take the Messenger of Allah while he is alive, and take the sunnah after he is dead, and implement it. It is not enough. But: لَا يَجِدُوا فِي أَنفُسِهِمْ حَرَجًا مِّمَّا قَضَيْتَ "They do not find any discomfort within themselves in what the Prophet has commanded or ordered or judged with."

That we do not find any discomfort with it. We have to love it. We have to accept it. It's not enough just to accept it, but we have to love it as well and feel comfortable with it.

And this is what the sunnah of the Prophet – even when you see someone implementing the sunnah, it is despicable to look down upon this person. You see a person who grows his beard and you start mocking him. Then know that you're mocking the deen of Allah and you're mocking Allah and His Messenger by doing this.

So this is something we have to understand. That the sunnah is given this great position in Islam. It's nothing like the statement of the companions or the statements of anyone else. But rather it is given the same position as the speech of Allah Himself.

And this is why when we come to the sunnah of Allah's Messenger, we should be totally comfortable with it. And we should love it unconditionally and wholeheartedly. This is what Allah is mentioning in this ayah.

And then after that, after you have come to love it and you have come to accept it, then you submit to it fully and completely. This is the understanding that we get from this ayah.

The Frequent Mention of Obedience in the Quran

And this is – obviously these ayahs in the Quran are many. They talk about obedience to Allah and His Messenger. If you actually were to look up the phrase أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ or أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ all together you would find that it occurs 15 times in the Quran.

And many scholars of tafsir have said that when Allah says أَطِيعُوا الله that it never occurs in the Quran that Allah doesn't mention the Messenger of Allah. So if Allah says أَطِيعُوا الله then you always either find أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ or أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ. That you will never find that Allah mentions the phrase by Himself.

أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ or أَطِيعُوا اللهَ وَالرَّسُولَ will always be accompanied by either أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ That

Whereas on the other hand, if you see that Allah says وَأَطِيعُونِ – "and obey Me" – you will see that a lot of the times Allah, when He uses the preposition of Myself or Himself, then this comes alone. But when Allah uses lafdhul jalal – He actually mentions Allah – then this is always accompanied with either أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ or أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ

So this is something to keep in mind and just a point of benefit.

Summary of the Proofs

So now from these ayat we see the importance of the sunnah of the Prophet by firstly establishing the authority of the Prophet and how his authority is equivalent to the authority of Allah.

And in order to love Allah, one needs to obey the Messenger. And if one wants to stay away from fitnah and wants to stay away from the punishment of Allah, he obeys and follows the Messenger.

And likewise, if one wants to be forgiven for their sins, one of the best ways as Allah mentions is to obey and follow the Messenger.

And likewise, if one wants to be in righteous companionship in the Akhirah and Jannah with the Nabiyeen and the Siddiqeen and the Shuhada and the Saliheen, the best way to do this is by following the Messenger and accepting his sunnah.

Closing

جَزَاكُمُ اللَّهُ خَيْرًا

And by the grace of Allah, since our schedule is off track, I want to try to get back on schedule. We will take our half an hour break early right now, and then we will have one long session after. So make sure you stretch and breathe out during this half hour break because we will be having a long session after this where we will be discussing, by the permission of Allah, how the sunnah of the Prophet was preserved during the first three generations of Islam.

And then after that you will notice that it was written down and it eventually reached us in that form. So make the most of this break, by the permission of Allah.

جَزَاكُمُ اللَّهُ خَيْرًا

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ