What is quran and hadith

The Quran is the central religious text of Islam. It represents the fountainhead of Divine guidance for every Muslim. The Islamic sacred book is the words of God and was dictated to Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, by the Archangel Gabriel and was written down in Arabic. The chapters in this book touch upon all aspects of human existence, including matters of doctrine, social organization, and legislation.

The Quran confirms the revelations given to earlier Prophets, though these might not be accessible to us, in the form they were originally revealed. The most sublime language and a rational message that directly appeals to the human heart have caused this Divine book to move nations and civilizations. It will continue to guide those who turn to God with a sincere heart, for all times.

The hadiths give us a in-depth process for every step of the prayer from start to finish. Interestingly, however, there is one sunna of the Prophet the ulama rarely follow, that is accepting remunerations for their role. In that capacity, the ulama contravene the Prophet explicitly. The second angle we need to consider is that of personal responsibility. Beginning with the Quran, we find that every one of us will have to perform good deeds for ourselves.

This is not true with hadith literature which enshrines the concept of intercession. We are told that Prophet Muhammad will intercede for his ummah on judgement day. His intercession will even happen for sinners and so, he is effectively overruling Allah himself with this privilege. This is because Allah has deemed that it is our acts which will save our souls. Furthermore, it is ironic that according to the Quran, there is no intercession at all on judgement day.

This assertion is repeated three times in chapter 2 of the Quran in verses 48, and Therefore once again, hadith is at odds with the Quran in terms of religious philosophy, this time in terms of the personal nature of salvation. Finally, we look at the issue of rituals and dogma. In mainstream Islam, if you ask anyone about the five pillars of Islam, you are very likely to get a set of dogmas which are said to define the religion.

These five pillars of Islam and six pillars of faith are clearly defined in a hadith where the archangel Gabriel visited the Prophet in human form in order to test his knowledge of them.

If we notice, all these so-called pillars of Islam are ritual oriented and not social activism. Only zakat can be said to be socially effective and even then, one needs to pay a minuscule amount 2.

Take for example the shahada witnessing of Allah. The Quran speaks of the shahada in chapter 3 verse 18 as something people with knowledge can attain. When one has enough relevant knowledge, one may join this witnessing which Allah and the angels perform. This is a spiritual process rather than a confession. It is the same with ritual prayer salat.

This is why we find that even though religious schools force its pupils to pray, we still hear of violence and other crimes from such institutions. Prayer is not about form but rather substance, in my understanding of the Quran. In summary, we should not automatically assume that the Quran and hadith complement each other in terms of philosophy.