Quote:
Originally Posted by Nasif
And for those who love to use Hadith, here is a hadith where Muhammad ordered you not to write hadith, i.e. anything other than Quran. None can guide other than God.
Muslim 42:7147
Abu Sa'id Khudri reported that Allah's Messenger said: Do not take down anything from me, and he who took down anything from me except the Qur'an, he should efface that, for there is no harm in it and he who attributed any falsehood to me-and Hammam said: I think he also said: "deliberately"-he should in fact find his abode in the Hell-Fire.
(Re-quoting from my earlier post)
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That is indeed an interesting Hadith to ponder for those into the Hadith as a somewhat divine source. Not only is it consistent with the Quran, it should also explain why what we understand to be the Hadith today were not compiled DURING Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH) lifetime. Also they (those into the Hadith as a somewhat divine source) should remember that the REPORTED sayings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) compiled centuries after his death are not necessarily the ACTUAL sayings themselves, and not all actual sayings are beyond fallacy. We see GOD admonishing His beloved Prophet (PBUH) in the Quran. Therefore, not buying into the Hadith as a somewhat divine source, is by no means disrespecting the Prophet (PBUH) as the Messenger of GOD. It is important to understand that and differentiate when called for.
The agreement amongst duly qualified scholars of the Madhabs is similarly not infallible. BUT this agreement or Ijma is of paramount importance in Islam because of its proof in the Quran (4:115)* and secondly, because the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), sent as GOD's mercy to all of mankind and the finest example for Muslims to follow, is reported to have said that his "community" will always have diverse opinions but will never agree on an error.
The role of Rightly Guided and duly qualified scholars in that community is critical to contemplate here. While those of us who call themselves "Muslim" may fall into various diseases of the heart, group mentality, ignorance and misguidance due to other psycho-sociological vulnerabilities, the duly qualified scholars are less likely to succumb to those errors. The Rightly Guided, by definition, even less so. We must also remember that GOD Himself in the Quran (3:18)** blesses and ranks those "learned who stand on justice" in our midst, the ones only He wills as such, just below His Angels (PBUT).
Quote:
*"And whoever is hostile to the messenger after the guidance has been clarified to him, and he follows other than the path of the believers; We will grant him what he has sought and deliver him to Hell; what a miserable destination." (Quran 4:115)
**"God bears witness that there is no god except He, as do the angels, and those with knowledge, He is standing with justice. There is no GOD except He, the Noble, the Wise." (Quran 3:18)
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"Rightly Guided Scholars" are guided by GOD alone as per His divine will and may come from outside the Madhabs also. Madhabs in all of their incredible diversity definitely add immense scholarly discipline and context to such scholarship but are fallible nonetheless. However, that does not negate the importance of the deep erudition and diverse opinion of scholars -- who should not be lumped together as a single, monolithic entity -- coming from an unbroken link of Madhabi scholarship, and the positive role much of that scholarship can play in making us better submitters. Their human, other than divine scholarship, alongside any Hadith consistent with the Quran can play a positive part in our submission and should not be discarded wholesale, but cannot be assigned any sort of "partnership" with the Speech of GOD. Why? Because GOD says so!
We must believe that as the holy Prophet of GOD, Muhammad (PBUH) would not have advocated or propagated anything contrary to the Speech of GOD, and the possibility of conflating the human utterances of His Messenger (fallible because he is human) and the divine nature of the Quran (infallible as the Speech of GOD). Maybe that is why his utterances were not allowed to be written down not only during his lifetime, but for an additional couple of centuries as well, despite the presence of highly learned and literate men and women amongst his companions. Some of us believe the Prophet (PBUH) to be a highly literate gentile (Ummi or non-Jew and non-Christian), but that is another topic altogether.