Question

In some of your articles you have mentioned that hadees doesn’t explains the Quran rather the sunnah explains the same. It doesn’t seem to me appropriate because there some Quranic verses cannot be understood without recourse to hadeeth. The following one is example.

They have taken their rabbis and priests as lords other than Allah.

This ayah was explained by the Messenger of Allah (saw), as reported by Tirmidhi on the authority of Adi bin Hatim who was a Christian before accepting Islam. Adi who had just accepted Islam, heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) recite the above ayah. He objected: “They do not worship their priests.” The Prophet (saw) replied: “Whatever their priests and rabbis call permissible, they accept as permissible; whatever they declare as forbidden, they consider as forbidden, and thus they worship them.

Answer

I am sorry I could not understand why do you say that the verse under discussion cannot be understood if this hadith were not there? Please explain and help me. Also please note that when we say that the hadith should be understood in the light of the Qur’an and not the Qur’an re-interpreted in the light of hadith that does not mean that no hadith can be used as a tool for understanding the Qur’an. There are instances when people change the clear meaning of the Book in the light of hadith. The Qur’an claims to be a clear book whose intent is clear and understandable. It has been transmitted through tawatur (generations to generation mode of transfer) while the hadith is zanni (probable). This does not allow us to alter the apparent clear meaning of the book in the light of a zanni source.

Answered by: Tariq Mahmood Hashmi

Date: 2015-02-14