Your Website and a Question About Hadith

[Reader Comments]

Greetings Mr. Islam,

I came across your website and found it very interesting. It has touched on some points that I have really struggled with regarding Islam. I was born a Sunni Muslim and have practiced the faith without ever really looking too deeply into it.

Since moving to the Middle East about four years ago from the USA, I have a lot of time to observe Muslims and their behavior and how they go about their day to day lives and how they treat each other people from other and Non-Muslims. What I observed that actually caused to investigate the faith more deeper is a people who were once the leaders of the world in science are now struggling with the basic concept of common sense. I could write volumes on this area but my point is something else.

What I believe is that the Quran is the word of God for all of mankind. But in order for the Quran to be fully followed, Hadith have to play a role in that. For instance, how are we supposed to do Wudu, pray, perform Hajj, etc.?

On the other hand, reasons as to why we don't have any original Hadith from the Prophet (PBUH) or the Sahaba's is what's troubling me to perfectly implement the perfect book.

It is difficult to believe that the Prophet (PBUH) forbade the writing of Hadith because it would somehow get mixed with the Quran. These are the reasons cited in the literature. Does anybody actually believe this? He was memorizing it, having trusted people write it down, had access to an angel Gabriel, and God promised that no one could affect the perfection of the Quran. Additionally, a statement in Quran states that no one could produce even a single chapter like. I don't think anybody had anything to worry about as far as Hadith getting mixed in with Quran. But alternatively, the Prophet (PBUH) understood the importance of the written word as evidence by his knowledge of previous corrupted scripture i.e. Bible, first Testament.

Since the Explanation of the Quran (Hadith) is essential for its understanding and to perform what is prescribed in the Quran, it doesn't make sense that Hadith were not written.

From what I have read, Hadith were written down and Abu Bakr but later burned them. The reason for burning them was that he was afraid that what he wrote down may not have been in perfect alignment with what was said. If we are to accept this, then why do we accept his verbal words 20 transmitters later? Instead of burning them, he could have begun his work on perfecting them if that was really his concern. From what we read about him, he was not a bad guy who would intentionally lie about the Prophet (PBUP).

Umar further forbade the writing of Hadith and supposed burned other written Hadith books because he did not want anyone to abandon the Quran and focus on Hadith. Again, not sure what that means. Those people were the same illiterate society and the Hadith were alive and well verbally. Writing them down would not have increased their significance for anybody as the oral tradition was being utilized in peoples lives already. Writing the Hadith down would have kept them for around for mankind. He could have also just produced a single copy to preserve for future generations instead of making many copies to distribute. There are many he could have accomplished the task of preservation and kept focus on the Quran.

How can we trust one Hadith while others are not be trusted like when Aisha is quoted talking about sexual issues. Can somebody actually trust that she was so open about this issue with all of humanity? Aren't these private issues even if they were the way they are stated in Hadith? Other hadiths seem absolutely absurd.

Wouldn't it have been wonderful to have the original sayings of the prophet without centuries of debate about this chain or that chain, strong versus weak, etc.? And who do you follow? I'm not Shia but when they claim Hadith from Ali, it would seem those to be more reliable then generations removed from Umar and Abu Bakr? Yet these Hadiths are only used by them. I don't know enough about Shia's to have an opinion but these are things that make me think.

My questions for you is something that I have wanted to asked a learned person for sometime now for only my understanding:

Are reason why we don't have the original Hadith which are essential for the explanation of the Quran in some cases and needed for step by step practice of the faith in other cases due to what Abu Bakr and Umar did or did not do?

The Quran is perfect but is its understanding and implementation deficient as a result of mismanagement of Hadith?

If we are to follow the Quran only as Hadith are not reliable, then how can we pray, do Wudu, perform Hajj, etc? And what about the explanation of the Quran? Where does the explanation come in some cases if we discount Hadith as a explanatory source?

If we chose to follow Quran with good Hadith, isn't this also problematic as how will we know which ones are acceptable and which are not? We are essentially cherry picking which is not right either. But I would find it hard to believe that Aesha was talking about her intimate issues with the Prophet (PBUH) with the community.

What I struggle with is how can the perfect book not have the perfect implementation or explanation?

Regards,