Following the Prophet's Traditions

[Reader Questions]

assalaam o alaikum,

Sir -

I love Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) & Alhamdullillah I have put quite a few of his manners in my life. Here I would ask for your opinion. Right from the time I wake up in the mornings till I retire at night I try to follow our prophet(pbuh). Most of his actions are from the islamic secondary sources. The duaas, the gait,the manner of speech, the dealings with people socially, the manner of sitting while eating, etc. Also the prayers during ablution, salaat,fasts, haj. The details of salaat posture are all from islamic secondary sources. I get peace while performing them. When I happened to know certain false ahadith I was depressed. I feared of following a way that is not actually told by the prophet. An article of yours says prohibition of gold for men is not mentioned in Quran. This has confused me about the use of gold for men. Whether to rely on the hadith ?
                                                         
These are few of the points. Kindly help me.

JAZAAKALLAH
                                                                                 
Assalaam o alaikum

M.D.

[Joseph Islam]

As-salam alaykum

Thank you for your email.

I humbly invite you to ponder for one moment and consider yourself being born in a Hindu household, or in a family of Trinitarian Christians. Then during your adulthood, there was a paradigm shift and you realised that these paths were not necessarily true.

How would you feel about the convictions that you had held deeply throughout your life?

As I am sure you will appreciate, many find themselves in this position at times in their lives. This is when the true search begins. Please see this as enlightenment.

At the end of the day, there is nothing wrong with following traditions. The Quran does not intend to rid a people of their traditions. What the Quran seeks to do is to assist the believers to 'discern' and make reasoned judgments in light of the Quran. It seeks to bring practices into the folds of Islam and to curtail practices incongruent with the Quran’s guidance. Hence why it calls itself the ‘furqan’ (criterion).

If the traditions you follow seem to fulfil the 'spirit' of the Quran's guidance and are not in conflict with it, then there is no need to abandon them.

The problem only begins when one asserts that a 'tradition' is to be followed as a 'matter of religion'. The Quran does not seek to impose a 7th or a 10th century Arab tradition onto a population of say the Chinese in the 21st century. This point in my humble view remains imperative.

Eating with a knife and a fork is a tradition. Eating with chopsticks is a tradition. Wearing a suit, an Arab thobe or a Chinese Zhiduo is a tradition of a people. The Quran does not see this as 'religious' matters as long as the basic requirement of coverage and decency is met.

Eating with the left hand or right hand is not a Quranic matter. But if one asserts without Quranic warrant that believers are required to eat with their right hands as a matter of religion, then this is unacceptable in light of the Quran irrespective of how Muslims attempt to justify the traditions in the name of the Prophet.

What believers must realise is that the Prophet was born at a certain time of history. He was a product of the sectarian and social milieu of his time. He simply applied the guidance of the Quran to his circumstances. If he was born today in your household, how would he dress? How would he travel? How would he eat? What language would he speak?

I am sure you can appreciate the answers to these questions.

Believers must sharpen their understanding of the Quran so they are in a better position to assess their traditions.

I leave you with a few posts of interest. Please do peruse them in light of your email.

I hope this helps, God willing.
Joseph


REFERENCES:

[1] Culture and Traditions Should Be Understood and Not Simply Dismissed
https://www.facebook.com/joseph.a.islam/posts/147131372090665

[2] Reassessing Your Traditions in Light of the Quran - A Case in Point (To God We Belong)
https://www.facebook.com/joseph.a.islam/posts/165697170232249

[3] My Humble Advice
https://www.facebook.com/joseph.a.islam/posts/213495468787588