Interpretation of Deen and Human Intellect (2)

     

We have seen in the article http://secondriseofislam.blogspot.com/2016/03/fundamentalism-of-sunnah-hadith-and-mr.html that  Deen is wahi and wahi is Quran and Sunnah (including Hadith).  In part (1) of this article we have seen with particular reference of Ghamdi how some so called scholars try to mould provisions of Deen according to human intellect. The most important aspect of Deen is that it is something which we have to receive from Allah and His Rasool (ﷺ); it is NOT something which we can receive from human intellect. In other words, no learned person, with whatsoever great learning credentials, can neither include  anything nor  exclude anything to and from Deen which has been declared by Allah and His rasool (ﷺ) as a Deen. But Mr. Ghamdi is bent upon excluding Hadith from Deen though Allah has clearly declared Hadith as a Deen in the verse:

“And whatever the Messenger (ﷺ) has given you - take; and what he (ﷺ) has forbidden you - refrain from. And fear Allah ; indeed, Allah is severe in penalty”(al-hashr-7).

Because people are under no obligation to follow anything outside the ambits of Deen and because this verse is asking people to follow our Nabi (ﷺ), it clearly means that following our Nabi (ﷺ) – following sayings and actions of our Nabi (ﷺ) is real Deen. 

We don’t have any Quranic verse or a Hadith which declares that Hadith is not part of Deen. Ghamdi is using Allah’s and His rasool’s (ﷺ) authority by declaring that ‘Hadith’ is not included into Deen. Similarly we do not have any Quranic verse or Hadith which says that Deen is ONLY Quran and traditions received by our Nabi (ﷺ) from the previous prophets. What is Deen and what is not is not only  important matter but also a basic matter regarding a Deen; It is unimaginable that Allah and our Nabi (ﷺ) have left ambiguous such an important and basic matter. Quran and Hadith are clear as to what is Deen.

 Ghamdi  is using Allah’s and His rasool’s (ﷺ) authority not only regarding Hadith but also regarding Quranic verses by declaring such Quranic verses as time specific and people specific. We would talk about it later in this article.

Ghamdi believes that Hadith is interpretation of Quran, adopted by our Nabi (ﷺ) but he tries to downplay the importance of Hadith in Deen by separating Hadith from Deen. He says if Deen is content, Hadith is understanding/ ‘ilm’ of this content.

No doubt, Quran is different from Hadith in terms of content. But we need to appreciate content’s importance is no more than the  correct interpretation of the content. The interpretation of content may be incorrect or correct, but the utility of such content is no more than its correct interpretation. In other words, importance of content is no more than its correct interpretation; it is not only the content but also its correct interpretation which we are following.  It means, in terms of importance,  correct interpretation of a content cannot be separated from its content. If Deen is content, Hadith- which is correct interpretation of Deen- cannot be separated from Deen; that is why Hadith is a part of Deen.

 It goes without saying that interpretation of revealed Book, adopted by a prophet, is the most correct interpretation of the Book because such interpretation is made by a Nabi (a.s) as a Nabi (a.s). We have already seen in the article    http://secondriseofislam.blogspot.com/2011/09/wahi-and-intuition.html a Book is always revealed to a ‘rasool’ though we do not know names of all revealed Books as we do not know names of all ‘rusul’. A Book-partial or complete Book- may also be revealed to a Nabi but NOT in the form of Kalam e Ilahi; instead in the form of Allah’s Ideas translated by the nabi himself or hazrat Gabriel (a.s).  In other words, the basic job of a Nabi is to interpret the Book already revealed (or to be revealed later in complete form) to a Rasool. Quran says:

"Indeed, We sent down the Torah, in which was guidance and light. The 'Nabis' who submitted [to Allah] judged by it for the Jews..." (al-maidah-44).

Shariah was contained in the Torah, and 'Nabis' used to interpret this law to judge between the people. We know interpretation of law is itself a law and an extended form of law, and this extended law (interpretations) was revealed to 'Nabis' through 'wahi'. Because Nabis are sent to be obeyed by the people, their interpretations were binding upon the people. In other words, such 'Nabis'  added to the already revealed Law (Shariah) and these interpretations were part of Deen. (for details plz see http://secondriseofislam.blogspot.com/2014/01/qadyaniat-and-ibn-e-arbis-mis.html. Similarly our rasool (ﷺ) as a Nabi (ﷺ) interpreted Quran in the form of Hadith. In Hadith we find laws which are not found in Quran; these added laws are actually product of interpretations of Quran, and these interpretations were made by our Nabi (ﷺ) as a Nabi (ﷺ); it was the basic job of our Nabi (ﷺ) as a Nabi to interpret the Quran, and we as Muslims are under obligation to obey and follow our Nabi (ﷺ); as such Hadith is a part of Deen. If we do not take our Nabi’s (ﷺ) interpretations as a part of Deen, that would mean we do not believe in ‘nabuwwat’ of our rasool (ﷺ) [continued].