Nabuwwat and its Functions in the Light of Basic Islamic Beliefs (3)

‘Munkareen e hadith’  try to distort basic Islamic belief of Nabuwwah by confusing ‘Eman’ with the belief that a hadith is rightly associated with our Nabi s.a.w.w or not.  They plead if belief in a hadith is part of  Eman, a person’s Eman would tend to be decreased or increased depending upon the number of ‘ahadith’ he believes in as authentic ahadith. The ‘munkareen e hadith’ actually need to know there is a difference between Nabuwwah and ascertainment of a hadith.  The function of Nabuwwah is to interpret the revealed Book.. The BELIEF that  function of Nabuwwah is to interpret Quran/ revealed Book is a matter of Eman; whereas the Belief whether a hadith- which is function of nabuwwah- is rightly associated with our Nabi s.a.w.w. or not,  is matter of information.  After the information is ascertained, a Muslim can develop 'Eman' in a Hadith.  It means ascertainment of information about a hadith and developing Eman in that hadith are two different things. Moreover, Eman is not something quantitative; it is something qualitative. In other words,  decrease or increase  of  'Eman' does not depend upon the number (quantity) of ahadith; a very high level of Eman can be attained, even if one believes  in a few things; and a very low level of Eman may persists even if one   believes in so many things. (it does not mean one should believe in minimum number of ahadith; one has to believe in all such ahadith which, to him, are rightly associated to our Nabi s.a.w.w.).

Another argument put forth by ‘munkareen e hadith’ is that all meanings of Quran have been described in Quran; there was no need to describe these meanings outside the Quran. This is obviously a false view because we know only literal meanings of Quranic Words are found in apparent words of Quran;  in-depth meanings and inter-related meanings of various verses are not found in apparent Words of Quran. In other words, overall understanding of Quran is not contained in the form of apparent Quranic Words. Moreover, al-Qiyamah-19 states about the meanings of Quran. All Verses/Words contained in Quran are called Quran; it means the meanings of Quran (mentioned in al-Qiyamah-19) are different from the apparent Verses/Words contained in the Quran. Actually these meanings of Quran have been revealed to our Nabi s.a.w.w. in the form of hadith. It does not mean no Quranic meanings have been described in Quran; obviously many apparent verses/words of Quran are explained in the Quran, but point is that all meanings of  apparent Verses/ Words contained in Quran are not explained in the form of apparent Verses/ Words of Quran; much greater part of Quranic meanings are explained in the form of ahadith which have been stated by our Nabi s.a.w.w. under the ‘wahi e khafi’.

‘Munkareen e hadith’ also object that ahadith are not Kalamullah and as such they cannot be taken as part of Deen. This objection is also baseless because ahadith are outcome of wahi e khafi. As meanings of Quran have been sent to our Nabi s.a.w.w by Allah (al-qiyamah-19) and interaction between Allah and Nabi s.a.w.w. is conducted only through wahi, it means Quranic meanings were sent to our Nabi s.a.w.w. through wahi which is called wahi e Khafi/ ghair matlu. Allah speaks to prophets through two kinds of wahi; first is in the form of Words of Allah (e.g. a Book/Quran); the second is in the form of Allah’s Ideas which are translated by Gabriel (a.s) or by the prophet (a.s) himself. This second type of wahi results in Hadith. Both types of wahi- whether resulting in Quran or Hadith- are Kalamullah with the difference that Quran is Kalamullah as well as Words of Allah; whereas Hadith is Kalamullah but words of Nabi s.a.w.w. or words of Gabriel (a.s). The distinction between ‘kalam/Idea’ and Words may be appreciated by the example of deaf and dumb person. A deaf and dumb person speaks to us by making certain gestures; it is ‘kalam’/ Idea of that person. When we translate those gestures in our own words, it still remains kalam/ Idea of that deaf and dumb person though the words are ours. It is possible that we may commit mistake in translating gestures of deaf and dumb; but a Nabi (a.s) cannot commit mistake in understanding wahi. A wahi is impressed upon the Nabi's (a.s) mind/qalb; it means wahi is  understood by the Nabi (a.s) correctly; it is duty of Allah and Gabriel (a.s) to impress wahi upon the Nabi's (a.s) mind 100% correctly. (For details plz see https://secondriseofislam.blogspot.com/2014/03/concept-of-infallibility-of-prophet-and_8.html).

‘Munkareen e hadith’ view that Quran can be interpreted through Quran and as such no external source is required to interpret Quran. By adopting this view, they neglect dozens of Quranic verses which dictate people not only to follow the Book/ Quran but also to obey our Nabi s.a.w.w. Quran specifically orders the people to follow the person of our Nabi s.a.w.w.(ale Imran-31). We have seen in the article  https://secondriseofislam.blogspot.com/2016/10/itbaa-e-nabi-second-name-of-deen-1.html that ‘ata,at/obedience’ is relating to what has been directed, but itba,a/following is relating to everything whether directed or not; it means we should follow each and every manner/saying/act of our nabi s.a.w.w. whether or not we have been specifically directed to follow such manner/saying/act of our nabi s.a.w.w. The result of following our Nabi s.a.w.w. is establishment of political, social, economic, moral and other aspects of collective life according to the wahi received by our Nabi s.a.w.w.

Aother objection raised by the 'munkareen e hadith' is if hadith was part of Deen, why our Nabi .sa.w.w. has not got ahadith written in his age? This objection is also futile. Our Nabi's (s.a.w.w.) nabuwwah is applied to all ages to come. It means the Quranic meanings revealed to our Nabi s.a.w.w. also apply to all ages to come till Qiyamah.The ahadith contain principles which apply to all life situations likely to be faced by human till Qiyamah. When a hadith is narrated, it contains not only the principle but also the background (in most cases) in which that principle is stated by our Nabi s.a.w.w. If ahadith were got written essentially under the direction of our Nabi s.a.w.w., the people might tend to apply the principles contained in ahadith only to the situations/backgrounds stated in the ahadith. Because such situations might not be more than a few thousands in written ahadith, the application of principles contained in ahadith would become confined to only those few thousands situations stated in ahadith. Because application of principles mentioned in ahadith are meant to be applied to all life situations likely to be faced by human till Qiyamah, the ahadith were not essentially got written by our Nabi s.a.w.w. so that Muslims of every age may apply the principles contained in ahadith to all the situations faced by them.

  

We have seen in the article https://secondriseofislam.blogspot.com/2016/07/change-and-changeability-in-islamic.html that throughout past fourteen centuries, collective Islamic thinking was always developed on the basis of Quran and Hadith. No doubt some minor groups in every age also developed such religious thinking which was contradictory to the collective Islamic thinking but such minority thinking always died down without attaining acceptance from the people. ‘Munkareen e Hadith’ are not a new phenomenon in terms of Idea; they were found almost in every age but never achieved widespread acclamation. In every age they caused rifts in Muslim societies and earned condemnation of people at large. The same is the fate of ‘munkareen e Hadith’ of present age. The major impact of religious thinking of such people is to make attempt for removing the person of our Nabi s.a.w.w. from our social, political, economic, and other spheres of collective life so that they may shape all these spheres of Muslims’ collective life according to their own will. They want to shape Muslims’ collective life according to their own intellect instead of according to the wahi received by our Nabi s.a.w.w. (continued).  

Nabuwwat and its Functions in the light of Basic Islamic Beliefs (2)

In the part (1) of this article we have seen the basic Islamic Beliefs regarding Quran and nabuwwat/resalat are that requirements of believing in Quran are different from the requirements of believing in nabuwwat/resalat. The basic requirement of believing in Quran is that we must believe Quran is Allah’s Words, revealed to our Nabi/rasool s.a.w.w. through Gabriel and these Words of Quran are meant for complete guidance for humanity till Qiyamah. The basic requirement of believing in our nabi’s s.a.w.w ‘nabuwwat’ is that interpretation/meanings of Quran have been revealed to our Nabi s.a.w.w  through Gabriel and we must understand Quran on the basis of interpretation done by our Nabi s.a.w.w because it is the basic function of nabuwwat to interpret the revealed Book. The wahi in the light of which our nabi s.a.w.w used to interpret Quran is called ‘wahi e khafi’; ahadith are outcome of ‘wahi e khafi’.

The groups like Ghamdi cult and Ahle Quran cult, and non-Muslims like Qadyanis are distorting the basic Islamic Beliefs particularly regarding Quran and Nabuwwah. 

Before we turn to the distortions made by these groups in the basic Islamic beliefs, it is pertinent to have a look into the nature of ‘wahi e khafi’ which is source of ahadith (sunnah).

A Nabi does not receive wahi in the form of Kalamullah/ Words of Allah (e.g. Quran; Bible); rather a Nabi (a.s) always receives wahi in the form of Allah’s Ideas which are translated into words by the Nabi (a.s) himself or by Gabriel (a.s). When translated by Gabriel, it is called ‘Hadith e Qudsi’; when translated by the Nabi (a.s) himself, it is called ‘Hadith e Nabi’. Such wahi received by a Nabi (a.s) is called ‘wahe e khafi’/ ‘ghair matlu’. Through ‘wahi e khafi’, a nabi (a.s) receives interpretation of the Book/ Words of Allah. If a prophet is rasool and nabi combined, he receives, as a rasool, wahi in the form of Book/Words of Allah, and he receives, as a nabi, interpretation of the Book/ Words of Allah in the form of ‘wahi e khafi’/ ‘ghair matlu’. Whatever was done or said by our Nabi s.a.w.w was the outcome of wahi e khafi/ ghair matlu. It does not mean every time our Nabi s.a.w.w delivered a statement or performed any act, a wahi e khafi regarding that saying or act was received by our Nabi s.a.w.w. Rather it was enough if wahi e khafi was received by our Nabi s.a.w.w. only once regarding any saying or act. For instance, it was not that every time our Nabi s.a.w.w. offered prayer, he s.a.w.w. used to receive wahi e khafi regarding procedure of offering prayer; it was enough, if only once wahi e khafi was received by our Nabi s.a.w.w. regarding procedure of prayer. After receiving wahi e khafi regarding procedure of prayer, our nabi s.a.w.w. offered prayers in various manners but keeping in line with what wahi was sent to our nabi s.a.w.w. in that regard.  That is why we find various manners/ways (for instance various ways of resting hands etc.) in various ahadith. It does not mean that ahadith are not authentic; it only means that our nabi s.a.w.w. offered prayers with various manners but all those manners were in line with what was required under the wahi e khafi received by our nabi s.a.w.w. in that regard.

In other words. No manner of our nabi s.a.w.w. was contradictory to what was revealed to our nabi s.aw.w. When our nabi s.a.w.w. received  wahi e khafi, he s.a.w.w. used to keep acting upon that wahi, when time for implementing that wahi came, in various manners (varying manners were not adopted in all cases) but ensuring that no contradiction of wahi e khafi occurred. It is in this sense that every saying and action of our nabi s.a.w.w. is in complete accordance with what was revealed to our nabi s.a.w.w. through ‘wahi e khafi’/ ‘ghair matlu’. That is why if various ‘ahadith’ state about various ways of performing the same act at different times/ situations, it does not mean ahadith are incorrect; it may only mean that act has been performed by our nabi s.a.w.w. in different ways, but not in contradiction to ways informed through the wahi khafi received (for difference between Different and Contradictory plz see . https://secondriseofislam.blogspot.com/2015/07/khilafah-and-imamah-not-contradictory.html).

The foregoing leads us to believe that all saying and acts- whether different in different situations or not- were performed by our Nabi s.a.w.w. in accordance with wahi e khafi/ ghair matlu. As already stated in part (1), all acts and sayings of our Nabi s.a.w.w. are, in fact, interpretations of Quran, which have been revealed to our nabi s.a.w.w. through wahi e khafi/ ghair matlu.

Now we turn to requirements of basic Islamic beliefs and how Munkareen e hadith, mentioned above, are distorting these basic beliefs. These ‘munkareen e hadith’ may be divided into two types. The first are non-Muslims called Qadyanis which do not believe that our Nabi s.a.w.w. is the last prophet; they believe in prophet-hood of Mirza Qadyani. This group of munkareen e hadith does not believe in such  ahadith which reject Qadyanis’ ideology; in other words they do not believe that ahadith are interpretations of Quran and as such have to be complied with by them irrespective of fact whether or not ahadith reject Qadyanis’ ideology. In other words, Qadyanis primarily believe in prophet-hood of Mirza Qadyani who is to be followed in all cases, and our Nabi s.a.w.w. is not the last prophet and as such following our nabi s.a.w.w. is subject to following Mirza Qadyani.

As against Qadyanis, the second type of ‘munkareen e hadith’- like GHamdi cult and Ahl e Quran- believe in Nabi s.a.w.w as the last of prophets but they do not fulfill the requirements of believing in ‘nabuwwah’ of our Nabi s.aw.w. As has been mentioned earlier, the requirements of believing in Quran are different from requirements of believing in nabuwwah.   The basic requirement of believing in our nabi’s s.a.w.w ‘nabuwwat’ is that interpretation/meanings of Quran have been revealed to our Nabi s.a.w.w  through Gabriel (as has been explained in part (1) through al-qiyamah-19) and we must understand Quran on the basis of interpretation done by our Nabi s.a.w.w because it is the basic function of nabuwwat to interpret the revealed Book. This basic function of nabuwwah has been described in Quran.

 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).

Law (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 an extended form of law, and this extended law (interpretations) was revealed to 'Nabis' through 'wahi'; as such this 'wahi' constituted 'shariah' and  was compulsorily to be accepted/complied with by the people. In other words, 'Nabis'  added laws to the law (shariah) orignally revealed in the form of Book to a 'Rasool', and such added/extended laws revealed to nabis were part of Deen.  The wahi in the light of which our nabi s.a.w.w used to interpret Quran is called ‘wahi e khafi’; ahadith are outcome of ‘wahi e khafi’.

Ghamdi cult and Ahl e Quran do not believe that meanings of Quran have been revealed to our Nabi s.a.w.w. in the form of hadith, and as such they do not consider hadith as a part of Deen. In this way they distort the basic Islamic belief of nabuwwah whose basic function is to interpret the Book revealed to a rasool (a.s). By disbelieving in hadith as revealed meanings of Quran to our Nabi s.a.w.w., these groups actually fail in fulfilling the basic requirement of believing in our Nabi’s s.a.w.w. nabuwwah (continued).