Nature of ‘Wahe Ghair Matlu’

                 

                       

We have already seen in the article  https://secondriseofislam.blogspot.com/2011/09/wahi-and-intuition.html    that wahi revealed to a ‘Rasool’ and revealed to a ‘nabi’ (a.s) are different not only in the form  but also in the medium through which these ‘wahi’ are revealed. ‘Wahi’ to a Rasool is initiated through Hazrat Gabriel (as) or directly by Allah. When ‘wahi’ is revealed to a Rasool through Hazrat Gabriel (a.s), it is revealed  in the form of Book,  and in the form of Allah's Words [it is the basic identity of a Rasool that he is given Book/'saheefa'(ale-Imran-184)]. When ‘wahi’ to a Rasool is revealed directly from Allah without any Angel, it is revealed in the form of Allah's Idea translated into words by the Rasool himself.

‘Wahi’ to a 'Nabi' is initiated always through Hazrat Gabrael and in the form of Allah's Idea translated into words by Hazrat Gabrael (e.g. Hadith e Qudsi) or by the 'Nabi' himself (Hadith e Nabi). A Nabi may also be given a portion of a Book to be revealed completely to a Rasool, but this partial Book revealed to a Nabi is  not in the form of Allah's Words; rather it is revealed in the form of Allah's Idea translated into words by Gabrael or by Nabi himself (al-Imran-81). 

In the article https://secondriseofislam.blogspot.com/2013/02/types-of-wahi-and-sunnah.html we have seen that, in case of prophet who is Rasool and Nabi combined, the ‘Rasool’ receives complete Book through Gabriel (as) in the form of Allah’s words, and being Nabi receives, in respect of the Book he receives, Allah’s Ideas/ ‘wahi’ which is translated by Gabriel (e.g. Hadith e Qudsi) or the Nabi (as) himself (e.g. Hadith e Nabi). Such a 'wahi' received as a Nabi by a 'Rasool' and 'Nabi' combined and translated by Rasool himself has been called as 'words of Rasool' (al-haqah-40); and such a 'wahi' translated by 'Gabriel' has been called as words of Gabriel (al-takwir-19). Such ‘wahi’ received as a Nabi by a ‘Rasool’ and ‘Nabi’ combined is called Sunnah/Hadith of that ‘Rasool’/Nabi. In other words, Sunnah/Hadith of a ‘Rasool’/Nabi is Allah’s ideas/ ‘wahi’ regarding the Book revealed to him; Sunnah/Hadith is the interpretation of Allah’s words/ Book revealed to a Rasool; such interpretation is done either by the 'Rasool' himself or by Gabriel and is based on 'wahi' sent by Allah.

In the article https://secondriseofislam.blogspot.com/2016/09/following-allah-and-following-rasool.html we have seen that there is difference between  obeying (ata,at) and following (itba,a). Obeying is related to commandment; whereas following is related to every act/saying whether commanded to obey or not. We are under obligation to obey Allah but we are not under obligation to follow Allah. The reason is simple; we do not have capability to follow Allah. However we are to obey Allah through following Allah’s ‘Wahi’. But we are  to follow our Nabi ﷺ ; it means we are  to follow our Nabi (ﷺ) in all his acts/sayings/qualities- whether we have been commanded to or not to obey such acts/sayings/qualities of our Nabi (ﷺ) -except those which have been explicitly prohibited to be followed.

In the article https://secondriseofislam.blogspot.com/2016/12/nabuwwat-and-its-functions-in-light-of.html we have seen that      the basic function of nabuwwat is always to interpret Kalam ullah i.e. revealed Book.  This interpretation of Kalamullah is done by the respective nabi in the light of wahi. The followers of respective nabi are bound to understand Kalamullah/Book as it has been interpreted by the nabi (a.s). That is why a nabi’s interpretations of a revealed Book  are part of Deen; these interpretations are made in the form of ahadith. In other words, believing in nabuwwat of our nabi s.a.w.w means ahadith are part of Deen.

In the article https://secondriseofislam.blogspot.com/2017/07/why-hadith-is-essential.html we have seen that Quran tells us what we should do and what we should avoid, but Hadith tell us how people can practice/ act upon what they are supposed to do and what they are supposed to avoid according to Quran. You know when people start acting upon a scripture there may be thousands of variations/ differences as to how scripture should be acted upon. Hadith is a MODEL of ways and means we must go for to act upon Quran in all times to come. This Model is based on people's acts/omissions to follow Quran as well as our Nabi's acts/omissions/sayings; the people acted/ omitted to act in their lives, and our Nabi ﷺ declared such acts/omissions as right or wrong in the light of Quran and wahi ghair-matlu.

In the light of the foregoing, we can say that ‘Wahi e Ghair Matlu’ which is basis of sayings/ acts of our Nabi ﷺ may be divided into following categories.

The first category of ‘Wahi Ghair Matlu’ is through which Quranic verses are interpreted by Gabriel a.s. and such interpretations are communicated verbatim by our Nabi ﷺ to the people;  

The second category is that through which our Nabi ﷺ  is dictated to undertake certain act or make a statement and our Nabi ﷺ  acts accordingly;

The third category of ‘wahi e ghair matlu’ is that our Nabi ﷺ  makes a statement or takes an action in the light of permissions/ prohibitions revealed to our Nabi ﷺ regarding a statement/act to be done by our Nabi ﷺ or by the people around our Nabi ﷺ .  It may be appreciated that such category of wahi revealed for a situation needs not to be revealed every time such situation arises; one time wahi revealed for a situation is enough for every time such situation occurs. For instance, regarding ‘qattal’, permissions/ prohibitions once revealed were to be applied every time ‘qattal’ was to be undertaken. Keeping with such permissions/ prohibitions, people are free to undertake ‘qattal’ in whatever manner they like to.

The fourth category of ‘wahi e ghair matlu’ is that through which our Nabi ﷺ  and people were made free to act according to their situation or choice. The choices exercised by our Nabi ﷺ or people in such cases are according to Deen and wahi e ghair matlu.

Another type of sayings/acts of our Nabi ﷺ are those which are apparent words of Quran; such sayings/acts of our Nabi ﷺ are according to apparent Quranic wahi/Words; they are also ‘wahi e ghair matlu’. 
In other words, our Nabi's saww sayings/acts- whether they were exact wahi or according to wahi- were according to meanings of the Quran and such meanings were revealed to our Nabi saww through ‘Wahi ghair matlu’.

It may be appreciated that our Nabi’s ﷺ all sayings/ acts are to be followed by the people (except which have been specifically prohibited for people to be followed); in the situations in which people are to exercise their choice according to their situation/ liking, people actually follow our Nabi ﷺ  because it is our Nabi’s ﷺ  act to allow through ‘wahi ghair matlu’ such choice.