The Sacred Texts

The Quran repeatedly reminds us of the importance of Hadith, enjoining us to strictly follow the Prophet: “...Obey God and obey the messenger...” (Al-Nisa, 4:59). It is as if the Quran is the text and the Hadith the commentary, the Quran being the theory and the Hadith the practice. The Quran and Hadith are complementary to one another and are thus inseparable. Both are equally essential for the establishment of religion. The contemporaries of the Prophet are known as the Companions, or sahabah. Because the Companions believed in the message of the Prophet, all his actions served as a precedent for them and every word falling from his lips became a commandment to them; and they were anxious to follow each one as faithfully as they could. During the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad, many of his Companions learnt by heart whatever he said, and keenly observed whatever he did, all of which they shared with each other. They naturally thirsted after the knowledge of what he said or did, so that many, like Abu Hurayrah, Anas ibn Malik and Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud, kept constant company with him in order to observe and hear his every word and deed. Aishah, the Prophet’s wife, was the first among women to tell of the Prophet’s sayings and doings. She reported more than two thousand hadith, while Abu Hurayrah related more than five thousand hadith. Later, the sayings were compiled by various collectors of hadith. In this regard, Bukhari and Muslim are the first to have applied the most rigorous measures to ascertain the reliability of each hadith. An unbroken chain of narrators was traced for each hadith and each transmitter’s life was analysed from all angles to validate his trustworthiness. Hadith, meaning a “statement” or “report”, is used as an Islamic term for the records kept of the sayings and doings of the Prophet Muhammad. Sunnah means the actions the Prophet himself performed, or actions he asked his followers to perform. The Hadith is a record of the Sunnah.