Every Muslim has to believe in all the hadeeths of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) – if they are saheeh (authentic) – and not reject any of them, because his hadeeths and his Sunnah (teachings) are revelation (wahy) from Allah. Whoever rejects the hadeeth of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has rejected revelation from Allah.

Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“By the star when it goes down (or vanishes).

Your companion (Muhammad) has neither gone astray nor has erred.

Nor does he speak of (his own) desire.

It is only a Revelation revealed.

He has been taught (this Quran) by one mighty in power (Gabriel).

One free from any defect in body and mind then he (Gabriel in his real shape as created by Allah) rose and became stable.” [53:1-6] 

Allah has commanded the people to obey His Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). He has enjoined this in many verses of the Quran, of which we will quote some. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Say (O Muhammad): “Obey Allah and the Messenger (Muhammad).” But if they turn away, then Allah does not like the disbelievers.” [3:32] 

“He who obeys the Messenger (Muhammad), has indeed obeyed Allah, but he who turns away, then we have not sent you (O Muhammad) as a watcher over them.” [4:80] 

“O you who believe! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger (Muhammad), and those of you (Muslims) who are in authority. (And) if you differ in anything amongst yourselves, refer it to Allah and His Messenger, if you believe in Allah and in the Last Day. That is better and more suitable for final determination.” [4:59] 

“And perform As‑Salah (Iqamat‑as-Salah), and give Zakah and obey the Messenger (Muhammad) that you may receive mercy (from Allah).”
 [24:56] 

And there are many similar verses.

The one who rejects the Sunnah is a kafir and an apostate.

Al-Suyooti (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his essay Miftah al-Jannah fi Ihtijaj bi’l-Sunnah:

Note that whoever denies that the hadeeth of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), whether it describes his words or deeds, so long as it meets the conditions outlined by the scholars, may be quoted as evidence, is a kafir and has gone beyond the pale of Islam; he will be gathered with the Jews and the Christians or whomever Allah wills among the kafir sects [i.e., on the Day of Resurrection].

Those who want to restrict themselves to the Quran only are called al-Quraniyyoon. This view of theirs is an old view which the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) warned against in more than one hadeeth, as we shall see below. Among the soundest evidence that this view is false is the fact that those who say this do not really follow what they say.

How do these people pray? How many times do they pray each day and night? What are the conditions and details of zakah? What is the nisab (threshold of wealth) for paying zakah? What is the amount that must be paid? How do they do Hajj and ‘Umrah? How many times do they circumambulate the Ka’bah? How many times do they go back and forth between al-Safa and al-Marwah?

There are many other issues for which the details are not narrated in the Quran, rather they are mentioned in the Quran in general terms, and the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) explained them in detail in his Sunnah.

Would these people refrain from acting upon these rulings because they are not narrated in the Quran?

If their answer is yes, then they have passed judgement against themselves that they are kafirs, because they have denied a basic principle of Islam that no Muslim has any excuse for not knowing and on which there is unanimous consensus among the Muslims.

If they reply that they do not refrain from following these rulings, then they have demonstrated that their view is false.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said – after quoting the verses that enjoin following the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) –

These texts enjoin following the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) even if we do not find what he said specifically referred to in the texts of the Quran. These verses also enjoin following the Quran even if we do not find what is said in the Quran specifically mentioned in the hadeeth of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).

So we must follow the Quran and we must follow the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Following the one implies following the other, for the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) conveyed the Book, and the Book commands us to follow the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). The Book and the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) do not contradict one another at all, just as the Book does not contradict itself. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Had it been from other than Allah, they would surely, have found therein many a contradiction.” [4:82] 

And there are many hadeeths from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) which state that it is obligatory to follow the Quran and that it is obligatory to follow his Sunnah, for example, the hadeeth in which he said: “I do not want to find any one of you reclining on his pillow, and when he hears of something that I have commanded or forbidden, he says, ‘Between us and you there stands this Quran, whatever we find is permissible in it we will take as permissible, and whatever we find is forbidden in it we will take as forbidden.’ For I have been given the Book and something like it with it; it is like the Quran or more.” This hadeeth is narrated in the books of Sunan and Musnad from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) with a number of isnads (chains of narration) from Abu Tha’labah, Abu Rafi’, Abu Hurayrah and others.

In Saheeh Muslim is it narrated from Jabir that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said in his Farewell Sermon: “I am leaving behind among you something which, if you adhere to it, you will not go astray after that. It is the Book of Allah.” The version narrated by al-Hakim says “The Book of Allah and my Sunnah.” (Classed as saheeh/authentic by al-Albani in Saheeh al-Jami’, 2937).

In al-Saheeh it is narrated from ‘Abd-Allah ibn Abi Awfa that it was said to him: Did the Messenger of Allah leave a will? He said, No. It was said, How then is it prescribed for people to make wills when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did not make a will? He said, He made a will in which he enjoined (adherence to) the Book of Allah.

(Narrated by Muslim, 1634)

The Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah explains the Quran, as it explains the number of prayers, how much should be recited in them, which should be recited out loud and which quietly. It also explains the amounts of zakah to be paid and the threshold at which zakah becomes due; the rituals of Hajj and ‘Umrah; how many times one should circumambulate the Ka’bah, go between al-Safa and al-Marwah and stone the Jamarat (pillars), etc.

When any Sunnah is proven to be saheeh, the Muslims are agreed that it is obligatory to follow it. There may be something in the Sunnah which a person thinks appears to go against the apparent meaning of the Quran and add to it, such as the Sunnah which explains the threshold of stealing at which the hadd (Islamic legal) punishment becomes due, and the Sunnah which stipulates that the married adulterer is to be stoned. This Sunnah must also be followed, according to the view of the Sahabah/Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) and those who followed them in truth, and all the groups of Muslims.

Adapted from Majmoo’ al-Fatawa, 19/84-86

That which was brought by the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is true just as the Quran is true.


Some people have started to claim that the Sunnah is not a source of legislation. They call themselves “al-Qur’aaniyyeen” and say that we have the Qur’aan, so we take as halaal whatever it allows and take as haraam whatever it forbids. The Sunnah, according to their claims, is full of fabricated ahaadeeth falsely attributed to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). They are the successors of other people about whom the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told us. Ahmad, Abu Dawood and al-Haakim reported with a saheeh isnaad from al-Miqdaam that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Soon there will be a time when a man will be reclining on his couch, narrating a hadeeth from me, and he will say, ‘Between us and you is the Book of Allaah: what it says is halaal, we take as halaal, and what it says is haraam, we take as haraam.’ But listen! Whatever the Messenger of Allaah forbids is like what Allaah forbids.” (Al-Fath al-Kabeer, 3/438. Al-Tirmidhi reported it with different wording, and said that it is hasan saheeh. Sunan al-Tirmidhi bi Sharh Ibn al-‘Arabi, al-Saawi edn., 10/132). The name al-Qur’aaniyyeen does not befit these people, because the Qur’aan tells us, in almost one hundred aayahs, to obey the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). Obedience to the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is considered in the Qur’aan to be a part of obedience to Allaah, may He be glorified. “He who obeys the Messenger, has indeed obeyed Allaah, but he who turns away, then we have not sent you (O Muhammad) as a watcher over them.” [al-Nisa’ 4:80 – interpretation of the meaning]. The Qur’aan, which they claim to follow, denies the faith of the one who refuses to obey the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and does not accept his ruling: “But no, by your Lord, they can have no Faith, until they make you (O Muhammad) judge in all disputes between them, and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions, and accept (them) with full submission.” [al-Nisa’ 4:65 – interpretation of the meaning]

Their suggestion that the Sunnah is “contaminated” with fabricated ahaadeeth is not valid, because the scholars of this ummah took the utmost care to purify the Sunnah from all alien elements. If they had any doubts about the truthfulness of any narrator, or there was the slightest possibility that he could have forgotten something, this would be sufficient grounds for rejecting a hadeeth. Even the enemies of this ummah have stated that no other nation has paid so much attention to examining its reports and their narrators, especially in the case of reports narrated from the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).

For it to be obligatory to follow a hadeeth, it is sufficient for it to be known that it is a saheeh (authentic, sound) hadeeth narrated from the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was content to convey his message by sending just one of his Companions, which proves that the hadeeth reported by one trustworthy person must be followed.

Moreover, we would ask these people: where are the aayaat which tell us how to pray, or which tell us that the obligatory prayers are five times daily, or which tell us about the nisaab on various kinds of wealth for the purpose of zakaah, or about the details of the rituals of Hajj, and other rulings which we can only know from the Sunnah?

Al-Mawsoo’ah al-Fiqhiyyah, 1/44