Hundred Questions - The Qur'an and Hadith (Traditions of the Prophet)
The Qur'an and Hadith (Traditions of the Prophet)
Q3 What is the relationship between the Qur'an and the Traditions of the Prophet? Is it true that the Prophet said: "You are in an age in which anyone of you who abandons one-tenth of what is ordered (to do), will perish. Then a time will come when anyone of them who shall observe one-tenth of what is now ordered will be redeemed"? (Tirmidhi, IV, 530 and Mishkat, I, 171; see also Spirit of Islam by Sayyid Amir `Ali, p. 183).
A3 The relationship between the Qur'an and the Traditions of the Prophet is that the traditions are the explanation and elucidation of the Qur'an, for they are the sayings of the teacher of the Qur'an (mu`allim-i Qur'an), provided that they are sound and not fabricated or forged. That is, they have not been made up by people to serve their own purpose. If they are sound, they are important in religion after the Qur'an. For, in religion after the speech of God, the speech of the Prophet is venerable and obligatory to act upon. But how can it be possible for the Prophet, after having pronounced the hadith-i thaqalayn (i.e. the Tradition about two heavy things – the Qur'an and his progeny) to let the Muslims depend only on the traditions, notwithstanding that the Prophet knew that it would be extremely difficult for the Muslims to differentiate and discern between correct and incorrect traditions? Further, to say that the traditions, which are mostly related to the time of the Prophet, can solve new problems would cause great amazement.
According to us, obedience to God, the Prophet and ulu'l-amr means that we must accept the Imam of the time as the representative and vicegerent of God and His Prophet and try to understand the exoteric and esoteric aspects of the Qur'an and the Traditions in the light of his command and guidance and put them into practice. It is this [kind of obedience], in which lies the pleasure of God and the Prophet.
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