Understanding the Hadeeth (Sayings) of Prophet Muhammad) in the context of the Qur’an BS Foad, MD 2017 Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati 1 Table of contents 2-4 Introduction 5-8 Chapter One: The Oneness of Allah and how He controls everything 9-18 Chapter Two: Be mindful of God, atone for your sins and behave on the basis of morals & noble character 19-28 Chapter Three: The goal and manner of fasting Ramadan 29-34 Chapter Four: Muslims should not fear harm from the words or actions of a Muslim; and the true meaning of Hijra (emigration to Allah). 35-43 Chapter Five: Fight only those who fight you: the concept of Jihad in Islam 44-50 Chapter Six: The Muslim is the brother of another Muslim: he does not wrong him nor leaves him unsupported; he helps him, relieves his distress and shields him 51-58 Chapter Seven: Being good to your neighbor and to your guest; saying something good or keep quiet 59-66 Chapter Eight: Characteristics of hypocrisy 67-72 Chapter Nine: Avoiding the major sins 73-80 2 Chapter Ten: Good deeds are multiplied several folds 81-87 Chapter Eleven: Give charity early 88-94 Chapter Twelve: Praying in the early morning and seeking God’s forgiveness 95-100 Chapter Thirteen: Patiently persevere during difficult times and be grateful to Allah during good times 101-107 Chapter Fourteen: Who are the ones that Allah loves and will protect? 108-118 Chapter Fifteen: The best of believers are those of morals and noble character 119-125 Chapter Sixteen: Moderation and avoiding extremes 126-132 Chapter Seventeen: What to look for in choosing a wife? 133-137 Chapter Eighteen: Love for your brother what you love for yourself 138-143 Chapter Nineteen: Hajj (Pilgrimage) 144-148 3 Chapter Twenty: Prophet Muhammad is the Last of God’s prophets 149-156 Chapter Twenty One: Control your anger 157-161 Chapter Twenty Two: Fate or Qadar 162-171 Chapter Twenty Three: Do not miss dawn prayer and wake up early 172-180 Chapter Twenty Four: What are the things that we should seek protection in Allah from? 181-189 Chapter Twenty Five: What to avoid in our behavior with others 190-195 Chapter Twenty Six: The value of knowledge and our responsibility in spreading useful knowledge and not concealing it 196-205 4 Introduction The Goal of this Book is to understand the Hadeeth (sayings of prophet Muhamad) Peace be upon him (PBUH) in the context of the Qur’an. Both the Qur’an and the sayings of the Prophet (PBUH) are divinely inspired. To Muslims the Qur’an are the words of Allah (God). It was inspired to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and safeguarded in oral and written forms at the time of the Prophet, and related to us by his companions. The Qur’an states that Allah promised to safeguard the Qur’an from alteration: إِنَّا َن ْح ُن نَ َّز ْل َنا ال ِذ ْك َر َوإِنَّا َلهُ َل َحافِ ُظو َن “We have sent down this message (the Qur’an) and We will safeguard it.” Al-Hijr (Rocky Tracts) 15: 9 The Arabic Qur’an that we have today is the same Arabic Qur’an inspired to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The Qur’an was revealed interrupted over 23 years. Each day few verses were revealed, and the Prophet (PBUH) related these verses to his companions. A group of his companions were charged with writing the Qur’anic verses on material available at the time. Another group of the Prophet’s companions were charged with memorizing the few verses revealed each day. Since Muslims recite the Arabic Qur’an in their prayers, five times each day in their lives, it was not difficult to memorize the Qur’an, since it came down slowly over so many years. Many of the Prophet’s companions memorized the whole Qur’an during his lifetime. Allah also inspired to Prophet Muhammad other inspirations in addition to the Qur’an. The sayings of the Prophet (PBUH) were transmitted orally, and few were written at his time. The Prophet’s sayings were later compiled in books of Hadeeth (sayings of the Prophet). These sayings were authenticated by Muslim 5 scholars in a scientific way, regarding the content and the men who related the Hadeeth. Both the character of the person as well as his ability to memorize were scrutinized to make sure that what he related was authentic. Also any doubts regarding the authenticity of the Hadeeth were examined carefully and cross referenced with other Hadeeth, as well as with the Qur’an, to make sure there were no errors in the Hadeeth. Only authentic Hadeeth were accepted from men who were righteous and honest and showed ability to memorize the sayings of the Prophet (PBUH). The same methodology was applied to each person relating the Hadeeth, the so called chain of the Hadeeth, to make sure that each person stated the truth and was trustworthy. Books of Hadeeth were composed relating these authentic sayings of the Prophet (PBUH) like Bokhari, Muslim, Ahmad, Malik, Termedhi, Abou Dawood, Nesa’ee & Ibn Majja. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) Delivered the message sent to him from God and explained some of the verses of the Qur’an. He also applied the Qur’an in his character and behavior and became an example to follow. The Qur’an states: يَا أَيُّ َها ال َّر ُسو ُل بَ ِل ْغ َما أُ ْن ِز َل إِ َل ْي َك ِم ْن َربِ َك ۖ َوإِ ْن َل ْم تَ ْفعَ ْل َف َما بَلَّ ْغ َت ِر َسا َلتَه ُ “O messenger proclaim what was sent down to you from your Lord; if you do not do that then you would not have delivered His message.” Al-Ma’Ida (The Table) 5: 67 And ۗ َوأَ ْن َز ْل َنا إِ َل ْي َك ال ِذ ْك َر ِلتُبَي ِ َن ِلل َّنا ِس َما نُ ِ ز َل إِ َل ْي ِه ْم َو َلعَ َّل ُه ْم يَتَ َف َّك ُرون “And We sent down to you this message, in order that you may explain to the people what was sent down to them from their Lord, and that they may reflect.” An-Nahl (The Bees) 16: 44 6 Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was a human being, and did his best to deliver and explain God’s message and to guide us to God’s straight way. The Qur’an explains his human limitations, and orders us to study and reflect on God’s message. This way we can properly understand and see our way clearly: قُ ْل ََل أَقُو ُل َل ُك ْم ِع ْن ِدي َخ َزائِ ُن ا َّ َِّلل َو ََل أَ ْع َل ُم ا ْل َغ ْي َب َو ََل أَقُو ُل َل ُك ْم إِنِ ي َم َل ٌك ۖ إِ ْن أَتَّبِ ُع إِ ََّل َما يُو َح ٰى إِ َل َّي ۚ قُ ْل َه ْل يَ ْستَ ِوي ا ْْلَ ْع َم ٰى َوا ْلبَ ِصي ُر ۚ أَفَ ََل تَتَ َف َّك ُرو َن “Say: “I do not tell you that I have access to Allah’s treasures, nor do I tell you that I am an angel, nor do I know the unseen; I only follow what is being inspired to me”. Say: “Can the blind be equal to the seeing, do you not then consider and reflect?” Al-Ana’am (The Cattle) 6: 50 Therefore, it is our obligation to study both the Qur’an and Sunnah (tradition and sayings) of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and to listen to divine revelation with an open heart. Such a heart that is willing to listen and appreciate the truth and submit to it. Not a heart that is clouded by vain desires and has deviated from the truth, or is unwilling to understand and submit to God. The Qur’an is a witness over us, and our souls are witnesses over us. The Qur’an states: ٰ إِ َّن فِي ذَ ِل َك َل ِذ ْك َر ٰى ِل َم ْن َكا َن َلهُ َق ْل ٌب أَ ْو أَ ْل َقى ال َّس ْم َع َو ُه َو َش ِهيد ٌ “Indeed in this (Qur’an) is a reminder to the person who has a heart (willing to listen and submit), and to the person who listen (and appreciates the truth) and is a witness.” Qa’f 50: 37 The goal of this book is to understand the Prophet’s sayings in the context of the Qur’an. The Qur’an provides guidelines and concepts that govern the life and character of Muslims. Since both the Qur’an and the Hadeeth are divinely inspired these two sources of Islamic knowledge should complement and complete each other. The Qur’an serves to safeguard our understanding of the Hadeeth, and the Hadeeth details and amplifies Qur’anic concepts and 7 guidelines and illustrates how we can apply these guidelines in our life. The Qur’an explains that the Prophet (PBUH) is charged with explaining the Qur’an: َوأَ ْن َز ْل َنا إِ َل ْي َك ال ِذ ْك َر ِلتُبَيِ َن ِللنَّا ِس َما نُ ِ ز َل إِ َل ْي ِه ْم َو َلعَلَّ ُه ْم يَتَفَ َّك ُرو َن “And We sent down to you this message (the Qur’an) in order that you may explain to the people what was sent down to them from their Lord, so that they may reflect.” An-Nahl (The Bees) 16: 44 I have selected some sayings of the Prophet to illustrate basic concepts and teachings in the Qur’an.