People fight and argue all the time. And they do that over everything they can possibly think of. And that includes Muslims.

Here is how Allah characterizes human beings in the Qur’an:

Wa Kaanal Insaanu Akthara Shai-in Jadala!

Paraphrase:

“Humans are most prone to arguments and disputations!”

And these disputes also involve Qur’an and Hadith.

Meaning:

How is the Qur’an or the Hadith in relation to the other? How are the two interrelated?

To me this whole thing is a non-starter. And to me the whole thing is self-evident – well, almost.

To me Qur’an is Qur’an and Hadith is Hadith and you cannot have one without the other.

Qur’an, of course, is from Allah, and Hadith, as everyone knows, is from Rasulullah, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam.

But then one should not forget that Rasulullah, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, was also from Allah. The bottom line, as they say, is this: He was Allah’s man on earth, right?

So, what does that, then, make the Hadith? The fact that there is this special individual, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, through whom Allah is speaking to the whole world.

Let me put it to you this way:

If you look down at the world – better call it reality – from above, from Heaven as it were, it is the Qur’an.

And when you look up at the same world – reality that is – from below, from the earth as it were, it is Hadith.

From this point of view, one is Al-Kitab, while the other is Al-Hikmah.

And that is language I have taken from the Qur’an: Al-Kitab wal Hikmah.

From this point of view, the Qur’an is Al-Kitab, while the Hadith is Al-Hikmah.

And they are both from God: Hadith from the mouth of Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, and the Qur’an Allah’s direct speech.

To me the differences between the two are as clear as their similarities. Or should I have used the word “identity”?

END