In The Name of Allah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy
All perfect praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds. May His peace and blessings be upon our beloved Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and upon all his family and companions. To proceed:
Dear brothers and sisters! Know that, anything linked to the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is honoured with having a lofty status and great appreciation. The Science of Hadith is also such; it is an admirable field of knowledge only questioned by those who neglect studying it, and those who do study it, realise what a rich and profound science it really is. This science and the immense body of research which has gone into it cannot be appreciated by simply reading a translation of a book of Hadith.
Throughout Islamic history, there never existed a group of true Muslims who rejected or even doubted the authority of the Sunnah (Hadith). There were, from time to time, misguided groups or individuals that rejected some Hadiths cause they considered the method of transmission unreliable and the Hadith inauthentic. However, they never denied the authority of the Prophet’s statements. Sects that rejected the authority or authenticity of Hadith existed in one way or another in early Islamic history, but the most resistant movement emerged in the late 19th and early 20th century.
The arguments presented by the rejecters of Hadiths may initially sound convincing, but after scrutinising them, it quickly becomes very clear how deceiving they are. Their arguments are based on misconstruing the verses of the Qur’an, selecting only those Hadiths that support their arguments, and a lack of understanding of the Arabic Language and Islamic history. During the colonial period, when most of the Islamic world came under the subjugation of the West, many individuals arose who began questioning the authority of the Sunnah (Hadith). Their hidden objective was to conform to the Western civilisation and the Prophetic Traditions were an obstacle in reaching it. Orientalists, or Western-minded people try to strike at the very foundation of Islam; in an attempt to mold the Shari‘ah to their own conception, which is informed by Western philosophy, fixing the label of Islam to it. This sermon will attempt to answer many of the objections made on Hadith in general, and more specifically on the authority of Hadith.
Dear brothers and sisters! Since early Islamic History, there have been misguided groups that have objected to the Hadith of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). In the very beginning, when such a group emerged, Imam Shafiʿi refuted them. Thereafter, the idea of rejecting Hadith that contradicted one’s intellect (Aql) emerged, so Ibn Qutaibah refuted them, so they ceased their arguments. Following that, a group arose and challenged the corpus of Hadith by arguing that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) had prohibited writing down Hadith so Imam Khatib al-Baghdadi responded to them, causing them to discontinue. After Imam Khatib al-Baghdadi, an innovator from the Rawafid appeared and started claiming that the Sunnah (Hadith) has no authority. The Shiʿas who are less extreme than the Rawafid objected to the authenticity of Hadith, and took only from narrators that are Shiʿa. In response to the Rafidi innovator, Imam Suyuti (rahimahullah) wrote a book titled: Miftah al-Jannah fi Ihtijaj bis-Sunnah, refuting his claims.
It was only from the end of the 19th to the early 20th century that certain groups emerged that rejected Hadith and the authority (Hujjiyyah) of the Prophet (Peace be upon him).
Respected brothers and sisters! There are two types of revelation (Wahyi):
(1) Matlu i.e. the Qurʾan
(2) Ghair Matlu i.e. the Hadith.
Matlu refers to the general method of revelation when Allah the Almighty would send down revelation either directly to the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), or to angel Jibril who then would bring it to the Prophet (Peace be upon him), etc. This was then recorded during the lifetime of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and then compiled into book form in the era of the Companions. This is what we know as the Noble Qurʾan that is recited and one is rewarded for doing so. Ghair Matlu is the revelation that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) received during his lifetime but was not meant to be recited nor compiled as a part of the Noble Qurʾan. Both are revelations from Allah the Almighty. One cannot accept only one type of revelation and reject the other.
One example of how the Prophet (Peace be upon him) received the second type of revelation is the following:
Allah the Most High sent the Qur’anic verse:
“So [now] turn your face towards Masjid Haram…” [Qurʾan, 2:144]
And at that point, the Muslims were facing another direction, which was Masjid al-Aqsa. However, in the Qurʾan, the time when Allah the Almighty commanded the Muslims to face Masjid al-Aqsa, that command is not there in the form of a Qur’anic verse. Thus, we understand that Allah the Almighty sent revelation to the Prophet (Peace be upon him) but that command is not in the Qurʾan in the form of a verse. Therefore, what the Prophet (Peace be upon him) would do and say are all revelation from Allah the Most High. Allah mentions about this command to turn that it was a test:
“…so that we may distinguish those that follow the Prophet from those that turn away.”
Allah the Almighty did not say “distinguish those who follow the Qurʾan from those who do not” but rather said, “distinguish those that follow the Prophet from those that do not.” This means that the sayings and actions of the Prophet are Hujjah (authoritative). He must be followed in his presence, and in his absence, his teachings and sayings must be followed, which cannot be done except through Hadith.
Dear servants of Allah! There are so many verses that prove that we must follow the Prophet (Peace be upon him)‘s commands because Allah the Almighty said so.
Qur’aniyyun, the Hadith rejectors have a few arguments, but I will suffice by mentioning two main ones that seem like their strongest ones. They said:
The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said:
“Do not write anything from me, except the Qurʾan.” [Muslim]
It is very foolish and ironic that they use one Hadith to reject all. If they reject Hadith, they cannot use a Hadith to prove this. By doing so, they fall into a paradox. This prohibition was at the beginning of Islam because the Prophet (Peace be upon him) feared that people might confuse and conflate the Qurʾan with Hadith, or that the people will start relying on books and stop memorising knowledge. However, after some time, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) gave permission to the Companions to write his Hadiths.
They also use the following Hadith that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said:
“When you find a Hadith from me, refer it to the book of Allah. if it conforms with it, accept it, otherwise, reject it.”
This Hadith is actually known to be mawdu’ (fabricated). The enemies of Islam have fabricated this Hadith so that Hadith on its own can have no authority until the Qurʾan confirms it. So the Qur’aniyyun, rejectors of Hadith can get rid of all those Hadiths which are not indicated in the Qurʾan, which happens to the majority. Thus, scholars have done exactly what this Hadith suggests. They referred this very Hadith to the Qurʾan and saw that nowhere in the Qurʾan does it say that only those Hadith should be accepted that are in agreement with the Qurʾan, so they rejected this Hadith. The Hadith is most likely forged regardless, but they did this to demonstrate how erroneous their claim is.
In their second argument, they say that Hadiths was written all the way in the 3rd century Hijrah. Many orientalists like Schacht, Muir, Guillaume, Goldziher, and others suggest that the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) had disappeared for an entire century, and then discovered in the third century, creating a detrimental gap that resulted in fabrications and distortions.
They say this as if the Prophet (Peace be upon him) taught the Muslims, then once he passed away, his Hadiths were abandoned until someone from the 3rd century decided to start writing Hadith and circulating it. This is completely incorrect. Since the lifetime of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) Muslims started memorising his Hadiths. It was then passed down through the generations by memory, which was the strongest method of transmission at that time. Shaikh Mustafa al-Azami lists and discusses fifty Companions who wrote and possessed collections of Hadith during his lifetime and it could not have been done except with the Prophet’s permission. There were also 49 scholars from the first century, 87 from the last first century, and 251 from the second century, all of who recorded Hadith. If one rejects Hadith on the basis that it was not in written form, then this necessitates that one must reject the Qurʾan as well because even the Qurʾan did not take the form of a book during the lifetime of the Prophet (Peace be upon him). It was during the caliphate of Abubakar (RA) that it was collected into one single book.
Dear brothers and sisters! Since all the laws in the Qurʾan are mentioned briefly, it is only possible to apply them through Hadith. However, because they reject Hadith, they read in the Qurʾan that they must pray, but cannot ascertain the method of praying from the Qurʾan alone. They have so many differences among themselves regarding prayer that it has led to various methods. Most of them pray two units of prayer three times daily based on the following Qur’anic verse:
“Establish prayer O Prophet at both ends of the day and in the early part of the night. Surely good deeds wipe out evil deeds. That is a reminder for the mindful.” [Qurʾan, 11:114]
Some kneel on one knee and slowly recite Allahu Akbar. Some stand with their Imam, who stands amongst the people, not in front of them, and then they recite 25 verses and go to rukuʿu. After rukuʿu, they go straight to sajdah and do only one sajdah. Finally, they end the prayer without any salam. They pray like this but ironically again, even this full method is not proven from the Qurʾan! Most importantly, Allah the Most High has commanded us to pray in so many places of the Qurʾan but how can He command us to pray without telling us its method? That is why we understand that Hadith is authoritative because the method of prayer is prayer in it. The same goes for zakah, and other types of worship.
Another issue they (Qur’aniyyun) face is regarding zakah. Without elaborating on this self-explanatory issue, they face the challenge of calculating how much zakah they need to give, what are the zakatable items, how often must zakah be given, etc.
These are just two examples, but there are many more obstacles they face. They are not aware of what are khaṣ (specific) verses, am (general) verses, mustahab (preferable) actions, makruh (undesirable) actions, etc., because all of this is understood from the teachings of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) i.e. Hadith. Another example is the verses pertaining to alcohol. It is mentioned in four different places of the Qurʾan. However, since the verses seemingly differ and contradict each other, they cannot tell whether alcohol was first permitted and then the prohibition was revealed or was it first prohibited, and then Allah the Almighty sent the Qur’anic verse:
“O believers! Do not approach prayer while intoxicated until you are aware of what you say…” [Qurʾan, 4:43]
Even the details for cutting the hand of a thief, hajj (pilgrimage), and almost all the laws of the Shari’ah, they cannot understand them and their application by merely depending on the Qurʾan.
Beloved brothers and sisters! The truth is that the reason why certain people want to reject Hadith is that they want to free themselves from acting upon the laws of Allah, the Shari’ah. They do not want to pray, fast, and give charity in the way that the Shari’ah has prescribed, and so they attack the authority of Hadith. Their aim for doing this is obvious. They understand that if the Hadith corpus is removed from the picture, they can live their lives exactly like the modern secular society. Since they have left Hadith, they have separated into many sub-sects among themselves, and are extremely confused about how the teachings of Islam should be carried out.
Finally, I’m calling on all Muslim brothers and sisters to be careful, because actually as said earlier, there are people who follow misguided movement which rejects Hadiths, hence, deviating from the path of mainstream Islam. They are posing and commenting on many issues related to Islam from their viewpoint and rejecting and denying many fundamental aspects of our religion and presenting it as the mainstream opinion. It should be made clear that they DO NOT represent Islam or Muslims in any way or form. The Ummah of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) accepts the Qur’an AND Hadiths as legitimate forms of sources for deriving Islamic laws. We, the mainstream Muslims, acknowledge that both, the Qur’an and Hadiths, are a guidance from Allah.
During the colonial period, when most of the Muslim world came under the subjugation of the West, some “scholars” arose in places like Egypt (Taha Hussein), India (Abdullah Chakralawi and Ghulam Ahmed Pervaiz), and Turkey (Zia Gogelup), who began questioning the authenticity and relevance of Hadith. It was not that some genius had found flaws in the Hadith study that had eluded the entire Ummah for thirteen centuries. It was simply that the pressures from the dominant Western civilisation to conform were too strong for them to withstand. They buckled. Prophetic teachings and life example — Hadith — was the obstacle in this process and so it became the target.
Their movement is a movement that holds the Qur’an to be the most authentic criterion in Islam. Qur’aniyyun (a common name for them) generally reject the religious authority of Hadith (catalogued narratives of what the Prophet Muhammad is reported to have said and done), as they consider it inconsistent with the Qur’an. This in contrast to the Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah doctrines which consider Hadith essential for the Islamic faith.
However, we the mainstream Muslims (who have existed since the time of the Prophet) believe that Hadiths are necessary and are a legitimate form of extraction for divine guidance. We believe that Qur’an and Hadiths go hand in hand and one explains the other. The Qur’an is general and the Hadith (Sunnah) is specific and detailed. Hadiths are the interpretation of the Qur’an by the Prophet (Peace be upon him). The Qur’aniyyun’s rejection of Hadiths have led them to turn the Qur’an into a toy which they interpret based on their own intellect and desires. The Hadiths, the mainstream Muslims say, preserve the meaning of the Qur’an. This is why Allah tells us in the Qur’an:
“And We revealed to you [O Muhammad] the message [Qur’an] that you may make clear to the people what was sent down to them and that they might give thought.” [Qur’an, 16:44]
His HADITHS are that clarification!
The Prophet (Peace be upon him) warned us against them in a Hadith (which they heretically deny as you would expect):
“Soon there will come a time that a man will be reclining on his pillow, and when one of my Hadiths is narrated he will say: ‘The Book of Allah is (sufficient) between us and you. Whatever it states is permissible, we will take as permissible, and whatever it states is forbidden, we will take as forbidden.’ Verily, whatever the Messenger of Allah has forbidden is like that which Allah has forbidden.” [Reported by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah and at-Tirmidhi, who declared it hasan. Al-Albani declared it sahih in Sahihul-Jami’, no.8186]
These Qur’aniyyun, the Hadith rejectors will criticise the Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah for relying on Hadiths while it was these same Ahlus-Sunnah who preserved the Qur’an generation after generation! For some reason, they have trouble understanding the fact that if they do not trust our preservation methods when it comes to Hadiths, then why do they trust our preservation method when it comes to the Qur’an?! A jahil (ignorant) among them told me that because the Qur’an was compiled during the time of the Prophet (Peace be upon him)! Ummm, no it wasn’t! It was compiled after the time of the Prophet by the same people who today call themselves Ahlu Sunnah wal Jama’ah (a.k.a SUNNI)! The ironic thing is if you were to ask them about the history of the Qur’an, they would HAVE to go to Hadiths else there is no other way. The Qur’an itself does not give its history. So they will go to Sunnah (Hadiths) when it suits their agenda and ideology.
Alhamdulillah, they have been refuted profoundly throughout the Muslim world. Following is a list of some refutations against them:
(1) The Fallacies of Anti Hadith Arguments.
(2) Questions that the Qur’aniyyun Have No Good Logical Responses To.
(3) Answers To Objections From Hadith Rejectors
(4) A Look at Hadith Rejecter’s Claims
(5) Hadiths: False Tales or Authentic Narrations? – A small article proving that Hadiths were in fact written down in the first three generations, a fact that Hadith rejectors and orientalists deny.
(6) Book: Studies in Early Hadith Literature – This is an excellent work that refutes many of their claims. It was such a slap in the face of the Hadith deniers that it was actually translated to Arabic. This is really rare in Islamic scholarship because usually Arabic works are translated into English.
(7) Book: The Authority and Importance of the Sunnah
(8) Hadith Rejectors “quranits” refuted – Shaykh Salih Salah
(9) Problems With Hadith Rejection – Nouman Ali Khan
And there is so much more stuff out there!
Everyone has the freedom to express their opinion, however, these Hadith rejectors are posing themselves as mainstream Muslims and providing their commentary on critical Islamic issues. In my view, they are misrepresenting Islam with false ideas.
Muslims should be warned against this movement because they hide their beliefs behind the banner of mainstream Islam.
May Allah guide us all to that which benefits us. And I ask Allah the Most High for protection, ameen.
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. Prayers, peace and mercy are upon our beloved master, Muhammad, the son of Abdullah (Peace be upon him), his family and Companions.
Murtadha Muhammad Gusau is the Chief Imam of Nagazi-Uvete Jumu’ah and the late Alhaji Abdur-Rahman Okene’s Mosques, Okene, Kogi State, Nigeria. He can be reached via: gusauimam@gmail.com or +2348038289761.
This Jumu’ah Khutbah (Friday sermon) was prepared for delivery today, Friday, Muharram 30, 1447 AH (July 25, 2025).
