If the Sunnah Is Revelation From Allah, Why Was It Not Included in the Qur’an, and How Can We Know That Its Rulings Are Truly From Allah?

Question: If the Qur’an is revelation from Allah, and the Sunnah is also revelation or a divine source of legislation, then why did Allah not make the rulings found in the Sunnah part of the Qur’an? And why was the Qur’an preserved with certainty, while the Sunnah reached us through human narrations that vary in their authenticity? What is the criterion by which I can know that a ruling found in a hadith is truly a ruling from Allah, rather than a Prophetic judgment or a later human narration?

Summary:

The Qur’an and the Sunnah are both authoritative proofs in the religion of Allah. However, Allah made the Qur’an recited revelation, with worship being performed through its very wording, while He made the Sunnah an explanation of the Qur’an and legislation alongside it. Allah سبحانه did not will for the entire Shariah to be contained in a single book; rather, He commanded obedience to the Messenger ﷺ and following his explanation. As for the difference in preservation: the entire Qur’an was transmitted through definitive, mass transmission, whereas Allah preserved the Sunnah in another manner: through chains of narration, criticism of narrators, distinguishing the authentic from the weak, gathering the various chains of transmission, and identifying hidden defects. Therefore, we do not say that everything attributed to the Prophet ﷺ is revelation. Rather, what constitutes proof is that which has been authentically established from him. As for the judgment of the Prophet ﷺ: he may exercise judgment in some matters regarding which revelation had not initially been sent down, but Allah does not allow him to remain upon an error concerning legislation. If something occurred that required correction, revelation would descend correcting it. Thus, whatever Allah approved from his Sunnah became authoritative proof upon the Ummah.

Answer:

Firstly: Why did Allah not place all the rulings of the Sunnah within the Qur’an?

Because Allah سبحانه Himself chose for the message to consist of two parts: a revealed Book, and a Messenger who explains this Book through his statements, actions, and approvals.

From the Qur'an:

[An-Nahl: 44]
“And We revealed to you the Reminder so that you may explain to the people what has been revealed to them.”
Thus, Allah gave the Prophet ﷺ the duty of explaining. For this reason, al-Baghawi رحمه الله said in his tafsir of the verse: “The Prophet ﷺ was the one who explained the revelation, and the explanation of the Book is sought from the Sunnah.”
[Al-Qiyamah: 19]
“Then indeed, upon Us is its explanation.”
Thus, we find that the Qur’an commands prayer, zakah, and Hajj, yet it does not mention within its verses all the details concerning the number of rak’ahs, the manner of prayer, the prescribed amounts of zakah, and the rites of Hajj in detail. The Sunnah therefore came with the practical and detailed explanation. The fact that every ruling is not found in the Qur’an is not a deficiency in the Qur’an, because the Qur’an itself directs us to the explanation of the Messenger ﷺ.

Secondly: Is the Sunnah truly revelation and authoritative proof, or is this something that arose after the Prophet ﷺ? The indication of the Qur’an regarding the obligation of obeying the Messenger ﷺ is explicit.

From the Qur'an:

[An-Nisa: 59]
“O you who believe, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger.”
[Al-Hashr: 7]
“Whatever the Messenger gives you, take it, and whatever he forbids you from, abstain from it.”
If the commands and prohibitions of the Messenger ﷺ were not authoritative proofs, then the command to take what he brought and to abstain from what he prohibited would not have this meaning. The Prophetic text makes this even clearer.

From the Sunnah:

Narrated by Abu Dawud; authenticated by al-Albani رحمه الله.Al-Miqdam ibn Ma’di Karib رضي الله عنه narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:
“Indeed, I have been given the Book and something like it along with it.”
This indicates that the Prophet ﷺ was given the Qur’an, and alongside it he was given revelation, explanation, and legislation that was not Qur’an.

Thirdly: If the Sunnah is an authoritative proof, why was it not preserved in the same manner as the Qur’an? Here, a distinction must be made between preservation and the method of preservation. Allah said regarding the Qur’an:

From the Qur'an:

[Al-Hijr: 9]
“Indeed, it is We who sent down the Reminder, and indeed, We will surely preserve it.”
Allah preserved the Qur’an completely in its wording, and the Ummah received it generation after generation through mass transmission, because it is the Speech of Allah whose recitation is an act of worship and whose wording is used in the prayer. As for the Sunnah, it was not required that everything narrated from the Prophet ﷺ be authentic. Rather, there came to be authentic narrations, weak narrations, and even lies. However, Allah prepared for this Ummah scholars who would distinguish between them. Among the greatest evidences that lies would be distinguished from the words of the Prophet ﷺ is his statement:

From the Sunnah:

Narrated by al-Bukhari, Muslim, and othersAbu Huraira رضي الله عنه: The Prophet ﷺ said:
“Whoever deliberately lies about me, let him take his seat in the Fire.”
This hadith itself is mutawatir. From this arose a tremendous field of knowledge unparalleled in the transmission of reports: the science of hadith. The scholars investigated: Who is the narrator? Is he trustworthy? Did he accurately preserve the hadith? Did he meet his teacher? Did he hear from him? Did he contradict trustworthy narrators? Is the hadith disconnected? Does it contain a hidden defect? What are its various chains and supporting narrations? The existence of weak hadiths therefore does not mean that the Sunnah was lost, because the scholars did not regard every narration as an established Sunnah in the first place. Rather, they distinguished what was acceptable from what was rejected.

Fourthly: How, then, do I know that a ruling found in a particular hadith is truly part of the religion of Allah? This is the most important point. It is not sufficient for someone merely to say: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said.” Rather, we first examine: Has it been established that the Messenger ﷺ actually said it? If the hadith is fabricated, extremely weak, or its attribution to him has not been established, then it is not permissible for us to treat it as established Prophetic legislation. However, if the hadith is established through an authentic or hasan chain of narration, and it is not abrogated, restricted, or contradicted by something stronger than it, then its indication is examined according to the principles of the scholars. For this reason, the Ummah did not rely merely upon the existence of a narration in a book. Rather, entire sciences arose: al-Jarh wa al-Ta’dil, the science of hidden defects, the study of narrators, takhrij, hadith terminology, abrogating and abrogated texts, and Usul al-Fiqh. This explains why the scholars of hadith say, for example: “This chain is authentic,” “This is weak,” “This is mursal,” “This is munkar,” “This contains a hidden defect,” and “This is fabricated.” Fifthly: But perhaps it is established that the Prophet ﷺ said something. How do I know that it is revelation and not merely his own human judgment? Not every action or statement that came from the Prophet ﷺ belongs to the same category. There is revelation and legislation; there are matters relating to natural human disposition and customary practices; there are purely worldly matters; and the Prophet ﷺ may exercise judgment concerning a matter of Shariah. However, the great distinction is that the Prophet ﷺ is not allowed to remain upon an error concerning legislation. Among the clearest examples is that Allah reproached him in the Qur’an regarding some of his judgments, as Allah تعالى said:

From the Qur'an:

[At-Tawbah: 43]
“May Allah pardon you; why did you give them permission?”
[Abasa: 1–2]
“He frowned and turned away, because the blind man came to him.”
In reality, this is among the strongest evidences, because it demonstrates that the Messenger ﷺ did not possess the authority to establish the religion from himself and then have it become religion without the oversight of revelation. Rather, revelation would correct whatever required correction. Therefore, a legislative ruling stated or performed by the Prophet ﷺ and approved by Allah until the Prophet ﷺ died is part of the Shariah.

Sixthly: Does the statement of Allah تعالى, “Nor does he speak from his own desire,” mean that every word spoken by the Prophet ﷺ was revelation?

From the Qur'an:

[An-Najm: 3–4]
“Nor does he speak from his own desire. It is only a revelation revealed.”
The verse occurs within the context of revelation. Al-Tabari رحمه الله explained the verse as meaning that Muhammad ﷺ does not speak this Qur’an from his own desire; rather, it is revelation from Allah. Therefore, it is not correct to understand from this verse that every ordinary worldly statement made by the Prophet ﷺ was revelation. Rather, what is intended is his protection from error in conveying the message of Allah, and that what he conveys from Allah does not originate from his own desires. For this reason, the scholars distinguish between Prophetic legislation and human actions, customary practices, and worldly expertise.

An example that clarifies the matter: The Qur’an says: “And establish the prayer.” But if someone were to say: “I will not take from the Sunnah. Where does the Qur’an state that Fajr is two rak’ahs, Maghrib is three, and Isha is four? And where are the details of bowing, prostration, and the tashahhud?” The answer is: The Qur’an itself commanded you to follow the Messenger ﷺ, and the Messenger ﷺ is the one who explained how the command of the Qur’an is to be carried out. So what we have is not: The Qur’an or the Sunnah. Rather, what we have is: The Qur’an + the authentic Sunnah which explained the Qur’an and brought rulings that Allah permitted the Messenger ﷺ to legislate. For this reason, Allah تعالى said:

From the Qur'an:

[An-Nisa: 80]
“Whoever obeys the Messenger has indeed obeyed Allah.”

Conclusion: The doubt is based upon confusing three matters: -The first: Is the Sunnah an authoritative proof? Yes. The Qur’an itself commanded obedience to the Messenger ﷺ, following him, and taking what he brought. -The second: Is everything attributed to the Prophet ﷺ an authentic Sunnah? No. The narration must first be established as authentic. For this reason, the imams of hadith established precise principles for distinguishing authentic narrations from weak and fabricated ones. -The third: Is every human action of the Prophet ﷺ legislation? No. A distinction is made between legislation and revelation, between judgment, and between human and worldly matters. If the Prophet ﷺ exercised judgment concerning a matter of Shariah, Allah سبحانه would not allow him to remain upon an error in conveying the Shariah. Therefore, the criterion is not: -“I found a hadith, therefore this is a ruling from Allah.” Rather: It must first be established that the hadith is genuinely from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Then, it must be established that the hadith indicates the ruling in question. Thereafter, matters such as abrogating and abrogated texts, general and specific texts, and the remaining principles of deriving rulings must be examined. This is the methodology of the imams of Islam in dealing with the Sunnah: neither accepting every narration without scrutiny, nor rejecting the entire Sunnah because weak narrations exist.

And Allah knows best.

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If the Sunnah Is Revelation From Allah, Why Was It Not Included in the Qur’an, and How Can We Know That Its Rulings Are Truly From Allah?

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From the Qur'an:

From the Sunnah:

From the Qur'an:

From the Sunnah:

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