Search the Community

Salaam, Posting a topic after a long time So a dear brother ( @sunni muslim ) asked why is the "Quran and Sunnah" not enough. This is a fair question and deserves some thought so here are somethings to think about. It's important to note that whoever believes the quran is enough (Hasbona kitaballah) is wrong because authentic Sunni narrations confirm the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) specifically mentioned "Quran and Sunnah". Denying a clear edict from the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) makes such a person munafiq? Why did some prominent sahaba reject this authentic edict from the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) and only accept Quran? Are they from the hypocrites then? Authentic sunni narrations also tell us that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) confirmed "Quran and AhlulBayt" as well. If the Prophet said "quran and sunnah" and "quran and ahlulbayt", then why do sunnis insist on "quran and sunnah" only? Are sunnis openly rejecting another edict of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)? Surely if the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) said both, then the shia and sunni stance should be "Quran + AhlulBayt + Sunnah". Anything less would be rejecting the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم), would it not? The shia stance on this is very clear. We take the Quran and the sunnah of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) as confirmed/explained by the AhlulBayt. Did the Prophet say "Quran AND (Sunnah OR AhlulBayt)", "QURAN OR (Sunnah OR AhlulBayt)"; "QURAN AND Sunnah AND AhlulBayt"; Let's ignore the AhlulBayt for the moment and focus on the sunnah. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) said "I am leaving behind Quran and Sunnah so you don't go astray." Immediately after the demise of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم), Caliph Abu Bakr and subsequently Caliph Umar prohibit the narrations of sunnah, burn down written sunnah (500+ narrations at least). Did Abu Bakr and Umar purposely defy the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) and in effect lead the Ummah astray. The argument put forth is that the Caliphs did not want sahaba to narrate wrong traditions. But these sahaba would have heard the narrations and seen the sunnah first hand. Surely adl-e-sahaba would mean no erroneous traditions within the first 5 yrs of the demise of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) Caliph Abu Bakr burned 500+ narrations for fear of being wrong. Could it be that he remembered the narration "Prophets down leave inheritance" incorrectly. This is a conundrum. If the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) said "Quran and Sunnah" and Abu Bakr + Umar clearly denied the transmission of sunnah, what does it make them? How could the 2 closest sahaba reject a clear edict of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)? I would love to hear some other thoughts on this topic. P.S. @sunni muslim - I did not want to derail the other thread but our conversation was going to go in circles: Sunni Muslim: why is "quran and sunnah" not enough ShiaMan: because the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) said "Quran and AhlulBayt" Sunni Muslim: he said both but tell me why "quran and sunnah" is not enough ShiaMan: errrr, because he said both???