A Saudi writer has called for the removal of books of Ahadith (Prophetic narrations) and Fiqh (Jurisprudence) from Islamic heritage because the Qur’an alone is sufficient according to him.

Abdul Rahman Al-Ahdal from Dammam, who regularly tweets about religious and social reform in the Middle East, questioned “If we erased all the jurisprudence and hadith books, and remained only on the book of God, would Islam lack anything?”

Taking a Quranist approach, which rejects following Ahadith and views guidance and sources of religious law to be exclusively based on the Qur’an, Al-Ahdal also quoted scripture, “If you are in a state of major impurity, cleanse yourselves” adding: “These four words [in Arabic] are sufficient to teach you the necessity of purification. The problem is you see volumes of books whose contents people cannot verify and which are attributed to God and his messenger.” However, he stopped short of explaining how one would adhere to or implement such commandments, which the vast majority of Muslims would argue are comprised in the Ahadith.

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“So, who is more unjust than the one who fabricates a lie against Allah in order to misguide people without knowledge?” he said quoting further verses, “Tell me where is the [Quranic] verse ‘now whoever so wills may believe and whoever so wills may deny‘ being implemented? Is it being practiced by the people who recite the Qur’an or the others?” in reference to some Muslims not adhering to principles of freedom of religion.

نعم ينقص الإسلام .؟

لأننا لن نعرف عدد الصلوات . ولا عدد الركعات لكل صلاة . ولاكيفية الوضوء . ولن نعرف مقدار الزكاة ولا كيفية الحج ..الخ

فلا مناص من السنة والتفسير .

المشكلة في الأحاديث الضعيفة والموضوعة . والتفاسير الخرافية . وفي الآراء والإجتهادات الفقهية الفردية . التي قدست . — حمود المزيني (@hmod_almuzaini) November 27, 2019

His views were not without their supporters, however some did bring forth the argument that without the Prophet’s narrations, one would not know how to perform religious obligations including wudu (ablution) and prayer.

However, there is a rich history in scrutinising and criticism of Hadith in early and late Islamic history, including those volumes classified as “Sahih”, or authentic. Researcher of the primary sources of Islam, especially hadith, Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq explains: “Given the fact that except a few (less than a dozen) hadith that are mutawatir (yielding certainty of knowledge), almost all hadiths, including the sahih ones, are probabilistic in yielding knowledge. [his emphasis]”

“Hence, it is much desired that hadith is used more as a source of information as well as moral inspiration and wisdom.”

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