The Hadīth should be interpreted in the light of the Qur’ān. The status occupied by the Qur’ān has already been alluded to earlier. It is the most definite and authentic record of whatever Muhammad (sws) did in his status of a prophet and a messenger. Consequently, most topics covered in the Hadīth are related to the Qur’ān the way a branch is related to a stem or the way an explanation is related to the text it explains. Without a recourse to the original text, it is obvious that its corollaries and explanations cannot be understood. If all the mistakes in interpreting the Hadīth are minutely analyzed, this situation becomes abundantly clear. The incidents of stoning to death in the times of the Prophet (sws), the assassination of Ka‘b Ibn Ashraf, punishment meted out in the graves, narratives of intercession and directives as أُمِرْتُ أَنْ أُقَاتِلَ النَّاسَ (I have been directed to wage war against these people) and مَنْ بَدَّلَ دِينَهُ فَاقْتُلُوهُ (Execute the person who changes his faith) have become issues which have caused a lot of confusion and have been subjected to misinterpretation because they have not been understood by relating them to their basis in the Qur’ān.

In short, if this principle is kept in consideration, a lot of perplexities are resolved in understanding the Hadīth.

References in this article

Comments/Notes

. Muslim, No: 21.
. Bukhari, No: 2854.

Source:

• "Meezan" (Urdu - Published 2009, Lahore; ISBN 48593948) Author: Javed Ahmad Ghamidi

حوالہ جات

حواشی

47؂ بخاری، رقم 25۔مسلم ،رقم 129۔ ’’مجھے حکم دیا گیا ہے کہ میں لوگوں سے جنگ کروں۔‘‘
48؂ بخاری ،رقم3017۔ ’’جو اپنا دین تبدیل کرے، اُسے قتل کر دو۔‘‘

ماخذ

• "Meezan" (Urdu - Published 2009, Lahore; ISBN 48593948) Author: Javed Ahmad Ghamidi