*In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful* *Assalaamu alaykum, Brothers/Sisters,* ** *Transcribed below is one of the comments received on my blog post 'Trousers Extending Below Ankles<http://mjaga.muslimblogz.com/2008/05/22/trousers-extending-below-ankles>' My response to the comments are given, in bold, at relevant places within the comments. As the questions raised and answered, deal with the root cause for the ignominious position of the Muslims in general, in today's world, I am giving a larger publicity thereto, herewith, for general information and honest discussion.* ** *Wassalaam,* *Mohammad Shafi* *islam-n-interest.com <http://www.islam-n-interest.com>* ******************************* ** *Usman* Says: May 26th, 2008 at 7:22 am<http://mjaga.muslimblogz.com/2008/05/22/trousers-extending-below-ankles/#comment-122>
*Mohammad Shafi's response is given in bold, wherever called for, within Brother Usman's comments below:* You, brother, wrote: " The Qur'aan, on the other hand, reiterates, "… We have neglected nothing in the Book …" (Verse 6.38) and that "… We have certainly explained, in this Qur'aan, every kind of example …" (Verse 17.89). How could the Qur'aan then neglect to mention a thing that would lead a man to Hell!? It cannot, and it does not, because, Allah Almighty, the Author of the Book, cannot be wrong when He says that the Qur'aan neglects nothing! We are then left with the only conclusion that there is something wrong with the above-quoted hadeeth, which is man-influenced and therefore error-prone. " Assalaam Alaykum, *Wa alaykum-as-salaam,* Aaaaahhhh! How on earth can you say that the ahadith - particularly those of the likes reported through Bukhari and Muslim - are MAN INFLUENCED! NO! These ahadith are reported through the SAME PEOPLE as those who narrated the QUR'AN ITSELF. *How could you say that, Brother, when the Qur'aanic Verses were recorded in writing immediately after those were revealed during the lifetime of the Messenger (peace be upon him) itself, whereas the ahaadeeth got recorded in writing hundreds of years after the Messenger's death!?* And Allah says in the Qur'an that Allah will guard this deen, *What Allah guards is the Qur'aan (Verse 15.9). The deen (religion) as depicted in the Qur'aan is therefore protected, but not the deen practised by Muslims who do not scrupulously abide by all the Qur'aanic instructions.* and PART OF THE DEEN IS THE SUNNAH and how do we know the sunnah? Through REPORTS of what he (pbuh) SAID, DID, ALLOWED, FORBADE, etc. The Qur'an says Obey the Prophet - so how do we know what the Prophet said if not through the Qur'an? *The Qur'aan is the only authentic and Allah-protected source for us now to know what the Prophet said. All other sources/reports of what he did and said are man-influenced and therefore error-prone. Those other reports may lead us astray and away from Allah's Straight Path. To obey what the Qur'aan says is to obey both Allah and His Messenger. The Prophet's Sunnah is nothing but that he showed, by his own example, that the Qur'aanic instructions can be successfully practised. Do not make the mistake of assuming that the Prophet's Sunnah is something other than the Qur'aan!* How would we know about the 5 daily prayers? *The Qur'aan gives us sufficient details about how and when to perform our prayers.* How would we know about the complexities of the system of Zakah? *The complexities are man-made, Brother! The Qur'aanic Law is very simple. Spend on others what is surplus to your own legitimate needs. (Verse 2.219)* How would we know how to behave? A'isha (ra) said the Prophet (pbuh) was a walking Qur'an, and Allah tells us that In the Prophet is a GREAT EXAMPLE. Isn't this a clue that we should follow the reports about everything he did?!? *NO!!! It's a clue that the Qur'aanic instructions are practicable and should be practised by every Muslim. The Qur'aan is replete with instructions on how to behave with parents, neighbours, and with every other category of people.* So take the ahadith seriously! *How seriously, Brother? As seriously and as sacrosanct as the Qur'aanic Verses!? Please take care! If you treat the Qur'aan and the ahaadeeth as equal in sanctity, you are treading on the very dangerous territory of shirk, a sin that Allah may not forgive!* However, they are NOT for open interpretation and - with regards to the hadith about trousers below ankles - there is a hadith to explain this one. Abu Bakr (ra) was told by the Prophet (pbuh) that he could wear his clothes below the ankle because he was NOT DOING IT OUT OF ARROGANCE. *The problem with ahaadeeth is not only that they were subject to the personal opinions and prejudices of the numerous oral narrators, generation to generation, but also that those were time and instance specific. It might be that the Prophet had feared that the arrogance of a particular man, whose clothes happened to extend below his ankles, could take him to Hell. It was the arrogance that the Prophet objected to, but by the time the Prophet's saying got recorded in writing, the narration changed to the Prophet objecting to the wearing of the clothes below the ankles and condemning all wearers of such clothes to Hell! So, Brother, if you have to study the ahaadeeth, study them in the light of the Qur'aan, and don't make the mistake of treating the ahaadeeth as sacrosanct as the Qur'aanic Verses.* But it is the FIRST POINT about AHADITH which I wanted to emphasise most. This shocked me when I read your article! *Your equating the ahaadeeth with the Qur'aanic Verses was no less shocking to me!* -- Keep us on the Right Path, Allah!
