The Sunnah Explains the Qur'an, and the Obligation to Purify Islam in Creed, Jurisprudence, and Sunnah

The Shaykh : It is also agreed upon that the Sunnah explains the Qur'an, and that there is no way to understand the Qur'an as Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, intended when He revealed it to the heart of His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), except by referring to the Sunnah. These are two pillars agreed upon by all Muslims who remain with us within the circle of Islam, even if they differ in their closeness to or distance from it. This closeness and distance will become apparent in the explanation that follows. The Sunnah explains the Qur'an, but it is also known, especially among the people of knowledge, that the Sunnah has been entered into by things that were not in it when Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, addressed His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with His words: This explanation, which is the Sunnah of the Messenger (may Allah's prayer and peace be upon him), did not remain as it was until his death (may Allah's prayer and peace be upon him); rather, things were introduced into this Sunnah that were not part of it at that time. And it may be—and I hope you pay attention—it may be that some of this Sunnah that existed in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has been lost to some of the Muslim scholars, let alone the general public. For this reason, and because things were introduced into the Sunnah that were not part of it, and because some of it has been lost to some of the scholars, it is not possible to understand the Noble Qur'an correctly except by giving complete attention to collecting the Sunnah first, and then to purifying its authentic from its weak second. This is the obligation: collecting the Sunnah and distinguishing its authentic from its weak. Unfortunately, this has not received its due right over these many centuries that have passed for the Muslims. The Sunnah has not received its due right, whether in terms of collection first, or in terms of purification second. I am circling around a point I mentioned earlier because I feel that I have rarely addressed explaining it. The custom is for us to address the fact that things not from the Sunnah have been introduced into it. As for addressing the fact that some of the Sunnah has been lost to some of the scholars, we must seek out this lost Sunnah and add it to the collection from which we have selected what is authentic of the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). And there is no doubt that this dual obligation—meaning, in terms of collection first, and then in terms of purifying the authentic from the weak second—there is no doubt or ambiguity that such a task cannot be accomplished by an individual, or a few individuals, or hundreds, or thousands scattered throughout the Islamic world. The matter is much, much greater than some imagine it to be an easy task of collection and then purifying the authentic from the weak. However, since it is among the Islamic principles agreed upon by the Ummah, the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He: , it is not befitting for one who has the ability to collect or purify, or to combine both matters, not to undertake it from this perspective: . And there is no doubt or ambiguity that the Muslim scholar, the more he collects of the Sunnah and the more he knows how to distinguish its authentic from its weak, the more he is able to interpret the Qur'an with a correct interpretation. Consequently, the more he is knowledgeable about Islam than those others who have not been given a share of collecting the Sunnah and distinguishing its authentic from its weak. So, the beneficial knowledge is that which is drawn from the Book of Allah and interpreted according to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), with this purification that we are circling around. This is what we see as the closest thing we can say about it: that this scientific reality is lost today from the thoughts of many scholars, let alone the students of knowledge who have been afflicted with issuing fatwas or with writing and authorship. Therefore, we advise everyone who is with us on this straight path of the Book and the Sunnah that it is obligatory to interpret the Qur'an with the Sunnah and the authentic Sunnah, with great care to collect the largest possible quantity of the authentic Sunnah so that he can interpret the Qur'an with a correct interpretation in the widest circle he is able to. This is the beneficial knowledge. It is known in general that the beneficial knowledge is that which is drawn from the Book and the Sunnah. But unfortunately, it is not known that the Sunnah must be sought after in practice and in thought. It is known among the scholars who study the science of hadith terminology, for example, and the science of al-jarh wa al-ta'dil (the critique and vindication of narrators), that this is a known matter theoretically, but unfortunately, it is not applied practically. Therefore, it is obligatory upon us, the students of knowledge, to always and forever circle around what we refer to as purification. We have now come to know the purification we are talking about in many sessions or lectures: purifying Islam from what has been introduced into it that was not there when Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said: . This is, of course, a general statement in terms of the original principle, in terms of knowing what the beneficial knowledge is. As for this purification, its scope of work is very, very wide because it requires correct jurisprudence drawn from the Book of Allah and from the authentic Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). And this is not possible except for a very few individuals who have been given a share of the beneficial knowledge. And I do not repeat, for you have already known what the beneficial knowledge is. So, whoever is on the path and has knowledge of this beneficial knowledge is the one who can undertake the purification of Islam from what has been introduced into it. Because this purification means purifying the creeds and ideas from what the Khalaf (the later generations) have inherited from some of those who came before them. Purifying the ideas and creeds from what has no connection to Islam, to the Book and the Sunnah. This purification means purifying the books of jurisprudence from the opinions and independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) which, although they may have been issued by some of the scholars and imams and they were rewarded for those opinions, contain a great deal that contradicts the Book and the Sunnah. So, although they were rewarded, it is necessary for the people of knowledge to distinguish their opinions that contradict the Book and the Sunnah, even through their independent legal reasoning, from those opinions that conform to the Book and the Sunnah, so that Muslims adopt a purified Islam. And here I must make a pause, which I hope will be short, if Allah wills. When Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, said: , we know for certain that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, when He legislated this Islam for His servants as explained by our Prophet (may Allah's prayer and peace be upon him), only burdened them within the limits of their capacity. So, if this Islam is expanded with opinions of independent legal reasoning or with additional innovations attached to it due to a deviation in a principle that is not an Islamic principle, such as the saying of some, for example, that innovation is divided into five categories. In the name of this classification, they introduced into Islam what is not part of it. And with that independent legal reasoning that is necessary from the people of knowledge and independent legal reasoning, opinions occurred from them that contradicted the Book and the Sunnah, slightly or greatly. This is not the research now. From the sum of those innovations that were added in the name of the existence of good and bad innovations, and in the name of those opinions of independent legal reasoning that contradict the Sunnah, the circle of Islam expanded. So this Islam became in a wide form that the most devout of people cannot uphold. Because what was burdened upon them in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is what can be done. So, what was attached to this Islam afterwards by one of the two methods mentioned earlier, the Muslim will experience that whatever he took from these additions, he will lack from what was added to him, meaning from the correct Islam. Therefore, the importance of the necessity of purifying Islam from what is not in it is very, very serious. I said earlier: purifying the creeds and ideas, then I followed with purifying the jurisprudence from those opinions or innovations, then purifying the hadiths. And what do you know? This has been referred to previously: the weak and fabricated hadiths. Especially since a very wide door has been opened to the Muslims by an opinion, I do not say a principle.