Gifts of Knowledge

The previous post can be found here.

Zakāh

The command for Zakāh was mentioned in the Noble Quraan in general terms, without providing details, just as was the case with the prayer. The Most High, says, “Establish the prayer and give the zakāh,” and, “and pay the dues at harvest.” [6:141]

The Sunnah therefore undertook to explain the types of wealth upon which zakāh is due, to specify the minimum thresholds [niṣāb], and to determine the amount taken from each niṣāb, along with all the other comprehensive details pertaining to this great pillar.

The Sunnah also explained a type of zakāh known as Zakātul-Fiṭr, or Ṣadaqatul-Fiṭr, which is given to those entitled to it at the end of Ramaḍān. It consists of one ṣāʿ of dates, or one ṣāʿ of barley or food, or one ṣāʿ of iqiṭ (dried curd), and so forth.

Fasting

The Noble Quraan addresses this pillar with a certain degree of detail in the Most High’s statement, “O believers! Fasting is prescribed for you, as it was for those before you, so perhaps you will become mindful ˹of Allaah˺. Fast a˺ prescribed number of days. But whoever of you is ill or on a journey, then ˹let them fast˺ an equal number of days ˹after Ramaḍān˺,” [2:183-184] Then He says, “˹You may˺ eat and drink until you see the light of dawn breaking the darkness of night, then complete the fast until nightfall. Do not be intimate with your spouses while you are meditating in the mosques. These are the limits set by Allaah, so do not exceed them. This is how Allaah makes His revelations clear to people, so they may become mindful ˹of Him˺.” [2:187]

After this Quranic detail that you have heard, there still remain rulings that came through the Sunnah and which the Sunnah alone established!

Among them the ruling regarding one who has sexual relations with his wife during the day in Ramaḍān while fasting, what is incumbent on him to do? Also, one who eats or drinks forgetfully during the day of Ramaḍān, what should he do? And the ruling on someone who does not abandon falsehood and acting upon it while fasting, what is the magnitude of his sin and transgression? Is his fast valid or void?

The Sunnah clarified the expiation (kaffārah) for the one who has marital relations with his wife in Ramaḍān. It also clarified that the one who eats or drinks forgetfully in Ramaḍān must complete his fast [i.e., his fast is not broken], for it is Allaah who fed him and gave him drink, as an act of charity that does not harm his fast! The Sunnah also warns the one who does not abandon false speech and acting upon it, declaring that Allaah has no need for him to leave his food and drink. A considerable group of scholars have stated that lying and similar actions invalidate the fast based on the apparent meaning of the referenced hadith, which is agreed upon as authentic, even though the majority of scholars disagreed with them. The details of this are known in their respective places in the books of fiqh.

All we wish to say here is that the Sunnah contributed to explaining rulings even in this topic that the Quraan detailed so thoroughly. This is clarified by the Prophet’s ﷺ  saying, “I was given the Quraan and something similar to it along with it,” which is the purified Sunnah, and his saying, “Indeed, what the Messenger of Allaah has forbidden is just like what Allaah has forbidden, and what the Messenger of Allaah has permitted is just like what Allaah has permitted,” or as he  said ﷺ.

Ḥajj

If we leave the subject of fasting and move on to Ḥajj, we find that the Noble Quraan declares the obligation of Ḥajj in the words of the Most High, “Pilgrimage to this House is an obligation by Allaah upon whoever is able among the people.” [3:97] This is the verse in which the obligation of Ḥajj was revealed, according to the correct position among the scholars.

And the Quraan was not content merely with announcing the obligation of Ḥajj, rather, it mentioned several rulings pertaining to Ḥajj in Sūrah al-Baqarah, such as departing from ʿArafah, remembering Allaah at al-Mashʿaril-Ḥarām, the ruling concerning someone who hastens to depart after two days and one who remains until the third day, ṭawāf of the Ancient House, and other matters.

The Sunnah then undertook to explain the remaining rulings that are not mentioned in the Quraan, and these are exceedingly numerous and are found in authentic ḥadīths. Foremost among them is the well-known ḥadīth of Jābir ibn ʿAbdullāh, familiar to students of knowledge. This ḥadīth clearly describes the manner in which the Prophet ﷺ performed Hajj. Many scholars have composed treatises and writings on the rites of Ḥajj in light of this ḥadīth [it being so major a ḥadīth], after supplementing it with other ḥadīth that contain essential rulings. This is one of those areas in which the Sunnah has provided extensive explanation and clarification, both through the Prophet’s words and through his actions, as is well known to students of knowledge.

So it is through the Sunnah that we learned how to enter into iḥrām and what becomes prohibited for us by entering into it. Through it, we learned how to perform ṭawāf, how to do saʿī, where we begin it and where we end. We learned where to stand on the Day of ʿArafah, and how and when to perform the various rites of Ḥajj, and so on.

I do not know how the ‘people of whims’ [hawāʾīyūn]—who have called themselves the ‘Quraanists’ [Quraaniyūn]—perform Hajj!?

How far astray they are! How far removed they are from what is correct! We will discuss them later, if Allaah so wills.

Sales and Transactions

The Sunnahs that were transmitted to explain the general rulings in the Quraan, or which independently established rulings not mentioned in the Qur’an, are not limited to the chapters dealing with acts of worship alone. Rather, the Sunnah has its well-known role throughout all areas of fiqh, including transactions, criminal law, and prescribed punishments.

In the matter of sales, we find the noble aayah saying, “Allaah has permitted trade and forbidden usury,” and when we refer to the authentic Sunnah we find the types of sales that are prohibited by it [which are not mentioned in the Quraan]:

1. Selling over the sale of one’s brother and outbidding the bid of one’s Muslim brother.

2. Najash [artificially inflating prices by bidding without the intention to buy].

3. The Mulāmasah sale [where simply touching a garment finalises its sale without inspection].

4. The Munābadhah sale [where throwing the goods to the buyer finalizes the sale]. [Narrated Abu Saʿīd, “Allaah’s Messenger ﷺ forbade the selling by Munābadha, i.e., to sell one’s garment by casting it to the buyer not allowing him to examine or see it. Similarly he forbade the selling by Mulāmasa. Mulāmasa is to buy a garment, for example, by merely touching it, not looking at it. [Muslim]]

5. The Ḥaṣāh sale [a sale determined by the throwing of a pebble, in Bukhari, “And the meaning of the Ḥaṣāh sale is when the seller says to the buyer, ‘When I toss the pebble at you, then the sale between you and I is final.’ This resembles the sale of Munābadhah and this is one of the selling practices of the people of Jāhiliyyah.”]

6. The Muzābanah sale [exchanging fresh fruit on the tree for dry fruit of the same kind], as in the ḥadīth of Anas found in Al-Bukhārī.

7. The ruling on selling a Muṣarrāh sheep [a sheep left unmilked for days to deceive the buyer into thinking it produces abundant milk] and its consequences.

8. Intercepting riders [meeting traders on their way to the market to buy their goods cheaply before they know the market price].

9. A town dweller selling on behalf of a desert dweller acting as a broker to keep prices high for locals.

There are many others well-known in their respective places in the books of Sunnah and Fiqh, such as sales involving Gharar (uncertainty/deceit) and ignorance regarding the item, all of which are prohibited by the Sunnah. The Sunnah also contains many other rulings in this area, such as khiyāral-majlis [the option of cancelling the sale while the contracting parties remain in the same session], khiyārash-sharṭ [the contractual option stipulated by the parties], and other rulings.

The Prescribed Punishments [Ḥudūd]

As for these areas, one may speak without reservation or constraint about Sunnahs that established rulings independently before those rulings were even mentioned in the Quraan. Let us take just one example which will suffice: the prescribed punishment for theft.

The Most High says in explanation of this punishment in His Noble Book, “As for male and female thieves, cut off their hands for what they have done—a deterrent from Allaah. And Allaah is Almighty, All-Wise.” [5:38]

In order to carry out this punishment which we have been commanded to implement, we need to know two things:

(a) What is the amount that, if taken by the thief, makes his hand liable to be cut off? In other words, what is the niṣāb [minimum threshold] for theft? The Sunnah clarified this, as the Noble Messenger ﷺ said, “There is no cutting off [of the hand] except for a quarter of a dīnār or more.”

(b) What part of the hand is meant here? Is it to be cut from the shoulder? From the elbow? Or from the wrist joint? It is the practical Sunnah that answers these questions, as they would cut the hand at the wrist joint.

Furthermore, if we were to enumerate all the rulings that are stated in general terms in the Quraan and explained by the Sunnah, or the rulings that were established independently by the Sunnah across all the various areas of Islamic jurisprudence, we would need an entire volume to do so. So let us suffice with this brief indication, which is enough to demonstrate the status and position of the Sunnah in Islamic legislation which is what we intended.

And Allaah is the One who grants success.

Tagged: Hadith Rejectors, quraniyoon