The Soil · About Submission
Hadith & Sunnah
Underneath this whole subject is one simple question: who gets to tell us what God requires?
You shall recite what is revealed to you of your Lord's scripture. Nothing shall abrogate His words, and you shall not find any other source beside it.
[18:27]Many arguments about religion are really about sources. Which book counts. Which scholar has the last word. Whose report do we trust.
So this is a question about authority. And on this site, a question about authority is a question about worshipping God alone. That is why this page sits here, in The Soil.
This page looks at what the Quran says about itself, what it says about the Prophet, and where the other books came from. At the end, there is a simple tool you can use to check any religious claim for yourself. Including the claims on this page.
Read This in the Right Spirit
People you love and respect may see this differently. Disagreeing with a source is not the same as insulting a person. Please read with the Quran open, and with a calm heart.
On This Page
Four parts, and the questions people ask after each one.
A Book That Is Complete
Let us start with what the Quran says about itself. Not what people say about it. What it says, in its own words.
It says nothing was left out: “We did not leave anything out of this book.” [6:38]
It says it is fully detailed: “Shall I seek other than GOD as a source of law, when He has revealed to you this book fully detailed?” [6:114]
It says it explains everything: “We have revealed to you this book to provide explanations for everything, and guidance, and mercy, and good news for the submitters.” [16:89]
And it says the religion is complete: “Today, I have completed your religion, perfected My blessing upon you, and I have decreed Submission as the religion for you.” [5:3]
If we take God at His word, the question answers itself. A complete book does not need completing. A fully detailed book does not need more details. A religion God has completed does not need anything added to it.
God even says it directly to the Prophet: “You shall recite what is revealed to you of your Lord's scripture. Nothing shall abrogate His words, and you shall not find any other source beside it.” [18:27]
The Word Hadith, in the Quran
Here is something worth knowing. In this translation, the word Hadith is kept in a few verses. In some of them, it means the Quran itself. In the others, it warns against any other Hadith.
“These are GOD's revelations that we recite to you truthfully. In which Hadith other than GOD and His revelations do they believe?” [45:6]
“Which Hadith, other than this, do they uphold?” [77:50]
“Among the people, there are those who uphold baseless Hadith, and thus divert others from the path of GOD without knowledge, and take it in vain.” [31:6]
And God tells us which Hadith is the best: “GOD has revealed herein the best Hadith; a book that is consistent, and points out both ways (to Heaven and Hell).” [39:23] The best Hadith is the Quran.
One Source, or Many
God gives us a simple picture: “GOD cites the example of a man who deals with disputing partners (Hadith), compared to a man who deals with only one consistent source (Quran). Are they the same? Praise be to GOD; most of them do not know.” [39:29] The words in brackets are the translation's explanation: many disputing sources, or one consistent source.
Think about it in daily life. One person follows one clear book. Another follows many reports that disagree with each other, and many scholars who rule in different ways. God asks if those two are the same. We know they are not.
Questions About the Book
What does the Quran mean when it says it is complete?
It means we have everything we need for our religion in it. Nothing is missing that we have to find somewhere else. God says: “We did not leave anything out of this book.” [6:38] He calls it “fully detailed” [6:114]. And He tells the Prophet himself: “you shall not find any other source beside it.” [18:27] The footnote in this translation explains 6:38 this way: all the information we need for our eternal life in the Hereafter is in the Quran. So it is complete for what matters most: our religion and our life to come. So we do not need to search through thousands of other books, and worry that we missed something. God says: “Today, I have completed your religion” [5:3].
Does the Quran itself use the word hadith?
Yes. In this translation, the word Hadith is kept in a few verses. Sometimes it means the Quran itself. And when it speaks of any other Hadith, it warns against it. God asks: “In which Hadith other than GOD and His revelations do they believe?” [45:6] He warns about people “who uphold baseless Hadith, and thus divert others from the path of GOD without knowledge” [31:6]. And He tells us which Hadith is the best one: “GOD has revealed herein the best Hadith; a book that is consistent” [39:23]. The best Hadith is the Quran itself. So when someone tells us we must follow Hadith, it helps to know that God already asked the question: which Hadith, other than His? The heading the translation gives 45:6 is simply ‘Which Hadith?’
If a hadith agrees with the Quran, is it fine to follow it?
This sounds reasonable, and many sincere people hold it. But if a hadith says what the Quran says, we already have it in the Quran. And if it says something new, it is adding to God's law. That is exactly where a second source starts to make new religious rules. An appendix in this translation speaks to this directly. It says that people who take this middle position have not really accepted God's words that the Quran is complete, perfect and fully detailed. God gives the Prophet this question to ask: “Shall I seek other than GOD as a source of law, when He has revealed to you this book fully detailed?” [6:114] So we do not need to sort through the reports at all. God told us what to follow: “You shall all follow what is revealed to you from your Lord; do not follow any idols besides Him.” [7:3]
The Messenger and His Message
Some people feel that setting hadith aside means disrespecting the Prophet. It does not. The Quran tells us exactly what his job was, and it honors him for doing it.
His job was to deliver the message: “The sole duty of the messenger is to deliver the message, and GOD knows everything you declare and everything you conceal.” [5:99] God says it again and again: “Your sole mission is delivering the message.” [42:48]
God told the Prophet to say: “I simply follow what is revealed to me.” [6:50]
And God made it clear that he could not add teachings of his own. The translation gives these verses the heading ‘Muhammad Forbidden from Issuing Any Religious Teachings’: “Had he uttered any other teachings. We would have punished him. We would have stopped the revelations to him. None of you could have helped him.” [69:44-47]
What Obeying Him Means
The Quran commands: “you shall obey GOD, and obey the messenger” [47:33]. Many people read this as a command to follow a second set of teachings. But another verse gives the same command and explains it: “If you obey him, you will be guided. The sole duty of the messenger is to deliver (the message).” [24:54]
Obeying a messenger means accepting the message he brought. That is why God says: “Whoever obeys the messenger is obeying GOD.” [4:80] When people came to the Prophet for judgment, even people who had the Torah, God told him: “You shall rule among them in accordance with GOD's revelations to you.” [5:49]
And the Quran shows us, with great honesty, that the Prophet was a human being. When he made a mistake, God corrected him in the Quran. “O you prophet, why do you prohibit what GOD has made lawful for you, just to please your wives?” [66:1] The footnote in this translation says this verse teaches us that he was a human being who could make mistakes.
The Good Example
We love this verse. So let us read it where it sits: “The messenger of GOD has set up a good example for those among you who seek GOD and the Last Day, and constantly think about GOD.” [33:21]
The passage begins at 33:9, on the day armies came against the believers. The translation's heading over 33:21 is ‘The Prophet's Courage’. The good example here is his courage in that danger.
The footnote in this translation says that Satan took this verse out of context. He used people's idolizing of the Prophet to invent a whole set of rules called the ‘Sunna of the Prophet’, which God never authorized. Following his real example, and following a collection put together long after him, are not the same thing.
And one more line to think about. The translation's note on this passage says the Prophet Muhammad will also say these words on the Day of Judgment: “My Lord, my people have deserted this Quran.” [25:30]
Questions About the Prophet
Isn't rejecting hadith the same as rejecting the Prophet?
No. We see it as the opposite: a way of honoring him. God told the Prophet to say: “I simply follow what is revealed to me.” [6:50] And God tells us he was not allowed to add teachings of his own: “Had he uttered any other teachings. We would have punished him.” [69:44-45] An appendix in this translation points out that many hadith show the Prophet saying and doing things that go against the very book he delivered. Setting those reports aside protects his name. It does not insult it. We believe he was God's messenger, and we honor him by taking seriously the message he carried. The footnote in this translation says he will say these words on the Day of Judgment, and they are a warning to all of us: “My Lord, my people have deserted this Quran.” [25:30]
The Quran says to obey the messenger. Doesn't that mean following hadith?
No. Obeying the messenger means following the message he delivered, and the Quran explains this itself. God commands: “you shall obey GOD, and obey the messenger” [47:33]. And in a verse with the same command, He explains: “If you obey him, you will be guided. The sole duty of the messenger is to deliver (the message).” [24:54] The messenger's job was to deliver God's message. So obeying him means following the message he delivered. That is why God also says: “Whoever obeys the messenger is obeying GOD.” [4:80] And when people came to the Prophet for judgment, God told him to judge by what God revealed: “You shall rule among them in accordance with GOD's revelations to you.” [5:49] In his lifetime, he ruled by God's revelation. Today, we obey him by following the Quran he delivered.
Doesn't the Quran say to take whatever the messenger gives you?
That line is often quoted on its own. But when we read the whole verse, it is about something very specific. The verse is about what was left behind by defeated communities, and how it should be shared. The translation gives it the heading ‘The Spoils of War’. It says this wealth goes to God and His messenger as a charity, to be given to the relatives, the orphans, the poor and the traveling alien, “Thus, it will not remain monopolized by the strong among you.” Then it says: “You may keep the spoils given to you by the messenger, but do not take what he enjoins you from taking.” [59:7] So the verse is about sharing out property fairly, in that situation. It is not a command to follow a body of teachings written down long after the Prophet died. This is why we read the whole verse.
Where the Other Books Came From
If the Quran is complete, where did all the other religious books come from?
An appendix in this translation says that the words and actions credited to the Prophet did not appear until the second century after his death. That is a very long time after the man himself was gone.
And God warned about this in advance. The translation's heading over this verse is ‘Hadith & Sunna: Fabrications by the Prophet's Enemies’: “We have permitted the enemies of every prophet—human and jinn devils—to inspire in each other fancy words, in order to deceive. Had your Lord willed, they would not have done it. You shall disregard them and their fabrications.” [6:112]
God does not tell us to sort those fabrications. He tells us to disregard them.
The appendix also notes something surprising. The hadith books themselves report that the Prophet said: ‘Do not write down anything from me except the Quran.’
How the Prayers Came Down to Us
A common worry is this: without hadith, how would we know how to pray?
The answer is that the prayers are much older than any of those books. Abraham and his son Ismail prayed: “Our Lord, make us submitters to You, and from our descendants let there be a community of submitters to You. Teach us the rites of our religion, and redeem us.” [2:128]
And God says of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: “we taught them how to work righteousness, and how to observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and the obligatory charity (Zakat).” [21:73] The translation gives that verse the heading ‘Abraham: Delivered All Religious Duties of Submission’. Its footnote says that when the Quran was revealed, all religious duties were already established through Abraham. God calls our religion “the religion of your father Abraham” [22:78].
So the prayer came to us as a practice, passed from one generation to the next. It did not have to wait for books written in the second century after the Prophet.
When the Quran Is Silent
Sometimes the Quran does not speak about a detail. Many people think that silence is a gap someone must fill. The Quran tells us something different.
God says: “O you who believe, do not ask about matters which, if revealed to you prematurely, would hurt you. If you ask about them in light of the Quran, they will become obvious to you. GOD has deliberately overlooked them. GOD is Forgiver, Clement.” [5:101]
God says He deliberately overlooked these matters. In a note about food, the footnote in this translation to 5:3 gives a rule: anything the Quran does not specifically prohibit must be considered lawful. Nobody has the right to make new rules in God's name. God forbids us to say with our own tongues ‘This is lawful, and this is unlawful,’ “to fabricate lies and attribute them to GOD” [16:116].
Questions About History and Practice
How did Muslims practise before hadith collections were written down?
By doing what the generation before them did. An appendix in this translation says the reports credited to the Prophet did not appear until the second century after his death. But the prayer did not begin with those books. The footnote in this translation says that when the Quran was revealed, all religious duties were already established through Abraham. God says of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that He taught them “how to observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and the obligatory charity (Zakat)” [21:73]. And He calls our religion “the religion of your father Abraham” [22:78]. So the practices were already there, and they were passed from one generation to the next. They did not have to wait for the books.
What about details of practice that the Quran does not spell out?
Where God made no rule, we are free. But first, it helps to keep two different things apart. The first is practice that came down from Abraham, like the prayer and the pilgrimage. The footnote in this translation says all religious duties were already established through him. God calls our religion “the religion of your father Abraham” [22:78]. The second is where the Quran says nothing at all about a matter. God says of some matters: “GOD has deliberately overlooked them.” [5:101] In a note about food, the footnote in this translation to 5:3 gives a rule: anything the Quran does not specifically prohibit must be considered lawful. God “has placed no hardship on you in practicing your religion” [22:78]. What we must not do is fill the silence with new rules and say they come from God. God forbids exactly that: saying “This is lawful, and this is unlawful,” and attributing it to Him [16:116].
Doesn't the Quran mention ‘the scripture and wisdom’? Isn't the wisdom the hadith?
No. The Quran shows that the wisdom is sent down by God, and is found inside His own revelations. God says: “GOD has sent down to you the scripture and wisdom” [4:113]. The wisdom is sent down by God. It is not something people collected later. Another verse lists some of God's commandments, and then says: “This is some of the wisdom inspired to you by your Lord.” [17:39] Those commandments are in the Quran. So the Quran calls its own teachings wisdom. And God tells the Prophet's wives: “Remember what is being recited in your homes of GOD's revelations and the wisdom inherent therein.” [33:34] The wisdom is inside God's revelations. It is not a second book beside them.
Check It Yourself
We do not want anyone to take our word for any of this. Not on this page, and not anywhere on this site.
God gives every one of us the tools and the duty to check: “You shall not accept any information, unless you verify it for yourself. I have given you the hearing, the eyesight, and the brain, and you are responsible for using them.” [17:36]
So here is a simple tool. We call it Source Check. It is seven steps, and you can use it on any religious claim you hear.
Source Check: Seven Simple Steps
Use this on any religious claim, including every claim on this website.
1. Write the claim in one sentence
Say it plainly: God requires that I ______. A claim that cannot be written this way is not yet a clear claim.
2. Ask where it really comes from
Not who told you. Where did it start? Culture, family habit, a scholar, a book, or the Quran? Trace it back more than one step.
3. Search the Quran yourself
Use the search page. Look for the words, and for the same idea said differently. Give it real time. Twenty minutes, not twenty seconds.
4. Read the whole passage
A few words pulled out of a verse can be made to say almost anything. Read the verses before and after. Notice who is being spoken to, and why.
5. Remember what the Quran says about adding to it
Before you accept a rule from outside the Quran, remember that God calls His book complete and fully detailed.
6. Decide what you found
There are three possible answers. The Quran commands it. The Quran says the opposite. Or the Quran is silent. Silence is not permission to make a new rule, and it is not a ban either. Some practices, like the prayer, came down to us from Abraham. The Quran commands the prayer. Make sure nothing added to it goes against the Quran.
7. Follow what you found, and stay humble
Act on what you found, and be willing to learn more. If someone shows you a verse, listen.
Source Check: One Worked Example
Here is one real claim, taken through all seven steps, so you can see how it works. Try the same with a claim of your own this week.
| Step | What you do | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| 1. The claim | Write it in one sentence | God forbids men from wearing gold or silk. |
| 2. Where it comes from | Culture, family, scholar, book, or Quran? | It is usually taught from hadith reports. It is not usually taught from a verse. |
| 3. Search the Quran | Words used, verses found | Searched for gold, silk and adornment. No verse forbids either one for men in this life. The Quran describes believers in Paradise wearing “bracelets of gold” and “clothes of green silk” as part of their reward [18:31]. |
| 4. Read the passage | Who is spoken to, and why | [18:31] describes the reward of the righteous. [9:34] warns against hoarding gold and silver, not wearing them. No passage forbids wearing them. |
| 5. Adding to the Quran | What the Quran says about new rules | Under the heading ‘Innovated Prohibitions Condemned’, God tells the Prophet to ask: “Who prohibited the nice things GOD has created for His creatures, and the good provisions?” [7:32] And He forbids us to say “This is lawful, and this is unlawful” and attribute it to Him [16:116]. |
| 6. What we found | Commanded, opposite, or silent? | The Quran does not forbid it. It is silent about a ban, and it warns against inventing bans. |
| 7. What we will do | Follow it, stay humble | We will not call it forbidden, and we will not teach others that God forbids it. What would change our mind: a verse that forbids it. |
Keep Kindness at Home
Finding the truth for ourselves can make us eager to correct everyone around us. The Quran gives us a better way.
God tells the Prophet how to invite people to His path, and it is a good guide for us too: “You shall invite to the path of your Lord with wisdom and kind enlightenment, and debate with them in the best possible manner.” [16:125] And God says: “There shall be no compulsion in religion” [2:256].
If what we learn on a page about sources makes us unkind to our own family, we have taken something true and used it badly.
Questions About Living With This
If the Quran is complete, why do so many scholars say it needs explaining?
Some explaining is sincere and helpful. Some of it adds new rules and calls that ‘explaining’. It is good to study the Quran, and to learn the background of a verse or the meaning of a word. That kind of help makes what is on the page clearer. There is nothing wrong with it. But sometimes ‘explaining’ means adding a rule, a ban or a punishment the page does not contain. That is really making new law. God says He is the one who teaches the Quran: “The Most Gracious. Teacher of the Quran.” [55:1-2] And He tells us He revealed this book “to provide explanations for everything” [16:89]. Here is a simple test we can all use. Is this person helping me understand what is on the page? Or telling me something that is not on the page? The first is teaching. The second needs a verse.
Am I allowed to disagree with my own family about this?
Yes. And how we disagree matters even more than whether we are right. God tells us to honor our parents: “your parents shall be honored” [17:23]. Honoring them does not mean we must agree with them on everything. But it does mean we must never become harsh or unkind. God tells the Prophet how to invite people to His path, and it guides us too: “You shall invite to the path of your Lord with wisdom and kind enlightenment, and debate with them in the best possible manner.” [16:125] And “There shall be no compulsion in religion” [2:256]. That limit is on us, too, inside our own homes. In daily life, this often looks simple. We stop arguing. We keep praying. We answer gently when we are asked. And we let our family see, over the years, what the Quran has done for us. Often, that helps more than an argument.
What should I do with a hadith that seems beautiful and harmless?
We can enjoy it as a beautiful saying. We just should not treat it as religion. There is a lot of human wisdom in the world that is lovely and true. But being wise does not make something God's command. The moment a saying becomes something we believe God requires of us, we have added to a book that God calls complete. Gentle sayings are easy to accept without checking. That is how a second source can slip in, quietly. God keeps it simple for us: “You shall all follow what is revealed to you from your Lord; do not follow any idols besides Him.” [7:3]
What the Quran Says About Its Own Authority
Nine passages that hold this whole page together.
Shall I seek other than GOD as a source of law, when He has revealed to you this book fully detailed? Those who received the scripture recognize that it has been revealed from your Lord, truthfully. You shall not harbor any doubt.[6:114]
A source of law, fully detailed
All the creatures on earth, and all the birds that fly with wings, are communities like you. We did not leave anything out of this book. To their Lord, all these creatures will be summoned.[6:38]
Nothing left out
You shall recite what is revealed to you of your Lord's scripture. Nothing shall abrogate His words, and you shall not find any other source beside it.[18:27]
No other source beside it
These are GOD's revelations that we recite to you truthfully. In which Hadith other than GOD and His revelations do they believe?[45:6]
The translation's heading: ‘Which Hadith?’
GOD has revealed herein the best Hadith; a book that is consistent, and points out both ways (to Heaven and Hell). The skins of those who reverence their Lord cringe therefrom, then their skins and their hearts soften up for GOD's message. Such is GOD's guidance; He bestows it upon whomever He wills. As for those sent astray by GOD, nothing can guide them.[39:23]
The best Hadith is the Quran
Had he uttered any other teachings. We would have punished him. We would have stopped the revelations to him. None of you could have helped him.[69:44-47]
The Prophet could not add teachings of his own
Say, "Obey GOD, and obey the messenger." If they refuse, then he is responsible for his obligations, and you are responsible for your obligations. If you obey him, you will be guided. The sole duty of the messenger is to deliver (the message).[24:54]
What obeying the messenger means
We have permitted the enemies of every prophet—human and jinn devils—to inspire in each other fancy words, in order to deceive. Had your Lord willed, they would not have done it. You shall disregard them and their fabrications.[6:112]
Fabrications foretold, and what to do with them
You shall all follow what is revealed to you from your Lord; do not follow any idols besides Him. Rarely do you take heed.[7:3]
Follow what is revealed
Use It on This Site Too
Please use Source Check on this very page. If anything here cannot be traced to the Quran, do not accept it just because it is written with confidence. That is the whole reason we are giving you the tool.
Growth Prompt
Take your answer to the question below through the seven steps of Source Check this week. Write down what you find at each step, not only the final answer. The steps are where the learning happens.
What is one religious practice or belief I hold that I have never traced back to a verse? And what am I afraid I might find?
Keep growing
Every topic on this site connects to the others. Here is where this page leads next.