(Photo: e-magic)

There are several reasons that hadith are important. Several reasons?
I take that back. There are too many to name.

First is the question of what are hadith? All of us, I’m sure, are
familiar with the term and can each provide a definition. But in
short, they are the saying, teachings, actions, lifestyle, and Sunnah
of the Prophet Muhammed (saw).

Second is what it means to be a Muslim. The first thing we
consciously choose to accept Islam is take the Shahada. The first
part is about the Oneness of Allah (swt). While the second part
is….about Muhammed (saw). So from the beginning, and from the
Shahada, we can immediately tell that separating Allah (swt) from His
messenger (saw) or vice-versa is not a possibility. Not only is it
not possible, but, rather, as Muslims it is not an option.

Third is the numerous ayat in the Qur’an that command us to obey and
follow the Prophet (saw). So, in case we are wondering if beliving in
the Prophet (saw) is enough because of the Shahada, Allah (swt)
cleared it up and further continued to tell us that, in addition to
believing and accepting, we must follow and obey. Here are a few of
those ayat:

* (Surah Al-Nur, Ayat 51] The only saying of the faithful believers,
when they are called to Allah (His Words, the Quran) and His Messenger
(SAW), to judge between them, is that they say: “WE HEAR AND WE OBEY.”
And such are the prosperous ones (who will live forever in Paradise ).

* “It is not for a believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and
His Messenger have decided a matter, that they should [thereafter]
have any choice about their affair. And whoever disobeys Allah and His
Messenger has certainly strayed into clear error.” [Surah Ahzab, Ayat
36]

____

Now of course, we know that we will not be tested with more than we
can handle. While we may not always be able to follow everything, we
should do our best and ask for forgiveness in the meantime. If we
have mistakes that we are doing now then we should try to stop. If we
are unable, then we should make a plan to reach that level. One step
at a time and in moderation. That’s a different topic though. Back
to hadith.

I used the word moderate above. In the media, our masajid, and even
our families – everyone has their own definition of what it means to
be moderate. Well, we know that Allah (swt) said that the Prophet
(saw) is of the most perfect character. Therefore, Moderate is not
whether you do this or that — or whether you don’t do this or that.
Moderate = whatever Allah (swt) and His Messenger (saw) have told us
to do or not do. This cannot be learned without hadith.

Another point to be made is that we will raised be with the ones we
love in this life on the Day of Judgment. There are a select,
numbered group of people that we know will enter Paradise. Amongst
them are the Prophets (including Muhammed [saw]). In order to love
him, we must know him. The methods of knowing him comes in the form
of the hadith that we have.

Yet another point that can be made is that we know there are different
sects of Muslims. There are sunnis, shiites, sufis, and others. So
how do we know what is right and what is wrong? Well, lets go back to
the basics and go from there. We go back to the Shahada where we sign
a contract agreeing to follow the commands of Allah (swt) and the
Prophet (saw). For our own protection from innovations or other
actions/ideologies that may take us away from the true path, we must
study the hadith. And so, irrespective of any of the sects, the same
ruler is used to test every Muslim’s theology and action…and that is
this: did Allah (swt) or the Prophet (saw) sanction this or not? There
are many doors to Jannah but only one road that takes you to those
doors and that door is the Sunnah of the Prophet (saw).

One quick example which is frequently used but is a great reminder.
Allah (swt) commands us to pray but does not tell us how. So how do
we know how to pray? From the Sunnah of the Prophet (saw). And how
do we know the Sunnah? From the hadith.

That was one example, but on a side note — hadith come in different
levels of authenticity. We should be weary and cautious to ensure
that we are using authentic hadith (sahih). We should also be careful
not to think we can always interpret the different ayat and hadith on
our own. That’s what scholars are for, but even they are held up to
the same ruler as everyone else. Can they prove what they are saying
from the Qur’an and authentic Sunnah of the Prophet (saw)

But if I were to boil the whole argument above down to a simple
sentence, I would say this: Allah (swt) commanded us to follow the
Prophet (saw), and that can’t be done without Hadith.

You’ll forgive the lengthy reply to the post. I want to make sure to
point this out — I am a student at the University of Maryland who
will be graduating soon, Insha’Allah, with a BA in English. In other
words, I’m not a scholar. I know more about how to use commas and
semi-colons than I do about the deen. That, of course, is a
shortcoming to say the least. But anyway, take what I said with a
grain of salt and allow it to be nothing more than a thought that
pushes you to read what the real scholars of Islam have said.