The Necessity of Hadith

Dr. Bilal Philips writes: “The Prophet’s sayings and actions were primarily based on revelation from Allah and, as such, must be considered a fundamental source of guidance second only to the Qur’an.” According to Dr. Philips, the Hadith, the record of these sayings and actions, plays a vital role in that it transmits revelation, tafseer (exegesis of the Qur’an), Islamic law, and the Islamic moral ideal. For instance, the Prophet’s “…character and social interactions became prime examples of moral conduct for Muslims. Consequently, the daily life of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) as recorded in the hadith represents an ideal code of conduct. It is largely due to the science of hadith that the final message of Islam has been preserved in its original purity for all times.” In Usool al-Hadeeth, the reader will embark on a course of study that will, Allah willing, enable him or her to make critical and intelligent use of the body of Hadith literature in his or her daily life.

The Sunnah and its Role in Islamic Legislation is a groundbreaking effort by Dr. Mustafa as-Siba’ee, for it has a completeness to it in two regards: first, the author manages to cover all topics related to the Sunnah—its status, its legislative force, the stages that led to its recording, just to mention a few—in a comprehensive and organized manner. Second, he presents the views of those that have attacked the Sunnah throughout history, detailing their arguments and then refuting them. Among those groups from the past were the Shi’aa and the Mu’tazilah; today, they are mainly the Orientalists and those that are influenced by them.

Sheikh as-Siba’ee takes us through the historical development of the Sunnah, from the early stages of revelation to the recording of the Sunnah during the era of the great Imams of Hadith. Throughout that account, he highlights the contributions of the scholars in preserving the Sunnah and cleansing it from fabrications and lies. Shaykh as-Siba’ee gives a clear account of the revolutionary methods and scholarly principles that were established in order to authenticate historical reports and narrations. The author shows us that the fruits of that endeavour were the preservation of the authentic Sunnah and the birth of the Hadith sciences.

This book has been a perennial source of knowledge for Arabic-speaking students of Islam, for its clarity, readability, and insightful research. New English-speaking students too have available to them this authoritative treatise on the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet Muhammad) may the peace and blessings of ALLAH be upon him).