The Importance and Necessity of Hadith and the Sunnah of the Prophet

Abstract

Obeying and following the sayings and actions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is just as obligatory for all Muslims today as it was for the noble Companions during the Prophet’s lifetime. Although the Holy Prophet ﷺ is no longer physically present among us, every saying and action of his life—his day and night routines, acts of worship and struggle, domestic life and public life, life in Makkah and life in Madinah, times of hardship and times of prosperity—in fact, his entire 63-year life—is available before us like an open book. So much so that every statement, action, and mannerism of the Holy Prophet ﷺ has been conveyed to us. There is no saying or action from the Prophet’s life that has not reached us. The responsibility of conveying every saying and action of the Holy Prophet ﷺ to us was fulfilled by his noble Companions. Regarding them, Allah Almighty states in the Holy Qur’an: (Allah is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Him). The noble Companions are that blessed group of people about whom Allah Almighty declared His pleasure while they were still in this world. The Holy Prophet ﷺ entrusted them with the responsibility of conveying all of his sayings and actions to others. The Companions did not assume this responsibility on their own; rather, the Prophet ﷺ himself instructed them, saying: … (text continues).“Convey from me to others, even if it is only a single verse.” The Holy Prophet ﷺ not only encouraged people to convey his message, but he also warned them to transmit only those things that he had actually said. One should not fabricate any statement from oneself and then attribute it to him. He warned that whoever does so will have Hell prepared for him, and Hell will be his abode. The Prophet ﷺ said:“Whoever deliberately tells a lie about me, let him take his seat in the Fire (Hell).”