Ahle Qur’aan
The Chakralwis – Ahle Qur’aan
Qur’an alone Muslims, Qur’anic Muslims, or sometimes Anti-Hadith Muslims, is a term used to refer to those who reject hadith, and follow the Qur’an alone. This group calls themselves Ahle Qur’aan. They believe the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is just an ambassador and openly reject all the Ahadith, meaning they do not accept the following of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). This is something knew which neither we nor our forefathers have ever heard of as Allah (The Exalted) has mentioned in the Qur’aan: “O believers! Obey Allah and Obey the Messenger.” 1
The Ahle Qur’an
“Ahle Qur’an,” a group formed by Abdullah Chakralawi, relies entirely on the chapters and verses of the Qur’aan. Chakralawi’s position was that the Qur’aan itself was the most perfect source of tradition and could be exclusively followed. According to him, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) could receive only one form of revelation (wahi), and that was the Qur’aan. He argues that the Qur’aan was the only record of divine wisdom, the only source of Muhammad’s (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) teachings, and that it superseded the entire corpus of hadith.2
Bazm-e-Tolu-e-Islam (Resurgence of Islam)
Is a Pakistani based organization whose followers can be found throughout the world. The movement was initiated by Ghulam Ahmed Pervez, a Qur’anic scholar. Focusing on Qur’anic teachings, he was willing to re-interpret Qur’anic verses and place little or no emphasis on hadiths. Unlike some other groups, Tolu-e-Islam followers do not reject all hadiths; however, they only accept hadiths which “are in accordance with the Qur’aan” and “do not blemish the personality of the Prophet-may Allah bless him and grant him peace and/or his companions.” The organization is loosely controlled. It publishes books, pamphlets, and recordings of Pervez’s speeches.
1 Surah Nisa. Surah No: 4. Verse: 59
2 Ahmad, Aziz, Islamic Modernism in India and Pakistan 1857-1964, Oxford University Press, 1967, pp 120-121
Opposing viewpoints
The Ahle Sunnah agree that hadith are an integral part of understanding and implementing Islamic teachings.They argue that the Qur’aan itself says that both Allah (The Exalted) and the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) are to be obeyed, as no less than a dozen verses in the Qur’aan stress obedience to Allah (The Exalted) and the Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). It is also pointed out that the phenomenon of “Qur’aan-only” itself is about a hundred years old and no similar ideas had any popularity in muslim history. Some Sunni clerics have directed several fatwas against Qur’aan Alone Muslims.
Taking example of changing of Qiblah in Chapter 2 “And recall, when We made this house a place of assembly for the people and a place of safety…” 3 where the qiblah that was formerly observed is nowhere mentioned in the Qur’aan, the Ahle Sunnah argue that commands from Allah (The Exalted) to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) exist even outside Qur’aan, found in his Hadith and Sunnah. Qur’aan Alone Muslims counter this by saying that Qiblah merely means direction and the above verse has nothing to do with any physical place of worship but that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was given the right direction to follow.
Hadith
The Sunnah, according to their claims, is full of fabricated ahadith falsely attributed to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). They are the successors of other people about whom the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) told us. Ahmad, Abu Dawood and al-Haakim reported with a authentic chain of narration (Sahih isnad) from al-Miqdaam that the Messenger of Allah the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “Soon there will be a time when a man will be reclining on his couch, narrating a hadith from me, and he will say, ‘Between us and you is the Book of Allah: what it says is halaal, we take as halaal, and what it says is haraam, we take as haraam.’ But listen! Whatever the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) forbids is like what Allah forbids.”
3 Surah Baqarah. Surah No: 2. Verse: 125
4 Al-Fath al-Kabeer, 3/438. Al-Tirmidhi reported it with different wording, and said that it is hasan Sahih. Sunan al-Tirmidhi bi Sharh Ibn al-‘Arabi, al-Saawi edn., 10/132
In many verses it is mentioned to obey the Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). Obedience to the Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is considered in the Qur’aan to be a part of obedience to Allah (The Exalted).
“Whoso obeys the Messenger, has indeed obeyed Allah, but whoso turns away his face, then We have not sent you (O Muhammad) to save them.”5
5 Surah Nisa. Surah No: 4. Verse: 80
6 ibid. Verse: 65
The Qur’aan, which they claim to follow, denies the faith of the one who refuses to obey the Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and does not accept his ruling: “Then O beloved! By our Lord, they shall not be Muslims until they make you judge in all disputes among themselves, then they find not any impediment in their hearts concerning whatever you decide, and accept from the core of their hearts.” 6
Their suggestion that the Sunnah is “contaminated” with fabricated ahadith is not valid, because the scholars of this Ummah took the utmost care to purify the Sunnah from all alien elements. If they had any doubts about the truthfulness of any narrator, or there was the slightest possibility that he could have forgotten something, this would be sufficient grounds for rejecting a hadith.
For it to be obligatory to follow a hadith, it is sufficient for it to be known that it is a authentic or sound, hadith narrated from the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was content to convey his message by sending just one of his Companions, which proves that the hadith reported by one trustworthy person must be followed.
Importance of the Sunnah
(1) The Qur’aan speaks of the importance of the Sunnah, for example:
(a) Allah says: “Whoso obeys the Messenger, has indeed obeyed Allah…” Allah described obedience to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) Gardensofsunnah.co.uk 31
as being a part of obedience to Him. Then He made a connection between obedience to Him and obedience to the Prophet (peace be upon him): “O believers! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger . . .” 7
7 ibid. Verse:59
8 Surah Furqaan. Surah No: 25. Verse: 63
9 ibid. Verse: 65
10 Surah Anfal. Surah No:8. Verse: 24
11 Surah Nisa. Surah No:4. Verse: 59
(b) Allah warns us not to go against the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), and states that whoever disobeys him will be doomed to eternal Hell. Allah says: “. . . therefore let those who do against the command of the Messenger fear lest some trial befall them or a painful torment overtake them.” 8
(c) Allah has made obedience to His Prophet a religious duty; resisting or opposing it is a sign of hypocrisy: “Then O beloved! By our Lord, they shall not be Muslims until they make you judge in all disputes among themselves, then they find not any impediment in their hearts concerning whatever you decide, and accept from the core of their hearts.” 9
(d) Allah commands His slaves to respond to Him and His Messenger: “O believers! Respond to the calling of Allah and Messenger, when the Messenger calls you for a thing that will give you life…” 10
(e) Allah also commands His slaves to refer all disputes to him: “. . . then again if there may arise any difference amongst you, refer it to Allah and His Messenger…”11
(2) The Sunnah itself indicates the importance of the Sunnah. For example:
(a) Al-Tirmidhi reported from Abu Raafi’ and others that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “I do not want to see any one of you reclining on his couch and, when he hears of my instructions or prohibitions, saying ‘I don’t accept it; we didn’t find any such thing in the Book of Allah.’” Abu ‘Isa said: This is a Sahih hasan hadith. Gardensofsunnah.co.uk 32
Al-’Irbaad ibn Saariyah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “Would any of you think, reclining on his couch, that Allah would only describe what is forbidden in the Qur’aan? I tell you, by Allah, that I have warned and commanded and prohibited things that are as important as what is in the Qur’aan, if not more so.” (Reported by Abu Dawud, Kitaab al-Khiraj wa’l-imaarah wa’l-fay’).
(b) Abu Dawud also reported from al-’Irbaad ibn Saariyah (may Allah be pleased with him) that “the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) led us in prayer one day, then he turned to us and exhorted us strongly . . . (he said), ‘Pay attention to my Sunnah (way) and the way of the Rightly-guided Khalifahs after me, adhere to it and hold fast to it.’” (Abu Dawud, Kitaab al-Sunnah).
(3) The scholars’ consensus (ijmaa’) affirming the importance of the Sunnah.
Al-Shaafi’i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “I do not know of anyone among the Sahaba and Tabi’een who narrated and report from the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) without accepting it, adhering to it and affirming that this was Sunnah. Those who came after the Tabi’een, and those whom we met did likewise: they all accepted the reports and took them to be Sunnah, praising those who followed them and criticizing those who went against them. Whoever deviated from this path would be regarded by us as having deviated from the way of the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the scholars who followed them, and would be considered as one of the ignorant.
(4) Common sense indicates the importance of the Sunnah.
The fact that the Prophet is the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) indicates that we must believe everything he said and obey every command he gave. It goes without saying that he has told us things and given instructions in addition to what is in the Qur’aan. It is futile to make a distinction between the Sunnah and the Qur’aan when it comes to adhering to it and responding to it. It is obligatory to believe in what he has told us, and to obey his instructions. Gardensofsunnah.co.uk 33
The ruling concerning those who deny the importance of the Sunnah is that they are kaafirs, because they deny and reject a well-known and undeniable part of the religion.
Moreover, we would ask these people: where are the verses which tell us how to pray, or which tell us that the obligatory prayers are five times daily, or how to perform ablution, or which tell us about the threshold (Nisaab) on various kinds of wealth for the purpose of Zakah, or about the details of the rituals of Hajj, and other rulings which we can only know from the Sunnah?
Due to the nature of the beliefs of the Ahl-e-Qur’aan and the rejection of the ahadith of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) according to the unanimous consensus of the scholars they are out of the folds of Islam. May Allah (The Exalted) protect us from their mischief, Aameen!
Those who are true Muslims can never doubt that they are Kaafirs once they are aware of all the above mentioned beliefs (of this corrupt and evil sect). The Ruling of the Shariah on these corrupt and mislead sects is:
“MAN SHAK’KA FI KUFRIHI WA ADHAABIHI FA QAD KAFARA”
“HE WHO DOUBTS THERE KUFR AND THEIR PUNISHMENT IS ALSO A KAAFIR (LIKE THEM).”