The Faith of Islam | Page 7

God given in the Qur��n are called 'farz' and 'w��jib.' A command given by the Prophet or an example set by him is called 'sunnat,' a word meaning a rule. It is then technically applied to the basis of religious faith and practice, which is founded on traditional accounts of the sayings and acts of Muhammad.[13] It is the belief common to all Musalm��ns, that the Prophet in all that he did, and in all that he said, was supernaturally guided, and that his words and acts are to all time and to all his followers a divine rule of faith and practice. "We should know that God Almighty has given commands and prohibitions to his {11} servants, either by means of the Qur��n, or by the mouth of His Prophet."[14] Al-Ghaz��li, a most distinguished theologian, writes:--"Neither is the faith according to His will, complete by the testimony to the Unity alone, that is, by simply saying, 'There is but one God,' without the addition of the further testimony to the Apostle, that is, the statement, 'Muhammad is the apostle of God.'" This belief in the Prophet must extend to all that he has said concerning the present and the future life, for, says the same author, "A man's faith is not accepted till he is fully persuaded of those things which the Prophet hath affirmed shall be after death."
It is often said that the Wahh��b��s reject Tradition. In the ordinary sense of the word Tradition they may; but in Muslim Theology the term Had��s, which we translate Tradition, has a special meaning. It is applied only to the sayings of the Prophet, not to those of some uninspired divine or teacher. The Wahh��b��s reject the Traditions handed down by men who lived after the time of the Companions, but the Had��s, embodying the sayings of the Prophet, they, in common with all Muslim sects, hold to be an inspired revelation of God's will to men. It would be as reasonable to say that Protestants reject the four Gospels as to say that the Wahh��b��s reject Tradition.[15] An orthodox Muslim places the Gospels in the same rank as the Had��s, that is, he looks upon them as a record of what Jesus said and did handed down to us by His Companions. "In the same way as other Prophets received their books under the form of ideas, so our Prophet has in the same way received a great number of communications which are found in the collections of the {12} Traditions (Ah��d��s).[16] This shows that the Sunnat must be placed on a level with the Jewish and Christian Scriptures; whilst the Qur��n is a revelation superior to them all. To no sect of Musalm��ns is the Qur��n alone the rule of faith. The Sh��a'hs, it is true, reject the Sunnat, but they have in their own collection of Traditions an exact equivalent.
The nature of the inspiration of the Sunnat and its authoritative value are questions of the first importance, whether Isl��m is viewed from a theological or a political stand-point.
"Muhammad said that seventy-three sects would arise, of whom only one would be worthy of Paradise. The Companions inquired which sect would be so highly favoured. The Prophet replied:--'The one which remains firm in my way and in that of my friends.' It is certain that this must refer to the Ahl-i-Sunnat wa Jam��'at." (Sunn��s.)[17]
It is laid down as a preliminary religious duty that obedience should be rendered to the Sunnat of the Prophet. Thus in the fourth S��ra of the Qur��n it is written: "O true believers! obey God and obey the apostle." "We have not sent any apostle but that he might be obeyed by the permission of God." From these and similar passages the following doctrine is deduced: "It is plain that the Prophet (on whom and on whose descendants be the mercy and peace of God!) is free from sin in what he ordered to be done, and in what he prohibited, in all his words and acts; for were it otherwise how could obedience rendered to him be accounted as obedience paid to God?"[18] Believers are exhorted to render obedience to God by witnessing to His divinity, and to the Prophet by bearing witness to his prophetship; this is a sign of love, and love is the cause of nearness to God. The Prophet himself is reported to have {13} said, "Obey me that God may regard you as friends." From this statement the conclusion is drawn that "the love of God (to man) is conditional on obedience to the Prophet." Belief in and obedience to the Prophet are essential elements of the true faith, and he who possesses not both of these is in error.[19]
In order to show the necessity of this obedience, God is