One
of the main objections against the authenticity of the traditions of the
Prophet is the allegation that they would contain contradictions.
1-The Quran commands Muslim to be guided by what the Prophet said and to
consider him as their ideal. This is stated in the following Quranic verses:
"He
who obeys the Prophet obeys God".
"So
take what the Prophet assigns to you, deny yourselves that which he withholds
from you" .
The
Prophet's Traditions include all that the Prophet permitted us to do and all
that he forbade us to do. Therefore the Traditions of the Prophet are an
essential part of the Faith of Islam and if we neglect to abide by them we will
be wilfully disobeying the Quran.
2- There is no difficulty in distinguishing an authentic tradition from
inauthentic or fabricated tradition after the Muslim Scholars laid down the
rules in this matter, several centuries ago. As we mentioned already in the
last section, we can never dispense with the Prophet 's traditions since they
are the second source of the faith of Islam. We must adhere to the teachings
stated in the traditions and realize that any doubt concerning contradictory
traditions can be clarified by applying the method and the rules established by
the Muslim scholars, which enable one to distinguish the authentic tradition
from the inauthentic and fabricated ones.
3- The Traditions of the Prophet are the most precise interpretation of the
verses of the Quran by the Prophet himself so how can we possibly dispense with
them because of imaginary reasons. Muslims perform their daily prayers
according to the manner and instructions described in detail in the Traditions
of the Prophet. The manner of performing one's prayers is not mentioned in the
Quran and there are many other similar matters that are explained in the
Traditions.
4- The scriptures of the divine religions that preceded Islam were written in a
manner and style similar to that of the Prophet's Traditions, yet none of he
followers of these religions (Jews and Christians) demanded that they
should be rejected as a result of the inconsistency that exists in
certain religious observances and the lack of authenticity concerning some
events. Such matters must be studied objectively and authentic proofs
concerning inconsistent narratives must be sought and this is the method that
was established and followed by the scholars of Islam centuries ago.