The Islamic ideology derives from the Qur'an and Sunnah. Legislation in Islam is also derived from these two sources. Therefore if any one of these sources is lost or distorted then the risk is to the ideology as a whole.  In this respect the study of Sunnah is not a peripheral discipline in Islam but fundamental to the preservation of the ideology itself. Without the Sunnah,ahkam (rules) would cease to exist and we would lose the ability to elaborate, specify and restrict the ambivalent, general and absolute import of the Quranic text since the role of the Sunnah is to clarify the Qur'an. Without the Sunnah, extraction of Shar'iah rules for new realities would cease to exist and shatter our confidence in the Deen itself.As an example the Quran says:

''But Allah hath permitted trade and forbidden usury'' [Al-Baqarah: 275].

Without the Sunnah,many people mistakenly think that the most important issue in our economic life is riba ,and as such all ''riba-free'' trade activities are permissible. This undermines the whole notion of what an Islamic economic system represents.

We must understand that the Islamic economic system does not equate to the capitalist economic system minus riba. Rather the capitalist economic system contradicts Islam both in its fundamentals and details. Islam has detailed rules regarding partnerships, renting, leasing, hiring which are extracted from the Sunnah.If we do not refer to Sunnah regarding these matters,we  would be making it legitimate to refer judgements to other than the Shariah, thereby contradicting Allahs(swt) saying:

No by your God, they shall not become true believers until they make you(Prophet) judge in matters that are of dispute amongst them and find within themselves no dislike of that which you have decided, and submit with full submission [ Al-Nisaa: 65].

So it is not strange to find Muslims who would abstain from riba,but buy shares in stock market, which is not permitted. This is because rules regarding Islamic company structure are extracted from 'Hadith' and many regard the Sunnah as a lesser importance source of legislation.

It is also precisely for this reason that the Orientalists have sought to create doubt in the authenticity of the Sunnah. The wholesale rejection of hadith as a historical source was first argued by an Orientalist named Ignaz Goldziher in volume 2 of his book: 'Muslim Studies'. Goldziger was then followed by Joseph Schact who developed his ideas and tried to present a substantial body of proof to this effect in his work: 'The origins of Muhammadan jurisprudence' which was published in 1950. Also more recently Gautier Juynboll in his, 'Muslim Tradition. Studies in chronology, provenance and authorship of early hadith' has developed further techniques to prove the false nature of the hadith literature. The general thrust of Orientalism since Goldziher has tended to impute doubt, in various degrees, on the corpus of hadith literature. This is one of the more serious and fundamental attacks by Orientalists on the Islamic ideology. By throwing doubt on these sources it would be possible to demolish the whole edifice, which rests upon them. It was in this vein that attempts were made to discredit the historical authenticity of the hadith literature.

In addition we see the influence of this thought on modernism and modernist thinking where Sunnah as a source of legislation is markedly absent in the political field. Hence we see amongst some Muslims an attitude which considers the Sunnah of lesser importance than the Qur'an simply because the hadith requires further study and scrutiny as compared to the Qur'an. This has led to people either disregarding or neglecting ahkam simply because it is not found explicitly in the Qur'an. Hadith discussing the unity of the Muslims, the obligation to appoint a Khaleefah, or the ruling that a woman cannot be ruler to name but a few are brushed aside or not given their due weight because they are 'hadith' and not an ayah of the Qur'an.

The authority of the Sunnah is clearly established in the Qur'an. Allah (swt) says:

''It is not for a believing man or woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided on an issue, that they should have any decision.''

Numerous other ayahs instruct the Muslims to obey Allah and His Messenger. Therefore, the authority of the Sunnah is a settled issue for Muslims. Rejecting the Sunnah amounts to clear Kufr because that individual would ignore the abundance of ayahs ordering the Muslims to obey the Messenger. Also, without the Sunnah, most of the Islamic rules, including the details of the prayer, fasting, and hajj, ruling system, economic system, would be absent.

Regarding the preservation of the Sunnah, it should be clear that the Sunnah was preserved for the following reasons:

1). The whole purpose of Allah (swt) sending messages was not only to provide answers to the fundamental questions of human beings, but to provide a system of life for human beings to live by, to organize their lives, and to address their problems and issues. A message is words contained in a book or scripture revealed by Allah. And a book by itself, whether it is the Qur'an, the Torah, or the Injeel, cannot illustrate to human beings the correct way to live and proceed through life. Therefore, what is needed in addition to the message itself is a practical example that can manifest the Message of Allah in day-to-day affairs that the people can relate to in a relevant manner. Otherwise, whatever message Allah would reveal would be nothing but an abstract philosophy that would have little or no relevance to the practical lives of human beings. For this reason, Allah (swt) sent messengers, and as such, the actions and sayings of the Prophet (saaws) are as much a part of the revelation as the books that were revealed to these messengers. In this capacity, Allah (swt) says:

''And We have also sent down unto you the Reminder and the Advice (the Qur'an) that you(Prophet) may explain clearly to the people what has been sent down for them.'' [An-Nahl: 44]

The ''explanation'' in the ayah refers to the Sunnah, which are the actions and sayings of the Messenger that explain the Qur'an to the people, and the ayah makes it clear that the Sunnah is required to understand the Qur'an correctly. Therefore, if the Sunnah is necessary to understand the Qur'an, then it would be self-contradictory to claim that the Sunnah is necessary on the one hand and claim that its preservation was not complete. Allah (swt) says:

''Verily, it is We who have sent down the Dhikr (the Qur'an), and surely, We will guard it.'' [Al-Hijr: 9]

Therefore, Allah (swt) guaranteed that He will preserve the Qur'an, but the purpose of the Qur'an is to be understood and applied, which cannot be done without the Sunnah. Therefore, to claim that Allah would preserve the Qur'an but would not preserve the Sunnah not only defeats the entire purpose of sending messengers, but it implies a deficiency in Allah (swt), which is impossible.

2). Allah (swt) attests in the Qur'an that Islam is complete. However, without the Sunnah, most of the Islamic rules would be absent, including the rules describing the details of the prayer, the fasting, the hajj, and many other aspects. Therefore, the ''completeness'' of the message of Islam cannot be established without the Sunnah. Claiming that the Sunnah was not preserved implies that Islam is not complete, which again implies that Allah (swt) ''miscalculated'' by affirming that Islam is complete when, in reality, it is not.

3). In numerous ayahs, Allah (swt) orders the Muslims to obey the Messenger. Allah would not order the people to obey the Messenger, but would not guarantee that what the Messenger brought (the Sunnah) could be preserved. Otherwise, the Muslims would be following something, believing that it is from the Messenger, when in fact it is not, which is a deception. And Allah (swt) does not deceive.

In conclusion, the belief that the Sunnah was preserved is as much a part of the Islamic Aqeedah as the belief in the preservation of the Qur'an. Without the Sunnah, the entire message of Islam would be destroyed.

Two ideas regarding the preservation of the Sunnah are commonly propagated. The first idea is the notion that the Prophet (saaws) forbade the writing of the hadith. It is true that in the beginning, the Prophet (saaws) prohibited writing the hadith, but not because the hadith had no authoritative value, and the proof for this is that, in the same breath, the Prophet (saaws) ordered the Sahabah to orally narrate the hadith:

''Do not write (what you hear) from me, and whoever has written something (he heard) from me, he should erase it. Narrate to others (what you hear) from me; and whoever deliberately attributes a lie to me, he should prepare his seat in the Fire.'' (Muslim)

The reason behind this prohibition was because, in the beginning of the revelation, the Sahabah were not fully aware of the Qur'anic style, and they would write the Qur'anic verses along with the sayings of the Prophet (saaws). Therefore, out of fear that the Qur'an and the hadith would be mixed, the Prophet (saaws) prohibited the writing of the hadith. Rather, he instructed the Sahabah to memorize the hadith and narrate it to others.

However, what is NOT mentioned is that later on, this ban was lifted once the people became familiar enough with the Qur'anic style. Some hadith mentioning this point are:

1). One Sahabi from the Ansar complained to the Prophet (saaws) that he hears from him some hadiths, but he sometimes forgets them. The Prophet (saaws) said, ''Seek help from your right hand,'' and pointed to a writing. (Tirmidhi)

2). Rafe' ibn Khadij says, ''I said to the Prophet (saaws): We hear from you many things; should we write them down? He (saaws) replied, :You may write. There is no harm.'' (Tadrib ar-Rarawi)

3). Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-Aas reported that the Prophet (saaws) said to him, ''Preserve knowledge.'' He asked, ''And how should it be preserved?'' The Prophet (saaws) replied, ''Writing it.''

The second idea that is falsely propagated is the notion that the Hadith were documented three centuries after the Prophet (saaws). This idea is FALSE because the actual writing of the hadith started during the days of the Prophet (saaw), and it was known that many Sahabi, such as Abdullah bin Amr bin al-Aas, Amr bin Hazm, Anas, Ali, Abu Huraira, and Ibn Abbas, documented the hadith during the life of the Prophet (saaws).

What occurred two centuries later was the CLASSIFICATION AND COMPILATION of the hadith. And in this regard, one cannot overlook three things. The first of these was the astounding capacity of the Arabs living at the time to memorize, which they attained from their rich oral tradition. This provided yet another mechanism to ensure the preservation of the Sunnah. The second factor was the seriousness and vigilance that the Sahabah and those who succeeded them demonstrated in making sure that their narrations were correct. The Muslims at the time were well aware of the warning in the hadith and the threat of severe punishment for falsely attributing any saying or action to the Prophet (saaws). And the third factor was the tremendous effort that the scholars of hadith dedicated towards compiling the hadith and filtering the authentic hadith from the weak and fabricated ones. The scholars of hadith set very rigorous standards for a hadith to be acceptable, and as a result of their efforts, all the hadiths are classified. Those hadith that are fabricated are documented, and the lives and biographies of every hadith narrator is documented. Even the lives and biographies of those who narrated fabricated hadiths are documented. And in addition to this, the scholars laid down the methodology they employed in accepting or rejecting a hadith, and they left this methodology for future generations to use.

The Challenges faced by the Muslims

Revival is intellectual elevation. When society is elevated in thoughts it looks at problems in an enlightened manner and derives solutions on an enlightened basis directed by its viewpoint about life and hence that society progresses and solves its problems effectively and thereby achieves revival. One of the best examples of revival or elevation in thought is the way Muslims dealt with the problem of hadith authenticity and fabrication.

In conclusion, Allah (swt) ensured the preservation of the Sunnah through the efforts of the Sahabah and the succeeding generations, in the same manner that he ensured the preservation of the Qur'an through the efforts of the very same people. And the evidence shows that the Sunnah was preserved, and as a result, we can conclude that the Message of Islam is preserved.

May Allah (swt) cleanse our thoughts of any falsehood, and may He give us the correct understanding so that we can remain on the Straight Path and worship Him correctly.

Comments

Those who have doubts regarding the preservation and authenticity of the Sunnah are be well advised not to rush forward with blind enthusiasm to take up all kinds of activism in the 'in the name of Islam'. Reviving the ummah requires  specific steps to be taken which are extracted from the Sunnah.Even the slightest doubt in the preservation or the authenticity of the sunnah would lead to adopting incorrect paths such as participating in kufr political system, forming alliances with kuffar,calling for gradual implementation which eventually lead to despair and failure.

Related

Prophets are infallible(ma'sum)

Others

Objects and Actions

Why Science cannot prove the existence of a Creator