WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.680 Have you ever wondered what truly defines Islam? 00:00:03.060 --> 00:00:06.000 Most people, when they hear the word Islam, immediately 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:09.279 think of Muhammad and the Quran. But here is 00:00:09.279 --> 00:00:12.019 an interesting question. Is the Quran alone enough 00:00:12.019 --> 00:00:14.880 to define the religion of Islam? Surprisingly, 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:18.960 even the Quran says no. In Surah 33, verse 21, 00:00:19.239 --> 00:00:22.079 it says that in the Messenger of Allah, there 00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:24.600 is an excellent example for those who hope in 00:00:24.600 --> 00:00:28.260 Allah and the Last Day, and remember him often. 00:00:28.829 --> 00:00:31.230 In other words, the Qur 'an points to the life 00:00:31.230 --> 00:00:34.189 of Muhammad as the model for Muslims to follow. 00:00:34.549 --> 00:00:37.210 That brings another question. How perfect was 00:00:37.210 --> 00:00:40.109 this example supposed to be? Some Muslims believe 00:00:40.109 --> 00:00:42.810 that everything Muhammad said was directly inspired 00:00:42.810 --> 00:00:46.850 by God. This idea comes from Surah 53 verses 00:00:46.850 --> 00:00:50.210 1 through 5, which say that Muhammad did not 00:00:50.210 --> 00:00:53.689 go astray or speak from his own desire. Instead, 00:00:53.810 --> 00:00:56.609 his speech was a revelation from God. According 00:00:56.609 --> 00:00:59.820 to this passage, Muhammad did not speak from 00:00:59.820 --> 00:01:02.579 his personal opinion, but by divine revelation. 00:01:03.079 --> 00:01:06.079 However, this belief has difficulties. Islamic 00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:08.980 sources themselves record that Muhammad was not 00:01:08.980 --> 00:01:12.040 always sinless or without error. One example 00:01:12.040 --> 00:01:14.719 is the incident known as the Satanic Verses. 00:01:14.840 --> 00:01:17.739 It appears in early biographies such as the work 00:01:17.739 --> 00:01:20.819 of Ibn Ishaq and in the history of Al -Tabari. 00:01:21.060 --> 00:01:24.019 These texts describe a time when Muhammad spoke 00:01:24.019 --> 00:01:27.319 verses believed to come from Satan which he later 00:01:27.319 --> 00:01:30.579 rejected. There is also a report in Sahih Bukhari, 00:01:30.739 --> 00:01:35.640 Volume 4, Book 54, Hadith 490. It tells how Muhammad 00:01:35.640 --> 00:01:38.299 once believed he had been with his wives when 00:01:38.299 --> 00:01:41.420 he had not. The report says he was under a spell 00:01:41.420 --> 00:01:45.200 or bewitched. Because of stories like this, some 00:01:45.200 --> 00:01:48.739 Muslims limit the meaning of Surah 53. They say 00:01:48.739 --> 00:01:51.840 it refers only to the Quran itself, not to everything 00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:55.200 Muhammad said or did. But that view raises other 00:01:55.200 --> 00:01:58.250 questions. For example, the Quran describes in 00:01:58.250 --> 00:02:01.890 Surah 18, verses 83 through 90, that the sun 00:02:01.890 --> 00:02:04.969 sets in a muddy spring. Taken literally, that 00:02:04.969 --> 00:02:07.590 statement cannot be true. So what did Muslims 00:02:07.590 --> 00:02:10.750 do with these issues? Historically, they began 00:02:10.750 --> 00:02:13.150 collecting reports about the sayings, actions, 00:02:13.330 --> 00:02:15.949 and judgments of Muhammad. These reports are 00:02:15.949 --> 00:02:19.370 called the Hadith. However, the Hadith was collected 00:02:19.370 --> 00:02:24.449 approximately 196 years after Muhammad. Alongside 00:02:24.449 --> 00:02:27.069 them, they recorded the biographies of Muhammad 00:02:27.069 --> 00:02:30.530 known as the Sirah. The hadith are arranged by 00:02:30.530 --> 00:02:33.509 topic. The Sirah follow a timeline of events. 00:02:33.870 --> 00:02:36.270 Together they form the second most important 00:02:36.270 --> 00:02:39.349 foundation of Islamic belief and law after the 00:02:39.349 --> 00:02:42.469 Quran. Here is something surprising. More than 00:02:42.469 --> 00:02:45.729 80 % of Islamic law does not come from the Quran. 00:02:46.050 --> 00:02:49.090 It comes from the hadith and the traditions about 00:02:49.090 --> 00:02:52.379 Muhammad. Even the main practices of Islam often 00:02:52.379 --> 00:02:55.120 depend on these traditions. For instance, the 00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:58.139 Qur 'an mentions three daily prayers, yet Islamic 00:02:58.139 --> 00:03:01.280 practice requires five. The two extra prayers 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:04.439 come from the hadith found in Sahih Muslim. The 00:03:04.439 --> 00:03:07.259 biographies, or seerah, are also important because 00:03:07.259 --> 00:03:10.879 of the Islamic idea called abrogation, or naskh. 00:03:11.020 --> 00:03:13.780 This belief teaches that later revelations can 00:03:13.780 --> 00:03:17.060 cancel out earlier ones. The Qur 'an itself mentions 00:03:17.060 --> 00:03:20.729 this in Surah 2, verse 106. It says that when 00:03:20.729 --> 00:03:23.469 a verse is abrogated, God brings one better or 00:03:23.469 --> 00:03:26.150 similar to it. Since neither the Qur 'an nor 00:03:26.150 --> 00:03:28.389 the Hadith are arranged in the order they were 00:03:28.389 --> 00:03:31.430 revealed, scholars rely on the biographies to 00:03:31.430 --> 00:03:34.330 understand which teachings come first and which 00:03:34.330 --> 00:03:37.289 ones were replaced. So if someone wants to truly 00:03:37.289 --> 00:03:40.069 understand Islam, they cannot stop with the Qur 00:03:40.069 --> 00:03:42.949 'an alone. They must explore the biographies 00:03:42.949 --> 00:03:45.770 of Muhammad and the Hadith collections such as 00:03:45.770 --> 00:03:49.060 those by al -Bukhari and Muslim to see the full 00:03:49.060 --> 00:03:51.879 picture. Once you study those early sources, 00:03:52.180 --> 00:03:54.860 the Quran and Islamic law begin to make much 00:03:54.860 --> 00:03:57.639 more sense. You can see how the life of Muhammad 00:03:57.639 --> 00:04:00.520 shaped the entire faith, not only as a prophet, 00:04:00.699 --> 00:04:03.639 but as the example that defines every part of 00:04:03.639 --> 00:04:04.460 Islamic life.