The Status of the Prophetic Sunnah in Clarifying the Holy Qur’an and the Necessity of Adhering to It

Whoever contemplates the texts of revelation realizes with certainty that there is no path to a sound understanding of the Holy Qur’an without the purified Prophetic Sunnah; it is the commentary for its generalities, the clarification for its complexities, and the detail for its rulings. Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, has guaranteed the clarification of His Book, as in His saying:

{Then, indeed, upon Us is its clarification}

(Surah Al-Qiyamah: 19)

This divine clarification promised by Allah is realized through the Sunnah He revealed to His Prophet (peace be upon him), as the Qur’an cannot be correctly applied without it. How can a Muslim establish prayer, give zakat, or perform Hajj—obligations mentioned generally in the Book—if the Sunnah had not detailed their amounts, timings, and forms?

Therefore, Allah, Blessed and Exalted be He, says in the Wise Revelation:

{And We revealed to you the message that you may make clear to the people what was sent down to them}

(Surah Al-Nahl: 44)

The letter 'Lam' in His saying {that you may make clear} is the 'Lam' of causality, and the clarification commanded here occurs through the Prophetic Sunnah in word, deed, and tacit approval. Hence, it is incumbent upon the Muslim to occupy himself with beneficial knowledge and to establish a daily portion of the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), even if only five Hadiths studied with their commentary, to comprehend his religion and rectify his understanding of the Book of his Lord.