Re: Why some things are missing from Quran ?
I swear by the star when it goes down. Your companion does not err, nor does he (Muhammad) go astray; Nor does he speak out of desire. It is naught but revelation that is revealed, The Lord of Mighty Power has taught him;
Quran [53:1-5]
These wordings of the Prophet (SAW) were directed to be a part of the Quran, where as everything else he said was a revelation revealed to him and not necessarily a part of the Quran. The ahadith of Prophet (SAW) are at par with Quranic verses, the only problem with the ahadith is their authenticity, if the Prophet really say that or not. Ahadith are another issue and trying not to go off-topic, every revelation was not a part of the Quran.
For example,
And when the prophet secretly communicated a piece of information to one of his wives -- but when she informed (others) of it, and Allah made him to know it, he made known part of it and avoided part; so when he (Muhammad) informed her (Ayesha) of it, she said: Who informed you of this? He said: The Knowing, the one Aware, informed me.
Quran [66:3]
so we know that not every thing revealed was meant for the Quran. but the Quran also says follow The Prophet, and by following the Prophet we have to follow the Hadith and the sunnah. here are some quotes fro the Quran to prove this.
And it behoves not a believing man and a believing woman that they should have any choice in their matter when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter; and whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger, he surely strays off a manifest straying.
Quran [33:36]
I swear by the star when it goes down. Your companion does not err, nor does he (Muhammad) go astray; Nor does he speak out of desire. It is naught but revelation that is revealed, The Lord of Mighty Power has taught him;
Quran [53:1-5]
Say: If you love Allah, then follow me (Muhammad), Allah will love you and forgive you your faults, and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. Say: Obey Allah and the Messenger; but if they turn back, then surely Allah does not love the unbelievers.
Quran [3:31-32]
Whoever obeys the Messenger, he indeed obeys Allah, and whoever turns back, so We have not sent you as a keeper over them.
Quran [4:80]
so from these Quranic verses we come to know if we are a muslim we have no choice but to follow what the prophet has said. you see if we are Muslim we have to believe in Allah and believe in the Quran as the word of Allah and Believe in Muhammad (p.b.u.h) so essentially what ever the prophet has said or done is from the wisdom of Allah. for if the Prophet did anything against the will of Allah then surely Allah would have made the prophet known about it. for example:
The rest of the story is told by Hadhrat Ayesha herself. Imam Bukhari has quoted her in his Book of Talag (Divorce), and Book of Tafsir (of Sura Tahreem) as follows:
I and Hafsa made this plan that when the Messenger of Allah visits any one of us, she should tell him that his mouth reeks with "maghafeer." (maghafeer is something sweet to taste but has a pungent and unpleasant odor. Muhammed Mustafa was very sensitive on this point. He hated strong odors). It so happened that Hafsa was the wife he visited first. As soon as he entered her chamber, she said: "O Messenger of Allah! Your mouth has the odor of maghafeer." He said: "I did not eat maghafeer. But when I was with Zaynab, she gave me some honey to eat. It is possible that the honey had the odor of maghafeer. But in future, I shall not eat honey."
so this revelation was revealed:
O PROPHET! WHY HOLDEST THOU TO BE FORBIDDEN THAT WHICH ALLAH HAS MADE LAWFUL TO THEE? THOU SEEKEST TO PLEASE THY CONSORTS. BUT ALLAH IS OFT-FORGIVING, MOST MERCIFUL.
(Quran Majid. Chapter 66; verse 1)
i want to make you aware of this Revalation:
And if he (Muhammad) had fabricated against Us some of the sayings, We would certainly have seized him by the right hand, Then We would certainly have cut off his aorta. And not one of you could have withheld Us from him. And most surely it is a reminder for those who guard (against evil).
Quran [69:44-48]
you see my friend the wisdom.
the next part regarding the Authentication of Hadith. you have to understand the Hadith that are authentic we should certainly follow because they have been checked vigorously. the weak hadith is a different matter, no one will blame you if you don't.
A hadith consists of two parts: its text, called matn, and its chain of narrators, called isnad. Comprehensive and strict criteria were separately developed for the evaluation of matn and isnad. The former is regarded as the internal test of ahadith, and the latter is considered the external test. A hadith was accepted as authentic and recorded into text only when it met both of these criteria independently.
Criteria for the Evaluation of Isnad
The unblemished and undisputed character of the narrator, called rawi, was the most important consideration for the acceptance of a hadith. As stated earlier, a new branch of 'ilm al-hadith known as asma' ar-rijal was developed to evaluate the credibility of narrators. The following are a few of the criteria utilized for this purpose:
- The name, nickname, title, parentage and occupation of the narrator should be known.
- The original narrator should have stated that he heard the hadith directly from the Prophet.
- If a narrator referred his hadith to another narrator, the two should have lived in the same period and have had the possibility of meeting each other.
- At the time of hearing and transmitting the hadith, the narrator should have been physically and mentally capable of understanding and remembering it.
- The narrator should have been known as a pious and virtuous person.
- The narrator should not have been accused of having lied, given false evidence or committed a crime.
- The narrator should not have spoken against other reliable people.
- The narrator's religious beliefs and practices should have been known to be correct.
- The narrator should not have carried out and practiced peculiar religious beliefs of his own.
Criteria for the Evaluation of Matn
1. The text should have been stated in plain and simple language.
2. A text in non-Arabic or couched in indecent language was rejected.
3. A text prescribing heavy punishment for minor sins or exceptionally large reward for small virtues was rejected.
4. A text which referred to actions that should have been commonly known and practiced by others but were not known and practiced was rejected.
5. A text contrary to the basic teachings of the Qur'an was rejected.
6. A text contrary to other ahadith was rejected.
7. A text contrary to basic reason, logic and the known principles of human society was rejected.
8. A text inconsistent with historical facts was rejected.
9. Extreme care was taken to ensure the text was the original narration of the Prophet and not the sense of what the narrator heard. The meaning of the hadith was accepted only when the narrator was well known for his piety and integrity of character.
10. A text derogatory to the Prophet, members of his family or his companions was rejected.
11. A text by an obscure narrator which was not known during the age of sahabah [the Prophet's companions] or the tabi'een [those who inherited the knowledge of the sahabah] was rejected.
Along with these generally accepted criteria, each scholar then developed and practiced his own set of specific criteria to further ensure the authenticity of each hadith. For instance, Imam al-Bukhari would not accept a hadith unless it clearly stated that narrator A had heard it from narrator B. He would not accept the general statement that A narrated through B. On this basis he did not accept a single hadith narrated through 'Uthman, even though Hasan al-Basri always stayed very close to 'Ali. Additionally, it is stated that Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal practiced each hadith before recording it in his Musnad [book or collection of hadith].
you see my friend the strict criteria for a hadith to be called authentic? the only thing i can say is, if it is authentic then we have to follow it.
and if the Prophet has forbidden us from doing something then we don't do it. there are six books which we all muslims can call as authentic and they are:
1. Sahih Bukhari
2. Sahih Muslim
3. Sunan Abi Dawood
4. At - Tirmidhi
5. An-nasai
6. Ibn Majah
follow these and you can't go wrong...
hope this helps. may Allah forgive me if i have said anything against Allah and the Prophet and the teachings, Ameen.