Quranism: Difference between revisions

A major problem with the Quranist understanding of Islam is the central place that the Messenger, Muhammad, plays in the Qu'ran. The [[Qur'an]] alleges that it is entirely composed of [[Allah]]’s commands, not Muhammad’s, yet the Qur'an itself orders Muslims to obey the Messenger.  

This verse somewhat begs the question of what, exactly, it is that the Messenger commands, since the Qur'anists themselves subscribe to the idea that the Qur'an is the word of [[Allah (God)]] himself and not just Muhammad's inspired word. The Qur’an also commands Muslims to follow the Messenger’s example, yet the only place this example is established is in the Sunnah. Without the Hadith, one cannot know Muhammad. Without knowing Muhammad, there is no [[Uswa Hasana]]. Doubting the hadith thus opens up multiple lines of doubt about  entirety of Islam. If one rejects the hadiths, that in-turn rejects Islam as a system by going against the orders of the Qur'an and, in the eyes of most Muslims, renders the rejecter an apostate/murtad/kafir (whichever may apply). Ultimately, to remain faithful to Allah and the Qur'an in the traditional sense, there is no alternative to the Sunnah of the prophet as embodied in the hadith.

Islam means [[The Meaning of Islam|submission]] (contrary to popular belief that it means ''peace''), and more specifically it means ''submission to the will of Allah.''  Qur'an-only Muslims believe that the Qur'an clearly defines what exactly Allah's will is. But the case is not so clear.

For one thing, the Qur'an is full of [[Contradictions in the Quran|contradictory verses]] and commands; sometimes commanding believers to seek out and kill pagans ({{Quran|9|5}}), other times commanding Muslims to leave pagans to practice their polytheistic religions in peace ({{Quran|109|1-6}}). Without the Hadith and the Sirah to give context to the [[Asbab al-Nuzul (Revelational Circumstances of the Quran)]] , the doctrine of [[Abrogation (Naskh)|Abrogation]] becomes untenable as there exists no clear timeline of which verses were revealed at which time and the Qur'an itself provides little to no evidence in this regard. The pacifist can decide to take from it a peaceful message by deliberately ignoring or twisting violent verses whereas the sadist can easily interpret a violent message by focusing on such verses as are found in Surah 9]].  Both Muslims could be selectively justified by the Qur'an because of its contradictory messages from [[Chronological_Order_of_the_Qur'an|Muhammad-in-Mecca versus Muhammad-in-Medina]].