Title: A Further Clarification on Question/Comments: First I would like to mention how informative and useful I find your articles and answers. My question is regarding the position of ahadeeth in Islam. Someone earlier wrote to you [1] : "There are numerous verses in the Holy Quran which state that the Holy Quran is a complete message to us, that we need nothing else for Submission." The person gave no references, but I would like to give the following: Say: "Shall I seek for judge other than God? - When He it is Who hath sent unto you the Book, fully detailed... [6: 114] There is, in their stories, instruction for men endowed with understanding. It is not a tale invented, but a confirmation of what went before it,- A DETAILED EXPOSITION OF ALL THINGS, and a guide and a mercy to any such as believe. [12: 111] The Qur'an also says it is a detailed book, a complete book and a book explaining all things. (16:89; 18:54) So in view of these verses from the Qur'an, do we take ANYTHING not mentioned in the Qur'an to be part of the Shari'ah ? Your explanation of this would be gratefully received. Jazakallah . Waalaykum assalaam Answer: All of the referred verses, if seen in the correct perspective of the environment in which they were revealed, imply that the Qur'an entails all the required details regarding things and concepts related to God's religion, which were required to be corrected, in the particular environment in which the Qur'an was revealed. If you closely observe the teachings of the Qur'an, whether relating to the Shari`ah or to the belief structure of Islam, you shall see that the points stressed in the Qur'an are precisely those, which required correction or initiation. In other words, the Qur'an entails all the details regarding those aspects of God's religion, which had either been altered by the Arabs overtime and, therefore, required correction or had become extinct overtime and, therefore, required reinstatement or initiation. Besides these aspects, which required correction or initiation, there were a few aspects of God's guidance, which had maintained their original shape and had remained unaltered overtime. The Qur'an has not discussed or even mentioned these aspects of God's guidance, as there was no need to do so. For instance, we know that circumcision of a male child is a part of God's Shari`ah . However, due to its undisputed significance as a part of the Shari`ah , even among the Arabs of the times of the Prophet (pbuh), the Qur'an has not considered it necessary to even mention it. The silence of the Qur'an in such instances grants such practices the status of the Shari`ah . These parts of the Shari`ah are not mentioned in the Qur'an, as there was no need for doing so. These parts of the Shari`ah have been transmitted to the subsequent generation of the Muslims, through the practical perpetuation. This is, precisely, what we term as the Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh) [2] . As should be clear from the foregoing explanation, any lack of reference in the Qur'an does not hinder us from circumcising our male children or from offering specific numbers of Rak'ahs in our five prayers or from celebrating Eid at the end of the month of Ramadhan . None of these things are mentioned in the Qur'an, yet they are and shall always remain a part of the Shari`ah for they were taught and promoted by the Prophet (pbuh), as such. They have been transmitted to us, as a part of the Islamic Shari`ah , through the same undisputed source, which has transmitted the Qur'an overtime. Their transmission is not dependent on the transmission of Hadith , just as the transmission of the Qur'an is independent of the transmission of Hadith . November 11, 2000 [1] Reference is to a few of my previously answered questions titled ' Position of Hadith ' and ' Need for Hadith '. [2] The word 'Sunnah' is not used for Hadith . For an explanation of the concept of 'Sunnah' , the respective position of 'Sunnah' and 'Hadith' in the Islamic Shari`ah and the distinction between 'Hadith' and 'Sunnah' , please refer to a few of my earlier responses on the topic, which can be accessed through the page titled ' Sources of Islam '.