The Hadith of Two Precious Things

19:23 - 2020/10/04

The tradition of two precious things (i.e. Hadith al-Thaqalayn) is one of the popular and widely accepted traditions among the Muslims where the noble Prophet of Allah prescribed two precious things as a guard against disparity. However, the only point of disparity among them has to do with the primary content of the said tradition.
The majority of Sunni scholars are of the opinion that the two precious things according to the Prophetic hadith are the Qur’an and Sunnah (i.e. the Prophetic practice)[1], while the Shia and few of the Sunni scholars are of the view that the two precious things are the Qur’an and the Ahlul-Bayt (i.e. The Prophet’s Household)[2]. Thus, in an attempt to resolve this lingering difference and conflict of opinion, the following analyses were carried out on the tradition:
1. The traditions referring to the Qur’an and Ahlul-Bayt as the two precious things are unanimously agreed upon by all Muslim traditionists and historians of both sects as an authentic and reliable (Sahih) tradition, but that of the Qur’an and Sunnah is a single narration.
2. The traditions referring to the Qur’an and Ahlul-Bayt as the two precious things are found in many reliable Shia and Sunni books of Hadith; whereas the other tradition is not originally found in any of the Sunni six authentic books of Hadith.
3. The Prophet of Islam at his death-bed was prevented from writing his last will to the Muslims by Caliph Umar while saying: “The book of Allah (i.e. Qur’an) is enough for us[3]”. Thus, if the Prophetic saying or practice (i.e. Sunnah) could have been considered by some Sunni scholars as one of the two precious things (Thaqalayn), then why did Umar prevent the Prophet (s.a.w.a) from writing his will claiming that the Qur’an was sufficient?
4. During the Caliphates of Abubakar and Umar, recording and even narrating Prophetic traditions was prohibited. In addition, it has been recorded that after the demise of the Prophet, Abubakar collected several Prophetic traditions and set them on fire[4]. Therefore, if Sunnah was considered one of the two precious things as claimed by some Sunni scholars, why was recording or even narrating Prophetic Hadiths prohibited by the Caliphs of the time?
In light of the aforementioned points, one will come to the conclusion that the two precious things (i.e. Thaqalayn) prescribed by the Holy Prophet were the Qur’an and the Ahlul-Bayt (a.s), not the Qur’an and Sunnah.

NOTES:
[1] https://sunnah.com/urn/416890
[2] https://sunnah.com/muslim/44/55
[3] https://www.al-islam.org/shiite-encyclopedia-ahlul-bayt-dilp-team/traged....
[4] https://www.al-islam.org/prohibition-recording-hadith-sayyid-ali-al-shah...

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