HADITH AND SUNNAH -Ideals and Realities

HADITH AND SUNNAH Ideals and Realities P. K. Koya (Ed.) The essays comprising this book, written by some of the most eminent scholars in the field, serve a long felt need for a comprehensive collection of writings on various aspects of Hadith and Sunnah for the non-academic reader. Part-I deals with the origin and development of Hadith, including only those writings which have been written in a language fairly simple and readable and considered essential for a better understanding and appreciation of the significance of Hadith in general and its relevance to modem world. Part-II is the main focus of the book. This part discusses in some detail the continuing role of Hadith in maintaining the legal, social and cultural integrity of the Ummah and also examines the methodology for a “recourse to the Qur’an and Sunnah in order to get from tliere an understanding of and guidance for solving our new problems.” The Prophet’s sayings and doings, the minute details of his everyday life, provide us with the means of realizing the inner reality, the gist and spirit of the Islamic system of beliefs and observances. This aspect of the Sunnah is the main theme of Part-III of this book. Each part of the book is a complete study in itself. In fact, each chapter of the book is a complete essay and can be read independently of other chapters.
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“And if all Hadith is given up, what remains but a yawning chasm of fourteen centuries between us and the Prophet? And in the vacuity of this chasm not only must the Qur’an slip from our fingers under our subjective whims— for the only thing that anchors it is the Prophetic activity itself— but even the very existence and integrity of the Qur’an and, indeed, the existence of the Prophet himself becomes an unwarranted myth.” — Dr. FazIur Rahman