The Sunnah Explains the Qur'an

Another evidence that the Sunnah is a proof is that the Sunnah is a kind of interpretation of the Quran. The Holy Quran has brought a number of general methods and general rules. In fact, a large part of the religion, especially regarding worship and transactions, has been shaped by the interpretation of the Sunnah. Imam Nawawi (d. 676/1277) said in this regard, “Certainly, our religion is built upon the Holy Book and the narrated Sunnahs. Most of the rulings of jurisprudence are structured upon the Sunnahs. Most of the verses related to the divisions are concise, and their explanations are in the Sunnahs, which are the Muhkamat.”14 says.

    The texts in the Qur'an have some special features.
First: are clearly defined, definite provisions that are beyond doubt: The obligation of performing prayers, fasting, giving alms, etc. and the prohibition of eating wine, carrion, blood, pork, etc. are considered to be of this type. The Sunnah does not need to provide any explanation or commentary on such provisions. Perhaps it can make encouraging and emphatic statements in support of these provisions.
Latter: The rulings that the Holy Quran has declared as obligatory and left the implementation to the Messenger: Since these kinds of rulings have come with more vague expressions, the Sunnah only plays the role of explanation at this point. As in the example of Mujmal15, without the explanation of the Sunnah the times, conditions, rules, obligations and etiquette of prayer; and also the form of fasting, pilgrimage and zakat, and how much of which property should be given. Details such as could not be understood. In fact, regarding this issue, the great scholar of tabi'in, Makhul (d. 113/731), said, "The Sunnah is subordinate to the Qur'an." In other words, the Qur'an needs the explanation of the Sunnah. 16

   The amm17 texts in the Qur'an are allocated and their quality is explained by the hadiths, most of which are ahad. In other words, it is not possible to understand those verses without his explanation. Obligation, necessity, guidance Types of commands and types of prohibitions, the rights and limits of the creatures “The provisions that are necessary for each other and the provisions of similar verses are of this category. It is not permissible for anyone to speak on these matters unless there is a text from the Messenger of Allah or a sign that will guide his community to its interpretation.”18

    The situation is the same for other acts of worship that we consider to be the foundation of religion, such as pilgrimage, fasting, alms, etc. In addition, the details of hudud, which are considered to be transactions, cannot be understood without the hadiths. The absolute19 words that explain all these details to us are the sunnah that restricts20.

   As an example, we want to examine the verse about 'Muharram': In the verse, Allah Almighty has stated what is forbidden to be taken in marriage: “Forbidden to you are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your paternal and maternal aunts, your sister’s daughters, your sister’s daughters, your nursing mothers, your foster sisters, your mothers-in-law, and your stepdaughters in your houses from your wives with whom you have had sexual intercourse. - If you have not yet had intercourse with them, there is no blame on you in taking their daughters. - The wives of your sons from your own loins, and taking two sisters at the same time are also forbidden to you. But what has passed before is already past…”21 . (That is, Allah forgives what was done before this verse was revealed.)

    The classes mentioned in the verse that are forbidden to be acquired through marriage are as follows:
Unconditionally, the mothers (mothers-in-law) of your married women, whether you have had sexual intercourse with them or not. Your stepdaughters, who are generally under your protection, from the wives you have had sexual intercourse with. (There is no harm in marrying your stepdaughters if you have not had sexual intercourse with their mothers.)

    Your daughters-in-law, the wives of your sons who come directly and indirectly from your loins, It also includes the spouses of all grandchildren. (with the note “from your loins”, Stepsons and adopted children has been removed from this provision.)

    Marrying two sisters at the same time.
However, if we pay attention, there are other classes than Muharremat that are not mentioned in the verse. These are the prohibitions of having a girl and her aunt in the same marriage, a girl and her aunt in the same marriage, and the prohibitions of having a girl and her aunt in the same marriage..
Here, the Sunnah explains these classes that the Quran does not explain and is silent about. The late Elmalılı says the following in his commentary on the relevant verse:
“Although not mentioning some things in a place where something is stated indicates hasr (narrowing), when there is a sign with dalalet-i iltizamiyye (a word indicating the necessity of the meaning it is given, that is, indicating another meaning that must be present together with that meaning), it is out of the question for other meanings to be dropped. Indeed, the Prophet (pbuh) said in order to explain this sign or this ambiguity, “All those who are forbidden by lineage are also forbidden without breastfeeding.” He commanded.

     The quality of the texts is explained by the hadiths, most of which are ahad. In other words, it is not possible to understand those verses without the explanation of the hadiths.
Therefore, it should not be forgotten that there is a sign and abbreviation here, meaning “compare those two”, and that in this way, a total of fourteen women whose marriage is not annulled have been counted up to this point, seven by lineage and seven by non-breastfeeding.”
    For this reason, the Prophet (pbuh) said in a famous hadith: "A woman cannot marry her paternal aunt, her maternal aunt's daughter, her brother's daughter, or her sister's daughter", except for those who passed in the past. There is no responsibility for them. In this case, the Sunnah establishes a new ruling by explaining the concise verse.

Third: There is no text about them, but they are only rules that have been declared by the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah: This type of Sunnah is the Sunnah that brings a new ruling on a matter that the Quran has not declared to accept or reject. Eating the meat of predatory animals that have been made haram is of this kind. In a hadith narrated through Abu Sa'labah It is stated that “It is haram to eat any predatory animal that has teeth that can tear.” And again, the hadith “A menstruating woman makes up for the missed fasts but not the missed prayers” can be an example of this type of sunnah.

    Although some of the hadiths have been narrated by tawatur, not all of the hadiths have always met this condition. Some of them have come down to us with the 'ahad' narration. As long as they meet the conditions, 'ahad' hadiths can be acted upon. Imam Bukhari holds this opinion. In his Sahih, in the section he opened regarding the ahad news as evidence, he cited the verse 9, At-Tawbah:122, and said that ahad news can be acted upon and that it is evidence. Because the word "Taifa" in the verse expresses one or more numbers. This interpretation has also been narrated from Ibn Abbas. 23

   Ibn Hazm also shares a similar opinion. He uses this verse as evidence to say that Ahad news can be acted upon.24
   Acting with Ahad Hadiths An example of how to do this is the hadith about changing the qibla, which Bukhari narrated from Abdullah ibn Umar (ra). Imam Shafi'i, in his commentary on this hadith, says: “Previously, the people of Quba used to pray towards Bayt al-Maqdis. They turned towards the Kaaba after a companion informed them that the qiblah would be towards the Kaaba. If it were not for the hadith evidence, they would not have changed their old qiblah, which was obligatory upon them.” 25

   The above-mentioned hadiths and the practices of the Rightly Guided Caliphs show that the Quran and the Hadith are two elements that complement each other in terms of clarifying a religious ruling. The ruling is first sought in the Quran, and if it cannot be found, the Sunnah is resorted to and acted upon.” Nizameddin DEMİR