What Did the Prophet Actually Leave Behind: Book, Example, or Both?

Rethinking the Core Inheritance of Islam

Introduction: Islam’s Foundational Inheritance

Muslims universally believe that Prophet Muhammad ﷺ brought a divine revelation to humanity. But what exactly did he leave behind? Was it solely the Qur’an, a complete and sufficient Book of guidance? Or did he also leave behind his Sunnah—his sayings, actions, and approvals—as an equally authoritative source of religious law?

This question strikes at the heart of Islam’s identity and its internal debates:

  • Qur’anists argue: “The Qur’an is enough.”

  • Traditionalists insist: “The Prophet left both Qur’an and Sunnah.”

  • Critics ask: “If Islam is clear and complete, why the need for centuries of Hadith and legal tradition?”

This post investigates the evidence, logic, and contradictions behind the claim that Muhammad left behind two distinct sources of guidance—and challenges whether this dual-source theory is coherent, necessary, or historically supportable.

I. What the Prophet Allegedly Said: “I Leave You Two Things…”

One of the most often-cited hadiths states:

“I leave behind two things; you will never go astray as long as you hold fast to them: the Book of Allah and my Sunnah.”
— Sunan al-Muwatta (Imam Malik), but with contested authenticity.

There is a variant version of this hadith in Sahih Muslim and Musnad Ahmad that says:

“…the Book of Allah and my family (Ahl al-Bayt).”

This divergence exposes a major problem: which one did the Prophet actually say—Sunnah or Ahl al-Bayt? The two versions reflect sectarian politics: Sunnis promote the "Sunnah" version; Shi‘a promote the "Ahl al-Bayt" version.

This immediately raises a red flag:

  • If we don’t even have certainty about what Muhammad’s final instruction was,

  • Can we base an entire legal system on these contested sayings?

II. The Qur’an’s Self-Description: Clear, Complete, and Fully Detailed

Contrary to the Hadith-based argument, the Qur’an itself repeatedly asserts that it is:

  • "A Book fully explained in detail" – Qur’an 6:114

  • "Nothing have We omitted from the Book" – Qur’an 6:38

  • "The Qur’an is clear (mubin), explained in detail (mufassal)" – Qur’an 12:111, 41:3

  • “The Messenger's duty is only to deliver the message” – Qur’an 5:99, 29:18

If the Qur’an describes itself as sufficient, then introducing a second parallel source of law (Sunnah) undermines its claim of self-sufficiency.

III. The Sunnah Problem: Oral Memory or Divine Revelation?

Muslims are told the Prophet’s Sunnah is a source of guidance just like the Qur’an. But what exactly is the Sunnah?

  1. It is not a written revelation.

  2. It was transmitted orally—often decades after the Prophet's death.

  3. Its transmission relies on chains of memory across generations (isnads).

  4. It contains contradictions, errors, and even absurdities (e.g., drinking camel urine; angels avoiding houses with dogs or paintings).

If the Sunnah were truly divinely preserved:

  • Why is there no mention of its preservation process in the Qur’an?

  • Why did the Prophet allegedly prohibit writing it down during his lifetime?

  • Why were compilations of Hadith only begun 150–250 years after his death?

This raises the question:

Did the Prophet actually intend to leave behind a secondary legal source—or has it been constructed posthumously by jurists to fill the legal gaps left by the Qur’an?

IV. The Logical Dilemma of a Dual-Source Islam

Let’s apply logical reasoning:

Scenario A: The Qur’an is Complete

  • Then no other source is needed.

  • Following the Sunnah becomes optional, even superfluous.

Scenario B: The Qur’an is Incomplete Without the Sunnah

  • Then the Qur’an is not clear or fully detailed, contradicting its own claims.

  • It reduces the Qur’an to an incomplete manual requiring external explanation.

  • This makes human memory (via Hadith collectors) the real final authority.

Thus, the doctrine of Qur’an + Sunnah creates a contradictory Islam:

  • One source claims self-sufficiency (Qur’an),

  • The other claims complementary authority (Sunnah),

  • But in practice, Sharia law depends almost entirely on the latter.

V. What Did the Prophet Intend to Leave Behind?

The Qur’an provides some clues:

  1. “Say: I follow only what is revealed to me.” – Qur’an 6:50

  2. “I am not but a warner.” – Qur’an 11:2

  3. “The Messenger’s duty is but to convey (the Message).” – Qur’an 24:54

These statements suggest that the Prophet was a channel, not a co-legislator.

The idea that Muhammad left behind a binding oral law conflicts with:

  • The Qur’an’s own assertion of completeness.

  • The early historical absence of any Hadith canon.

  • The logical unreliability of orally transmitted law over centuries.

VI. Historical Aftermath: How “Sunnah” Became Law

The Sunnah, as we now know it, was largely formalized:

  • 200+ years after the Prophet’s death

  • Through politicized hadith selection, theological filtering, and sectarian preferences

  • With widespread forgery, fabrication, and contradictions acknowledged by Muslim scholars themselves (e.g., al-Bukhari rejected over 99% of available hadiths)

The need for a second legal source was driven not by the Prophet’s clear instruction, but by:

  • The demands of a growing empire

  • The gaps in Qur’anic legal content

  • The need to retroactively legitimize power structures

Conclusion: A Book Alone, or a Constructed Tradition?

So, what did the Prophet actually leave behind?

✅ A Book that claims to be clear, sufficient, and preserved.
❌ A Sunnah that is textually undefined, historically delayed, and logically unstable.

The doctrine of “Qur’an and Sunnah” is not a harmonious duality—it is a theological patchwork created to compensate for a Qur’an that, by itself, could not sustain a full legal and political system.

If Islam is truly based on divine guidance, then either the Qur’an is enough, or God failed to preserve the very structure He demanded obedience to.

That’s the uncomfortable question modern Muslims—and especially reformists—must wrestle with.

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