Definition of Al-Quran and Hadith – Al-Quran and Hadith are the main sources for Muslims around the world to live their lives. Al-Quran is the greatest miracle of the Prophet Muhammad SAW which was revealed to him gradually through the intermediary of the angel Gabriel. Not only the Koran, Allah also revealed his words to the Prophet Muhammad which are called hadiths.
However, there are several things that distinguish the hadith and the Koran. The Koran itself must be held when we are in a state of purity from small hadas or major hadas, while hadiths can be read even though we are not in a state of purity. The verses of the Koran are verses that must be read when Muslims pray, while the hadith cannot be read during prayer. Those are some of the differences between the Al-Quran and Hadith. To find out more about the Al-Quran and hadith, see the article below.
Definition of the Koran
The term Al-Quran comes from the verb qara’a which means to read. The term Al-Quran is also written in the Al-Quran itself, even the term Al-Quran appears 70 times, one of which is listed in the letter At-taubah verse 111 which reads,
اِنَّ اللّٰهَ اشْتَرٰى مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ اَنْفُسَهُمْ وَاَمْوَالَهُمْ بِاَنَّ لَهُمُ الْجَنَّةَۗ يُقَاتِلُوْنَ فِيْ سَبِيْلِ اللّٰهِ فَيَقْتُلُوْنَ وَيُقْتَلُوْنَ وَعْدًا عَلَيْهِ حَقًّا فِى التَّوْرٰىةِ وَالْاِنْجِيْلِ وَالْقُرْاٰنِۗ وَمَنْ اَوْفٰى بِعَهْدِهٖ مِنَ اللّٰهِ فَاسْتَبْشِرُوْا بِبَيْعِكُمُ الَّذِيْ بَايَعْتُمْ بِهٖۗ وَذٰلِكَ هُوَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيْمُ
“Indeed, Allah buys from the believers, both themselves and their property by providing paradise for them. They fight in the way of Allah; so they kill or be killed, (as) a true promise from Allah in the Torah, Bible, and Al-Qur’an. And who is more true to his promise than Allah? So be happy with the buying and selling that you have done, and that is a great victory.”
The contents or body of the Quran is composed in the form of Classical Arabic, it is also believed to be a literal transcript of Allah SWT whose purity or authenticity is very well preserved. This is even promised in the Al-Quran itself in the letter Al-Buruj verses 21-22 which reads:
بَلْ هُوَ قُرْاٰنٌ مَّجِيْدٌۙ
فِيْ لَوْحٍ مَّحْفُوْظٍ
“Even (what is denied) is the noble Al-Quran.”
“That (stored) in a (place) that is awake (Lauh Mahfuzh).”
Of course, this Qur’anic word appears in different forms with various meanings. Many experts say that the term Al-Quran is the equivalent in Syriac which means ‘reading the holy book or study’. Apart from that, the word Al-Quran becomes a term in Arabic.
In another verse. the term Al-Quran refers to one thing that was recited by the Prophet Muhammad. This context can be seen in Surah Al-Araf verses 203-204 which reads,
وَاِذَا لَمْ تَأْتِهِمْ بِاٰيَةٍ قَالُوْا لَوْلَا اجْتَبَيْتَهَاۗ قُلْ اِنَّمَآ اَتَّبِعُ مَا يُوْحٰٓى اِلَيَّ مِنْ رَّبِّيْۗ هٰذَا بَصَاۤىِٕرُ مِنْ رَّبِّكُمْ وَهُدًى وَّرَحْمَةٌ لِّقَوْمٍ يُّؤْمِنُوْنَ
وَاِذَا قُرِئَ الْقُرْاٰنُ فَاسْتَمِعُوْا لَهٗ وَاَنْصِتُوْا لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُوْنَ
“And if you (Muhammad) don’t recite a verse to them, they say, “Why don’t you make up the verse yourself?” Say (Muhammad), “Verily I am only following what my Lord has revealed to me. This (Qur’an) is clear evidence from your Lord, guidance and mercy for those who believe.”
“And when the Qur’an is recited, then listen and be silent, so that you may receive mercy.”
The Koran describes itself as a differentiator or Al-Furqan, the main book or Ummul Kitab, Guide or Huda, wisdom or Wisdom, Reminder or Dhikr, and something that is passed down from a higher to a lower place or Tanzil.
The Al-Quran can be interpreted in various perspectives, which you can learn from the book Understanding the Al-Qur’an in the Post Truth Period by Prof. KH Nasaruddin Umar.
Contents of the Koran
Al-Quran has a shorter content compared to the New Testament or also the book of Hebrews. Al-Quran is divided into 114 letters, or can be called chapters. In that chapter or letter, it has different verses or points. The first letter in the Al-Quran is Al-Fatihah, but that does not mean that Al-Fatihah is the first letter revealed by Allah SWT. The longest letter is the second letter or letter Al-Baqarah and the shortest letter is the letter Al-Kautsar.
The names of the letters in the Koran are given with the terms that appear the most in the letter, but this does not apply to all the letters in the Koran. Surahs are further divided into verses which literally mean ‘sign’. The verses in the Al-Quran consist of 6,236 verses. Verses in the Al-Quran also have different lengths, some are very long like paragraphs, some only consist of a few sentences.
In the verses of the Al-Quran, it is generally referred to as the utterance ilahi which uses the first person singular and plural pronouns, i.e. I and we, this pronoun clearly refers to Allah SWT, the Almighty. Many verses of the Al-Quran describe the judgment in which Allah SWT will hand over every human being to heaven or hell according to his deeds in the world.
Not only that, there are also several narratives centered on special or biblical humans such as the Prophet Adam, Musa, Ibrahim, Maryam and others. There is also one surah which covers the broad story of the prophet Yusuf, the 12th Chapter in the Quran. The Al-Quran also says that he is perfecting and justifying the previous books, this is stated in the letter Al-Baqarah verse 97 which reads,
قُلْ مَنْ كَانَ عَدُوًّا لِّجِبْرِيْلَ فَاِنَّهٗ نَزَّلَهٗ عَلٰى قَلْبِكَ بِاِذْنِ اللّٰهِ مُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ وَهُدًى وَّبُشْرٰى لِلْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ
“Say (Muhammad), “Whoever becomes an enemy of Gabriel, then (know) that it is he who has sent down (the Qur’an) into your hearts with the permission of Allah, confirms what (the books) were before, and becomes a guide and news happy for the believers.”
The main theme of the Koran is monotheism, or monotheism. Where there is only one God, the creator and the almighty. Allah’s power is stated in the verses of the Koran, for example in the letter AL-Baqarah verse 29 which reads,
هُوَ الَّذِيْ خَلَقَ لَكُمْ مَّا فِى الْاَرْضِ جَمِيْعًا ثُمَّ اسْتَوٰٓى اِلَى السَّمَاۤءِ فَسَوّٰىهُنَّ سَبْعَ سَمٰوٰتٍ ۗ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيْمٌ
“It is He (Allah) who created all that is on earth for you then He ascended to the heavens, then He perfected them into seven heavens. And He is All-Knower of all things.”
The Al-Quran also contains laws for starting a family, distribution of inheritance rights, ritual laws such as prayer, tithe or the obligation to fast. There are also restrictions on consuming things that are forbidden such as eating pork or drinking wine. The Koran also describes the punishment for theft or murder, the punishment for people who are usury or cheating in trading.
Al-Quran is the Holy Book for Muslims which is used as a guide, guide, and also a guide. In understanding the contents of the writings in it, you can use the book A Bit of the Contents of the Qur’an as a guide.
The Koran forms the legal foundation for Muslims, although the details of these laws are not written down from the Koran, they can be seen from the things that the Prophet Muhammad did or what are called hadiths.
History of the Koran
Islamic historical sources say that the complete collection of Koranic revelations was written after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. When many of the Prophet’s companions who memorized the Koran were killed on the battlefield, the fear of losing their knowledge of the Koran began to emerge. Therefore it was decided to collect the revelations of the Koran. The writings of the revelation of the Koran came from various materials such as palm branches, stones and the memories of the companions.
The Companion of the Prophet, Zaid bin Thabit, is known to have copied the verses of the Koran on whatever parchment sheets he could find, and then handed them over to Caliph Umar bin Khattab who at that time served from 634 – 644 AD. After the death of Umar bin Khattab, the collection from the Quranic records passed down to his daughter Hafsah.
During the leadership of the Third Caliph, Uthman bin Affan, he began to notice slight differences in the pronunciation of the Koran as Islam expanded from the Arabian Peninsula to Persia and North Africa. To prevent discrepancies in the writing of the verses of the Koran, Caliph Uthman bin Affan who served from 644-656 AD ordered a copy of Zaid bin Thabit sent to the city center.
Within twenty years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, the Koran was put into writing. The text became the model from which copies were made and distributed throughout the urban centers of Muslim countries. Several other versions of the Koran have now been destroyed. Muslim scholars and historians believe and accept that the current text of the Koran is the original version compiled by the Caliphs.
In 1972, in a mosque located in the Yemeni city of Sanaa, a manuscript was found. The manuscript has proven to be the most ancient text of the Koran known to exist at that time. Studies show that the parchments date from before 671 AD.
According to Islamic history, the Koran was revealed to the prophet Muhammad separately and gradually. Often the verses that were revealed were separate groups of verses. Islamic sources preserve a large number of accounts of incidents whereby a letter or part of a letter was revealed. Thus, pre-modern interpreters of the Koran imagined the revelation of the Koran to be closely related to certain events in the life of the Prophet Muhammad.
To learn the Koran, you can read this book as a reference, namely the Al-Quran Smart Book: Everything We Need to Know About the Koran, compiled by Lingkar Kalam. This book is structured in a language that is easy to understand and also embedded with pictures to support the discussion of the book.
As a holy book that is perfect for Muslims and becomes a guideline for its people in living life. There is a process that becomes the history of the Al-Quran which you can briefly study in the book A Brief History of the Al-Quran, its Content & Excellence.
Meaning of Hadith
This hadith is accepted by Muslims as a source of religious law and moral guidelines after the Koran. This hadith or sunnah can be defined as the biography of the Prophet Muhammad which is perpetuated by the memories of his companions. The development of hadith was the most important element during the first three centuries of Islamic history.
Hadith is also referred to as the backbone of Islamic civilization and in Islam, the authority of hadith as a source of religious law and guidelines for life ranks second after the holy book Al-Quran. The authority of the hadith comes from the Koran which instructs Muslims to obey and follow the words of the Prophet Muhammad. This is stated in the letter An-nur verse 54 and the letter Al-Ahzab verse 21, which reads,
قُلْ اَطِيْعُوا اللّٰهَ وَاَطِيْعُوا الرَّسُوْلَۚ فَاِنْ تَوَلَّوْا فَاِنَّمَا عَلَيْهِ مَا حُمِّلَ وَعَلَيْكُمْ مَّا حُمِّلْتُمْۗ وَاِنْ تُطِيْعُوْهُ تَهْتَدُوْاۗ وَمَا عَلَى الرَّسُوْلِ اِلَّا الْبَلٰغُ الْمُبِيْنُ
“Say, “Obey Allah and obey the Messenger; if you turn away, then surely the responsibility of the Messenger (Muhammad) is only what is imposed on him, and your obligation is only what is imposed on you. If you obey him, surely you will be guided. The responsibility of the Messenger is only to convey (the message of Allah) clearly.”
لَقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِيْ رَample
“Indeed, there has been in (self) Rasulullah a good role model for you (namely) for those who hope (grace) Allah and (arrival) Day of Judgment and who remember Allah much.”
While the number of verses relating to law in the Koran is not overwhelming, the hadiths provide guidance on everything from details of ritual obligations such as bathing, ablution, and how to pray, to the correct form of greeting to the importance of being kind to slaves. So, most of the rules of sharia or Islamic law come from the hadith, not from the Koran.
Unlike the Al-Quran, not all Muslims believe in the originality of hadiths or do not believe all hadith records. This comes about because the hadiths were not written down by the followers of the Prophet Muhammad immediately after his death, but were written down generations later. The hadiths are compiled and collected into a large collection of Islamic literature. Different collections of hadith will differentiate the various branches of Islam. To understand various collections of hadiths by prominent imams, Matobers can read the Worship Hadith Encyclopedia.
History of Hadith
The term hadith comes from the Arabic root hd-th which means ‘to happen’ or ‘to report’ or ‘news’. This can be interpreted that the hadith is a news or notes. From this hadith come the sunnah or directives in which Muslims believe and comply with the commands written in the hadith based on the records or behavior of the Prophet Muhammad.
Muslim historians reveal that Caliph Uthman bin Affan (the third caliph of the rashidun caliphate) who was formerly the secretary of the Prophet Muhammad, is believed to have urged Muslims to record hadiths as Prophet Muhammad advised his followers to write down his words and actions. But unfortunately the hard work of Caliph Uthman bin Affan was cut short due to the incident of his murder at the hands of soldiers in 656 AD. According to historians, several hadith collections were collected during the Umayyad era.
In Islamic law, the use of the existing hadith as it is understood today came gradually. The schools of Islamic law make use of the rules of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad, the decrees of the Caliphs and the generally accepted practices of Islamic jurists. Before his death, Caliph Umar bin Khattab ordered Muslims to seek guidance from the Koran.
The incorporation of the Prophet’s hadiths into Islam gradually took place. Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Idris al-Shafii or commonly known as Al-Shafii emphasizes the final authority of a hadith of the Prophet Muhammad, so that the Al-Quran is used to be interpreted into hadith, not the other way around. Al-Shafii emphasized that the sunnah of the Prophet and the Koran stand side by side, because according to him the orders of the Prophet Muhammad were God’s orders.
To see a collection of authentic hadiths, see the book Sahih Bukhari and Muslim Hadith compiled by Ulama Muhammad Fuád Abdul Baqi.