Isnad and textual analysis of the tradition of "kāna jibrāīl yanzilu 'alā al-Nabī (PBUH) bi al-sunnah"

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Studies, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

2 Associate Professor Ferdowsi university of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran. (Corresponding Author)

3 Associate Professor Ferdowsi university of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

Abstract

Introduction
The tradition “Jibreel used to send down to the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) the Sunnah as He sends down to him the Quran, and He taught him it as the Quran taught him” (kāna jibrāīl yanzilu 'alā al-Nabī (PBUH) bi al-sunnah kamā yanzilu 'alauhi bi al-qurān wa yu'allimuhū īyyāhā kamā yu'allimuhū al-qurān) is one of the traditional reasons for considering the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) as a revelation. Many scholars of the quranic sciences and the sciences of Ḥadith, based on this tradition, consider the origin and source of the Prophetic Sunnah to be revelation. This tradition is authentic among the Sunnis and has been narrated in some of their ḥadith collections. The necessity of bringing up this discussion is because the Holy Quran has presented the generalities and principles of the revealed religion of Islam, but has not addressed the details of the Shari'a, such as ethics and rulings. However, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) himself has interpreted and explained them in a detailed, practical, clear, and accurate manner, and in the form of the Sunnah. This question is raised among Islamic scholars as to whether only the Quran was revealed to the Prophet (PBUH), or whether other things besides the Quran were also revealed to the Prophet (PBUH) by God?
 
Materials and Methods
Some consider the words of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) to be his ijtihad, while others consider his words to be revelation. One of the traditional reasons cited by the second group of traditions is the tradition “Jibreel used to send down to the Prophet (PBUH) the Sunnah, just as it is sent down to him in the Quran.” This research was conducted using a descriptive-analytical method and based on library sources, and examined the chain of transmission and evidence of this tradition. The aim of this research is to explain the quranic reasons and the tradition of revelation of the Prophetic tradition through the study of the aforementioned tradition; however, it is reinforced by evidence within the text that the tradition is a subordinate speech and not the words of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
 
Results and Finings
The tradition was narrated from Hassan ibn 'Atiyyah Tābi'ī, so although it is a Mursalāt tradition and is considered authentic by Sunnis, there are some errors in the text of this tradition that have been overlooked; that it seems that this tradition is not from the words of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), because if the transmitter were the Holy Prophet (PBUH), he would have recited the text of the tradition in the singular form of the addressee, and it would have been like this (kāna jibrāīl yanzilu 'alayya bi al-sunnah kamā yanzilu 'alayya bi al-qurān). This reinforces the view that this tradition is the saying of Tābi'ī Tābi'ī and according to Shia beliefs, the ijtihads and opinions of the Tābi'īs do not have authority due to their lack of infallibility; therefore, in this article, it is referred to as a tradition, not a ḥadith. What a commentator deduces from the apparent meaning of the verses of the Quran - with the help of the correct method - is the interpretation of the Quran; However, the "explanation of the verses of the Quran" is not something that can be understood by the interpreter from the appearance of the words of the Quran, but rather the explanation of the verses of the Quran is a type of revelation, and as a result, the explanation of the verses of the Quran is different from the interpretation of the verses.
According to what has come down to us from the early Shiite scholars, namely Sheikh Șadūq and Sheikh Mufid, and contemporary Shiite thinkers, such as Allama Askari, this point is made clear from the hidden corners of the history of the Quran that in addition to the verses of the Holy Quran that were revealed to the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and are called Quranic revelation, which is actually the same content as the 114 Surahs of the Holy Quran in the current and before us Muṣḥaf; the explanation, interpretation and explanation of the quranic verses were also revealed to the Holy Prophet (PBUH), which is referred to as "waḥyu allzī laysa bi al-Qurān" in the Bayani of Sheikh Șadūq and "wahi bayānī" in the works of Allama Askari.
It became clear that the generalities of Islamic law are based on revelation and are manifested in the verses of the Quran, and the details and details of the law are also based on revelation and are manifested in the sunnah of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). In a sense, the same "revelation that is not in the Quran" in the Book of Beliefs of Sheikh Șadūq, or in other words, "Revelation in the Sunnah" in the words of Rashid al-Din Maybadi, or "Revelation of the Quran in the words of Allama Askari, which is mentioned in their works.
Conclusion
The results of the research are that the words of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) were not his personal ijtihad. It was also clear from the evidence in the text that the fact that the mentioned tradition is a subordinate speech is further strengthened. However, this important point is obtained from the angles of history and the verses of the Quran that, in addition to the revelation of divine verses to the Holy Prophet (PBUH), which is known as quranic revelation and is what is in the 114 Surahs of the Quran in the current Mushaf before us; the explanation and interpretation of quranic verses were also revealed to the Prophet (PBUH), which is seen as "revelation not in the Quran" in the words of Sheikh Șadūq and with the term "declarative revelation" in the words of Allama Askari. The tradition "Gabriel came down to the Messenger of God (PBUH) in the Sunnah, he came down to him in the Qur'an, and he taught him how much he taught the Qur'an" refers to the same revelation and according to what was narrated from Sheikh Mufid, he considers the additions of the Hazrat's Muṣḥaf, which are mentioned in the ḥadiths, to be of the nature of revelation; That is, the declarative revelation.


Keywords

References

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Hadith Research
Volume 17, Issue 1 - Serial Number 33
33
September 2025
Pages 81-106

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