August 22, 2006 will be, according to Washington insider and historian “Bernard Lewis”, the beginning of a nuclear war.

He claims that Iran is likely to launch an attack on Israel or the U.S.A. on that date. The ammo used to substantiate these claims are the anniversary of the Night Journey of Prophet Muhammad (p), and the anniversary of Salah Al-Deen Ayubi’s (Saladin’s) conquering of Jerusalem. Some members of the media have latched on to this idea and are breathlessly waiting to see that will happen, while trying to appear that they are not.

If Iran launches a nuke, then believers in this scenario feel that Israel will do the same, as will America, and perhaps others.
When I read this stuff and think of what nations may use as justification to launch missiles, I am reminded of an old coworker of mine from a couple of years ago. When we discussed such matters once he made an interesting point. He said that “Every few years you have to test the new stock in the real world”. I found it funny at the time, but after I thought about it for a while I realized that there may be merit in the statement.

With defense contracting being one of the largest international industries and trades, it does make sense that before some bureaucrat signs that ten billion dollar contract, he may want to be assured that it will work in “the real world”.

Is it possible that some of the skirmishes that we see all the time serve a multifaceted purpose? Perhaps they are not ignited just to attain geopolitical goals, but to also provide live test subjects for new and dangerous weapons that nations are unwilling to test on their own soil.

There are reports out of Lebanon of new and strange weapons that are being used. I put that in the present tense, because irrespective of what the media may claim, the war in Lebanon is not over. It’s just gone black (classified).

Let’s see what happens tomorrow, and hope for a day after tomorrow.

August 22, 2006 will be, according to Washington insider and historian “Bernard Lewis”, the beginning of a nuclear war.

He claims that Iran is likely to launch an attack on Israel or the U.S.A. on that date. The ammo used to substantiate these claims are the anniversary of the Night Journey of Prophet Muhammad (p), and the anniversary of Salah Al-Deen Ayubi’s (Saladin’s) conquering of Jerusalem. Some members of the media have latched on to this idea and are breathlessly waiting to see that will happen, while trying to appear that they are not.

If Iran launches a nuke, then believers in this scenario feel that Israel will do the same, as will America, and perhaps others.
When I read this stuff and think of what nations may use as justification to launch missiles, I am reminded of an old coworker of mine from a couple of years ago. When we discussed such matters once he made an interesting point. He said that “Every few years you have to test the new stock in the real world”. I found it funny at the time, but after I thought about it for a while I realized that there may be merit in the statement.

With defense contracting being one of the largest international industries and trades, it does make sense that before some bureaucrat signs that ten billion dollar contract, he may want to be assured that it will work in “the real world”.

Is it possible that some of the skirmishes that we see all the time serve a multifaceted purpose? Perhaps they are not ignited just to attain geopolitical goals, but to also provide live test subjects for new and dangerous weapons that nations are unwilling to test on their own soil.

There are reports out of Lebanon of new and strange weapons that are being used. I put that in the present tense, because irrespective of what the media may claim, the war in Lebanon is not over. It’s just gone black (classified).

Let’s see what happens tomorrow, and hope for a day after tomorrow.

Inside of Islam there is a struggle going on. Today is a good day.

That struggle is between those who are starting to ask questions about what they believe, and those who don’t want them to.
Perhaps predictably the ones that seek to suppress the questions are the elders and the scholars. Men who were raised a certain way and believe that the way they were raised was THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE. They believe that youth should obey their guidance on Islamic matters without question, and do as they have done.

On the other side are the youth. Young Muslims the world over are beginning to question EVERYTHING, and that scares the wits out of the scholars. For the first time in Islamic history, around the world the fear of the scholars is being removed from the hearts of the youth. Blind following is no longer the norm, it is quickly becoming the exception. Now, en masse, young people are demanding that scholars back their fatawa up with hard evidence, justification, and reason (daleel). No longer are the scholars in Islam able to behave like the priests in Catholicism, however they might wish it to be so.

Perhaps for the first time in a very, very long time, the authenticity of Ahadith that have been blindly assumed as valid are being questioned and the Quran is beginning to occupy a truly central role in the interpretation of any hadith, as opposed to the other way around.

For the first time in modern Islamic history, women are assuming more power as well. Not satisfied to simply be accessories to power, women are stepping up to their rightful places as partners in the destiny of Islam.
The scholars of old are a dying breed. Now a new breed is taking shape. A new type of Muslim that combines Education with Action and is not willing to sit idly by while our enemies slaughter us physically, emotionally, spiritually, and psychologically.

All of this is made possible by the new determination among young Muslims to ask questions and make their own decisions. The Quran was meant to be read and implemented by EVERY MUSLIM, not just by a few frail old sheikhs.
Today is a good day.

Inside of Islam there is a struggle going on. Today is a good day.

That struggle is between those who are starting to ask questions about what they believe, and those who don’t want them to.
Perhaps predictably the ones that seek to suppress the questions are the elders and the scholars. Men who were raised a certain way and believe that the way they were raised was THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE. They believe that youth should obey their guidance on Islamic matters without question, and do as they have done.

On the other side are the youth. Young Muslims the world over are beginning to question EVERYTHING, and that scares the wits out of the scholars. For the first time in Islamic history, around the world the fear of the scholars is being removed from the hearts of the youth. Blind following is no longer the norm, it is quickly becoming the exception. Now, en masse, young people are demanding that scholars back their fatawa up with hard evidence, justification, and reason (daleel). No longer are the scholars in Islam able to behave like the priests in Catholicism, however they might wish it to be so.

Perhaps for the first time in a very, very long time, the authenticity of Ahadith that have been blindly assumed as valid are being questioned and the Quran is beginning to occupy a truly central role in the interpretation of any hadith, as opposed to the other way around.

For the first time in modern Islamic history, women are assuming more power as well. Not satisfied to simply be accessories to power, women are stepping up to their rightful places as partners in the destiny of Islam.
The scholars of old are a dying breed. Now a new breed is taking shape. A new type of Muslim that combines Education with Action and is not willing to sit idly by while our enemies slaughter us physically, emotionally, spiritually, and psychologically.

All of this is made possible by the new determination among young Muslims to ask questions and make their own decisions. The Quran was meant to be read and implemented by EVERY MUSLIM, not just by a few frail old sheikhs.
Today is a good day.

As much as I love my brothers from around the world, I cannot and will not follow superstitious nonsense and call it Islam.

Muslims around the world have come to America and taken my people back into the type of foolishness that the Christian Church had them believing in. Spooks and spirits that possess human beings and make them do all types of evil.

Bull.

If a man does evil, then the blame is on him for his actions.

There’s another one that ticks me off too. Christianity had my people believing that you didn’t need to strive for anything in this life, because as soon as you die you’ll go to heaven and be handed everything you could ever desire. A really good parable that that a brother mentioned at a meeting that I went to here in Dallas (where I am for the weekend) was that when the Europeans went to Africa they handed the people there, who were rich with land and natural resources, Bibles the people looked down to read and when they looked up they had bibles and the White People had the land and the natural resources.

That was the strategy used by Christians the world over. Before their armies went in, first went the missionaries to soften the people up and weaken them with Christianity, which is a manufactured religion made expressly for the purposes of subjugating people.

Now, unfortunately, Muslims from the East are trying the same tactics and think that they are going to be successful at it. Of course the Christian leadership in America know exactly what they are up to, and how to prevent it from happening. You can’t sell a snake oil salesman snake oil any more than you can sell sex to a whore.

More on that another time, inshallah (The Christian tactics, not the snake oil and whores)(smile).

Anyway, Christianity has convinced people around the world to sit back and pray, submit to whatever tyranny is in power, and you will be rewarded with Heaven after you die. This is slavery teaching. Islam is being taught the same way. This is why you see young fools strapping on bombs and blowing themselves up. They believe that they have found an easy way out of Hell, and an easy road into Heaven in one stroke. I sincerely hope that Allah burns the sheikhs that teach them this nonsense in the hottest fire possible which will allow them to remain alive long enough for more burning.

The “Hereafter”, in most instances, means just what it says. Here. Right here. After the destruction of the Devil’s world. Once that world is destroyed then Allah’s world will come into fruition. “The Kingdom of Allah”. What man has ever died, left, and then come back to tell us of a reality other than this one?

Even Jesus (Isa)(p), who Christians believe was resurrected, or resurrected himself, is not recorded as coming back and telling of a place other than this one (Earth). Even Muhammad (p) who is said to have made the Night Journey which took him to “Heaven” did not return and tell us of anything which could not have existed right here on Earth.

The bottom line is that until we take our heads out of the clouds and put our feet on the ground we can neither chart out a course for where we need to go, nor can we take the steps needed to get there!

Wake up. Stop following those who have deviated from and misinterpreted the words of Allah.

As much as I love my brothers from around the world, I cannot and will not follow superstitious nonsense and call it Islam.

Muslims around the world have come to America and taken my people back into the type of foolishness that the Christian Church had them believing in. Spooks and spirits that possess human beings and make them do all types of evil.

Bull.

If a man does evil, then the blame is on him for his actions.

There’s another one that ticks me off too. Christianity had my people believing that you didn’t need to strive for anything in this life, because as soon as you die you’ll go to heaven and be handed everything you could ever desire. A really good parable that that a brother mentioned at a meeting that I went to here in Dallas (where I am for the weekend) was that when the Europeans went to Africa they handed the people there, who were rich with land and natural resources, Bibles the people looked down to read and when they looked up they had bibles and the White People had the land and the natural resources.

That was the strategy used by Christians the world over. Before their armies went in, first went the missionaries to soften the people up and weaken them with Christianity, which is a manufactured religion made expressly for the purposes of subjugating people.

Now, unfortunately, Muslims from the East are trying the same tactics and think that they are going to be successful at it. Of course the Christian leadership in America know exactly what they are up to, and how to prevent it from happening. You can’t sell a snake oil salesman snake oil any more than you can sell sex to a whore.

More on that another time, inshallah (The Christian tactics, not the snake oil and whores)(smile).

Anyway, Christianity has convinced people around the world to sit back and pray, submit to whatever tyranny is in power, and you will be rewarded with Heaven after you die. This is slavery teaching. Islam is being taught the same way. This is why you see young fools strapping on bombs and blowing themselves up. They believe that they have found an easy way out of Hell, and an easy road into Heaven in one stroke. I sincerely hope that Allah burns the sheikhs that teach them this nonsense in the hottest fire possible which will allow them to remain alive long enough for more burning.

The “Hereafter”, in most instances, means just what it says. Here. Right here. After the destruction of the Devil’s world. Once that world is destroyed then Allah’s world will come into fruition. “The Kingdom of Allah”. What man has ever died, left, and then come back to tell us of a reality other than this one?

Even Jesus (Isa)(p), who Christians believe was resurrected, or resurrected himself, is not recorded as coming back and telling of a place other than this one (Earth). Even Muhammad (p) who is said to have made the Night Journey which took him to “Heaven” did not return and tell us of anything which could not have existed right here on Earth.

The bottom line is that until we take our heads out of the clouds and put our feet on the ground we can neither chart out a course for where we need to go, nor can we take the steps needed to get there!

Wake up. Stop following those who have deviated from and misinterpreted the words of Allah.

22:34 – To every nation We appointed acts of devotion….
I once was having a conversation with a Muslim from Pakistan, an older one, who was taking it upon himself to educate me on “Islamic dress and manners”. Now, for those who don’t know, I’m a Black Man from America. So my usual mode of dress when I don’t have something that requires me to do otherwise is to have on a shirt that fits loosely and pants, quite often jeans, that do the same. If it’s cold out then I may wear a hoodie (hooded sweatshirt). If It’s cold I may wear a tee shirt and sweats or jeans.

This brother that I mentioned was vigorously explaining to me how the clothes that I was wearing were un-Islamic and that if I wanted blessings and to be allowed into Paradise (Heaven) then I would have do dress in an Islamic fashion. This involved wearing at minimum Shalwar Khameez (Long shirt and short pants) or wearing an elaborate Arab costume that would stop exactly as many inches above the ankle as did that of Prophet Muhammad (p). Add to that the fact that I would need to trade my toothbrush in for a Miswak (three branch), and of course that I would need to grow out a beard to the length of at least a fistful.

Now, by way of explanation, I’m not a newbie when it comes to Islam. Not to brag, but the book my mom used to teach me how to read was the Holy Quran. It was the 1st book that I ever read, in part or in whole. Now it is true that I didn’t come up in “Sunni” Islam as did many of you who are reading this. I was raised in and around the Nation of Islam and was taught and trained in accordance with the teachings of The Honorable Elijah Muhammad (H.E.M). So my customs, mode of dress, etc. are a bit different than those of Muslims from other parts of the world.

In fact in some ways my upbringing was diametrically opposed to the practices of “Sunni” Islam. Most of you will swear on your deathbed that a Muslim man must wear a beard. I was raised and taught never to wear a beard, but to remain clean-shaven. Perhaps a light mustache and the little piece of hair that grows just under the lip, but no more. This was done to differentiate followers of The H.E.M. from the rest of our people (Blacks in America). Particularly to identify us as separate from the Christians among whom beards were, and still are, very popular.

Add to that the way that I dress, which is a product of the trends and style of the environment in which I was raised, and you can see why this brother assumed that I was badly in need of his teaching.

So I listened to him dutifully as he explained, at length many different Ahadith (alleged talk of the Prophet (p)) that lay out the ways that a Muslim should dress and conduct himself. He talked about how the Prophet (p) and the Sahaba (companions) used the Miswak (tree branch) to clean their teeth. And how so many blessings could be had by following their example. At some points though, his words were so ridiculous that I had to fight from laughing in the poor man’s face.

After he had worn himself out of talking and was about to leave I touched him lightly on the arm and said one simple phrase: “No”.

You should have seen the contortions that his face went through. The rage that bubbled just under the surface. “How dare this young fool say no to Me” he had to be thinking. Then I quoted Surah 22 to him where Allah explains that to every people he appoints acts of devotion and directs us not to argue with others who challenge us on them, but to simply say “Allah Knows Best”.

Then, I walked away.

As I did so I thought about how Allah says in the Quran that he “Sends not a messenger except that he speaks the language of the people to whom he is sent.” So could an Arab come and teach my people in Arabic?

No.

Clothing and personal style are also languages, whether one realizes it or not. We all are naturally drawn to folks who dress like us, look like us, and talk like us (to a certain degree). A messenger who can’t relate to the people cannot be effective. Nor can one who cannot understand the people to whom he is sent.

And nobody understands Black People today but Black People.

In fact even I have trouble understanding us sometimes, so the other guys have no hope at all……

22:34 – To every nation We appointed acts of devotion….
I once was having a conversation with a Muslim from Pakistan, an older one, who was taking it upon himself to educate me on “Islamic dress and manners”. Now, for those who don’t know, I’m a Black Man from America. So my usual mode of dress when I don’t have something that requires me to do otherwise is to have on a shirt that fits loosely and pants, quite often jeans, that do the same. If it’s cold out then I may wear a hoodie (hooded sweatshirt). If It’s cold I may wear a tee shirt and sweats or jeans.

This brother that I mentioned was vigorously explaining to me how the clothes that I was wearing were un-Islamic and that if I wanted blessings and to be allowed into Paradise (Heaven) then I would have do dress in an Islamic fashion. This involved wearing at minimum Shalwar Khameez (Long shirt and short pants) or wearing an elaborate Arab costume that would stop exactly as many inches above the ankle as did that of Prophet Muhammad (p). Add to that the fact that I would need to trade my toothbrush in for a Miswak (three branch), and of course that I would need to grow out a beard to the length of at least a fistful.

Now, by way of explanation, I’m not a newbie when it comes to Islam. Not to brag, but the book my mom used to teach me how to read was the Holy Quran. It was the 1st book that I ever read, in part or in whole. Now it is true that I didn’t come up in “Sunni” Islam as did many of you who are reading this. I was raised in and around the Nation of Islam and was taught and trained in accordance with the teachings of The Honorable Elijah Muhammad (H.E.M). So my customs, mode of dress, etc. are a bit different than those of Muslims from other parts of the world.

In fact in some ways my upbringing was diametrically opposed to the practices of “Sunni” Islam. Most of you will swear on your deathbed that a Muslim man must wear a beard. I was raised and taught never to wear a beard, but to remain clean-shaven. Perhaps a light mustache and the little piece of hair that grows just under the lip, but no more. This was done to differentiate followers of The H.E.M. from the rest of our people (Blacks in America). Particularly to identify us as separate from the Christians among whom beards were, and still are, very popular.

Add to that the way that I dress, which is a product of the trends and style of the environment in which I was raised, and you can see why this brother assumed that I was badly in need of his teaching.

So I listened to him dutifully as he explained, at length many different Ahadith (alleged talk of the Prophet (p)) that lay out the ways that a Muslim should dress and conduct himself. He talked about how the Prophet (p) and the Sahaba (companions) used the Miswak (tree branch) to clean their teeth. And how so many blessings could be had by following their example. At some points though, his words were so ridiculous that I had to fight from laughing in the poor man’s face.

After he had worn himself out of talking and was about to leave I touched him lightly on the arm and said one simple phrase: “No”.

You should have seen the contortions that his face went through. The rage that bubbled just under the surface. “How dare this young fool say no to Me” he had to be thinking. Then I quoted Surah 22 to him where Allah explains that to every people he appoints acts of devotion and directs us not to argue with others who challenge us on them, but to simply say “Allah Knows Best”.

Then, I walked away.

As I did so I thought about how Allah says in the Quran that he “Sends not a messenger except that he speaks the language of the people to whom he is sent.” So could an Arab come and teach my people in Arabic?

No.

Clothing and personal style are also languages, whether one realizes it or not. We all are naturally drawn to folks who dress like us, look like us, and talk like us (to a certain degree). A messenger who can’t relate to the people cannot be effective. Nor can one who cannot understand the people to whom he is sent.

And nobody understands Black People today but Black People.

In fact even I have trouble understanding us sometimes, so the other guys have no hope at all……

Literally Taqleed means, “Placing around the neck, that which encircles the neck”. This act, for example, can be typified by something as common as putting on a necklace, or something as serious as putting on a noose.

In the Islamic sense, it often applies to the strict adherence to a madhab, or rather to a specific school of Fiqh.

So an example of this would be a person saying that “I do this” or “I do that” because Abu Hanifa said “Do it”. This is more common than one may think.

This subject is on my mind because of an email a brother sent me asking a question related to the subject. This got me to thinking of the current condition of the Ummah (community) and how many of our ills can be tied directly to this thing called Taqleed.

For the purposes of this discussion I’m going to pull out yet another Arabic phrase (something that I try to minimize). That phrase is “Shirk. This means, in the Islamic sense, to associate or to assign partners to Allah (God).

Now most of us, Muslim or not, will immediately laugh or be scornful of such a concept. “Who, in their right mind, would do something as crazy as that”, we might say.

It’s more common than you may think. In fact, almost everyone reading this has done it countless times.

More on that another time, if Allah wills it to be so.

However, the subject of Taqleed can be directly applied to the common practices of Muslims every day. And, Allah willing, I’m going to show you exactly how that is a form of the Shirk that I mentioned earlier.

Most Muslims around the world follow the school of Fiqh (Islamic Law) of one of four Imams. They are:

• *Imam Abu Hanifa
  *Imam Shafi’i
  *Imam Malik
  *Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal

Their various writings are considered the basis for most Muslims’ daily interpretations of what is permissible and what is not. Ask any almost any Muslim how to pray, for example, and you’ll most likely get instructions that are almost word-for-word the instructions of one of these four Imams.

The same is true for how to eat, how to sit, even what to do on your wedding night.

Few Muslims seek justification for these things in the Quran with the proper mindset. The mindset is key because human intellect is such that if we look into a book with a pre-determined outcome in mind, such as finding justification for a particular thing, we will generally find something that seems to be exactly what we wanted to find.

Therefore the mind must be cleared of a pre-judged notion before we investigate the matter, however difficult this may be. Only in this neutral objective way can we accurately discern the truth or the falsehood of a matter.

This is the mindset that must be applied to ALL works aside from the Quran. When we do otherwise, we are committing Taqleed. This includes the study of the Ahadith(sayings attributed to Prophet Muhammad).

Most Muslims take the core Ahadith as infallible. In fact, it can be honestly stated that most “Sunni” Muslims alive today live their lives more on the basis of the Ahadith than they do the Quran.

This is Taqleed of the worst kind.

Why?

Because when you think you are believing in the sayings of the Prophet, you are in reality placing faith, and thus power, in the words of one person, preceded by the person who taught him/her, preceded by the person who taught him/her, and so forth.

The unfortunate truth is that this practice places most Muslims on near-equal footing with the Christians and Christianity, the vast bulk of which is based upon clear hearsay. So it is with Ahadith.

However we Muslims have a clear benefit that the Christians lack, if we can only convince our fellow Muslims to use it. That benefit is the Quran.

This book contains the teachings of Allah, to whom all praises are due. The Quran makes it plain that it needs no interpreters, intermediaries, and so forth. Allah communicates directly with the individual by the means of this body of work, and also outside of it.

Therefore, while the sayings and actions attributed to the Prophet may serve as additional help and guidance in some matters, they are by no means the basis for salvation, or for the fundamental fiber of Islam itself. Allah asserts, via the Quran, that the Quran makes Islam (submission) complete. It (the Quran) flatly rejects the use of any outside sources as being the basis for Islam.

That which is forbidden therein must remain forbidden. And the same is true for that which is permissible.

Allah asserts that the Quran is the criterion by which we may discern between right and wrong. If we accept that as true, then we must apply the Quranic filter to everything which includes the Ahadith and the sayings attributed to any Imams, including the four to whom the greater body of Fiqh is attributed.

That means that, unfortunately for some, we are going to have to demote Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, and the rest. it means that we will have to demote our mothers and fathers. And, yes, it means we will even have to demote the sayings of the Prophet. No authority can be allowed to even approach that of Allah himself. The Quran is the source of Islam as a Deen (system of life).

Putting anything else in that category is Taqleed and is also, thus demonstrated, Shirk as well.

Literally Taqleed means, “Placing around the neck, that which encircles the neck”. This act, for example, can be typified by something as common as putting on a necklace, or something as serious as putting on a noose.

In the Islamic sense, it often applies to the strict adherence to a madhab, or rather to a specific school of Fiqh.

So an example of this would be a person saying that “I do this” or “I do that” because Abu Hanifa said “Do it”. This is more common than one may think.

This subject is on my mind because of an email a brother sent me asking a question related to the subject. This got me to thinking of the current condition of the Ummah (community) and how many of our ills can be tied directly to this thing called Taqleed.

For the purposes of this discussion I’m going to pull out yet another Arabic phrase (something that I try to minimize). That phrase is “Shirk. This means, in the Islamic sense, to associate or to assign partners to Allah (God).

Now most of us, Muslim or not, will immediately laugh or be scornful of such a concept. “Who, in their right mind, would do something as crazy as that”, we might say.

It’s more common than you may think. In fact, almost everyone reading this has done it countless times.

More on that another time, if Allah wills it to be so.

However, the subject of Taqleed can be directly applied to the common practices of Muslims every day. And, Allah willing, I’m going to show you exactly how that is a form of the Shirk that I mentioned earlier.

Most Muslims around the world follow the school of Fiqh (Islamic Law) of one of four Imams. They are:

• *Imam Abu Hanifa
  *Imam Shafi’i
  *Imam Malik
  *Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal

Their various writings are considered the basis for most Muslims’ daily interpretations of what is permissible and what is not. Ask any almost any Muslim how to pray, for example, and you’ll most likely get instructions that are almost word-for-word the instructions of one of these four Imams.

The same is true for how to eat, how to sit, even what to do on your wedding night.

Few Muslims seek justification for these things in the Quran with the proper mindset. The mindset is key because human intellect is such that if we look into a book with a pre-determined outcome in mind, such as finding justification for a particular thing, we will generally find something that seems to be exactly what we wanted to find.

Therefore the mind must be cleared of a pre-judged notion before we investigate the matter, however difficult this may be. Only in this neutral objective way can we accurately discern the truth or the falsehood of a matter.

This is the mindset that must be applied to ALL works aside from the Quran. When we do otherwise, we are committing Taqleed. This includes the study of the Ahadith(sayings attributed to Prophet Muhammad).

Most Muslims take the core Ahadith as infallible. In fact, it can be honestly stated that most “Sunni” Muslims alive today live their lives more on the basis of the Ahadith than they do the Quran.

This is Taqleed of the worst kind.

Why?

Because when you think you are believing in the sayings of the Prophet, you are in reality placing faith, and thus power, in the words of one person, preceded by the person who taught him/her, preceded by the person who taught him/her, and so forth.

The unfortunate truth is that this practice places most Muslims on near-equal footing with the Christians and Christianity, the vast bulk of which is based upon clear hearsay. So it is with Ahadith.

However we Muslims have a clear benefit that the Christians lack, if we can only convince our fellow Muslims to use it. That benefit is the Quran.

This book contains the teachings of Allah, to whom all praises are due. The Quran makes it plain that it needs no interpreters, intermediaries, and so forth. Allah communicates directly with the individual by the means of this body of work, and also outside of it.

Therefore, while the sayings and actions attributed to the Prophet may serve as additional help and guidance in some matters, they are by no means the basis for salvation, or for the fundamental fiber of Islam itself. Allah asserts, via the Quran, that the Quran makes Islam (submission) complete. It (the Quran) flatly rejects the use of any outside sources as being the basis for Islam.

That which is forbidden therein must remain forbidden. And the same is true for that which is permissible.

Allah asserts that the Quran is the criterion by which we may discern between right and wrong. If we accept that as true, then we must apply the Quranic filter to everything which includes the Ahadith and the sayings attributed to any Imams, including the four to whom the greater body of Fiqh is attributed.

That means that, unfortunately for some, we are going to have to demote Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, and the rest. it means that we will have to demote our mothers and fathers. And, yes, it means we will even have to demote the sayings of the Prophet. No authority can be allowed to even approach that of Allah himself. The Quran is the source of Islam as a Deen (system of life).

Putting anything else in that category is Taqleed and is also, thus demonstrated, Shirk as well.