On the Authority of the Mother of the Faithful, Umm Abdullah Aa’isha (رضي الله عنها) who said:
“The Messenger of Allah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said, ‘Whoever innovates something in this matter of ours that is not from it will have it rejected.’” (Bukhari and Muslim)
Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says in the Holy Qur’an:
“This day, those disbelieved have given up all hope of your religion, so fear them not, but fear Me. This day, I have perfected you religion for you, completed My Favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.”
– Al – Ma’idah 5:3
The basic conclusion behind the above stated hadith and ayah is very clear. Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) has already established everything and there are no additions and deletions necessary to this deen — it has been completed and perfected by Allah, The Creator and Owner of all the worlds. Thus, to introduce anything into this religion is to say the Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) and His Messenger (صلي الله عليه وسلم) lied.
Breaking it Down…
Our beloved Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) very concisely picks his words when speaking, and such is the thing to notice in the above mentioned hadith. Why did the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) say “this matter of ours” rather than saying “Islam?” The significance is that the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) is claiming ownership over this deen for himself and his Ummah. It implies that living out this deen must be in accordance with what The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) established as his sunnah, or else at the end of the day it will bring no value to us as we, “will have it rejected.” You can’t get more straight forward than that; the Qur’an and the Sunnah are inseparable! But unfortunately we do see problems in our day and age. May Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) shower His Mercy upon the Ummah and guide us all to The Straight Path.
We cannot go around making up our own ways of worshiping Allah (سبحانه وتعالى). He wants us to come close to Him. He wants us to reach Him, but we can’t go around making up our own rules in doing so when He has given precise directions and guidelines to us. Its like a student going to his highschool guidance councilor and saying, “I’m going to take 1 science credit, 2 English credits, 2 art credits, and 15 gym credits and earn my high school diploma.” The guidance councilor will look at him foolishly and say , “NO! Thats not how it works, if you want to graduate you must follow the rules.”
Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says in the Qur’an:
“And verily, this is My Straight Path, so follow it, and follow not (other) paths, for they will separate you away from His path. This He has ordained for you that you may become Al-Mutaqun (the pious).”
– Al-An’am 6:153
Think about it. May Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) grant us all the ability to take the lessons out of this and establish our lives based purely upon Qur’an and Sunnah.