Is It Possible to Set Up Dr. Rashad Khalifa’s Words as a Source Beside the Quran?

BY SANAA

Followers of the Quran are commanded by GOD not to uphold any source beside the Quran.
GOD furthermore tells His servants that the Quran is complete and fully detailed.

[18:27] You shall recite what is revealed to you of your Lord's scripture. Nothing shall
abrogate His words, and you shall not find any other source beside it.

[6:114] Shall I seek other than GOD as a source of law, when He has revealed to you
this book fully detailed? Those who received the scripture recognize that it has been
revealed from your Lord, truthfully. You shall not harbor any doubt.

[41:3] A scripture whose verses provide the complete details, in an Arabic Quran, for
people who know.

The Messenger of the Covenant also strongly emphasized the importance of upholding the
Quran alone, and not upholding any source beside it. This is documented in numerous videos,
including the Great Debate, where Dr. Rashad Khalifa debates with Dr. Abdel Rahman Salem.

At the same time, we must acknowledge the fact that the Messenger of the Covenant deeply studied the Quran during his life, and left many written and recorded teachings regarding what he learned. It would seem obvious that he made the effort to write and record these teachings so that they may be of use to others in the future.

How then should we treat his teachings, considering the important fact that GOD has
commanded us not to uphold any source beside the Quran?

In order to answer this question, we must first answer another question: What exactly does it
mean to uphold a source beside the Quran? At what point have we disobeyed GOD and upheld the messenger’s teachings as a source beside the Quran?

To answer this question, lets look at the framework that is utilized for research studies. Primary and secondary sources are two types of materials that are used for research studies. These sources are vastly different from one another. Primary sources offer first-hand information, whereas secondary sources interpret or analyze the information from primary sources.

The most significant difference is that primary sources give direct access to the subject of the
research, while secondary sources give second-hand information and commentary from other
researchers. Secondary sources offer summaries, opinions, and analyses, and are written by a
person who did not experience firsthand nor participate in the events being researched.
Secondary sources use the accounts of primary sources, in order to provide an interpretation of the subject matter or events being researched.

Let us look at an example. During the holocaust, many personal diaries and journals were kept
by individuals who gave their firsthand account of events they personally witnessed. These
personal diaries are primary sources.

Later, historians and researchers studied, analyzed and drew conclusions regarding these
events, based on these personal diaries. The writings of these researchers are secondary
sources. They offer an interpretation or analysis of the primary sources, namely the personal
diaries and journals of those who gave their firsthand account of events.

Now that we have an understanding of primary and secondary sources, lets turn back to our
question: What exactly does it mean to uphold a source beside the Quran?

In short, we have upheld a source beside the Quran when we treat a secondary source in the
same manner as we treat the Quran, a primary source.

If we use the terminology described above, the Quran is a primary source. It is firsthand
information directly from the Almighty Himself. It includes a firsthand account of important
events that have transpired in the past. It also includes the complete commandments of God to humanity.

There is no other primary source, except the Quran, when it comes to the religion of
Islam. God alone witnesses all things. God states in the Quran that it is complete, fully detailed, and not to find any other source beside it.

As there is no other primary source, except the Quran, when it comes to the religion of Islam,
this means that all other written or recorded teachings or interpretations, regarding the religion of Islam, are secondary sources.

Therefore, written or recorded teachings left by the Messenger of the Covenant are secondary sources. They provide his interpretation or analysis of the Quran. The Messenger of the Covenant was not a firsthand witness to the events detailed in the Quran. Rather, he read the Quran and interpreted the Almighty’s words, and then created secondary sources, sharing his understanding.

Therefore, the Messenger’s written and recorded teachings of the Quran are secondary
sources.

We have upheld a source beside the Quran when we treat a secondary source as a primary
source, with regard to our religion. Therefore, if we treat the Messenger’s teachings as a stand-alone perfect source, that is equivalent to the Quran, then we have disobeyed God and His Messenger.

The Messenger of the Covenant was not authorized by God to create any primary sources
beside the Quran. Doing so would have been a flagrant disobedience of God. Therefore, it was not the intention of the Messenger, when making written and recorded teachings of the Quran, to create sources beside it.

The Messenger was very cautious in this regard, and he shared his understanding of the Quran, while continuously emphasizing that we must verify all information, and that we must not uphold any source beside the Quran. He particularly emphasized the following commandment in the Quran:


[17:36] You shall not accept any information, unless you verify it for yourself. I have
given you the hearing, the eyesight, and the brain, and you are responsible for using
them.

To be clear, Submitters are not prohibited in the Quran from consulting secondary sources
regarding the religion of Islam. In other words, Submitters are not prohibited from learning from other Submitters, including the Messenger of the Covenant.

In fact, God encourages us to learn from each other:

[9:122] When the believers mobilize, not all of them shall do so. A few from each group
shall mobilize by devoting their time to studying the religion. Thus, they can pass the
knowledge on to their people when they return, that they may remain religiously
informed.

However, if we listen to a sermon at Friday prayer, or listen to a recording of the Messenger,
and we accept that information without first checking to confirm that this information is in the
Quran, and the analysis provided is sound, then we have set up a source beside the Quran. We have treated a secondary source, as the primary source. Only the primary source, the Quran, is a stand-alone, perfect, and complete source, that does not need to be verified for its accuracy.

Treating a secondary source as equivalent to the Quran is a fatal error and we must be ultra
cautious in this regard, lest we go astray and repeat what others have done in the past, by
disobeying God and setting up sources beside the Quran.

I end with a statement from the Messenger of the Covenant, from Appendix 19 of the AEVQ:

“The moment they seek guidance from anything besides the Quran, no matter how
'right' it seems, they fall into Satan's trap (see 63:1). For they have rejected God's word and set up another god besides God (18:57).”

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