Can the Sunna Take Precedence over Something in the Quran?

Answered by Mufti Muhammad ibn Adam

Question

Can the sunna take precedence over something in the Quran?

Answer

The Qur’an always comes before the sunnah, as the sunnah is the commentary and the explanation of the Qur’an. Allah Most High says to His Messenger (Allah bless him & give him peace):

“So that you explain to the people what has been revealed to them.” [Quran, 16:44)

Also, the famous Hadith of Mu‘adh (Allah be pleased with him) when he said: “I will judge and make decisions according to the Qur’an and if I don’t find a ruling in the Qur’an, I will turn to the sunnah”, is an example of this.

However, the Sunna at times restricts the broad and general meaning of a particular word in the Quran. Similarly, it explains the ambiguous term by which the meaning intended by Allah Almighty is known. There are many examples of this.

Also according to the majority of the scholars (jumhur), a ruling of the Quran can be nullified by the Sunna, as whatever the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) says is from Allah [See Quran, 53:4).

An example of this is the Hadith which says “Wasiyya (bequest) is not permissible for an heir (inheritor).”

This cancels out the verse of the Qur’an which indicates that Wasiyyat is prescribed for parents. [See Quran, 2:180]

And Allah Knows Best

Muhammad ibn Adam
Darul Iftaa
Leicester , UK