Noah's Ark: An Invitation to Faith — Page 98
HAZRAT MIRZA GHULAM AHMAD (AS) blessings of Allah be upon him, which he demonstrated to elucidate the teachings of the Holy Quran. For example, the number of Rak'aat in the five daily prayers are not apparently evident in the Holy Quran. How many Rak'aat are to be observed in the morning and how many at other times? However, this has been clarified by the Sunnah. One ought not to be deceived into thinking that the Sunnah and Hadith are one and the same thing. The Hadith were collected after some one hundred to one hundred and fifty years, but the Sunnah existed along with the Holy Quran since the very beginning. After the Holy Quran the greatest favour that has been bestowed on the Muslims is the Sunnah. The obligations of God and His Messenger were two primarily. Firstly, God revealed the Quran and through the agency of His Word informed His creation of His will. This was the obligation of God's law. Then, the obligation of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was to practically demonstrate the Word of God and thus clearly expound it to the people. In this way he provided a practical demonstration of this Word and through his Sunnah i. e. his way of practice, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, resolved matters of intricacy and difficulty. It would be wrong to suggest that such issues were resolved by the Hadith, for Islam had already been established on 98