The Essence of Islam – Volume II — Page 136
136. Essence of Islam II of Fard and two rak'as of Sunnah, and the Noon Prayer (Zuhr) comprises four rak'as of Fard and four and then two rak'as of Sunnah, and the Sunset Prayer (Maghrib) comprises three rak'as of Fard and the Evening Prayer (Ishā) comprises four rak'as of Farḍ. In the same way, we have to depend upon Aḥādīth to discover the details of. Zakāt. There are thousands of details relating to worship and dealings and covenants which are derived from the same source. Besides, the principal source of Islamic history is Aḥādīth. If Aḥādīth are not to be relied upon you cannot take it as certain that Abū Bakr and ‘Umar and 'Uthman and 'Ali (May Allāh be pleased with them) were the companions of the Holy Prophets, who became his successors in that order and died in that order. If Aḥādīth are not to be relied upon, we cannot be certain about the existence of these great personalities and it might be possible that all these names are fictitious and that there was no Abu Bakr, no 'Umar, no 'Uthman and no 'Alī. . . . . In the same way, shall we deny that the name of the father of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allāh be on him) was 'Abdullāh, and the name of his mother was Aminah, and the name of his grandfather was 'Abdul-Muttalib, and one of his wives was named Khadīja and another 'Ayesha, and another Ḥafṣa (May Allāh be pleased with them) and that the name of his foster-mother was. Halima, and that he used to withdraw to cave Hirā for worship and that some of his companions migrated to. Abyssinia, and that for ten years after his advent, the. Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allāh be on him) resided in Mecca and that thereafter there were all those battles that are not even mentioned in the Qur'an, simply because these facts are established by Aḥādīth and the. Aḥādīth amount to nothing?