The Essence of Islam – Volume II — Page 136
136 Essence of Islām 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 ('Isha) comprises four rak'as of Fard. In the same way, we have to depend upon Ahādīth 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 Ahādīth. If Ahādīth are not to be relied upon you cannot take it as certain that Abū Bakr and 'Umar and 'Uthman and 'Alī (May Allah be pleased with them) were the companions of the Holy Prophetsa, who became his successors in that order and died in that order. If Ahādīth 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 Allah be on him) was 'Abdullāh, and the name of his mother was Āminah, and the name of his grandfather was 'Abd- ul-Muttalib, and one of his wives was named Khadīja and another 'Ayesha, and another Hafşa (May Allah 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 Allah 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 Ahādīth and the Aḥādīth amount to nothing?