Secondly to explain and interpret the meanings and aims of the tradition...

Secondly to explain and interpret the meanings and aims of the tradition, because the Book of Allah is not enough for guidance; There are many parties who claim to follow the Qur'an but in actual fact they have gone astray, and the Messenger of Allah said, "How many are the readers of the Qur'an whom the Qur'an curses!” The Book of Allah is silent and could be interpreted in various ways, and it contains what is vague and what is similar, and to understand it we have to refer to those who are well endowed with knowledge as regards the Qur'an, and to , as regards to the Prophet's traditions.

The Shiites referred everything to the infallible Imams of (the Prophet's Household), and they did not interpret anything unless it had a supporting text. We refer in every case to the , whether it concerns Qur'anic commentary or the confirmation of the Sunnah and its explanation, and we know about the and their interpretations and their personal opinions vies-a-vies the clear texts, and there are hundreds of them, so we cannot rely upon them after what they have done.

If we ask our religious leaders, "Which Sunnah do you follow?" They answer categorically, "The Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah!" But the historical facts are incompatible with that, for they claim that the Messenger of Allah said, "Take my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs after me. Hold firmly to it." But the Sunnah they follow is often the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, and even the Messenger's Sunnah which they claim to follow is in fact transmitted by those people.

However, we read in our Sihahs that the Messenger of Allah prevented them from writing his Sunnah so that it was not confused with the Qur'an.

Abu Bakr and Umar did the same thing during their caliphate; we therefore have no proof for the saying, "I left you my Sunnah."[^3] The examples that I have cited in this study, besides many that I have not mentioned, are enough to refute this saying, because there are elements in the Sunnah of Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman which contradict and negate the Prophet's Sunnah, as is so apparent.