The Importance of Understanding; the Understanding of Salaf

As Allah’s Messenger (sallallahu álaihi wa sallam) is the most knowledgeable of the intended meanings and objectives of the Qur’ān, likewise, the Companions are the most knowledgeable of the intended meanings and objectives of the Qur’ān and Sunnah. This is due to the fact that they witnessed the revelation and its practical applications by Allah’s Messenger (sallallahu álaihi wa sallam). As Qur’ān cannot be understood without Sunnah, Qur’ān and Sunnah cannot be understood without the understanding of the Companions. Ibn Taymiyya (d.728 H) enunciates, “Whoever assumes that he can take from the Book and the Sunnah without emulating the Companions and follows a path other than theirs, then he is from the people of innovation and misguidance.” A Muslim has no authority or liberty to interpret the Sacred Text as he desires. Hence, it is obligatory to ‘restrict our understanding to the understanding of the Companions’, as this is the criterion between ‘truth and falsehood’ and ‘Sunnah and innovation.’