Well all I can tell you is that I have read a translation of the Quran and it did not change my mind. I struggle with some of the basic claims and early years of Islam. The Hadiths especially cause me a lot of concern. If Mohammed was the last prophet and no one else would ever get a revelation directly from God then how can we trust these stories that were handed down by men for many years before they were written down for us? There is so much in the Hadith that are not in the Quran that it bothers me that these words of men would be elevated to be commands of God.
Hello ZecAustin
Hadith, in Arabic, means "saying or talk". It refers to any story, incidents, saying that is narrated by any one". For example, if you tell me something, and I tell it another one, this is called " Hadith". Prophet's Hadith means any thing that Prophet Mohammed ,peace and blessings of the Almighty upon him, said. Something more broad is the Sunnah. Sunnah means any saying, talk, action, even silent approval or disapproval, or how the prophet does things, and how does he look like, and his way of living. Muslims record almost every thing that prophet did or said, they memorize, write it and pass it to the generations. Me, and I am not a scholar, I memorize hundreds of Sunnahs of the Prophet Sunnah, my kids, my wife, my family and that is the case for most Muslims.
For example,
1) It is narrated that Prophet Mohammed peace and blessings upon him had two dresses, on of them he kept it for Fridays, and the another one for the rest of the week.
2) It is narrated that Prophet Mohammed peace and blessings upon him says In the name of Allah, before eating
3) It is narrated that Prophet Mohammed peace and blessings upon him prays 11 times at the last third of night
4) It is narrated that Prophet Mohammed peace and blessings upon him says ( Do not call me our Lord, The Lord is Allah)
The above is all Sunnah, however, the fourth one is Hadith.
Now, about the authenticity of Sunnah and Hadith. Muslims invented what is called: The science of Hadith, read more about it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadith_studies
For example,
Each Hadith has a chain of people, each one in the chain must be identified fully, his first, middle and last name, his city, his birth and death, his travels, his teachers ( those who he heard from them Hadiths ) and students (those who heard from him), what do people say about him, how is his memory and writing ..etc. If some parts are missing, this may lead to the Hadith becomes unaccepted or as we call (Thae'ef).
Let me apply this rule to the Gospel of Luke:
1- At which date was Luke born? Unknown
2- What is the full name of Luke? Unknown
3- Whom are the eyewitnesses and servants of the word that Luck heard stories from them? Unknown
4- Where was Luke born?
5- where did Luck travel to listen and write the stories of Jesus? Unknown
6- What did people at Luck time say about him? Unknown
7- When exactly did Luke write his Gospel? Unknown
8- Who are the teachers of Luke? Where did Luck meet them? How? Unknown
If we apply the rule of Hadith, how do you think we will conclude based on these answers?
