Complete Book

When parties are drafting a contract the objective is to attempt to cover what to do for all the possible outcomes that could take place before the contract is executed. The purpose of doing this in advance is that if the event does take place there is already an agreement for how the parties are to handle such events to mitigate any possible disputes that may occur if such an event does transpire.

A complete contract is an important concept from contract theory. If the parties to an agreement could specify their respective rights and duties for every possible future state of the world, their contract would be complete. There would be no gaps in the terms of the contract. A contract that accounts for all possibilities is called a complete contract, but in actuality there is no such thing as a man-made complete contract. This is because there are always scenarios or situations that will arise that were unforeseen before the fact. This is part of the reason that the rampant TOS agreements that companies have individuals complete before giving them access to their service keeps getting progressively longer. Because each time a new issue arises they need to add more clauses to account for these situations.

In 1999, the packaged food company, Healthy Choice, did a promotion where they were offering 1,000 airline travel miles for every 10 Healthy Choice barcodes that a participant mailed back to the company. Additionally, there was no limit to how many times one person participate. One person from California realized the deal’s potential and discovered that they could purchase a single pudding cup for ~25 cents a piece to participate in this promotion. So they bought 12,000 cups of pudding, for $3,140, and redeemed that for 1.2 million airline miles. That is enough miles to fly around the Earth ~48 times.

When American football was first introduced to colleges the rule book was quite sparse, so teams came up with clever hacks to win games that were not officially against the rules, but definitely against the spirit of the game. So for instance, teams would sow fake footballs to their jerseys to confuse the other team to who actually had the ball, or players would run off field among the spectators then enter the field when the other team wasn’t expecting to be perfectly open for a long pass. The problem with these hacks was that the games designers who first made the rules did not anticipate these kinds of plays so therefore they had to keep update the rules to accommodate the human tendency to look at ways to game the system.

This is the challenge that any human made system will face, that we will never be able to account for all the miscellaneous edge cases when forming a rule book or contract. There will always be issues and scenarios that we forgot to account for and therefore will have to constantly updating material to account for these unforeseen events.

Back in February 12, 2002, in a famous exchange during a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) news briefing the former United States Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld gave the following response:

Reports that say that something hasn’t happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don’t know we don’t know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tends to be the difficult ones.^[1]

Donald Rumsfeld – February 12, 2002

This is what makes the Quran unique. Because unlike any document, law, or rule book created by men that will always have possible edge cases unaccounted for, the Quran covers all possible events that have to do with our religious salvation.

[6:114] Shall I seek other than GOD as a source of law, when He has revealed to you this book fully detailed?* Those who received the scripture recognize that it has been revealed from your Lord, truthfully. You shall not harbor any doubt.

 أَفَغَيْرَ اللَّهِ أَبْتَغِي حَكَمًا وَهُوَ الَّذِي أَنْزَلَ إِلَيْكُمُ الْكِتَابَ مُفَصَّلًا وَالَّذِينَ آتَيْنَاهُمُ الْكِتَابَ يَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهُ مُنَزَّلٌ مِنْ رَبِّكَ بِالْحَقِّ فَلَا تَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْمُمْتَرِينَ

[6:115] The word of your Lord is complete, in truth and justice. Nothing shall abrogate His words. He is the Hearer, the Omniscient.

 وَتَمَّتْ كَلِمَتُ رَبِّكَ صِدْقًا وَعَدْلًا لَا مُبَدِّلَ لِكَلِمَاتِهِ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ

[41:3] A scripture whose verses provide the complete details, in an Arabic Quran, for people who know.

 كِتَابٌ فُصِّلَتْ آيَاتُهُ قُرْآنًا عَرَبِيًّا لِقَوْمٍ يَعْلَمُونَ

God tells us that the Quran contains explanations for everything.

[16:89] The day will come when we will raise from every community a witness from among them, and bring you as the witness of these people. We have revealed to you this book to provide explanations for everything, and guidance, and mercy, and good news for the submitters.

 وَيَوْمَ نَبْعَثُ فِي كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ شَهِيدًا عَلَيْهِمْ مِنْ أَنْفُسِهِمْ وَجِئْنَا بِكَ شَهِيدًا عَلَىٰ هَٰؤُلَاءِ وَنَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ تِبْيَانًا لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةً وَبُشْرَىٰ لِلْمُسْلِمِينَ

[10:37] This Quran could not possibly be authored by other than GOD. It confirms all previous messages, and provides a fully detailed scripture. It is infallible; for it comes from the Lord of the universe.

 وَمَا كَانَ هَٰذَا الْقُرْآنُ أَنْ يُفْتَرَىٰ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ وَلَٰكِنْ تَصْدِيقَ الَّذِي بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ وَتَفْصِيلَ الْكِتَابِ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهِ مِنْ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

These verses clarify that anything having to do with our religious salvation or religious laws must be included in the verses of the Quran.

[31:27] If all the trees on earth were made into pens, and the ocean supplied the ink, augmented by seven more oceans, the words of GOD would not run out. GOD is Almighty, Most Wise.

(٢٧) وَلَوْ أَنَّمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ مِنْ شَجَرَةٍ أَقْلَامٌ وَالْبَحْرُ يَمُدُّهُ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ سَبْعَةُ أَبْحُرٍ مَا نَفِدَتْ كَلِمَاتُ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ

[18:109] Say, “If the ocean were ink for the words of my Lord, the ocean would run out, before the words of my Lord run out, even if we double the ink supply.”

(١٠٩) قُلْ لَوْ كَانَ الْبَحْرُ مِدَادًا لِكَلِمَاتِ رَبِّي لَنَفِدَ الْبَحْرُ قَبْلَ أَنْ تَنْفَدَ كَلِمَاتُ رَبِّي وَلَوْ جِئْنَا بِمِثْلِهِ مَدَدًا

[19:64] We do not come down except by the command of your Lord. To Him belongs our past, our future, and everything between them. Your Lord is never forgetful.

(٦٤) وَمَا نَتَنَزَّلُ إِلَّا بِأَمْرِ رَبِّكَ لَهُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِينَا وَمَا خَلْفَنَا وَمَا بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ وَمَا كَانَ رَبُّكَ نَسِيًّا

God did not forget, to tell us how to sleep, which foot to step with first when entering a bathroom, how to bathe, how to urinate, or how to cut ones nails. Yet, the fabricators of such false doctrine as Hadith & Sunna have come up with religious teachings dictating on their followers all these things. If God did not provide guidelines for these things in the Quran then it is another source that people are setting up to rival the word of God in the Quran.

If God did not include certain aspects in the Quran, it is because of one of two reasons. The first reason is that it is not pertinent to our salvation. The best depiction of this is the following example with the children of the cave and how many of them there were.

[18:22] Some would say, “They were three; their dog being the fourth,” while others would say, “Five; the sixth being their dog,” as they guessed. Others said, “Seven,” and the eighth was their dog. Say, “My Lord is the best knower of their number.” Only a few knew the correct number. Therefore, do not argue with them; just go along with them. You need not consult anyone about this.

 سَيَقُولُونَ ثَلَاثَةٌ رَابِعُهُمْ كَلْبُهُمْ وَيَقُولُونَ خَمْسَةٌ سَادِسُهُمْ كَلْبُهُمْ رَجْمًا بِالْغَيْبِ وَيَقُولُونَ سَبْعَةٌ وَثَامِنُهُمْ كَلْبُهُمْ قُلْ رَبِّي أَعْلَمُ بِعِدَّتِهِمْ مَا يَعْلَمُهُمْ إِلَّا قَلِيلٌ فَلَا تُمَارِ فِيهِمْ إِلَّا مِرَاءً ظَاهِرًا وَلَا تَسْتَفْتِ فِيهِمْ مِنْهُمْ أَحَدًا

The second reason is because God has deliberately overlooked these items be design.

[5:101] O you who believe, do not ask about matters which, if revealed to you prematurely, would hurt you. If you ask about them in light of the Quran, they will become obvious to you. GOD has deliberately overlooked them. GOD is Forgiver, Clement.

 يَاأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَسْأَلُوا عَنْ أَشْيَاءَ إِنْ تُبْدَ لَكُمْ تَسُؤْكُمْ وَإِنْ تَسْأَلُوا عَنْهَا حِينَ يُنَزَّلُ الْقُرْآنُ تُبْدَ لَكُمْ عَفَا اللَّهُ عَنْهَا وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ حَلِيمٌ

[20:114] Most Exalted is GOD, the only true King. Do not rush into uttering the Quran before it is revealed to you, and say, “My Lord, increase my knowledge.”

 فَتَعَالَى اللَّهُ الْمَلِكُ الْحَقُّ وَلَا تَعْجَلْ بِالْقُرْآنِ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ يُقْضَىٰ إِلَيْكَ وَحْيُهُ وَقُلْ رَبِّ زِدْنِي عِلْمًا

That said the irony of people who search through Hadith and Sunnah looking for religious laws outside of the Quran are showing that they do not believe in God’s words in the scripture. That they disbelieve in the only verifiable Hadith we have from God. This shows individuals who support such false doctrines are confirming that they don’t believe that the Quran is complete. This is because either the Quran is complete and therefore secondary sources are not necessary, or the Quran is not complete and therefore other sources are needed to complete the religious laws of the Quran.

[6:112] We have permitted the enemies of every prophet—human and jinn devils—to inspire in each other fancy words, in order to deceive. Had your Lord willed, they would not have done it. You shall disregard them and their fabrications. [6:113] This is to let the minds of those who do not believe in the Hereafter listen to such fabrications, and accept them, and thus expose their real convictions.

But here is the other fundamental problem with following any other Hadith beside the Quran, there is not a soul in the world who will claim that the Hadith is complete. Even the followers of the Hadith perpetually debate which Hadith should be accepted and which should be rejected or overwritten.

So let’s say we have a 100% authentic Hadith from the prophet. Even if the Hadith is authentic because no other Hadith beside the Quran is complete we will never know all the details to what condition or scenario that Hadith should apply.

For example, there are several sahih Hadith where the prophet says that anyone who simply says “La ilaha Illallah” “there is no god beside God” will enter Paradise.

The Prophet ﷺ said:”Whoever says: there is no god but Allah enters Paradise.”[1]Tabarani narrated it from Abu Dharr in the Kabir (7:55), Ibn Hibban in his Sahih (31), al-Hakim in his Mustadrak (4:251), al-Mundhiri in al-Targhib (2:422), al-Haythami in Majma` al-zawa’id (1:18), Ibn `Adi (7:2639), Abu Nu`aym in the Hilya (7:174), and al-Bazzar from `Umar.

The Prophet ﷺ said:”Whoever says there is no god but Allah enters Paradise even if he commits adultery and even if he steals (i.e. even if he commits great sins).“[2](Nasa’i, Tabarani and others from Abu al-Darda’ – sahih)

Then there are some Hadith that contradict this idea.

The Prophet ﷺ said: “If anyone comes on the Day of Resurrection who has said la ilaha illallah sincerely with the intention to win Allah’s pleasure, Allah will make Hellfire forbidden for him.“[15]
Narrated by Bukhari, vol. 8 p.288 #431.

Now if there is a conflict what is somone to do. What if I accept one and therefore have to reject the other. This inevitably poses two major problems. Firstly, that the Hadith are not a consistent source causing most people who even promote Hadith to admit that by upholding Hadith they actually are admitting that they reject most Hadith. Bukhari himself eliminated 99% of the Hadith he collected because he found them unreliable, but from the ones that he retained they still contradict. This makes Bukari and most Muslims who support Hadith, Hadith rejectors as they reject the vast majority of Hadith that have been collected. Even among people who support Hadith beside the Quran there are millions of permutations to which Hadith each of them choose to believe in and which they reject.

Secondly these contradictions only become apparent when there is a conflict. What if a Hadith only contains a specific instance of what happens and the full understanding was not preserved. The only way that this criteria therefore could be met is if we have the entire collection of everything the prophet thought, did, and said so that we do not lose any of the context. The Quran is the only consistent source that contains all religious laws a follower of Muhammad and the Quran are to uphold.

[39:29] GOD cites the example of a man who deals with disputing partners (Hadith), compared to a man who deals with only one consistent source (Quran). Are they the same? Praise be to GOD; most of them do not know.

(٢٩) ضَرَبَ اللَّهُ مَثَلًا رَجُلًا فِيهِ شُرَكَاءُ مُتَشَاكِسُونَ وَرَجُلًا سَلَمًا لِرَجُلٍ هَلْ يَسْتَوِيَانِ مَثَلًا الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ بَلْ أَكْثَرُهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ

Some Muslims compromise by stating: “If a Hadith agrees with the Quran we will accept it, and if it contradicts the Quran, we will reject it!” Such premise proves that these people do not believe God’s assertions that the Quran is “complete, perfect and fully detailed.” The moment they seek guidance from anything besides the Quran, no matter how “right” it seems, they fall into Satan’s trap. For they have rejected God’s word and set up another god besides God.

[18:57] Who are more evil than those who are reminded of their Lord’s proofs, then disregard them, without realizing what they are doing. Consequently, we place shields on their hearts to prevent them from understanding it (the Quran), and deafness in their ears. Thus, no matter what you do to guide them, they can never ever be guided.

 وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنْ ذُكِّرَ بِآيَاتِ رَبِّهِ فَأَعْرَضَ عَنْهَا وَنَسِيَ مَا قَدَّمَتْ يَدَاهُ إِنَّا جَعَلْنَا عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ أَكِنَّةً أَنْ يَفْقَهُوهُ وَفِي آذَانِهِمْ وَقْرًا وَإِنْ تَدْعُهُمْ إِلَى الْهُدَىٰ فَلَنْ يَهْتَدُوا إِذًا أَبَدًا

[17:45] When you read the Quran, we place between you and those who do not believe in the Hereafter an invisible barrier.

 وَإِذَا قَرَأْتَ الْقُرْآنَ جَعَلْنَا بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَ الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْآخِرَةِ حِجَابًا مَسْتُورًا

[17:46] We place shields around their minds, to prevent them from understanding it, and deafness in their ears. And when you preach your Lord, using the Quran alone, they run away in aversion.

(٤٦) وَجَعَلْنَا عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ أَكِنَّةً أَنْ يَفْقَهُوهُ وَفِي آذَانِهِمْ وَقْرًا وَإِذَا ذَكَرْتَ رَبَّكَ فِي الْقُرْآنِ وَحْدَهُ وَلَّوْا عَلَىٰ أَدْبَارِهِمْ نُفُورًا