The Quranic Code of Conduct

Introduction

One of the most persistent claims made by the defenders of hadith is that the Quran provides only the broad outlines of Islamic conduct - the general principles - while the practical details of how a believer should actually live are found exclusively in the hadith and Sunna of the prophet. Without the hadith, the argument runs, a Muslim would not know how to pray, how to fast, how to behave toward their parents, their neighbors, their enemies, or their spouse. The Quran, on this account, is a framework. The hadith fills it in.

This claim contradicts God's own description of His Book:

[12:111] This is not fabricated Hadith; this (Quran) confirms all previous scriptures, provides the details of everything, and is a beacon and mercy for those who believe.

[16:89] We have revealed to you this book to provide explanations for everything, and guidance and mercy and good news for the submitters.

[6:38] We did not leave anything out of this book.

God says the Quran contains a detailed account of all things. Not most things. Not the important things. All things - within the scope of the Book's defined purpose, which is to provide the complete guidance necessary for salvation and righteous living. Those who claim otherwise are not offering a scholarly refinement of what God said. They are contradicting it.

The list that follows is a summary - not an exhaustive compilation - of the behavioral instructions found in the Quran. It covers the believer's obligations to God, religious practice, and conduct toward other human beings. Even in summary form, it runs to nearly two hundred items. The complete Quranic code of conduct, when all related verses on each topic are gathered - the full instructions for Salat, Zakat, fasting, Hajj, marriage, divorce, inheritance, trade, and the treatment of every category of person a believer encounters - extends into the hundreds beyond that.

The claim that this Book does not contain a code of conduct is not a scholarly position. It is a statement made by people who have not read it carefully.

A note on scope: with the exception of a small number of instructions connected specifically to circumstances of the early revelation - certain battle conditions, or instructions addressed to the prophet or his wives alone - every item in the following list is addressed to all believers for all times.

Part One: What the Quran Commands

The following are the obligations and positive instructions God places on the believer.

Obligations to God

1)Believe in the One God, His angels, His Scripture, and His messengers (2:285)
2)Worship God alone (17:23)
3)Devote the religion purely to God alone (39:11)
4)Strive in the cause of God (9:20)
5)Reverence God (64:16)
6)Obey God and His messenger (5:92)
7)Remember God frequently (33:41)
8)Praise and glorify God often (50:39, 30:18, 40:55, 20:130, 52:48-49)
9)Put your trust in God (64:13)
10)Fear no one but God (2:150)
11)Love God above all else (2:165)
12)Repent to God sincerely and seek His forgiveness (11:90, 66:8)
13)Implore God (40:60)
14)Thank God and show gratitude (16:114, 14:7)
15)Proclaim God's blessings to others (93:11)
16)Call God by His Beautiful Names (7:180)
17)Seek God (94:8), His consent (2:207), and His Face (2:272, 76:9)

Religious Obligations

18)Utter the Shahada with the name of God (3:18)
19)Observe the Salat (24:56)
20)Give the Zakat (24:56)
21)Fast the month of Ramadan (2:185)
22)Perform Hajj and Umrah (2:196)
23)Utter God's name over what you eat (6:118)
24)Read the Quran carefully and reflect on its meaning (4:82, 47:24)
25)Seek refuge in God before reciting the Quran (16:98)
26)Draw a will when death approaches (2:180)

Conduct Toward Others and Oneself

27)Lead a righteous life and do good deeds (17:25, 29:9)
28)Give honest testimony, even against your parents and close ones (4:135)
29)Treat parents kindly (17:23)
30)Lower the wings of humility toward them (17:24)
31)Speak in the best of manners (17:53)
32)Seek the Hereafter and invest for it, without neglecting your share in this life (17:19, 28:77)
33)Debate with wisdom and sound advice (16:125)
34)Forgive others, even the disbelievers (45:14)
35)Speak the truth (33:24)
36)Enjoy God's blessings (5:88, 71:12, 14:34)
37)Take only what is given freely (7:199)
38)Maintain sexual morality before marriage (24:33)
39)Be charitable, and giving in secret is better (33:35, 2:271)
40)Practice what you preach (2:44)
41)Lower your gaze (24:30-31)
42)Purify your self (9:108)
43)Treat prisoners of war well and free them at the war's end (76:8, 47:4)
44)Spend in the cause of God (2:195)
45)Dress nicely when visiting the masjid (7:31)
46)Verify everything before following it (17:36)
47)Free slaves (90:13)
48)Apply the law of equivalence (2:178, 22:60, 42:40)
49)Advocate righteousness and forbid evil (3:110)
50)Exercise patience (11:115)
51)Honour your contracts (5:1)
52)Fulfil your oaths and pledges (2:177, 3:76, 17:34)
53)Be upright and straight in conduct (46:13)
54)When you forget, remember God for guidance (18:24)
55)Lower your tone when you speak (31:19)
56)Greet with the word "peace" (6:54)
57)Return a greeting with the same or a better one (4:86)
58)Reconcile between believing brothers who fight (49:10), between believing groups (49:9), and between any people in conflict (4:114)
59)Live in peace with those who offer you peace (8:61, 4:90)
60)Honour your treaties (9:4)
61)Suppress your anger (3:134)
62)Think well of others (24:12)
63)Turn away from idle talk and pass by it with dignity (23:3, 25:72)
64)Be humble (25:63)
65)Repel the bad deed with a good deed (41:34)
66)Stay away from sins and immoralities (53:32)
67)Mediate good deeds (4:85)
68)Speak kindly to people (2:83)
69)Speak in a correct, straightforward, and dignified manner (33:70, 17:53)
70)Speak gentle words even to your enemies (20:44)
71)If you cannot help someone in need, at least speak kindly to them (17:28)
72)Win over your enemies with good deeds (41:34)
73)Settle matters among believers through consultation (42:38)
74)If you punish, give a punishment equivalent to what you received (16:126)
75)Live with your wife in kindness (4:19)
76)Write down loan agreements and have them witnessed (2:282)
77)Grant the debtor more time if he faces hardship (2:280)
78)When called upon to judge, judge equitably (4:58)
79)Uphold justice (4:135)
80)Adhere to the Quranic rules for marriage and divorce
81)Follow the Quranic women's dress code (24:31, 33:59, 7:26)
82)Follow the Quranic instructions of inheritance (4:11-12)
83)Return what you hold in trust to its rightful owners (4:58)
84)Give full measure when trading, and weigh with equitable scales (17:35)
85)Verify all news before acting upon it (49:6)
86)Do not die except as Submitters to God (3:102)

Part Two: What the Quran Forbids

The following are the prohibitions and negative instructions God places on the believer.

Obligations to God

1)Do not set up other gods beside God (17:22)
2)Do not commit shirk - associating anyone with God (4:36)
3)Do not worship the devil (36:60-61)
4)Do not love anyone as you love God (2:165)
5)Do not use God's name in vain pledges (2:224)
6)Do not fabricate lies about God (6:21)
7)Do not make lawful what God did not make lawful (16:116)
8)Do not prohibit what God did not prohibit (16:116)

Religious Obligations

9)Do not follow any hadith other than the Quran (45:6)
10)Do not accept any substitute to the Sunna of God (33:62)
11)Do not worship or idolize the prophets or the angels (3:79-80)
12)Do not call on anyone other than God (35:13-14, 72:18)
13)Do not use the masjid to commemorate any name other than God's (72:18)
14)Do not corrupt God's words (2:79, 3:78)
15)Do not conceal God's words knowingly (2:159)
16)Do not enter any masjid where deviation is practiced (9:107-108)
17)Do not distinguish between God's messengers (2:285)
18)Do not call God your "Father" or claim to be the "children of God" (5:18)
19)Do not force others into the religion (2:256)
20)Do not argue against God's revelations (40:4)
21)Do not break up into sects (6:159)
22)Do not approach God's revelations deaf and blind (25:73)

Conduct Toward Others and Oneself

23)Do not allow money or children to distract you from the remembrance of God (63:9)
24)Do not claim purity for yourself (53:32)
25)Do not make parents, children, siblings, spouses, relatives, wealth, business, or home dearer to you than God (9:24)
26)Do not ally with family members who choose disbelief over belief (9:23)
27)Do not follow the personal desires of those who deny God's revelations (6:150)
28)Do not charge a fee for preaching God's cause (38:86)
29)Do not suspect others without justification (49:12)
30)Do not insult or call each other names (49:11)
31)Do not lie (22:30)
32)Do not confer secretly to commit sin (58:8)
33)Do not turn back and flee in battle (8:15)
34)Do not oppress others - oppression can be worse than murder (2:217)
35)Do not spy on others (49:12)
36)Do not ridicule others (49:11)
37)Do not follow an act of charity with harm (2:263)
38)Do not withhold testimony (2:283)
39)Do not confuse the truth with falsehood (2:42)
40)Do not say "I will" without saying "If God wills" (18:23-24)
41)Do not shout the Salat nor whisper it (17:110)
42)Do not approach the Salat lazily (9:54)
43)Do not be too stingy nor too extravagant (17:29)
44)Do not cause corruption in the land (7:56)
45)Do not take or give bribes (2:188)
46)Do not knowingly conceal the truth (2:42)
47)Do not use foul language (4:148)
48)Do not backbite (49:12)
49)Do not ignore or turn away from those who seek your help (93:10, 80:1-4)
50)Do not enter homes without being welcomed (24:27)
51)Do not enter homes from their backs (2:189)
52)Do not engage in illicit sex or take secret lovers (5:5)
53)Do not throw yourselves into destruction (2:195)
54)Do not be arrogant or boastful (17:37, 31:18)
55)Do not seek praise for what you did not earn (3:188)
56)Do not deprive women and wives of their money (4:19-20)
57)Do not envy others (20:131)
58)Do not utter slander (68:11)
59)Do not spread rumours (24:15)
60)Do not abuse the believers (33:58)
61)Do not exaggerate in your religion (4:171)
62)Do not say what you do not do (61:3)
63)Do not insult others' false gods (6:108)
64)Do not seek reward or thanks for your good deeds (76:9)
65)Do not have sexual relations with your spouse during menstruation (2:222)
66)Do not mediate bad deeds (4:85)
67)Do not ask too many favours of people, even in poverty (2:273)
68)Do not mock those who have little to give (9:79)
69)Do not accuse others falsely (24:4)
70)Do not call those who offer you peace disbelievers (4:94)
71)Do not dismiss news merely because the source is untrustworthy - verify before acting (49:6)
72)Do not sit with those who mock God's revelations until they change the subject (4:140)
73)Do not treat people harshly or hardheartedly (3:159)
74)Do not drive people out of their homes (2:84)
75)Do not uphold religious matters merely through inherited tradition (31:21)
76)Do not be deceived by eloquent empty talk (2:204)
77)Do not covet what God has granted others (4:32)
78)Do not make your personal desire your god (25:43)
79)Do not spend your money to show off before others (2:264)
80)Do not follow what you have no knowledge of (17:36)

Prohibitions

81)Do not kill except in the course of justice (6:151)
82)Do not commit adultery (17:32)
83)Do not cheat orphans of their money (6:152, 17:34)
84)Do not bear false witness (25:72)
85)Do not commit theft (5:38)
86)Do not eat the prohibited foods (5:3)
87)Do not mistreat your parents (17:23)
88)Do not consume usury (2:275)
89)Do not cheat in weights and scales (7:85)
90)Do not use intoxicants or engage in gambling (2:219)
91)Do not kill your children for fear of poverty (17:31)
92)Do not marry those who are committing shirk (2:221)
93)Do not marry those forbidden to you by relation (4:23-24)
94)Do not force wives to remain against their will (2:231)
95)Do not break up into sects (6:159)
96)Do not aggress: fight only those who fight you (2:190)

Conclusion

The list above contains 182 instructions - and it is a summary. The complete Quranic code of conduct extends considerably further. Item 19 in the commands section states simply: Observe the Salat (24:56). The Quranic instructions for the Salat alone span numerous verses covering the times of prayer, the direction of prayer, the method of ablution, the physical positions, the words to be recited, the conditions under which it may be shortened, and the circumstances under which it may be combined. When all of this is gathered together, the Salat alone represents a substantial body of instruction. The same depth of detail applies to the Zakat, fasting, Hajj, marriage, divorce, inheritance, trade, and the full range of human relationships.

The claim that the Quran provides only broad outlines while the hadith supplies the details is not a theological insight. It is a statement of ignorance about what the Book actually contains - and beyond ignorance, it is a contradiction of what God says about His own Book. God did not say the Quran contains broad outlines. He said it contains a detailed account of all things (12:111) and provides explanations for all things (16:89). He said He left nothing out of it (6:38).

The words "all things" admit no qualification. No scholar's addendum, no hadith collection, and no tradition passed down through generations can supplement a Book that God described as already complete. To insist that it needs supplementing is to insist, against God's own testimony, that God left something out.

[4:122] ...and who is more truthful than GOD?