so long as it causes intoxication, it is unlawful.

Likewise, with regard to the third hadith, innovations are too numerous to catalogue or even count; yet this concise report states unambiguously, “Every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.”

Here we have detailed rulings conveyed through overarching principles.

The specific legal decisions you already know are usually spelled out item by item in the Sunnah, while at times—such as the laws of inheritance—they are mentioned directly in the Quran.

As for the hadith just cited, it is authentic, and acting upon it is entirely within our reach. Another hadith declares, “I have left with you two things; you will never go astray so long as you hold fast to them: the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger.” 1

To cling to the rope of Allah that lies in our hands, therefore, is to implement the Sunnah that explicates the Quran.