Answer: Peace be upon you. The Quran informs us that the entire Quran was placed into Prophet Muhammad’s soul on the 27th Night of Ramadan, after which he was required to reveal it to the people over a period of time (97:1, 17:1, 44:3, 53:1-18, 17:106). This content, often referred to as “the revelation,” was written down by the prophet in his own hand and delivered by him in stages over a period of 23 years.
Besides than this, we learn that the prophet had also received other information/communication from God, but which but which was not meant to be recorded as part of the Quran text. For example, the instructions for which passages of Quran where to be delivered when and where, or the final sequence in which the Quran content was to be compiled etc. — these were all independent instructions given to him.
Let’s look at a more detailed example. Verse 66:3 specifically tells us that God informed Prophet Muhammad about something his wives did, but we do not know what exactly God told him.
[66:3] The prophet had trusted some of his wives with a certain statement, then one of them spread it, and GOD let him know about it. He then informed his wife of part of the issue, and disregarded part. She asked him, “Who informed you of this?” He said, “I was informed by the Omniscient, Most Cognizant.”
What is important and relevant for us to know is not the exact words that God told the prophet, but the lessons we can get from the verses about how a certain matter was dealt with. This is explained in verses 66:4-5 and several lessons can be learned from them such as: nothing is hidden from God; we must obey/trust God’s messenger and never betray him or disregard his instructions; God always establishes the truth; God supports His servants; you must repent and reform from errors.
Therefore, what is there in the Quran is all we need to know for our salvation. The Quran is extremely efficiently designed where specific details are mentioned where required, or sometimes only a few words are adequate to fully address a subject (10:37, 18:109). Or God may explain it through examples as above. Similarly, the prophet will have received instructions or information about dealing with the community, wars etc., but which was not to be recorded as part of the Quran text.
Unfortunately, traditional Muslims who are not satisfied with the Quran alone, interpret this “other information” to be the information that is found in the books of Hadith. On this basis, they assume that to understand the Quran and “follow the messenger,” they have to refer to the information the Hadith books.
This is completely incorrect and out of context of course. To follow the messenger means to do as he did – worship God alone and follow the Quran alone (3:79, 6:162, 17:73). Prophet Muhammad did not decree the Hadith. He was not even allowed to explain the Quran, because God is the Teacher of the Quran (55:1-2, 75:16-17). The books of Hadith & Sunna are satanic innovations falsely attributed to Prophet Muhammad about what he is supposed to have said or done.