But Hadith warns of following Quran alone

Traditionalists love to refer to the following Hadith to argue that the Hadith warns of those who want to follow the Quran alone.

Narrated Al-Miqdam ibn Ma’dikarib: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Beware! I have been given the Qur’an and something like it, yet the time is coming when a man replete on his couch will say: Keep to the Qur’an; what you find in it to be permissible treat as permissible, and what you find in it to be prohibited treat as prohibited. Beware! The domestic ass, beasts of prey with fangs, a find belonging to confederate, unless its owner does not want it, are not permissible to you If anyone comes to some people, they must entertain him, but if they do not, he has a right to mulct them to an amount equivalent to his entertainment.

حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْوَهَّابِ بْنُ نَجْدَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو عَمْرِو بْنُ كَثِيرِ بْنِ دِينَارٍ، عَنْ حَرِيزِ بْنِ عُثْمَانَ، عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ أَبِي عَوْفٍ، عَنِ الْمِقْدَامِ بْنِ مَعْدِيكَرِبَ، عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَنَّهُ قَالَ ‏ “‏ أَلاَ إِنِّي أُوتِيتُ الْكِتَابَ وَمِثْلَهُ مَعَهُ أَلاَ يُوشِكُ رَجُلٌ شَبْعَانُ عَلَى أَرِيكَتِهِ يَقُولُ عَلَيْكُمْ بِهَذَا الْقُرْآنِ فَمَا وَجَدْتُمْ فِيهِ مِنْ حَلاَلٍ فَأَحِلُّوهُ وَمَا وَجَدْتُمْ فِيهِ مِنْ حَرَامٍ فَحَرِّمُوهُ أَلاَ لاَ يَحِلُّ لَكُمْ لَحْمُ الْحِمَارِ الأَهْلِيِّ وَلاَ كُلُّ ذِي نَابٍ مِنَ السَّبُعِ وَلاَ لُقَطَةُ مُعَاهِدٍ إِلاَّ أَنْ يَسْتَغْنِيَ عَنْهَا صَاحِبُهَا وَمَنْ نَزَلَ بِقَوْمٍ فَعَلَيْهِمْ أَنْ يَقْرُوهُ فَإِنْ لَمْ يَقْرُوهُ فَلَهُ أَنْ يُعْقِبَهُمْ بِمِثْلِ قِرَاهُ ‏”‏ ‏.‏

Sunan Abi Dawud 4604 https://sunnah.com/abudawud:4604

Yet the problem with referencing this Hadith as an argument against following the Quran alone is that many more Hadith go against following Hadith than ones are warning about following the Quran alone, like the example below.

---

Further Reading

• 19 Hadith Against Sunnah
• The Most Damning Hadith
• Anti-Hadith Hadith of Sahih al-Bukhari
• Using Hadith to argue against Hadith
• List of Anti-Hadith Hadith