Hadith Contradicts Itself—God’s Revelation Doesn’t

Throughout history, countless writings authored by men have been pawned off as divine revelation by religious authorities. The Quran, however, provides a clear and uncompromising litmus test—one that exposes forgeries and affirms what is truly from God:

4:82 Why do they not study the Quran carefully? If it were from other than God, they would have found in it numerous contradictions.

أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ ٱلْقُرْءَانَ وَلَوْ كَانَ مِنْ عِندِ غَيْرِ ٱللَّهِ لَوَجَدُوا۟ فِيهِ ٱخْتِلَـٰفًا كَثِيرًا

According to this verse, consistency is not just a feature of divine revelation—it’s a prerequisite. Any text riddled with contradictions cannot be from God, no matter how sacred its label or how widespread its acceptance.

One of the claims we’ve discussed is that, ever since the time of Imam Shafi‘i, Sunni scholars have insisted that Hadith are wahi—divine revelation—in order to legitimize their use as a source of religious law alongside the Quran. But what happens when we apply the Quran’s test for divine authorship to the Hadith corpus? Unsurprisingly, we find it riddled with contradictions.