Yes, this is the Islamic view of Prophet's words, that it is authoritative for all time, not only during his times

Will you please tell us how did you come with this conclusion ?
The Prophet ( PBUH ) was ordered to deliver the message AND explain it

بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ وَالزُّبُرِ وَأَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الذِّكْرَ لِتُبَيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ مَا نُزِّلَ إِلَيْهِمْ وَلَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ {44}

[16:44] With clear arguments and scriptures; and We have revealed to you the Reminder that you may make clear to men what has been revealed to them, and that haply they may reflect.
[Yusufali 16:44] ...... We have sent down to you the Reminder so that you may make clear to all people that has come down to them, so that they may reflect and be guided 

وَمَا أَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ إِلاَّ لِتُبَيِّنَ لَهُمُ الَّذِي اخْتَلَفُواْ فِيهِ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةً لِّقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ {64}

[16:64]And so it is, We have sent down the Book to you, specifically to make clear to them about which they dispute. Thus it is indeed a guidance and mercy for a people who believe ( in divine revelation ) 

Necessary for what ? Faith, practices, financial dealings, or what ?

Qur'an demonstrates the principles of some and the details of others, and instructs us to follow the Prophet (PBUH) in application of all for He ( PBUH ) is the role model for how to apply the principles and orders in the Qur'an

For instance, Qur'an demonstrates the principles and details of faith, but doesn't demonstrate the details of practices like prayers , fasting, zakah ( charity )

In Islamic fiqh ( jurisdiction ) there's about 1.2 million points of discussion ( yes 1 million 200 thousand ), the sources for these points doesn't come only from the Qur'an, it' is the First source, but not the only one

This is why when sayeda Aisha was asked about the manners of the Prophet (PBUH) , her answer was , don't you read the Qur'an ? His manners was the Qur'an

True, which was never done
but Qur'an also ordered us to follow the Prophet (PBUH)

Correct,

Imam Malik has a famous saying that illustrates muslims believe in that, when he stood near the grave of Prophet Muhammad ( PBUH ) and said

We can take and reject from everyone, except for that who's in this grave

True as well, because they come from the Prophet ( PBUH ) whose sayings are guided from God whom instructed us to follow the Prophet ( PBUH )

The Qur'an doesn't come directly from God as well, it comes through Prophet Muhammad ( PBUH )

The Qur'an instructed us to follow him, and this is why his words became authoriative

There're numerous verses that instructs believers to obey the Prophet ( PBUH ) , these verses are authoritative and for all times and so the instructions in it are for all times

مَّنْ يُطِعِ الرَّسُولَ فَقَدْ أَطَاعَ اللّهَ وَمَن تَوَلَّى فَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ عَلَيْهِمْ حَفِيظًا {80}
[ 4:80] Whoever obeys the Messenger, he indeed obeys Allah, and whoever turns back, so We have not sent you as a keeper over them.

فَلاَ وَرَبِّكَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ حَتَّىَ يُحَكِّمُوكَ فِيمَا شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ ثُمَّ لاَ يَجِدُواْ فِي أَنفُسِهِمْ حَرَجًا مِّمَّا قَضَيْتَ وَيُسَلِّمُواْ تَسْلِيمًا {65}

[4:65] But no, by the Lord, they can have no (real) Faith, until they make thee judge in all disputes between them, and find in their souls no resistance against Thy decisions, but accept them with the fullest conviction.

وَمَن يُطِعِ اللّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ فَأُوْلَـئِكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمَ اللّهُ عَلَيْهِم مِّنَ النَّبِيِّينَ وَالصِّدِّيقِينَ وَالشُّهَدَاء وَالصَّالِحِينَ وَحَسُنَ أُولَـئِكَ رَفِيقًا {69}
[Shakir 4:69] And whoever obeys God and the Messenger, these are with those upon whom Allah has bestowed favors from among the prophets and the truthful and the martyrs and the good, and a goodly company are they!

قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَاللّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ {3:31}
[3:31]Say(O Muhammad, to mankind): If you love God, then follow me, God will love you and forgive you your faults, and God is Forgiving, Merciful

قُلْ أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ فإِن تَوَلَّوْاْ فَإِنَّ اللّهَ لاَ يُحِبُّ الْكَافِرِينَ {32}
 [3:32 Say: Obey God and the Messenger; but if they turn back, then surely God does not love the unbelievers.

قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنِّي رَسُولُ اللّهِ إِلَيْكُمْ جَمِيعًا الَّذِي لَهُ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ لا إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ يُحْيِـي وَيُمِيتُ فَآمِنُواْ بِاللّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ النَّبِيِّ الأُمِّيِّ الَّذِي يُؤْمِنُ بِاللّهِ وَكَلِمَاتِهِ وَاتَّبِعُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ {158}
[7:158] .... and follow him ( the Prophet )so that you may be guided."

وَأَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ {132}
[3:132] And obey God and the Messenger; that ye may obtain mercy.

Whom do you refer to by 'we' ? for muslims don't think so for sure

If we follow what you're implying to, then here's something that we don't know, which you would consider unimportant, and not an essential part of Islam

We wouldn't know the details of each prayers, that Morning prayer ( subh ) is 2 rak'a while Noon prayer( zuhr ) is 4 ...etc.
We wouldn't know how to perform prayer, do we read Qur'an first then bow down , or the other way around, do we read Qur'an , or zikr or .. ?
Wouldn't know when we should break our fasting, is it immediately after sunset while there's light visible, or when it's totally dark
We wouldn't know how much money one should own before paying zakah, for how long, and how much is the zakah we should pay
We wouldn't know which month we perform hajj, how to perform it

The list goes on

Basicly Islam would me more of a spiritual practices, that's based on each individual preferences, not a religion that unites believers

This is probably what many people want Islam to be, but this is not the Islamic belief

The idea you're talking about is not new, it's almost 1300 years old, and has been refuted since then
Some people who call themselves the Qur'anist share some of the things you proposed, and their ideas have been refuted as well

It's worth noting that the Prophet ( PBUH ) warned us explicitly from doing just tha, He ( PBUH ) said :

It's close that a man leaning on his couch and when he's spoken to by my words he would say:

"what's between us and you is the book of God ( only ), what we find in it that's permissible ( halal ) we consider permissible and what we find in it forbidden ( haram ) we consider forbidden!"

For what the messenger of God made forbidden is the same as what God made forbidden

Narrated by Ibn Majja ( 12 ) and Al Darami ( 585 )

So, what you're proposing has been refuted, and we have been warned to not do since over 1400 years ago

Hope this explains all

Feel free to ask any more questions

Best Regards

I know nothing of angels, but I know plenty about humans.  To insult a man is not ordinarily blasphemous; and man by his very nature is imperfect and capable of mistakes. 

It is reasonable to suppose that a man could recite the "message" (the Quran) without errors, and if he did make an error Allah could correct him.  What I said was that there is no logical reason to suppose that Muhammad was correct in everything he said or did; and your quotes from the Quran do not support such a claim.

I've already mentioned the degree of reverence, the protection from insult, infallibility, the function of defining doctrine, and authority that transcends time and space.  However, I think it's more important to know what Muslims would consider to be the attributes of a partner to Allah.  Aside from the error of addressing prayers directly to Allah, what else would constitute the sin of shirk?

Edited by Ron Webb - 08 October 2009 at 6:11pm

 What is clear to you? Which is not even factual...capice, the main reason the Prophet(s) was sent to establish ...worship of one true God (Allah)...Prophet(s) showed it by his personal sunnah and hadith as per Gabrial's instructions which were not part of the Quran...

It is hilarious we have reincarnation of Rashad Khalifa in you here preaching Quran only stuff...It did not work for the Black Muslim reverts  though they tried for quite some time under Elijah M...
Ron, you are barking up the wrong tree...preaching us go the same way as the Christians, where they had a questionable collection of stories and that church took all the liberties in creating the dogma, make it fit any or all circumstances!
And ended up with
What you are saying if the Muslim prayers methods are not found in Quran then they are not important and don't need to be practiced even if they been continually handed down from the Prophet(s) time unbroken... What a proposal you have here asking Muslims to commit a creedal suicide WOW, you have lot of nerve amigo...What the colonist couldn't achieve in a century of control you want to get done with this...
BTW Have you tried this hand on Orthodox Jews asking them to stick to Torah and forget about Midrash and Mishnah and see how far you get!
Tell you what you want to learn or just waste our time in talking nonsense...

Finally the Quran is an executive summary of Allah's plans with references of past and future... the study of sunnah and hadith gives you how were plans executed and the guidelines on how to handle entirely new situations and stay within the legal parameters and not be like the non believers of the hereafter!


Edited by Sign*Reader - 09 October 2009 at 4:22pm

If Im not mistaken and im sorry if this was mentioned but Prophet Muhammad had a right to establish rules, the Prophets were leaders of man.And be it that He is the last Rasool his law is last.what happen Ron you went and found Jesus did you?or are you still Humanist Prophet Muhammad was the best of Humans. [IMG]smileys/smiley2.gif" align="middle" />

Edited by Akhe Abdullah - 10 October 2009 at 11:55am

AsSalam Alaykoum Sign*Reader ( interesting name, I have to say )

I'm sorry but your statement lacks some information, which I find many muslims who didn't study history of hadith don't know about

Recording comes in different ways, it could be by writing or by memorizing and informing others

As for memorizing,
Prophet Muhammad ( PBUH ) encouraged us to hear his words, understand it and transfer it to another as we heard it, the hadiths in this topic are famous, I can post some if you want
Also note memorizing was the main method of transmitting data for Arabs, who were used to memorize thousands of lines of poetry like you would memorize your home address
This shouldn't be of any surprise to you, when you can find children who memorize all of the Qur'an by heart, every single word and letter

As for writing
It is true that Prophet Muhammad ( PBUH ) forbade companions in the early days of Islam to write his own words, but he later on allowed some companions to do so such as Abdulllah ibn Amr in Al'As
Many companions had documents, written in it the hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad ( PBUH )

Some of them are :
 
Sa'ad Ibn Ubada Al Ansari
Abdullah ibn Abi Awfa
Samra bin jundub
Aby Rafe'
Abu Harira
Abu Mussa Al Ash'ari ( Kept in Saheed Aly basha library in Istanbul )
Gabir ib Abdullah ( Kept in Saheed Aly basha library in Istanbul )

and God knows best

AsSalam Alaykoum