Where Islamic teaching comes from
Islamic Studies · Key Stage 2 · The School
Two main sources
The QURAN is the revealed text. The SUNNAH is the Prophet's ﷺ own practice — what he said, did and approved — reported in HADITH. The Quran commands prayer; the Sunnah shows what prayer looks like. Neither works alone, which is why Muslims hold both.
How a hadith is checked
Every hadith has a chain of narrators and a text. Scholars examined who narrated it, whether they could have met, and what was known of their memory and honesty. Reports are graded sahih (sound), hasan (good), daif (weak) or mawdu (fabricated). Whole libraries of biographies exist for this one purpose.
Why scholars differ
A report may reach one scholar and not another. An Arabic word may carry two meanings. Two sound reports may seem to pull different ways, needing a rule for which applies. That is why there are schools of law — not carelessness, but careful people reading a vast body of text and documenting their reasoning so it can be checked.
QUESTION: may I combine two prayers when travelling? STEP 1, the Quran: 4:101 mentions shortening prayer when travelling. STEP 2, the Sunnah: authentic reports describe the Prophet ﷺ combining Dhuhr with Asr and Maghrib with Isha on journeys. STEP 3, the scholars: they differ on what counts as a journey and how far. So the answer is yes, with conditions your own scholar can state for your situation.