601 - 004 - Part III: The Sunnah

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Part III: Sunnah

Since pre-Islamic times, the Arabic word sunnah has referred to a body of established customs and beliefs that make up a tradition. In Muslim legal and religious thought, the term became associated more specifically with the actions and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. Inspired by Allah to act wisely and in accordance with his will, Muhammad provided an example that complements Allah’s revelation as expressed in the Qur’an. His actions and sayings became a model for Muslim conduct as well as a primary source of Islamic law.

Because early Muslim teachings were transmitted orally, some disagreement. arose about the basis of the sunnah. Scholars studied the various hadith, reports of the words and deeds of Muhammad, to develop a comprehensive, authentic source. The competing explanations and definitions of the sunnah reflected the intellectual and ideological diversity of the early Muslim community. The concept of the sunnah, however, always remained important to the quest for meaning and certainty in Islamic practice and doctrine.

The expansion of Muslim territory and the existence of local tradition in the new lands created a need for a framework to deal with emerging legal and administrative conflicts. In this environment, Muslim scholars worked to put together the various interpretations of the sunnah. In the 800s, Sunni jurist Muhammad al-Shafi’i (767 – 820) sought to establish a strict definition of the term. He believed that the sunnah complemented the Qur’an by illustrating the principles of the sacred text, and he wanted to use it as an additional basis for Islamic law. He insisted that scholars study the hadith very closely to document the authoritative sunnah.

Al-Shafi’i’s definition of the sunnah created a formal, rigorous, and text-based framework for Muslim jurisprudence and legal practice. Sunni Muslims eventually accepted the notion that the sunnah of the Prophet was best preserved through this type of framework. Shi’i Muslims, however, continued to believe that the ideals of the Prophet could best be realized by following the teachings of the divinely guided imams, who interpreted the sunnah.

In Sufi writings, which reflect an emphasis on the mystical dimensions of Muslim thought and practice, the sunnah includes the Prophet’s spiritual values. Sufis believe that Muhammad transmitted these values through a series of Sufi teachers. For Sufis, the sunnah provides a concrete example of how Muslims might imitate the Prophet’s behavior regarding prayer and following 9(sought to halt this trend. Egyptian scholar Muhammad Abduh (1849 – 1905), for example, argued that Islam could be reconciled with progress and a scientific worldview. He advocated ijtihad (independent reasoning) and criticized taqlid, or unquestioned acceptance of tradition. Abduh did not reject the sunnah. Instead, he emphasized the difference between essential and nonessential traditions and urged Muslims to apply reason to the primary sources of Islam.

Traditionalist thinkers, by contrast, regarded the sunnah as unchanging and therefore not subject to human interpretation. Others have argued that the concept of sunnah remains valid because it serves as a tool to bring about change that benefits society.

In the later part of the 1900s, debate about the role of the sunnah took on greater significance as many Muslim countries attempted to incorporate Islamic tradition into their legal systems. This has be}en the case in Egypt, for Iran, Libya, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and elsewhere. As in the past, however, the importance of the sunnah as a source of guidance for believers transcends its public uses. The sunnah continues to influence Muslim identity and to enhance the moral lives of believers throughout the Islamic community.

Etymology

Sunnah is an Arabic word that means “habit” or “usual” practice.

Sunni Muslims are also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā’ah (“people of the tradition and the community [of Muhammad]”) or Ahl.

First Century Of Islam

Early schools of Islamic jurisprudence also had a more flexible definition of Sunnah than was used later, that being “acceptable norms” or “custom,” and was not limited to “traditions traced back to the Prophet Muhammad himself” (sunna al-nabawiyyah). It included examples of the Prophet’s Companions, the rulings of the Caliphs, and practices that “had gained general acceptance among the jurists of that school.” Evidence of the use of other “sunnas” at this time is found in the hadith comment made about a report on the difference in the number of lashes used to punish alcohol consumption (Muhammad and Abu Bakr ordered 40 lashes, Umar 80) — “All this is sunna”; and also on Umar’s deathbed instructions on where Muslims should seek guidance: from the Qur’an, the early Muslims (muhajirun) who emigrated to Medina with Muhammad, the Medina residents who welcomed and supported the muhajirun (the ansar), the people of the desert, and the protected communities of Jews and Christians (ahl al-dhimma – historical term referring to non-Muslims living in an Islamic state with legal protection).

It was Abū ʿAbdullāh Muhammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī, known as al-Shafi’i, who argued against this practice, emphasizing the final authority of a hadith of Muhammad, so that even the Qur’an was “to be interpreted in the light of traditions (i.e., hadith), and not vice versa.” While the Sunnah has often been called “second to the Qur’an,” (it has also been said to “rule over and interpret the Qur’an”) Al-Shafi’i “forcefully argued” that the sunnah stands “on equal footing with the Qur’an,” (according to scholar Daniel Brown) for (as Al-Shafi’i put it) “the command of the Prophet is the command of Allah.

His success was such that later writers “hardly ever thought of sunna as comprising anything but that of the Prophet.”

Alternative Views

“Living Sunnah”

In the 1960s, Fazlur Rahman Malik, an Islamic modernist and former head of Pakistan’s Central Institute for Islamic Research, advanced another idea for how the (Prophetic) Sunnah should be understood: as the normative example of the Prophet, but not “filled with absolutely specific content.” Rather it should be “a general umbrella concept” that could and should evolve as a “living and on-going process.” He argued that Muhammad had come as a “moral reformer” and not a “pan-legit,” and that the community of his followers would agree on the specifics of the sunna. If Western and Muslim scholars found that the isnad (chain of transmitters) and content of ahadith had been tampered by someone trying to prove the Muhammad had made a specific statement, this did not mean they were fraudulent. “Hadith verbally speaking does not go back to the Prophet, its spirit certainly does.” If hadith changed from the early schools to the time of al-Shafi’i, and then through tampering from al-Shafi’i to the collections of ahadith of al-Bukhari and al-Muslim’s, they actually formed a kind of ijma (consensus or agreement of the Muslim scholars). According to Rahman they were “materially identical” to ijma.

Non-Hadith Sunnah

Basic features of the Sunnah — such as worship rituals like salat (ritual prayer), zakat (ritual tithing), hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca), sawm (dawn to dusk fasting during Ramadan) — are known to Muslims from being passed down `from the many to the many` (according to scholars of fiqh such as Al-Shafi’i), rather than from consultation with books of hadith, (more often used to consult for answers to details not agreed upon or not frequently practiced).

According to Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, a Modernist(Islamic Modernism is a movement that has been described as “the first Muslim ideological response” attempting to reconcile Islamic faith with modern Western values such as nationalism, democracy, civil rights, rationality, equality, and progress), this passing down by continuous practice of the Muslim community (which indicates consensus) was similar to how the Qur’ān has been “received by the ummah” (Muslim community) through the consensus of the Prophet’s Companions and through their perpetual recitation. Consequently, Ghamidi sees this continuous practice sunnah as the true Sunnah — equally authentic to the Qur’an, but shedding orthodox sunnah and avoiding problematic basis of the hadith.

“Inner States”

According to the view of some Sufi Muslims who incorporate both the outer and inner reality of Muhammad, the deeper and true sunnah are the noble characteristics and inner state of Muhammad. To them Muhammad’s attitude, his piety, the quality of his character constitute the truer and deeper aspect of what it means by sunnah in Islam, rather than the external aspects alone. They argue that the external customs of Muhammad loses its meaning without the inner attitude and also many Hadiths are simply custom of the Arabs, not something that is unique to Muhammad.

Other Uses Of The Word

Sunnah Salat

In addition to being “the way” of Islam or the traditional social and legal custom and practice of the Islamic community, sunnah is often used as a synonym for “mustahabb (encouraged)” rather than wajib/fard (obligatory) regarding some commendable action (usually the saying of a prayer). Mustahabb/sunnah deeds are those that earn a reward in the afterlife for those who do them, but will not bring any punishment for those who neglect them. According to Islam Q&A website of Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid this second definition of sunna is used by “scholars of usool and fiqh” for acts that are “mustahabb (encouraged),” in the five categories of Shari’a rulings (known as “the five decisions” or five akram).

Salât as-Sunnah are optional prayers performed in addition to the five daily compulsory Salât prayers. Some are done at the same time as the compulsory prayers, some are done only at certain times, e.g., late at night, and some are only done for specific occasions such as during a drought. They are called Sunnah because how they are practiced is based on stories, narrations, interpretations, traditions of Muhammad by his companions. “Examples include al-Sunan al-Rawaatib” (Sunnah prayers which Muhammad did regularly), “Salaat al-Duhaa and so on.” Sunnah Mu’akkadah are actions Muhammad “never omitted to do, whether he was travelling or not,” such as the prayers Sunnat al-Fajr and al-Witr.

Use In The Qur’an

The word “Sunna” appears several times in the Qur’an, but there is no specific mention of sunnat al-rasool (sunna of the messenger) or sunnat al-nabi or sunna al-nabawiyyah (sunna of the prophet), i.e., the way/practice of Prophet Muhammad. (There are several verses calling on Muslims to obey Muhammad — see below.) Four verses (8.38, 15.13, 18.55) use the expression “sunnat al-awwalin,” which is thought to mean “the way or practice of the ancients.” It is described as something “that has passed away” or prevented unbelievers from accepting Allah. “Sunnat Allah” (the “way of Allah”) appears eight times in five verses. In addition, verse 17.77 talks of both the way of other, earlier Muslim messengers (Ibrahim, Musa, etc.), and of “our way”, i.e., Allah’s way.

[This is] the way (sunna) of those whom we sent [as messengers] before you, and you will not find any change in Our way.

Basis Of Importance

The Qur’an contains numerous commands to follow the Prophet. Among the Qur’anic verses quoted as demonstrating the importance of hadith/sunnah to Muslims are:

Say: Obey Allah and obey the Messenger, Which appears in several verses: 3:32, 5:92, 24:54, 64:12

Your companion [Muhammad] has not strayed, nor has he erred, Nor does he speak from [his own] inclination or desire.

“A similar (favor have ye already received) in that We have sent among you a Messenger of your own, rehearsing to you Our Signs, and sanctifying you, and instructing you in Scripture and Wisdom, and in new knowledge.

“Ye have indeed in the Messenger of Allah a beautiful pattern (of conduct) for any one whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day, and who engages much in the Praise of Allah.”

The teachings of “wisdom” have been declared to be a function of Muhammad along with the teachings of the scripture. Several Qur’anic verses mention “wisdom” (hikmah) coupled with “scripture” or “the book” (i.e., the Qur’an), and it is thought that in this context, “wisdom” means the sunnah.

Surah 4 (An-Nisa), ayah 113 states: “For Allah hath sent down to thee the Book and wisdom and taught thee what thou Knewest not (before): And great is the Grace of Allah unto thee.”

Surah 2 (Al-Baqara), ayah 231: “. . . but remember Allah’s grace upon you and that which He hath revealed unto you of the Scripture and of wisdom, whereby He doth exhort you.”

Surah 33 (Al-Ahzab), ayah 34: “And bear in mind which is recited in your houses of the revelations of Allah and of wisdom.”

Therefore, along with the Qur’an the sunnah was revealed. Modern Sunni scholars have examined both the sira and the hadith in order to justify modifications to jurisprudence (fiqh). For Muslims the imitation of Muhammad helps one to know and be loved by Allah]

Providing Examples

According to John Burton, paraphrasing Al-Shafi’i, “it must be remembered that the Qur’an text are couched in very general terms which it is the function of the sunnah to expand and elucidate, to make Allah’s meaning absolutely clear. There are a number of verses in the Qur’an where “to understand the context, as well as the meaning,” Muslims need to refer to the record of the life and example of the j

It is thought that verses 16:44 and 64 indicate that Muhammed’s mission “is not merely that of a deliveryman who simply delivers the revelation from Allah to us, rather, he has been entrusted with the most important task of explaining and illustrating” the Qur’an.

And We have also sent down unto you (O Muhammad) the reminder and the advice (the Qur’an), that you may explain clearly to men what is sent down to them, and that they may give thought.

And We have not sent down the Book (the Qur’an) to you (O Muhammad), except that you may explain clearly unto them those things in which they differ, and (as) a guidance and a mercy for a folk who believe. [Qur’an 16:64]

For example, while the Qur’an presents the general principles of praying, fasting, paying zakat, or making pilgrimage, they are presented “without the illustration found in Hadith, for these acts of worship remain as abstract imperatives in the Qur’an.”

Types Of Sunnah

There Are Three types Of Sunnah

Sunnah Qawliyyah – The sayings of Muhammad, generally synonymous with “hadith,” since the sayings of Muhammad are noted down by the companions and called “hadith.”
Sunnah Fiiliyyah – The actions of Muhammad, including both religious and worldly actions.
Sunnah Taqririyyah – The approvals of the Islamic Prophet regarding the actions of the Companions which occurred in two different ways:
When Muhammad kept silent for an action and did not oppose it.
When the Islamic Prophet showed his pleasure and smiled for a companion’s action.

In the terminology of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), Sunnah denotes whatever, though not obligatory, is “firmly established (thabata) as called for (matlub)”\ in Islam “onthe basis of a legal proof (dalîl shar`î).

Abd Allah ibn ‘Amr was one of the first companions to write down the hadith, after receiving permission from prophet Muhammad to do so. Abu Hurayrah memorized the hadith.

According to scholar Khaled Abou El Fadl, unlike the Qur’an, the Sunnah was not recorded and written during the Prophet’s lifetime, but was systematically collected and documented beginning at least two centuries after the death of Muhammad (i.e., the ninth century of the Christian era). He states: “the late documentation of the Sunna meant that many of the reports attributed to the Prophet are apocryphal or at least are of dubious historical authenticity. In fact, one of the most complex disciplines in Islamic jurisprudence is one which attempts to differentiate between authentic and inauthentic traditions.”

Sciences Of Sunnah

According to scholar Gibril Fouad Haddad, the “sciences of the Sunnah” (`ulûm as-Sunna) refer to:

The biography of the Prophet (as-sîra), the chronicle of his battles (al-maghâzî), his everyday sayings and acts or “ways” (sunan), his personal and moral qualities (ash-shamâ’il), and the host of the ancillary hadîth sciences such as the circumstances of occurrence (asbâb al-wurûd), knowledge of the abrogating and abrogated hadîth, difficult words (gharîb al-hadîth), narrator criticism (al-jarh wat-ta`dîl), narrator biographies (al-rijâl), etc., as discussed in great detail in the authoritative books of al-Khatîb al-Baghdâdî.

Sunnah And Hadith

Originally Muslim lawyers “felt no obligation” to provide documentation of hadith when arguing their case. Over the course of the second century under the influence of Imam Al-Shafi‘i (the founder of the Shafi’i school of jurisprudence), this changed so that now there is “rather broad agreement that Hadith must be the basis for authentication of any Sunnah,” and the “particular textual source for Sunnah is Hadith,” according to M.O. Farooq.

The Saudi Arabian Islam Question and Answer (Supervised by Muhammad Al-Munajjid) states that while:

The two terms are sometimes used synonymously (the words, actions or approval that are narrated about the Islamic prophet Muhammad; the name of the group “Ahl al-Hadeeth” which can also be called “Ahl as-Sunnah”; books such as “Kutub al-Hadeeth” which can also be called “Kutub as-Sunnah”).

They also can have different meanings (Sunnah refers in a general sense to the affairs, i.e., the path, the methodology and the way of the Islamic prophet Muhammad; and to “adhering to Islam in the manner prescribed, without adding to it or introducing innovations into the religion,” which hadith does not; fuqaha’ scholars use the word “Sunnah” when explaining the ruling on doing a specific action as being mustahabb (liked or encouraged), which they do not with hadith).

In the context of biographical records of Muhammad, sunnah often stands synonymous with hadith since most of the personality traits of Muhammad are known from descriptions of him, his sayings and his actions after becoming a prophet at the age of forty. Sunnah, which consists not only of sayings, but of what Muhammad believed, implied, or tacitly approved, was recorded by his companions in hadith. Allegiance to the tribal sunnah had been partially replaced by submission to a new universal authority and the sense of brotherhood among Muslims.

Early Sunni scholars often considered sunnah equivalent to the biography of Muhammed (sira). As the hadith came to be better documented and the scholars who validated them gained prestige, the sunnah came often to be known mostly through the hadith, especially as variant or fictional biographies of Muhammad spread.

Classical Islam often equates the sunnah with the hadith. Scholars who studied the narrations according to their context (matn) as well as their transmission (isnad) in order to discriminate between them were influential in the development of early Muslim philosophy. In the context of shari’a, Malik ibn Anas and the Hanafi scholars are assumed to have differentiated between the two: for example Malik is said to have rejected some traditions that reached him because, according to him, they were against the “established practice of the people of Medina.””

Sunnah On Shi’a Islam

Shi’a Islam does not use the Kutub al-Sittah (six major hadith collections) followed by Sunni Islam, therefore the Sunnah of Shi’a Islam and the Sunnah of Sunni Islam refer to different collections of religious canonical literature.

The primary collections of Sunnah of Shi’a Islam were written by three authors known as the ‘Three Muhammads,’ and they are:

Kitab al-Kafi by Muhammad ibn Ya’qub al-Kulayni al-Razi (940 AD);

Man la yahduruhu al-Faqih by Ibn Babawayh and Tahdhib al-Ahkam; and,

Al-Istibsar both by Shaykh Tusi.

Unlike Akhbari Twelver Shiites, Usuli Twelver Shiite scholars do not believe that everything in the four major books of the Sunnah of Shi’a Islam is authentic.

In Shi’a hadith one often finds sermons attributed to Ali in The Four Books or in the Nahj al-Balagha.

Changing Interpretations

The dynamics of Muslim history since the late eighteenth century, including an extended period of interaction, influence, and colonization by European powers, have created dramatically different conditions for the maintenance of inherited Muslim institutions and ideals. In many societies the authoritative role and shared sense of significance associated with the concept of the sunnah, and by the legal and ethical behavior and norms inspired by it, was curtailed or marginalized. New codes appropriated from European models and systems assumed a more prominent role, particularly in the areas of law, public administration, and governance.

This pattern of erosion was challenged by several Muslim intellectual reformers across the Muslim world. Muḥammad ῾Abduh (1849–1905), for instance, in his role as teacher at al‐Azhar and muftī of Egypt, challenged the view that Islam could not be reconciled with progress and a scientific worldview. He argued for the renewal of ijtihād (independent interpretation) and criticized taqlīd (unthinking acceptance of received tradition). He distinguished between essentials and nonessentials in the body of law and belief and urged Muslims to apply reason to the primary sources of Islam. Such a view influenced scholars in other parts of the Muslim world who were led to develop ideas that related the sources of Islam to changes in society and a newly emerging spirit of nationalism.

Among those whose views have been labeled literalist or fundamentalist, the normative character of the sunnah and its authority were regarded as unchanging and not subject to the vicissitudes of human thought or manipulation. It could only be mediated through the existing system of traditional juristic practice. Others, while according the sources primacy, contended that the vitality of the concept of sunnah was reflected in the historical role it had played as a tool in effecting change for the general benefit of society. Its role was not simply restrictive, but rather enabling.

|In the later part of the twentieth century this issue has taken on greater significance because many Muslim countries, as part of policies aimed at Islamization, wish to recover and define a role for tradition in sanctioning their codified legal systems. Such has been the case in Egypt, Iran, Libya, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates, among others. There is in all these instances an increasing recognition of the historical diversity that has existed and the need to reconcile the many strands of influence that have constituted past practice and inherited custom, within the paradigm of the sunnah. As in the past, the narrative force of the sunnah continues to transcend the public and rhetorical uses to which it may be put, fostering self‐identity and enhancing the private moral lives of Muslims wherever they

Part III: Sunnah

601 – 004

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Last Update: 04/2021