WHAT IS SUNNAH
INTRODUCTION
Sunnah (sunnah, سنة, Arabic: [sunna], plural سنن sunan [sunan]) is the verbally transmitted record of the teachings, deeds and sayings, silent permissions (or disapprovals) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as various reports about Muhammad's companions. The Quran (the holy book of Islam) and the Sunnah make up the two primary sources of Islamic theology and law. The Sunnah is also defined as "a path, a way, a manner of life"; "all the traditions and practices" of the Islamic prophet that "have become models to be followed" by Muslims.
In the pre-Islamic period, the word sunnah was used with the meaning "manner of acting", whether good or bad. During the early Islamic period, the term came to refer to any good precedent set by people of the past, including the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Under the influence of Al-Shafi'i, who argued for priority of Muhammad's example as recorded in hadith over precedents set by other authorities, the term al-sunnah eventually came to be viewed as synomymous with the sunnah of Muhammad.
The sunnah of Muhammad includes his specific words (Sunnah Qawliyyah), habits, practices (Sunnah al Fiiliyyah), and silent approvals (Sunnah Taqririyyah). According to Muslim belief, Muhammad was the best exemplar for Muslims, and his practices are to be adhered to in fulfilling the divine injunctions, carrying out religious rites, and moulding life in accord with the will of God. Instituting these practices was, as the Quran states, a part of Muhammad's responsibility as a messenger of God. Recording the sunnah was an Arabian tradition and, once people converted to Islam, they brought this custom to their religion.
The word "Sunnah" is also used to refer to religious duties that are optional, such as Sunnah salat.
The word Sunnah has several, different yet close meanings. Sunnah may mean a way of life, or a path or behavior that is followed whether praiseworthy, or otherwise. Mostly, however, it refers to something good. The Prophet said, "Whoever starts a good Sunnah he will get the reward for it and the reward of others who would do the same thing until the Day of Judgment. And whoever does a bad Sunnah he will have the punishment for doing it and the punishment of others who practice it." [Muslim]
Another Arabic root of the word Sunnah is bayaan, or making something clear through talking or acting. The most common meaning indicates that Sunnah is to initiate something or set an example to be followed. Hence, if a person started something that people then followed, he is considered to have established a Sunnah. The Prophet said, "For any soul, unjustly killed, the first son of Aadam, Abel, will carry a burden of its shedding, for he was the first to begin the Sunnah (or crime) of murder." [At-Tirmithi]
SUNNAH ACCORDING TO FUQAHA’S SCHOLARS
According to Fuqaha’ (Muslim jurists), the Sunnah refers to whatever is commended by Shari‘ah without an obligation to do it; those who do it are rewarded, while those who do not are not punished, such as Salat-ul-Duha (supererogatory Prayer after sunrise), offering two or four Rak‘ahs (units of Prayer) before the Zhuhr (Noon) Prayer, Sawm (fasting) on the Day of ‘Ashura‘ (10th of Muharram) and on three days every month, and so on.
In this sense, Sunnah is a degree between a Fard (obligation) and a Mubah (permissible).
It is also used to refer to the linguistic meaning of the word, which is "the way".
This is its general meaning and there is no contradiction between its other meanings; rather the difference between them arises from the diversity of the branches of sciences studying Sunnah and the terms used by the scholars in each branch.
Second, you can refer to the definition of the Qur’an, Sunnah, Hadith and Athar in the books on the sciences of Hadith and Usul-ul-Fiqh, in addition to the chapters on optional Salah and Sawm and similar books of Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence).
ACCORDING TO SCHOLARS OF HADITH
First, according to the Hadith scholars, the Sunnah refers to everything that was authentically reported from the Prophet (peace be upon him), whether they are sayings, actions, approvals or moral and physical attributes.
According to the scholars of Hadeeth, is more comprehensive for it is inclusive of everything related to the person and life of the Prophet . They defined the Sunnah as "Anything narrated from or about the Prophet either before or after he became a prophet, of his statements, actions, confirmations, biography, and his physical character and attributes." This is the definition, which we will be using throughout this series Insha Allah.
SUNNAH ACCORDING TO SCHOLARS OF SHARIAH
As an Islamic term, scholars of the different disciplines of Sharee'ah (Islamic Law) have defined Sunnah in slightly different ways to suit their fields' perspectives. According to Legal theorists who typically regard the Sunnah as a source for the principles used in the derivation of rulings of various Islamic Jurisprudence matters, define it as "The statements, actions and approvals (or disapprovals) of Prophet Muhammad." The jurists use the word Sunnah in two different ways. On one hand, like the Legal theorists, they define Sunnah as the statements, actions, and approvals of' the Prophet,. On the other hand, and since the role of the jurists is to judge actions and indicate their rulings as obligatory, recommended, etc., they use the term Sunnah to indicate actions as being recommended or praise-worthy.
VERBAL SUNNAH
The Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him) can be broken down into three broad categories with respect to how it conveys the meaning of Islamic legal rulings.
The first of these is the verbal Sunnah. These are the teachings that the Prophet (peace be upon him) conveyed to us by his words. An example of this would be when he said: “Actions are only by their intentions” and when he said: “There is no prayer for one who has not read the opening chapter of the Book.”
The second category is the practical Sunnah. These are the matters that the Prophet (peace be upon) him taught us through his actions. He showed us how to perform the Pilgrimage through his practical example after saying: “Take from me the rites of Hajj.” Likewise, he taught us how to conduct our prayers by performing his prayers. He commanded us: “Pray as you have seen me praying.”
This information was then conveyed to later generations by the Companions who had observed the Prophet (peace be upon him) directly.
Such hadîth are often related with wordings like: “The Prophet used to do such and such” like `A’ishah’s statement: “Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) used to pray at night thirteen units of prayer. Then, when he heard the call for the Morning Prayer, he would offer two brief units.” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî]
Another example is Ibn `Umar’s statement: “Allah’s Messenger used to deliver two sermons, sitting down between them.” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî]
The third category of the Sunnah is the tacit approvals of the Prophet (peace be upon him). These are matters that the Prophet (peace be upon him) concurred with through his silence about them.
An example of this is when Anas said: “During the era of Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) we used to offer two units of prayer right after sunset before the Maghrib prayer.”
Anas was asked: “Did Allah’s Messenger offer them?”
He replied: “He used to see us offering them and neither commanded us nor forbade us.”
All three of these categories are used equally as evidence for establishing Islamic legal rulings.
HADITH
1. Ittisaal as-Sanad (Continuity of the chain of transmitters)
The chain of narrators or transmitters, who are relating the Matn (text), has to be unbroken for the hadith to be considered. That is none of the transmitters must be missing from the chain and each narrator, Raawee, has to have met the transmitter directly preceding him as well as the one directly following him. Each Raawee has to be a known individual, otherwise he is classified as majhool (unknown) and the sanad is classified as broken.
2. ‘Adaalah (integrity)
The integrity of the narrators is the second key condition for a hadith to be considered valid. By integrity we mean that the narrator was a practicing Muslim and was not known to have done any of the major (forbidden things) if he was a known liar he is classified as kaththaab and the hadith that he has transmitted is classified as da‘eef. These are the conditions verified through the references of the biographical science of hadith known as Kutub ar-Rijaal.
3. Dabt (accuracy)
The accuracy of the text is determined by two factors either of which is sufficient by itself.
(a) Dabt as-Sadr (Soundness of memory) Each narrator must be known for his ability to memorize and repeat with a high degree of accuracy. If a narrator had a tendency to repeat hadith in a number of different ways such a hadith is classified as Mudtarib (confused) and any other hadith that he narrates will be classified as Da‘eef. When the narrator’s level of accuracy is mediocre but the other conditions for authenticity are fulfilled, the hadith is classified as hasan.
(b) Dabt al-Kitaabah (Written accuracy) Each narrator who does not fulfil precondition “a”, must be known for recording his hadith in books accurately and his narrations only be from his books, these two preconditions (a,b) are also verified by Kutub ar-Rijaal (books on Biographies of narrators).
4. Ghayr Shaathth (conformity)
It is critical that the hadith conform to similar hadiths narrated on the same topic whose chains are stronger. If the text of a hadith contradicts that of another well-known text whose chain of narration is stronger, or it is in conflict with a group of other narrators of a similar status, it is classified as shaathth (errant), which is one of the categories of hadith da‘eef(weak).
5. Laa ‘Illah (absence of hidden defect)
The hidden defect is one that causes the hadith to appear to be sound and only become evident after deep investigation. For a hadith to be considered sound (saheeh) it has to be free of hidden defects. A hadith with hidden defects is called ma‘lool or mu‘allal. Ibn al-Madeenee (d. 324AH) said that a defect can only be revealed if all the isnaads of the hadith are collated. In his book, al-Ilal, he listed 34 Successors and the names of the Companions they heard hadiths directly from. For example, he said that al-Hasan al-Basree (d. 110AH) did not meet ‘Alee (d. 40AH), although there is a slight possibility that he may have seen him during his childhood in Madeenah. Such information is very important as it disproves the many Sufi traditions in which they claim that al-Hasan heard from ‘Alee. Only a few hadith scholars compiled books on this topic, among them, Ibn Abee Haatim ar-Raazee (d. 327), al-Khallaal (d. 311) and ad-Daaraqutnee (d. 385)
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