is the body of traditions and practices of the
Islamic prophet
Prophets in Islam () are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God's message on Earth and serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets are categorized as messengers (; sing. , ), those who transmit divine revelation, mos ...
Muhammad
Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
that constitute a model for
Muslims
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time supposedly saw, followed, and passed on to the next generations.
Differing from the
Sunni
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...
Muslims, the largest
Islamic denomination, is that of
Shia, who prioritize the role of
Imams in interpreting the sunnah and that the true interpreters are the
Twelve Imams, and
Sufi
Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism.
Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
who hold that Muhammad transmitted the values of sunnah "through a series of Sufi teachers".
According to
classical Islamic theories,
[ Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996: p.7] the sunnah is primarily documented by
hadith
Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...
—which are the verbally-transmitted record of the teachings, actions, deeds, sayings, and silent approvals or disapprovals attributed to Muhammad—and alongside the
Quran
The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
(the book of Islam) are the divine revelation (''
wahy'') delivered through Muhammad
that make up the primary sources of
Islamic law
Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, intan ...
,
beliefs
A belief is a subjective Attitude (psychology), attitude that something is truth, true or a State of affairs (philosophy), state of affairs is the case. A subjective attitude is a mental state of having some Life stance, stance, take, or opinion ...
, and
theology
Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...
.
The sunnah is classified into different types based on Muhammad's actions: his specific words (), his actions such as habits and practices (), and silent approvals ().
[Nasr, Seyyed H. "Sunnah and Hadith". ''World Spirituality: An Encyclopedia History of the Religious Quest''. 19 vols. New York: Crossroad Swag. 97–109.]
Historically, in
pre-Islamic Arabia
Pre-Islamic Arabia is the Arabian Peninsula and its northern extension in the Syrian Desert before the rise of Islam. This is consistent with how contemporaries used the term ''Arabia'' or where they said Arabs lived, which was not limited to the ...
, the term referred to 'manner of acting', (
Urf) whether good or bad
and recording of it was also an
Arabia
The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world.
Geographically, the ...
n tradition. Later, "good traditions" began to be referred to as sunnah and the concept of "Muhammad's sunnah" was established.
During the
early Islamic period, it included precedents set by both Muhammad,
and
his companions.
In addition, the sunnah of Muhammad was not necessarily associated with hadith.
[ Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996: p.10-12] The strict focus of Muhammad’s example—especially as recorded in hadith—as the only authoratative source of ''sunnah'' was established later, particularly by the scholar
Al-Shafi‘i ( 820 CE), in the late second century of Islam. The term (, ) then eventually came to be viewed as synonymous with the sunnah of Muhammad,
based on hadith reports, distinct from other practices.
According to Muslim belief, Muhammad was the best exemplar for Muslims, with the Quran instructing followers to emulate his conduct and enjoin his followers to obey him.
The sunnah serves as a guide not only for fundamental religious practices such as
salat
''Salah'' (, also spelled ''salat'') is the practice of formal ibadah, worship in Islam, consisting of a series of ritual prayers performed at prescribed times daily. These prayers, which consist of units known as rak'a, ''rak'ah'', include ...
(prayer), but for "even the most mundane activities", such as the order in which to cut fingernails or the proper length of a beard. Additionally, in
Islamic jurisprudence
''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.[Fiqh](_blank)
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...
, the term "sunnah" can also refer to optional religious duties, such as
sunnah salat (sunnah prayers), which are encouraged but not obligatory.
Definitions and usage
' ( ; : ' ) is an
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
word that means:
*"habit" or "usual practice" (USC glossary);
*"habitual practice, customary procedure or action, norm, usage sanctioned by tradition" (Wehr Dictionary);
*"a body of established customs and beliefs that make up a tradition" (Oxford Islamic Studies Online);
*"a path, a way, a manner of life" (M. A. Qazi);
*"precedent" or "way of life" (pre-Islamic definition,
Joseph Schacht and
Ignác Goldziher).
Its religious definition can be:
* "the Sunna of the Prophet, i.e., his sayings and doings, later established as legally binding precedents" (along with the Law established by the Quran) (Hans Wehr);
* "All of the traditions and practices of the Prophet" of Islam, "that have become models to be followed" by Muslims (M. A. Qazi);
* "the body of traditional social and legal custom and practice of the Islamic community" (Encyclopædia Britannica);
*"the actions and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad" (Oxford Islamic Studies Online).
* "''Al-Hikma'' (wisdom)", as per definition of
Shafi'i school
The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab () or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionis ...
in his book,
ar-Risala, based on his interpretation of Qur'an chapter
Al Imran .
Islam Web gives two slightly different definitions:
*"the statements, actions and approvals (or disapprovals) of Prophet Muhammad", (definition used by "legal theorists");
*"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" (used by scholars of hadith).
It was first used with the meaning of "law" in the
Syro-Roman law book before it became widely used in Islamic jurisprudence.
Sunnah and hadith
In the context of biographical records of Muhammad, sunnah often stands synonymous with
hadith
Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...
since most of the personality traits of Muhammad are known from descriptions of him, his sayings and his actions from hadith. According to Seyyed Nasr, the hadith contains the words of Muhammad, while the sunnah contains his words and actions along with pre-Islamic practices of which he approved. In the context of sharia,
Malik ibn Anas and the
Hanafi
The Hanafi school or Hanafism is the oldest and largest Madhhab, school of Islamic jurisprudence out of the four schools within Sunni Islam. It developed from the teachings of the Faqīh, jurist and theologian Abu Hanifa (), who systemised the ...
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
Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...
".
''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 (encouraged) rather than / (obligatory), regarding some commendable action (usually the saying of a prayer).
''Ahl as-Sunnah''
Sunni
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...
Muslims are also referred to as ("people of the tradition and the community (of Muhammad)") or for short. Some early Sunnî Muslim scholars (such as
Abu Hanifa
Abu Hanifa (; September 699 CE – 767 CE) was a Muslim scholar, jurist, theologian, ascetic,Pakatchi, Ahmad and Umar, Suheyl, "Abū Ḥanīfa", in: ''Encyclopaedia Islamica'', Editors-in-Chief: Wilferd Madelung and, Farhad Daftary. and epony ...
, al-Humaydî, Ibn Abî 'Âsim, Abû Dâwûd, and Abû Nasr al-Marwazî) reportedly used the term "the sunnah" narrowly to refer to Sunni Doctrine as opposed to the creeds of
Shia and other non-Sunni Islamic sects.
Sunnah literally means "face", "nature", "lifestyle", etc. In the time of
Muhammad
Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
's companion, newly converted Muslims accepted and rejected some set of creed by using reason. So many early Muslim scholars started writing books on creed entitled as "sunnah".
In the Quran
The word "sunna" appears several times in the Qur'an, but there is no specific mention of sunnah of the messenger or prophet (, or ), i.e. the way/practice of Muhammad (there are several verses calling on Muslims to obey Muhammad—see below). Four verses (8.38, 15.13, 18.55) use the expression "", 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 God. "" (the "way of God") 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. God's way:
This indicates to some scholars (such as
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi) that sunnah predates both the Quran and Muhammad, and is actually the tradition of the prophets of God, specifically the tradition of
Abraham
Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...
.
Christians
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...
,
Jews
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
and the Arab descendants of
Ishmael
In the Bible, biblical Book of Genesis, Ishmael (; ; ; ) is the first son of Abraham. His mother was Hagar, the handmaiden of Abraham's wife Sarah. He died at the age of 137. Traditionally, he is seen as the ancestor of the Arabs.
Within Isla ...
, the
Arabized Arabs or
Ishmaelites, when Muhammad reinstituted this practice as an integral part of Islam.
History and etymology
Prior to the "golden age of classical Islamic jurisprudence", the "ancient schools" of law prevailed.
The traditions not directly sourced from hadith or practice of Muhammad and instead traced solely to some Sahabah were also acknowledged as a source of jurisprudence. These were regarded by scholars of Islam – such as Nawawi – as "unrecorded hadith" which, while not explicitly attributed to Muhammad himself – were clearly practiced by the first generation of Muhammad's followers.
Al-Nawawi has listed
Zubayr ibn al-Awwam's ruling regarding ethics of sitting down during eating and drinking in his book,
Riyadh as Shaliheen, by basing the ethic in az-Zubayr practice, which was narrated by his son, Abdulah. Another manners and ethic ruling based on az-Zubayr is the prohibition of sleeping after
Sübuh, as well as the one concerning the ethics of sitting down while drinking.
Other examples of this kind of ''sunnah'' also include:
*the difference in the number of lashes used to punish alcohol consumption, Caliph
Ali reported that (Muhammad and
Abu Bakr
Abd Allah ibn Abi Quhafa (23 August 634), better known by his ''Kunya (Arabic), kunya'' Abu Bakr, was a senior Sahaba, companion, the closest friend, and father-in-law of Muhammad. He served as the first caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, ruli ...
ordered 40 lashes,
Umar
Umar ibn al-Khattab (; ), also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () and is regarded as a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Mu ...
80) — "All this is sunna";
*
Umar
Umar ibn al-Khattab (; ), also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () and is regarded as a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Mu ...
'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''); hadith of Muhammad are not mentioned.
According to historians (particularly
Daniel W. Brown), the classical Islamic definition of sunnah as the customs and practices of
Muhammad
Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
(only) was not the original one.
In
al-Ṭabarī's history of early Islam, the term "Sunnah of the Prophet" is not only used "surprisingly infrequently", but used to refer to "political oaths or slogans used by rebels", or "a general standard of justice and right conduct", and not "to specific precedents set by Muhammad", let alone hadith.
An early theological writing by
Hasan al-Basri (''Risala fi'l Qadar'') also is "empty of references to specific cases" when mentioning "Sunnah of the Prophet".
Daniel Brown states that the first extant writings of Islamic legal reasoning were "virtually hadith-free" and argues that other examples of a lack of connection between sunnah and hadith can be found in:
*''Kitāb al-Irjāʾ'' of al-Hasan b. Muhammad b. al-Hanafiyya;
*the first letter of
Abdallah ibn Ibad to
Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan
Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam (; July/August 644 or June/July 647 – 9 October 705) was the fifth Umayyad caliph, ruling from April 685 until his death in October 705. A member of the first generation of born Muslims, his early life in ...
;
*and the ''Risāla'' of
Abu Hanifa
Abu Hanifa (; September 699 CE – 767 CE) was a Muslim scholar, jurist, theologian, ascetic,Pakatchi, Ahmad and Umar, Suheyl, "Abū Ḥanīfa", in: ''Encyclopaedia Islamica'', Editors-in-Chief: Wilferd Madelung and, Farhad Daftary. and epony ...
addressed to ʿUthman al-Battī".
According to one source (Ahmad Kazemi Moussavi and Karim Douglas Crow), 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.
Four Madhhabs
The golden age, starting with the creation of the
Hanafi
The Hanafi school or Hanafism is the oldest and largest Madhhab, school of Islamic jurisprudence out of the four schools within Sunni Islam. It developed from the teachings of the Faqīh, jurist and theologian Abu Hanifa (), who systemised the ...
,
Maliki
The Maliki school or Malikism is one of the four major madhhab, schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas () in the 8th century. In contrast to the Ahl al-Hadith and Ahl al-Ra'y schools of thought, the ...
,
Shafi'i
The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab () or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionis ...
,
Hanbali
The Hanbali school or Hanbalism is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence, belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It is named after and based on the teachings of the 9th-century scholar, jurist and tradit ...
, and other schools of
fiqh
''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.[Fiqh](_blank)
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...
in the second century of Islam, limited sunnah to "traditions traced back to the Prophet Muhammad himself" (''sunna al-nabawiyyah''). The ancient regional schools of law, located in several major cities of the new Arab empire of Islam, including
Mecca
Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
,
Kufa
Kufa ( ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates, Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000.
Along with Samarra, Karbala, Kadhimiya ...
,
Basra
Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...
, and Syria, had a more flexible definition of sunnah than is now commonly used. This being the "acceptable norms" or "custom",
[ Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996: 11] which included examples of
Muhammad's companions, the rulings of the
Caliph
A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...
s, and practices that "had gained general acceptance among the jurists of that school".
Abū ʿAbdullāh Muhammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī (150–204 AH), known as
al-Shafi'i
Al-Shafi'i (; ;767–820 CE) was a Muslim scholar, jurist, muhaddith, traditionist, theologian, ascetic, and eponym of the Shafi'i school of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence. He is known to be the first to write a book upon the principles ...
, argued against flexible sunnah and the use of precedents from multiple sources,
emphasizing the final authority of a
hadith
Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...
of
Muhammad
Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
, 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 Quran", hadith has also been said to "rule over and interpret the Quran".
Al-Shafiʿi "forcefully argued" that the sunnah stands "on equal footing with the Quran" (according to scholar Daniel Brown), both being divine revelation. As Al-Shafi'i put it, "the command of the Prophet is the command of God" This, though, contradicts another point Shafi made, which was the sunnah was below the Quran.
Sunnah of Muhammad outranked all other, and "broad agreement" developed that "hadith must be the basis for authentication of any sunnah", (according to M. O. Farooq).
Al-Shafiʿi's success was such that later writers "hardly ever thought of sunnah as comprising anything but that of the Prophet".
Systemization of hadith
While the earliest Muslim lawyers "felt no obligation" to provide documentation of hadith when arguing their case, and the sunnah was not recorded and written during Muhammad's lifetime, (according to scholar
Khaled Abou El Fadl), all this changed with the triumph of
al-Shafi'i
Al-Shafi'i (; ;767–820 CE) was a Muslim scholar, jurist, muhaddith, traditionist, theologian, ascetic, and eponym of the Shafi'i school of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence. He is known to be the first to write a book upon the principles ...
and a "broad agreement" that hadith should be used to authenticate sunnah (according to M. O. Farooq),
over the course of the second century, when legal works began incorporating Prophetic hadith.
Hadith was now systematically collected and documented, but several generations having passed since the time of its occurrence meant that "many of the reports attributed to the Prophet are apocryphal or at least are of dubious historical authenticity" (according to Abou El Fadl). "In fact, one of the most complex disciplines in Islamic jurisprudence is one which attempts to differentiate between authentic and inauthentic traditions."
Classical Islam
Islam jurists divide sunnah into that which has no legal consequences – ''al-sunna al-ʿādīyah'' (the "personal habits and preferences" of Muhammad); and that which is binding on Muslims – ''al-sunna al-hudā''. The literalist
Zāhirī school disagrees holding that there was no sunnah whose fulfillment is not rewarded or neglect punished,
[ Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996: p.63] while classical Islam holds that following non-binding ''al-sunna al-ʿādīyah'' is meritorious but not obligatory.
Sufis see the "division between binding and non-binding" sunnah as "meaningless". Muhammad is ''
al-insān al-kāmil
In Islamic theology, ''al-Insān al-Kāmil'' (), also rendered as ''Insān-i Kāmil'' ( Persian/Urdu: ) and ' ( Turkish), is an honorific title to describe Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. The phrase means "the person who has reached perfection ...
'', the perfect man, ''labib-Allah'' beloved of God, an intercessor, a "channel of divine light". Imitating his every action is "the ultimate expression" of piety.
or in the words of
Al-Ghazālī:
Modernist Islam
In the 19th century, "social and political turmoil" starting with the decline of the
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...
, caused some Muslims to seek a more humanized figure of Muhammad. The miracle-performing "larger than life" prophetic figure was de-emphasized in favor of "a practical model for restoration of the Muslim community", a virtuous, progressive social reformer. Nasserist Egypt, for example, celebrated the "imam of socialism" rather than the cosmic "perfect man". One who argued against the idea of sunnah as divine revelation, and for the idea that Muhammad's mission was simply to transmit the Quran was
Ghulam Ahmed Perwez (1903–1985). He quoted the Quranic verse "The messenger has no duty except to proclaim
he message (Q.5:99), and pointed out several other verses where God corrects something Muhammad has done or said (8:67), (9:43), (66:1), thus demonstrating Muhammad's lack of supernatural knowledge.
This era of rapid social and technological change, decline of Muslim power, and replacement of classical madhhab by Western-inspired legal codes in Muslim lands,
[ Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996: p. 111] also suggested a turn away from the "detailed precedents in civil and political affairs", called for by traditional hadith, "for if worldly matters require detailed prophetic guidance, then every age will require a new prophet to accommodate changing circumstances".
Islamic revivalism
With de-colonialization in the late 20th century, a new
Islamic revival
Islamic revival ('' '', lit., "regeneration, renewal"; also ', "Islamic awakening") refers to a revival of the Islamic religion, usually centered around enforcing sharia. A leader of a revival is known in Islam as a '' mujaddid''.
Within the Is ...
emerged. Activists rather than theorists, they sought "to restore Islam to ascendency", and in particular to restore
Sharia
Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...
to the law of the lands of Islam it had been before being replaced by "secular, Western-inspired law codes" of colonialism and modernity. Like modernists, revivalists "vehemently rejected"
[ Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996: p.110] ''
taqlid'' and were not particularly interested in the classical schools of law (''
madhhab
A ''madhhab'' (, , pl. , ) refers to any school of thought within fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence. The major Sunni Islam, Sunni ''madhhab'' are Hanafi school, Hanafi, Maliki school, Maliki, Shafi'i school, Shafi'i and Hanbali school, Hanbali.
They ...
''). But revivalists like
Abul A'la Maududi and
Mustafa al-Siba'i support for "the authority of sunnah and the authenticity of
hadith
Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...
in general" was "unwavering", as was their opposition to "Hadith denialism".
At the same time they agreed that restoring relevant Sharia required "some reformulation" of the law, which would require a return to sources, which required agreement on how the sources were to be "interpreted and understand" and reassessment of hadith.
This involved examining hadith content (''matn'') for its spirit and relevance "within the context of the Sharia as a whole" according to the method of scholars of Islamic law (''
fuqaha'') and weeding out corrupted hadith inconsistent with "reason, with human nature, and with historical conditions".
Shibli Nomani,
Abul A'la Maududi,
Rashid Rida, and
Mohammed al-Ghazali being proponents of this effort.
Alternatives to classical hadith based sunnah
Although "most writers agree", including skeptics, that "sunnah and hadith must stand or fall together",
[ Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996: p.82] some (
Fazlur Rahman Malik
Fazlur Rahman Malik ( ; ; September 21, 1919 – July 26, 1988), commonly known as Fazlur Rahman, was a modernist scholar and Islamic philosopher from present-day Pakistan. Recognized as a leading liberal reformer within Islam, he focused on e ...
,
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi) have attempted to "establish a basis for sunnah independent of hadith",
working around problem of hadith authenticity raised by modernist and Western critics, while reaching back to pre-al-Shafiʿi meaning of sunnah.
"Living sunnah"
In the 1960s,
Fazlur Rahman Malik
Fazlur Rahman Malik ( ; ; September 21, 1919 – July 26, 1988), commonly known as Fazlur Rahman, was a modernist scholar and Islamic philosopher from present-day Pakistan. Recognized as a leading liberal reformer within Islam, he focused on e ...
, an
Islamic modernist and former head of Pakistan's Central Institute for Islamic Research, advanced another idea for how the (prophetic) sunnah—the normative example of Muhammad—should be understood: as "a general umbrella concept"
but not one "filled with absolutely specific content",
or that was static over the centuries. He argued that Muhammad had come as a "moral reformer" and not a "pan-legit", and that the specifics of the sunnah would be agreed upon community of his followers, evolving with changing times as a "living and on-going process". He accepted the criticism of Western and Muslim scholars that the content of many hadith and isnad (chain of transmitters) had been tampered with by Muslims trying to prove the Muhammad had made a specific statement—but this did not make them fraudulent or forgeries, because if "Hadith verbally speaking does not go back to the Prophet, its spirit certainly does".
Instead these collections of ahadith of al-Bukhari and al-Muslim's were ''
ijma
Ijma (, ) is an Arabic term referring to the consensus or agreement of the Islamic community on a point of Islamic law. Sunni Muslims regard it as one of the secondary sources of Sharia law, after the Qur'an, and the Sunnah.
Exactly what group s ...
'' (consensus or agreement of the Muslim scholars—which is another classical source of Islamic law).
Doing so, they follow the spirit of Muhammad's mission, and "resurrect" the legal methodology of the pre-Shafi'i "Ancient schools". But just as second and third century Muslims could re-formulate hadith and law around a prophetic spirit, so can modern Muslims—redefining ''
riba
''Riba'' (, or , ) is an Arabic word used in Islamic law and roughly translated as " usury": unjust, exploitative gains made in trade or business. ''Riba'' is mentioned and condemned in several different verses in the Qur'an3:130
'' and replacing medieval laws against bank interest with measures that help the poor without harming economic productivity.
Sunnah from practice not hadith
Some of the most basic and important features of the sunnah – worship rituals like ''
salat
''Salah'' (, also spelled ''salat'') is the practice of formal ibadah, worship in Islam, consisting of a series of ritual prayers performed at prescribed times daily. These prayers, which consist of units known as rak'a, ''rak'ah'', include ...
'' (ritual prayer), ''
zakat
Zakat (or Zakāh زكاة) is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. Zakat is the Arabic word for "Giving to Charity" or "Giving to the Needy". Zakat is a form of almsgiving, often collected by the Muslim Ummah. It is considered in Islam a relig ...
'' (ritual tithing), ''
hajj
Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...
'' (pilgrimage to
Mecca
Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
), ''
sawm'' (dawn to dusk fasting during
Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...
) – are known to Muslim from being passed down 'from the many to the many' (according to scholars of fiqh such as Al-Shafi'i), bypassing books of hadith, (which were more often consulted for answers to details not agreed upon or not frequently practiced) and issues of authenticity.
Modernist
Rashid Rida thought this "the only source of sunnah that is beyond dispute". S.M. Yusuf argued "practice is best transmitted through practice", and a more reliable way to establish sunnah than hadith. He also believed that the passing down of practice from generation to generation independent of hadith explained why early schools of law did not differentiate between sunnah of the caliphate and sunnah of the prophet.
According to
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, another Modernist, this passing down by continuous practice of the Muslim community (which also indicates consensus, ''
ijma
Ijma (, ) is an Arabic term referring to the consensus or agreement of the Islamic community on a point of Islamic law. Sunni Muslims regard it as one of the secondary sources of Sharia law, after the Qur'an, and the Sunnah.
Exactly what group s ...
'') was similar to how the Qur’ān has been "received by the ''ummah''" (Muslim community) through the consensus of the
Muhammad's companions and through their perpetual recitation. Consequently, Ghamidi sees this more limited sunnah of continuous practice as the true sunnah – equally authentic to the Quran, but shedding orthodox sunnah and avoiding problematic basis of the hadith.
"Inner states"
Sufi thinkers "emphasized personal spirituality and piety rather than the details of fiqh".
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 – ''Khuluqin Azim'' or "Exalted Character". 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 custom 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.
Basis of importance
The Qur'an contains numerous commands to follow Muhammad.
Among the Quranic verses quoted as demonstrating the importance of hadith/sunnah to Muslims are:
Which appears in several verses: , , ,
The teachings of "wisdom" (''hikma'') have been declared to be a function of Muhammad along with the teachings of the scripture. Several Quranic verses mention "wisdom" (''hikmah'') coupled with "scripture" or "the book" (i.e. the Quran) – ''al-kitāb wa al-ḥikma''. Mainstream scholars starting with al-Shafi'i believe ''hikma'' refers to the sunnah, and this connection between sunnah and the Quran is evidence of the sunnah's divinity and authority.
* – "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."
* – "...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."
* – "And bear in mind which is recited in your houses of the revelations of God and of wisdom."
Therefore, along with the Quran, the ''sunnah'' was revealed. Modern Sunni scholars have examined both the ''sira'' and the ''hadith'' in order to justify modifications to jurisprudence (''
fiqh
''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.[Fiqh](_blank)
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...
''). Hense, the imitation of Muhammad helps Muslims to know and be loved by God.
Another piece of evidence for the divinity of the Sunnah—according to its supporters—are verses in the Quran that refer to revelations not found ''in'' the Quran. For example, there is no verse mentioning the original direction of
prayer
File:Prayers-collage.png, 300px, alt=Collage of various religionists praying – Clickable Image, Collage of various religionists praying ''(Clickable image – use cursor to identify.)''
rect 0 0 1000 1000 Shinto festivalgoer praying in front ...
(the ''
qibla
The qibla () is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Great Mosque of Mecca, Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, particularly the direction of prayer for the salah. In Islam, the Kaaba is believed to ...
'') in the Quran, but God in the Quran does say He appointed the original qibla (). Other events mentioned in the Quran that already happened without Quranic command or description include a dream in which Muhammad would enter Mecca (); Muhammad's marriage to Zayd's ex-wife (); and the dispute over the division of spoils after the
Battle of Badr ; all "definitive proof that besides the Quran other commands came to the Prophet by the agency of waḥy", according to revivalist
Abul A'la Maududi.
Yet another piece of evidence offered is that "Prophet witness" is "the chief guarantee" of what is divine revelation. In other words, "Muslims only know the Quran is revelation because of Muhammad's testimony to this fact. If prophetic word is not to be trusted, then the Quran itself is open to suspicion." Since the Quran is not, the sunnah must be trustworthy.
Alternative view
The minority argument against the sunnah of Muhammad being divine revelation (''waḥy'') goes back to the ''ahl al-Kalam'' who al-Shāfiʿī argued against in the second century of Islam. Their modern "
Quranists", the modern successors of the ''ahl al-Kalam'', argue that the sunnah falls short of the standard of the Quran in divinity. Specifically because
#with the exception of the ''ḥadīth qudsī'', sunnah was not revealed and transmitted verbatim, as was the Quran; it was often transmitted giving the sense or gist of what was said (known as ''bi'l-maʿnā'');
[ D. W. Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996: pp. 52–53]
#the process of revelation was not "external, entirely independent of the influence of the messenger"; it bares the "personality" or "mentality" (''baṣīrat'') of Muhammad;
#unlike the Quran, it was not "preserved in writing" until over a century after Muhammad's death, which opens the question of how much corruption and/or error entered the writings and why, if it was divinely revealed, eternal truth, orders were not given to the earliest Muslims to write it down as they were for the Quran.
[Abu al-ʿAlā Mawdūdī, ''Tarjumaān al-Qurʾān'' 56, 6 Manṣib-i-risālat nambar (1961): 193; quoted in D. W. Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996: p. 53]
Providing examples
According to John Burton, paraphrasing
Al-Shafi'i
Al-Shafi'i (; ;767–820 CE) was a Muslim scholar, jurist, muhaddith, traditionist, theologian, ascetic, and eponym of the Shafi'i school of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence. He is known to be the first to write a book upon the principles ...
, "it must be remembered that the Quran text are couched in very general terms which it is the function of the sunnah to expand and elucidate, to make God's meaning absolutely clear."
There are a number of verses in the Quran where "to understand the context, as well as the meaning", Muslims need to refer to the record of the life and example of Muhammad.
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 Quran.
For example, while the Quran 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
Sunnah upon which ''fiqh'' is based may be divided into:
* ''Sunnah Qawliyyah'' – the sayings of Muhammad, generally synonymous with "
hadith
Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...
", 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 Muhammad 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 Muhammad showed his pleasure and smiled for a companion's action.
It may be also divided into sunnah that is binding for Muslims and that which is not.
Ibn Qutaybah
Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muslim ibn Qutayba al-Dīnawarī al-Marwazī better known simply as Ibn Qutaybah (; c. 828 – 13 November 889 CE/213 – 15 Rajab 276 AH) was an Islamic scholar of Persian people, Persian descent. He served as a q ...
(213-276 AH) distinguished between:
#sunnah "brought by Gabriel";
[ Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996: p.18]
#sunnah from "Muhammad's own ra'y and is binding, but subject to revision";
#"non-binding sunnah", which Muslims are not subject to "penalty for failure to follow".
In the terminology of ''
fiqh
''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.[Fiqh](_blank)
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...
'' (Islamic jurisprudence), sunnah denotes whatever though not obligatory, is "firmly established (''thabata'') as called for (''matlub'')" in Islam "on the basis of a legal proof (''dalîl shar`î'').
Sciences of sunnah
According to scholar Gibril Fouad Haddad, the "sciences of the Sunnah" (ulûm as-Sunna'') refer to:
In Shia community
Shia Muslims do not follow the ''
Kutub al-Sittah'' (six major hadith collections) followed in Sunni Islam, therefore in Shia and Sunni Islam, the sunnah refer to different collections of religious canonical literature.
The primary collections of Shia community 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 (329
AH);
*''
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 Shia is authentic.
In Shia ''hadees'' one often finds sermons attributed to
Ali in
The Four Books or in the
Nahj al-Balagha.
See also
*
Bid'ah
*
Categories of Hadith
*
Sharia
Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...
References
Notes
Citations
Further reading
*
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External links
The Sunna as Primordiality by Sheikh Abdal Hakim MuradThe Meaning of "Sunna" in the Qur’an Qur'anic Studies
Sunnah and Hadith, Center For Muslim–Jewish Engagement
5 Actionalbe Sunnah backed by science
{{Authority control
Islamic terminology
Sunni Islam