sunnah

{{Transliteration|ar|DIN|Sunnah}} ({{lang|ar|سنة}} {{IPA|ar|ˈsunna|}}; {{plural form}}: {{lang|ar|سنن}} {{Transliteration|ar|DIN| sunan}} {{IPA|ar|ˈsunan|}}) is an Arabic word that means:

• "habit" or "usual practice" (USC glossary);[http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/reference/glossary/term.SUNNAH.html Sunnah] {{Webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101205042656/http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/reference/glossary/term.SUNNAH.html |date=5 December 2010}}
• "habitual practice, customary procedure or action, norm, usage sanctioned by tradition" (Wehr Dictionary);{{cite web |last1=Wehr |first1=Hans |title=A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic |url= https://giftsofknowledge.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/hans-wehr-searchable-pdf.pdf |website=Hans Wehr Searchable PDF |access-date=15 June 2020 |page=369}}
• "a body of established customs and beliefs that make up a tradition" (Oxford Islamic Studies Online);{{cite web |title=Sunnah |url= http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t243/e332 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20130616030931/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t243/e332 |url-status= dead |archive-date= 16 June 2013 |website=Oxford Islamic Studies Online |access-date=15 June 2020}}
• "a path, a way, a manner of life" (M. A. Qazi);
• "precedent" or "way of life" (pre-Islamic definition, Joseph Schacht and Ignác Goldziher).{{cite book |title=The Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence |last1=Schacht |first1=Joseph |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=1959 |orig-year=1950 |page=58}}

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);{{cite web |title=Sunnah. Islam |url= https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sunnah |website=Encyclopaedia Britannica |access-date=15 June 2020}}
• "the actions and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad" (Oxford Islamic Studies Online).
• "Al-Hikma (wisdom)", as per definition of Shafi'i school in his book, ar-Risala, based on his interpretation of Qur'an chapter Al Imran {{qref|3|164}}.{{cite web |author1=al-Shafi'i |author1-link=al-Shafi'i |title=كتاب الرسالة/بيان فرض الله في كتابه اتباع سنة نبيه |trans-title=The Message Book/Statement of God’s obligation in His Book to follow the Sunnah of His Prophet |url=https://ar.wikisource.org/wiki/%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A9/%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%86_%D9%81%D8%B1%D8%B6_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87_%D9%81%D9%8A_%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%87_%D8%A7%D8%AA%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B9_%D8%B3%D9%86%D8%A9_%D9%86%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%87#cite_ref-6 |website=ar.wikisource.org |access-date=29 August 2024 |language=Ar |quote=وقال: { لَقَدْ مَنَّ اللَّهُ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِذْ بَعَثَ فِيهِمْ رَسُولًا مِنْ أَنْفُسِهِمْ يَتْلُوا عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ، وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ، وَيُعَلِّمُهُمْ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ، وَإِنْ كَانُوا مِنْ قَبْلُ لَفِي ضَلَالٍ مُبِينٍ}}

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).{{cite web |title=The Sunnah of the Prophet: Definitions |url= https://www.islamweb.net/en/article/174849/the-sunnah-of-the-prophet-definitions |website=Islamweb.net |access-date=15 June 2020 |date=12 September 2018}}

It was first used with the meaning of "law" in the Syro-Roman law book before it became widely used in Islamic jurisprudence.{{cite book |first=Chibi |last=Mallat |title=Introduction to Middle Eastern Law |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2007 |pages=22–32}}

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 from hadith.{{cite book |last=Nasr |first=S. |title=Islamic Studies |location=Beirut |publisher=Seyyed Hossein Nasr |date=1967}} 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.{{cite book |last1=Nasr |first1=Seyyed Hossein |title=Islamic Spirituality: Foundations |date=1991 |publisher=Routledge |page=97 |isbn=9781134538959 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Ncz9AQAAQBAJ&q=difference+between+hadith+and+sunnah+seyyed+nasr&pg=PA97 |access-date=16 June 2020}} In the context of sharia, 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".{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

{{Muhammad}}

{{main|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 {{transliteration|ar|mustahabb}} (encouraged) rather than {{transliteration|ar|wajib}}/{{transliteration|ar|fard}} (obligatory), regarding some commendable action (usually the saying of a prayer).

Sunni Muslims are also referred to as {{transliteration|ar|Ahl as-Sunnah wa'l-Jamā'ah}} ("people of the tradition and the community (of Muhammad)") or {{transliteration|ar|Ahl as-Sunnah}} for short. Some early Sunnî Muslim scholars (such as Abu Hanifa, 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.Lisān al-ʿArab by Ibn Manzur In the time of Muhammad'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".{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

The word "sunna" appears several times in the Qur'an, but there is no specific mention of sunnah of the messenger or prophet ({{transliteration|ar|sunnat al-rasool}}, {{transliteration|ar|sunnat al-nabi}} or {{transliteration|ar|sunna al-nabawiyyah}}), 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 "{{transliteration|ar|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 God. "{{transliteration|ar|Sunnat Allah}}" (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:{{qref|17|77|b=y}}{{cite web |title=The Meaning of 'Sunna' in the Qur'an |url= http://www.quranicstudies.com/prophet-muhammad/the-meaning-of-sunna-in-the-quran/ |website=Qur’anic Studies |date=29 May 2011 |access-date=21 May 2018}}

{{blockquote|1=[This is] the way (sunna) of those whom we sent [as messengers] before you, and you will not find any change in Our way (sunnatuna).}}

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. Christians, Jews and the Arab descendants of Ishmael, the Arabized Arabs or Ishmaelites, when Muhammad reinstituted this practice as an integral part of Islam.

Prior to the "golden age of classical Islamic jurisprudence",{{efn|According to Mahmoud El-Gamal.El-Gamal, Islamic Finance, 2006: pp. 30–31}} 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.{{harvtxt |Nu'man|2020|p=171, Muwatta Imam Malik, no.3424. Nawawi take this ruling from Muwatta despite being Shafiite scholar}} Another manners and ethic ruling based on az-Zubayr is the prohibition of sleeping after Sübuh,{{harvtxt |Nu'man|2020|p=282, Narrated by Urwah ibn az-Zubayr, that his father forbade his sons to sleep during morning prayer time;narrated by Hadith scholar Ibn Abi Shaybah}} as well as the one concerning the ethics of sitting down while drinking.{{harvnb|Ibn Abdul Aziz Asy-Syalhub|2019|p=227}}

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 ordered 40 lashes, Umar 80) — "All this is sunna";Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought, 1996: 10
• 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); hadith of Muhammad are not mentioned.Ibn Sa’d, Tabaqat, III/1, 243. Cf.: {{cite book |first=G. H. A. |last=Juynboll |title=Muslim Traditions: Studies in Chronology, Provenance and Authorship of Early Hadith |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=1983}} And: {{cite journal |last=Juynboll |first=G. H. A. |title=Some New Ideas on the Development of Sunna as a Technical Term in Early Islam |journal=Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam |volume=10 |date=1987 |page=108}} Cited in: Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought, 1996, p. 10.

According to historians (particularly Daniel W. Brown), the classical Islamic definition of sunnah as the customs and practices of Muhammad (only) was not the original one.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

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;{{cite journal |title=Kitāb al-Irjāʾ |author=al-Hasan b. Muhammad b. al-Hanafiyya |author-link=Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya |editor-last=van Ess |editor-first=Josef |journal=Arabica |volume=21 |date=1974 |pages=20–52}}
• the first letter of Abdallah ibn Ibad to Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan;{{cite book |first=Joseph |last=Schacht |chapter=Sur l-expression 'Sunna du Prophet' |title=Melanges d'orientalisme offerts a Henri Masse à l'occasion de son 75ème anniversaire |language=fr |location=Tehran |publisher=Imprimerie de l'université |date=1963 |pages=361–365}}
• and the Risāla of Abu Hanifa addressed to ʿUthman al-Battī".Kitab al-ʿalim wa'l-mutaʿāllim, ed. M. Z. al-Kawthari (Cairo, 1368 A.H.), 34-38

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.{{cite book |first1=Ahmad Kazemi |last1=Moussavi |first2=Karim |last2=Douglas Crow |title=Facing One Qiblah: Legal and Doctrinal Aspects of Sunni and Shi'ah Muslims |location=Singapore |publisher=Pustaka Nasional |date=2005 |pages=87–90 |isbn=9971775522}}

File:سنن الدارقطني.jpg

The golden age, starting with the creation of the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali, and other schools of fiqh 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, Kufa, Basra, and Syria,Burton, Islamic Theories of Abrogation, 1990: p.13 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 Caliphs, 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, argued against flexible sunnah and the use of precedents from multiple sources,Joseph Schacht, The Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence (Oxford, 1950, repre. 1964) esp. 6-20 and 133-137): Ignaz Goldziher, The Zahiris: Their Doctrine and their History, trans and ed. Wolfgang Behn (Leiden, 1971), 20 ff... 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".J. SCHACHT, An Introduction to Islamic Law (1964), supra note 5, at 47{{cite journal |last1=Forte |first1=David F. |title=Islamic Law: The impact of Joseph Schacht |journal=Loyola Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review |date=1978 |volume=1 |page=13 |url= http://www.soerenkern.com/pdfs/islam/IslamicLawTheImpactofJosephSchacht.pdf |access-date=19 April 2018}} While the sunnah has often been called "second to the Quran",{{cite book |last=Rhodes |first=Ron |title=The 10 Things You Need to Know About Islam |publisher=Harvest House Publishers |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Az2o12ZQs08C&q=sunnah+is+second+only+to+the+quran&pg=PA27 |via=Google Books |access-date=19 July 2018 |isbn=9780736931151}}{{cite web |last=Kutty |first=Ahmad |title=Significance of Hadith in Islam |url= http://www.islamicity.com/forum/printer_friendly_posts.asp?TID=3547 |access-date=19 July 2018}} hadith has also been said to "rule over and interpret the Quran".{{cite book |last=Brown |first=Jonathan A. C. |author-link=Jonathan A. C. Brown |title=Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's Legacy |date=2014 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |isbn=9781780744209 |ref=JACBMM2014 |page=168}}{{efn|Ahmad Hasan calls the dictum that states: "The Sunnah decides upon the Qur'an, while the Qur'an does not decide upon the Sunnah" {{lang|ar|ألسنة قاضي على ألقرﺁن ,وليس ﺁلقرﺁن بقاض على ألسنة}}Al-Darimi, Sunan, Cairo, 1349 1:145. – "well known".Hasan, A., "The Theory of Naskh", Islamic Studies, 1965: p. 192}}

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"al-Shafii, Kitab al-Risala, ed. Muhammad Shakir (Cairo, 1940), 84name="DWBRTMIT1996:18-20">Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought, 1996: p.18-20 This, though, contradicts another point Shafi made, which was the sunnah was below the Quran.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=9P0RAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 |title=The Position of Women in Islam: A Progressive View |first=Syed Mohammed |last=Ali |publisher=SUNY Press |date=2004 |isbn=9780791460962 |page=7 |access-date=27 November 2021}}

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).{{Cite journal |last=Farooq |first=Mohammad Omar |date=1 January 2011 |title=Qard Hasan, Wadiah/Amanah and Bank Deposits: Applications and Misapplications of Some Concepts in Islamic Banking |journal=Arab Law Quarterly |volume=25 |issue=2 |ssrn=1418202 |location=Rochester, New York |doi=10.1163/157302511X553985}} Al-Shafiʿi's success was such that later writers "hardly ever thought of sunnah as comprising anything but that of the Prophet".Juynboll, G.H.A., "Some New Ideas on the Development of Sunna as a Technical Term in Early Islam", "Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam" 10 (1987): p.108, cited in {{cite book|last1=Brown |first1=Daniel W.|title=Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought |date=1996 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521570770 |url= https://www.scribd.com/document/116836545/Rethinking-Traditions-in-Modern-Islamic-Thought-Daniel-w-Brown |access-date=10 May 2018 |ref=DWBRTMIT1996 |page=10}}

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 and a "broad agreement" that hadith should be used to authenticate sunnah (according to M. O. Farooq), over the course of the second century,Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought, 1996: p.12 when legal works began incorporating Prophetic hadith.{{cite journal |last1=Motzki |first1=Harald |title=The Muṣannaf of ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-Sanʿānī as a Source of Authentic Ahadith of the First Century A.H. |journal=Journal of Near Eastern Studies |volume=50 |date=1991 |page=21 |doi=10.1086/373461 |s2cid=162187154}}Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought, 1996: p.11-12

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."{{efn|1=According to at least one source Abd Allah ibn 'Amr was one of the first companions to write down the hadith, after receiving permission from Muhammad to do so.{{cite web| url=http://www.kitaba.org/Content.aspx?cid=20| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303014055/http://kitaba.org/Content.aspx?cid=20| url-status=usurped| archive-date=3 March 2011| title=Biography of Abdullah Ibn Amr ibn al-'As}}{{cite book |title=An Introduction to the Conservation of Hadith: In the Light of Sahifah Hammam ibn Munabbih |first=Muhammad |last=Hamidullah |date=2003 |publisher=Islamic Book Trust |isbn=9789839154948}} Abu Hurayrah memorized the hadith.{{Cite web |url= https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/bitstream/handle/10036/4362/GhaniU.pdf |title='Abu Hurayra' a Narrator of Hadith Revisited: An Examination into the Dichotomous Representations of an Important Figure in Hadith with Special Reference to Classical Islamic Modes of Criticism |last=Ghani |first=Usman |date=July 2011 |website=Open Research Exeter |publisher=University of Exeter |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180725224026/https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/bitstream/handle/10036/4362/GhaniU.pdf |archive-date=25 July 2018 |access-date=25 July 2018}}}}

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.Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought, 1996: p. 62 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.Brown 64

Sufis see the "division between binding and non-binding" sunnah as "meaningless". Muhammad is al-insān al-kāmil, the perfect man, labib-Allah beloved of God,{{cite book |last1=Nasr |first1=Seyyed Hossein |title=Huhammad: Man of God |date=1995 |publisher=ABC International Group |page=5 |url= http://traditionalhikma.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Muhammad-Man-of-God-by-Seyyed-Hossein-Nasr.pdf |access-date=14 May 2020}} an intercessor, a "channel of divine light". Imitating his every action is "the ultimate expression" of piety. or in the words of Al-Ghazālī:al-Ghazālī, Kitāb al-arba ʿin fi uṣūl al-Dīn (Cairo, 1344), 89. Quoted in: Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought, 1996: p. 63.

{{blockquote|1=Know that the key to joy is following the sunnah and imitating the Prophet in all his comings and goings, words and deeds, extending to his manner of eating, rising, sleeping and speaking. I do not say this only in relation to requirements of religion [ʿibādāt], for there is no escaping these; rather, this includes every area of behavior [ʿādāt].}}

In the 19th century, "social and political turmoil" starting with the decline of the Mughal Empire, 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".Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought, 1996: p.65 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 [the message]" (Q.5:99),Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought, 1996: p.69 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.Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought, 1996: p.70

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".Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought, 1996: p.64

With de-colonialization in the late 20th century, a new Islamic revival emerged. Activists rather than theorists, they sought "to restore Islam to ascendency",Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought, 1996: p.109 and in particular to restore Sharia to the law of the lands of Islam it had been before being replaced by "secular, Western-inspired law codes" of colonialism and modernity.Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought, 1996: p.109, 111 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). But revivalists like Abul A'la Maududi and Mustafa al-Siba'i support for "the authority of sunnah and the authenticity of hadith in general" was "unwavering",Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought, 1996: p.112 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".Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought, 1996: p.114-5 Shibli Nomani, Abul A'la Maududi, Rashid Rida, and Mohammed al-Ghazali being proponents of this effort.Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought, 1996: p.113

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, 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,Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought, 1996: p.101 while reaching back to pre-al-Shafiʿi meaning of sunnah.Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought, 1996: p.101, 103

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—the normative example of Muhammad—should be understood: as "a general umbrella concept"{{cite book |last=Rahman |first=Fazlur |title=Islamic Methodology in History |date=1965 |publisher=Karachi |pages=11–12}} but not one "filled with absolutely specific content", or that was staticBrown 103 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".{{cite book |last=Rahman |first=Fazlur |title=Islamic Methodology in History |date=1965 |publisher=Karachi |page=75}} 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".{{cite book |last=Rahman |first=Fazlur |title=Islamic Methodology in History |date=1965 |publisher=Karachi |page=80}} Instead these collections of ahadith of al-Bukhari and al-Muslim's were ijma (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,{{cite book |last=Rahman |first=Fazlur |title=Islamic Methodology in History |date=1965 |publisher=Karachi |pages=6, 8}}{{cite journal |jstor=20832617 |journal=Islamic Studies |last=Rahman |first=Fazlur |title=Concepts Sunnah, Ijtihād and Ijmā' in the Early Period |date=1 January 1962 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=5–21}} 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 and replacing medieval laws against bank interest with measures that help the poor without harming economic productivity.{{cite book |last=Rahman |first=Fazlur |title=Islamic Methodology in History |date=1965 |publisher=Karachi |page=77}}Brown, 1996, p.106

Some of the most basic and important features of the sunnah – worship rituals like salat (ritual prayer), zakat (ritual tithing), hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca), sawm (dawn to dusk fasting during Ramadan) – are known to Muslim from being passed down 'from the many to the many' (according to scholars of fiqh such as Al-Shafi'i),Burton, Islamic Theories of Abrogation, 1990: p.16 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".Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought, 1996: p.41 S.M. Yusuf argued "practice is best transmitted through practice",Yusuf, S.M., An Essay on the Sunnah, Lahore, 1966, p.31, quoted in Burton, Islamic Theories of Abrogation, 1990: p.101 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.Yusuf, S. M., An Essay on the Sunnah, Lahore, 1966, p. 40, quoted in Burton, Islamic Theories of Abrogation, 1990: p.101

According to Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, another Modernist, this passing down by continuous practice of the Muslim community (which also indicates consensus, ijma) 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.{{cite book |last=Ghamidi |first=Javed Ahmad |author-link=Javed Ahmad Ghamidi |title=Mizan |trans-title=Islam: A Comprehensive Introduction |date=1990 |publisher=Al-Mawrid |location=Lahore |url= http://www.monthly-renaissance.com/DownloadContainer.aspx?id=84 |access-date=1 June 2011 |language=ur}}

Sufi thinkers "emphasized personal spirituality and piety rather than the details of fiqh".Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought, 1996: p.33, foot note 38

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".{{qref|68|4|b=y}} 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.{{cite web|url= http://www.mysticsaint.info/2012/01/message-rabiul-awwal-milad-nabi.html|title=Mysticsaint.info}} 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.

The Qur'an contains numerous commands to follow Muhammad.{{Cite web |url= https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/essays/sunnah |title=Sunnah |publisher=Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs at Georgetown University |website=BerkleyCenter.Georgetown.edu |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180912232503/https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/essays/sunnah |archive-date=12 September 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=12 September 2018}} Among the Quranic verses quoted as demonstrating the importance of hadith/sunnah to Muslims are:Okumus, Fatih. "The Prophet as Example". Studies in Inter religious Dialogue 18 (2008): 82–95. Religion Index. Ebsco. Thomas Tredway Library, Rock Island, IL.

{{blockquote|Say: Obey Allah and obey the Messenger.}}

Which appears in several verses: {{qref|3|32}}, {{qref|5|92}}, {{qref|24|54}}, {{qref|64|12}}{{cite web |title=Obey Allah and Obey the Messenger; One or Two Sources? |url=http://www.detailedquran.com/quran_data/Obey%20Allah%20and%20obey%20the%20messenger.htm |website=Detailed Quran |access-date=22 June 2015 |archive-date=13 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150613073135/http://www.detailedquran.com/quran_data/Obey%20Allah%20and%20obey%20the%20messenger.htm |url-status=dead }}

{{Blockquote|Your fellow man is neither misguided nor astray. Nor does he speak of his own whims.|{{qref|53|2-3|c=y}}{{cite web |title=The Importance of Hadith |url= https://tasfiyatarbiya.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/the-importance-of-hadith/ |website=Tasfiya Tarbiya |date=6 June 2011 |access-date=22 June 2015}}}}

{{Blockquote|Since We have sent you a messenger from among yourselves—reciting to you Our revelations, purifying you, teaching you the Book and wisdom, and teaching you what you never knew|{{qref|2|151|c=y}}}}

{{Blockquote|Indeed, in the Messenger of Allah you have an excellent example for whoever has hope in Allah and the Last Day, and remembers Allah often.|{{qref|33|21|c=y}}}}

The teachings of "wisdom" (hikma) have been declared to be a function of Muhammad along with the teachings of the scripture.Muhammad Manzoor Nomani "Marif al-Hadith", introductory chapter 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.D. W. Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought, 1996: p.55

• {{qref|4|113|pl=y}} – "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."{{qref|4|113|b=y}}
• {{qref|2|231|pl=y}} – "...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."{{qref|2|231|b=y}}
• {{qref|33|34|pl=y}} – "And bear in mind which is recited in your houses of the revelations of God and of wisdom."{{qref|33|34|b=y}}

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).{{citation needed|date=September 2018}} 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 (the qibla) in the Quran, but God in the Quran does say He appointed the original qibla ({{qref|2|143}}).D. W. Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought, 1996: p. 56 Other events mentioned in the Quran that already happened without Quranic command or description include a dream in which Muhammad would enter Mecca ({{qref|2|231}}); Muhammad's marriage to Zayd's ex-wife ({{qref|33|37}}); and the dispute over the division of spoils after the Battle of Badr {{qref|8|7|s=y}}; 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.Mawdudi, Sunnat ki a ini haithiyyat, 135-139; quoted in D. W. Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought, 1996: p. 56

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.Mawdūdī, Abū al-ʿAlā, Tafhimat, (16th edition, Lahore), 329, quoted in D. W. Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought, 1996: p.50

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.D. W. Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought, 1996: p. 52 Specifically because

1. 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
2. the process of revelation was not "external, entirely independent of the influence of the messenger"; it bares the "personality" or "mentality" (baṣīrat) of Muhammad;
3. 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

According to John Burton, paraphrasing Al-Shafi'i, "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."{{Cite book| first1=John |last1=Burton |title=The Sources of Islamic Law: Islamic Theories of Abrogation |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |date=1990 |isbn=9780748601080 |url= http://www.almuslih.org/Library/Burton,%20J%20-%20The%20Sources%20of%20Islamic%20Law.pdf |access-date=21 July 2018 |page=34 |ref=JBSILITA1990}}

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.

{{Blockquote|˹We sent them˺ with clear proofs and divine Books. And We have sent down to you ˹O Prophet˺ the Reminder, so that you may explain to people what has been revealed for them, and perhaps they will reflect.|{{qref|16|64|c=y}}{{cite web |last1=Kutty |first1=Ahmad |title=What Is the Significance of Hadith in Islam? |url= http://www.islamicity.com/forum/printer_friendly_posts.asp?TID=3547 |publisher=Islamicity.com |access-date=22 June 2015 |date=6 March 2005}}{{cite web |title=Prophet Muhammed (p) Was Sent to Teach & Explain the Quran |url= http://discover-the-truth.com/2013/05/07/prophet-was-sent-to-teach-to-explain-the-quran/ |website=Discover the Truth |access-date=22 June 2015 |date=7 May 2013}}}}

{{Blockquote|We have revealed to you the Book only to clarify for them what they differed about, and as a guide and mercy for those who believe.|{{qref|16|64|c=y}}}}

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".

Sunnah upon which fiqh is based may be divided into:

• 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 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.source: al Muwafaqat, Afal al Rasul

It may be also divided into sunnah that is binding for Muslims and that which is not. Ibn Qutaybah (213-276 AH) distinguished between:

1. sunnah "brought by Gabriel";Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought, 1996: p.18
2. sunnah from "Muhammad's own ra'y and is binding, but subject to revision";
3. "non-binding sunnah", which Muslims are not subject to "penalty for failure to follow".

In the terminology of fiqh (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).

According to scholar Gibril Fouad Haddad, the "sciences of the Sunnah" ('ulûm as-Sunna) refer to:{{cite web |last=Haddad |first=Gibril Fouad |title=The Meaning of Sunna |url= http://www.livingislam.org/n/ms_e.html |website=Living Islam |access-date=21 June 2015}}See al-Siba'i, As-Sunna wa Makanatuha fi at-Tashri' al-Islami (p.47).

{{blockquote|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.}}

{{more citations needed section|date=February 2024}}

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",{{cite book |last=Momen |first=Moojan |title=Introduction to Shi'i Islam |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven, Connecticut |date=1985 |page=174 |isbn=9780300034998}} 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.

{{Portal|Islam}}

• Bid'ah
• Categories of Hadith
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{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book|last1=Brown |first1=Daniel W.|title=Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought |date=1996 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0521570778 |url= https://www.scribd.com/document/116836545/Rethinking-Traditions-in-Modern-Islamic-Thought-Daniel-w-Brown |access-date=10 May 2018 |ref=DWBRTMIT1996}}
• {{Cite book| first1=John |last1=Burton |title=The Sources of Islamic Law: Islamic Theories of Abrogation |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |date=1990 |isbn=9780748601080 |url= http://www.almuslih.org/Library/Burton,%20J%20-%20The%20Sources%20of%20Islamic%20Law.pdf |access-date=21 July 2018 |ref=JBSILITA1990}}
• {{cite book |last=Hamza |first=Feras |contribution=Sunna |title=Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Prophet of God |editor1-first=C. |editor1-last=Fitzpatrick |editor2-first=A. |editor2-last=Walker |location=Santa Barbara, California |publisher=ABC-CLIO |date=2014 |volume=II |pages=610–619}}
• {{cite book |last1=Ibn Abdul Aziz Asy-Syalhub |first1=Fuad |title=Ringkasan Kitab Adab |date=2019 |publisher=Darul Falah |isbn=9789793036847 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=DOa3DwAAQBAJ |access-date=25 November 2021 |language=id}}
• {{cite book |last=Musa |first=Aisha Y. |title=Hadith as Scripture: Discussions on the Authority of Prophetic Traditions in Islam |location=New York |publisher=Palgrave |date=2008 |isbn=9780230605350}}
• {{cite book |last1=Nu'man |first1=Farid |language=id |title=Fiqih Praktis Sehari-hari |date=2020 |publisher=Gema Insani |isbn=9786022507819 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=fcbhDwAAQBAJ |access-date=20 November 2021}}

{{NIE Poster|date=1905|Sunna}}

• [http://masud.co.uk/the-sunna-as-primordiality/ The Sunna as Primordiality by Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad]
• [http://www.quranicstudies.com/prophet-muhammad/the-meaning-of-sunna-in-the-quran/ The Meaning of "Sunna" in the Qur’an], Qur'anic Studies
• [http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/ Sunnah and Hadith] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170511152720/http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/ |date=11 May 2017 }}, Center For Muslim–Jewish Engagement
• [https://halalop.com/lifestyle/halal-news/5-sunnahs-and-science/ 5 Actionalbe Sunnah backed by science]

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Category:Islamic terminology

Category:Sunni Islam