The Sunnah
Table of Contents
The Sunnah
Introduction
In
pre-Islamic Arabia, the Arabs used the word Sunnah in reference to the ancient
and continuous practice of the community which they inherited from their
forefathers. The opposite of Sunnah is bidah, or innovation. In the Quran the
word Sunnah and its plural, sunan, have been used on a number of occasions (16
times to be precise).
a) Meaning
Literally,
Sunnah means a clear path or a beaten track, or well-known path or well-trodden
path, but it has also been used to imply normative practice, or an established
course of conduct.
b) Definition
Sunnah
generally can be defined as; “What was transmitted from the Messenger of Allah
PBUH of his words, acts and tacit approvals”.
c) Explanation
To
the ulema of Hadith, Sunnah refers to all that is narrated from the Prophet,
his acts, his sayings and whatever he has tacitly approved. The ulema of
jurisprudence, however, exclude the description of the physical features of the
Prophet from the definition of Sunnah.
In
the Qur'an the phrase uswah hasanah (excellent conduct) which occurs in
sura-al-Ahzab (33:21)
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“Indeed
in the Messenger of Allah you have a good example to follow”. The uswah was later interpreted to be a
reference to his Sunnah.
Al-Shafi'i
quotes at least seven instances in the Quran where 'hikmah' is used as Sunnah. Al-Jumah
(62:2), for example, we read that God Almighty sent a Messenger to educate and
to purify the people by teaching them the Book and the hikmah. According to
al-Shafis interpretation the word 'hikmah' in this context means the Sunnah.
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“He
it is who sent among the unlettered ones a Messenger PBUH from among
themselves, reciting to them His verses, and teaching them the Book and Hikmah
(Sunnah)”.
In
another Hadith, the Prophet is reported to have said;
“I
left two things among you. You shall not go astray so long as you hold on to
them: the Book of Allah and my Sunnah”.
It
is in this sense that the jurists use the term Sunnah as a source of Islamic
Laws.
Sunnah and Hadith
Notwithstanding
the fact that the ulema have used Sunnah and Hadith, almost interchangeably,
the two terms have meanings of their own. Literally, Hadith means a narrative,
communication or news consisting of the factual account of an event.
Hadith
differs from Sunnah in the sense that Hadith is a narration of the conduct of
the Prophet whereas Sunnah is the example or the law that is deduced from it.
Hadith in this sense is the vehicle or the carrier of Sunnah.
But
once the literal meanings of Hadith and Sunnah gave way to their technical usages
and were both exclusively used in reference to the conduct of the Prophet, the
two became synonymous.
Proof-Value (Hujjiyyah) of Sunnah
The
ulema are unanimous to the effect that Sunnah is a source of Shari'ah and that
in its rulings with regard to halal and haram it stands on the same footing as
the Qur'an. The Sunnah of the Prophet is a proof for the Qur'an. The words of
the Prophet, as the Qur'an tells us, are divinely inspired (al-Najm, 53:3);
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“Nor
does he speak of his own”.
In
more than one place, the Qur'an enjoins obedience to the Prophet;
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“And
whatever the Messenger gives you, take it, and whatever he forbids you, abstain
from it (al-Hashr, 59:7)”.
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“Obey
God and obey the Messenger and those who are in charge of affairs among you.
Should you happen to dispute over something, then refer it to God and to the
Messenger (al-Nisa', 4:58-59)”.
To
refer the judgment of a dispute to God means recourse to the Qur'an, and
referring it to the
Messenger
means recourse to the Sunnah.
In
another passage, the Qur'an emphasizes:
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“Whoever
obeys the Messenger verily obeys God' (al-Nisa 4:80)”.
It
is concluded from these and other similar passages in the Qur'an that the
Sunnah is a proof next to the Quran in all shari matters and that conformity to
the terms of Prophetic legislation is a Quranic obligation on all Muslims.
Quran and Sunnah
The
Quran was recorded in writing from beginning to end during the lifetime of the
Prophet clearly expressed the concern that nothing of his own Sunnah should be
confused with the text of the Qur'an. This was, in fact, the main reason why The
Prophet had initially ordered his Companions not to write anything other than
the Qur'an from him.
Furthermore
the entire text of the Qur'an has come down to us through continuous testimony
(tawatur) whereas the Sunnah has in the most part been narrated and transmitted
in the form of solitary, or Ahad, reports. Only a small portion of the Sunnah
has been transmitted in the form of Mutawatir.
a) Priority of the Quran over the Sunnah
As
Sunnah is the second source of the Shari'ah next to the Qur'an, the mujtahid is
bound to observe an order of priority between the Qur'an and Sunnah. Hence in
his search for a solution to a particular problem, the jurist must resort to
the Sunnah only when he fails to find any guidance in the Qur'an. Furthermore,
the order of priority between the Qur'an and Sunnah is clearly established in
the Hadith of Muadh b. Jabal.
The
basic role that the Sunnah plays is normally that the Sunnah explains the
Qur’an, means that the Qur'an is more dependent on the Sunnah than the Sunnah
is on the Qur’an. The Qur'an on the other hand does not play the same role with
regard to the Sunnah.
Furthermore,
the explanatory role of the Sunnah in relationship to the Qur'an has been
determined by the Qur'an itself, where we read in an address to the Prophet in
sura al-Nahl (16:44):
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“We
have sent down to you the Remembrance so that you may explain to the people what
has been revealed to them”.
The
correct conclusion drawn from this Quranic passages is that the Sunnah, being explanatory
to the Quran, is subordinate to it.
b) Is Sunnah an Independent Source
This
can be understand in in the following three capacities;
1.
Firstly, the
Sunnah may consist of rules that merely confirm and reiterate the Qur’an. A
substantial part of the Sunnah is, in fact reaffirm the Qur'anic principles
e.g. on pillars of Islam and human rights.
2.
Secondly, the
Sunnah may consist of an explanation or clarification to the Qur’an. Once again
a substantial part of the Sunnah falls under this category, for example, salah,
zakah, hajj and riba, etc.
3.
Thirdly, the
Sunnah may consist of rulings on which the Qur'an is silent, in which case the
ruling in question originates in the Sunnah itself, referred to as al-Sunnah
al-muassisah, or 'founding Sunnah'. E.g. death by stoning for adultery when
committed by a married Muslim, all originate in the Sunnah as the Qur'an itself
is silent on these matters.
On
this category some ulema of the later ages including al-Shatibi and
al-Shawkani, have held the view that the Sunnah is an independent source. The
Quranic ayah in sura al-Nahl (16:44) is inconclusive and that despite its being
clear on the point that the Prophet interprets the Qur'an it does not overrule
the recognition of the Sunnah as an independent source;
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“And
we sent down unto you (PBUH) the Dhikar, that you may explain clearly to men
what is sent down to them and that they may give thought it”.
The
Quran, for example, in more than one place requires the believers to;
“Obey
God and obey His Messenger, (al-Nisa. 4:58; 4:80; al-Ma'idah, 5:92), may means
obeying him whenever he orders or prohibits something on which the Quran might
be silent.
Al-Shafi
goes on to explain the view that God has explicitly rendered obedience to the
Prophet an obligatory duty (fard) and all Prophetic legislation emanates in
divine authority. So the conclusion is that above views should not be read in
contradistinction rather in consonance with each other because they are the
logical extensions of one another.
Classification of Sunnah
Sunnah
has been classified in various ways, but two of the most commonly accepted
criteria for such classifications are the subject matter (matn) of Sunnah and
the manner of its transmission (isnad).
Table of Classification 
1. Subject matter classification
The
Sunnah is divided into three types, namely verbal (qawli), actual (fi'li) and
tacitly approved (taqriri).
a) Verbal (qawli);
The
verbal Sunnah consist of the sayings of the Prophet on any subject. E.g.
hadith which provides;
“The
nature of acts is dependent upon the underlying intentions”.
b) Actual (fi'li);
The
Actual Sunnah of the Prophet consists of his deeds and actual instructions,
such as the way he performed the salah, hajj etc.
c) Tacitly approved (taqriri);
The
tacitly approved Sunnah consists of the acts and sayings of the
Companions which came to the knowledge of the Prophet and of which he approved.
The tacit approval of the Prophet may be inferred from his silence and lack of
disapproval, or from his express approval and verbal confirmation.
2. Legal and non-legal classification
The
entire bulk of the Sunnah, that is, the sayings, acts and tacit enactments of
the Prophet, may be once again divided into two types: non-legal and legal
Sunnah.
a) Legal Sunnah
The
legal Sunnah (Sunnah tashri'iyya) consists of the exemplary conduct of the
Prophet, be it an act, saying, or a tacit approval, which incorporates the
rules and principles of Shariah.
b) Non-legal Sunnah
Non-legal
Sunnah (Sunnah ghayr tashri'iyyah) mainly consists of the ritual activities of
the Prophet, such as the manner which he ate, slept, dressed, and such other
activities as do not seek to constitute a part of the Shariah.
3. Continuous (muttasil) and discontinued (ghayr muttasil)
Now
from the viewpoint of the continuity and completeness of their chains of
transmitters, the Hadith are once again classified into two categories:
continuous (muttasil) and discontinued (ghayr muttasil).
a) Continuous (muttasil)
A
continuous Hadith is one which has a complete chain of transmission from the
last narrator all the way back to the prophet. The majority of ulema have
divided the continuous Hadith into the two main varieties of Mutawatir and
Ahad. To this the Hanafis have added an intermediate category, namely the
'well-known', or Mashhur.
(i) Mutawatir
Literally,
Mutawatir means ‘continuously recurrent’. Here it means a report by an
indefinite number of people related in such a way as to preclude the
possibility of their agreement to perpetuate a lie, because of their large
number and reliability.
A report is
classified as Mutawatir only when it fulfills the following conditions:
·
The number of
reporters in every period or generation must be large enough to preclude the
possibility of falsehood.
·
The reporters
must base their report on sense perception.
·
The report must
be based on certain knowledge, not mere speculation.
·
The reporters
must be upright persons ('udul).
·
That the
reporters should not be biased
Types of Mutawatir
These
are Mutawatir bi'lma'na, or conceptual Mutawatir and Mutawatir bi'llafz, or
verbal Mutawatir;
A. Mutawatir bi'lma'na, or conceptual Mutawatir
When
the reports of a large number of the transmitters of Hadith concur in their
purport but differ in wording or in form is called Mutawatir bi'lma'na, or
conceptual Mutawatir, e.g. ahadith’s on the quantities of zakah.
B. Mutawatir bi'llafz, or verbal Mutawatir
Here
all the reports must be identical on the exact wording of the Hadith as they
were uttered by the Prophet himself. For example the Hadith which reads:
“Whoever
lies about me deliberately must prepare himself for a place in Hell-fire”.
Value (hukm) of the Mutawatir
According
to the majority of ulema, the authority of a Mutawatir Hadith is equivalent to
that of the Quran.
(ii) Mashhur or ‘well-known’
The
Mashhur is defined as a Hadith which is originally reported by one, two or more
companions from the Prophet but has later become well-known and transmitted by
an indefinite number of people.
It
is necessary that the diffusion of the report should have taken place during
the first or the second generation following the demise of the Prophet.
The
difference between the Mutawatir and Mashhur lies mainly in the fact that every
link in the chain of transmitters of the Mutawatir consists of a plurality of
reporters, whereas the first link in the case of Mashhur consists of one or two
Companions only.
(iii) Ahad
The
Ahad, or solitary Hadith (also known as Khabar al-Wahid), is a Hadith which is
reported by a single person or by odd individuals from the Prophet. Imam
Shafi'i refers to it as Khabar al-Khassah which fails to fulfill the
requirements of either the Mutawatir or the Mashhur.
It
is a Hadith which does not impart positive knowledge on its own unless
supported by extraneous evidence. But the majority of jurists, however, agree
that Ahad may establish a rule of law provided that it is related by a reliable
narrator and the contents of the report are not repugnant to reason.
Ahad
may only form the basis of obligation if it fulfills the following
requirements;
·
The transmitter
is a competent person.
·
The transmitter
of Ahad must be a Muslim.
·
The transmitter
must be an upright person ('adl).
·
The narrator of
Ahad must possess a retentive memory.
·
That the
narrator is not implicated in any form of distortion (tadlis).
·
The transmitter
of Ahad must, have met with and heard the Hadith directly from his immediate
source.
b) Discontinued (ghayr muttasil)
This
is a Hadith whose chain of transmitters does not extend all the way back to the
Prophet. The Mursal is defined as a Hadith which a Successor (tabi'i) has
directly attributed to the Prophet without mentioning the last link, namely the
Companion who might have narrated it from the Prophet. This is the majority
definition.
Because
of missing link and other doubts, majority of Ulema do not accept mursal
hadith. But apart from it, some Ulema like Hasan Al Basri, Qatadah etc, accept
it on fulfilling following conditions;
·
It is supported
by another reliable hadith.
·
It is in
harmony with precedents of companions
·
The transmitter
has a reputation not have reported weak hadith etc.
.
Types of discontinued (ghayr muttasil)
It
occurs in three varieties: Mursal, Mu'dal and Munqati'
(i) Mursal
Also
called hurried, it is when the link between the successor and the Prophet (PBUH) is missing. Or simply discontinued hadith is also known as
Mursal whose chain of transmission is broken and incomplete.
(ii) Mu'dal
The
Mu'dal is a Hadith in which two consecutive links are missing in the chain of
its narrators.
(iii) Munqati'
It refers
to a Hadith whose chain of narrators has a single missing link somewhere in the
middle.
This may also
be classified into; real and formal.
(i) Real
Real is, when the report contradicts
with an evidence stronger than itself e.g. with Quran.
(ii) Formal
Forma is, when the continuity not
completed all the way back to the Prophet (PBUH).
4. Sahih, Hasan and Da'if
From
the viewpoint of their reliability, the narrators of Hadith have been graded
into the following categories:
I.
The Companions;
II.
thiqat thabitun,
those next to the Companions;
III.
thiqat, or
trustworthy are in a lesser degree than the first two;
IV.
saduq, or
truthful, who is not known to have committed a forgery or serious errors;
V.
saduq yahim,
that is truthful but committing errors;
VI.
maqbul or
accepted, which implies that there is no proof to the effect that his
report is unreliable;
VII.
majhul, or
a narrator of unknown identity.
a) Sahih
Hadith
is classified as Sahih or authentic when its narrators belong to the first
three categories.
b) Hasan
The
Hasan Hadith may include in its narrators who belong to the fourth, fifth or
sixth grades.
c) Daif
The
weak, or Daif, is a Hadith whose narrators do not possess the qualifications
required in Sahih or Hasan. It is called weak owing to a weakness that exists
in its chain of narrators or in its textual contents.
5. Gharib, Munkar and Mudraj
a) Gharib
Gharib or strange
hadith is one where at some stage of the isnad, only one reporter is found
relating it. And according to the nature of the text and isnad, hadith can be;
b) Munkar
Munkar or
denounced, is a hadith which is reported by a weak narrator, and whose
narration goes against another authentic hadith.
c) Mudraj
Mudraj or
interpolated is where an addition by a reporter to the text of the hadith being
narrated.
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