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The Sunnah, according to the scholars of hadeeth, is everything that has been related

from the Messenger, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, of his statements,

actions, tacit approvals, personality, physical description, or biography. It does not

matter whether the information being related refers to something before the beginning of

his prophetic mission, or after it.

Explanation of this definition:

The statements of the Prophet include everything the Prophet said for various reasons

on different occasions. For example, he said:

Verily deeds are but by intentions, and every person will have only what he

intended.

The actions of the Prophet include everything that the Prophet did that was related to

us by his Companions. This includes how he made ablutions, how he performed his

prayers, and how he made the Hajj pilgrimage.

The tacit approvals of the Prophet includes everything that his Companions said or

did that he either showed his favor towards or at least did not object to. Anything that

had the tacit approval of the Prophet is as valid as anything that he said or did himself.

An example of this is the approval that was given to the Companions when they used

their discretion in deciding when to pray during the Battle of Bani Quraydhah. Gods

Messenger had said to them:

None of you should perform your afternoon prayers until you arrive at Bani

Quraydhah.

The Companions did not arrive at Bani Quraydhah until after sunset. Some of themtook the Prophets words literally and postponed the afternoon prayer, saying: We will

not pray until we get there. Others understood that the Prophet was only indicating to

them that they should hurry on their journey, so they stopped and prayed the afternoon

prayer on time.

The Prophet learned about what the two groups had decided, but did not criticize

either of them.

As for the Prophets personality, this would include the following statement of

Aishah (may God be pleased with her):

Gods Messenger was never indecent or vulgar, nor was he loud at the

marketplace. He would never respond to the abuse of others with abuses of his

own. Instead, he would be tolerant and forgiving.

The physical description of the Prophet is found in statements like the one related by

Anas (may God be pleased with him):

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Gods Messenger was neither overly tall nor was he short. He was neither

exceedingly white nor black. His hair was neither excessively curly nor lank.

The Relationship between the Sunnah and Revelation

The Sunnah is revelation from God to His Prophet. God says in the Quran:

We have sent down to him the Book and the Wisdom (Quran

2:231)

The Wisdom refers to the Sunnah. The great jurist al-Shafii said: God mentions the

Book, which is the Quran. I have heard from people who I consider authorities on the

Quran that the Wisdom is the Sunnah of Gods Messenger. God says:

Indeed, God conferred a great favor on the believers when He sent among them a

Messenger from among themselves, reciting to them His signs and purifying them and

instructing them in the Book and the Wisdom.

It is clear from the preceding verses that God revealed to His Prophet both the Quran

and the Sunnah, and that He commanded him to convey both to the people. The

Prophetic hadeeth also attest to the fact that the Sunnah is revelation. It is related from

Makhool that Gods Messenger said:

God gave me the Quran and what is like it from the Wisdom.

Al-Miqdam b. Madee Karab relates that Gods Messenger said:

I have been given the Book and with it something like it.

Hisan b. Atiyyah relates that Gabriel used to come the Prophet with the Sunnah just

like he would come to him with the Quran.

An opinion from the Prophet was not merely his own thoughts or deliberations on a

matter; it was what God revealed to him. In this way, the Prophet was different from

other people. He was supported by revelation. When he exercised his own reasoning and

was correct, God would confirm it, and if he ever made a mistake in his thinking, God

would correct it and guide him to the truth.

For this reason, it is related that the Caliph Umar said from the pulpit: O people!

The opinions of Gods Messenger were correct only because God would reveal them to

him. As for our opinions, they are nothing but thoughts and conjecture.

To know more about The revelation that the Prophet received visit (

)was of two types:

A. Informative revelation: God would inform him of something by means of

revelation in one form or another as mentioned in the following Quranic verse:

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It is not for a human being that God should speak to him except as

revelation or from behind a barrier, or by sending a Messenger who

reveals by His leave whatever He wishes. Verily, He is Exalted, All-

Wise. (Quran 42:51)

Aishah related that al-Harith b. Hisham asked the Prophet how revelation came tohim, and the Prophet answered:

Sometimes, the angel comes to me like the clanging of a bell, and this is the most

difficult for me. It weighs upon me and I commit to memory what he says. And

sometimes the angel comes to me in the form of a man and speaks to me and I

commit to memory what he says.

Aishah said:

I had seen him when the revelation came to him on an extremely cold day. When it

was over, his brow was full of perspiration.

Sometimes, he would be asked about something, but he would remain silent until

revelation came to him. For example, the Meccan pagans asked him about the soul, but

the Prophet remained silent until God revealed:

They ask you concerning the soul. Say: The soul is from the affairs

of my Lord, and of knowledge you have but little. (Quran 17:85)

He had also been asked about how inheritance was to be divided, but he did not

answer until God revealed:

God commands you regarding your children (Quran 4:11)

B. Affirmative revelation: This is where the Prophet exercised his own judgment in a

matter. If his opinion was correct, revelation would come to him affirming it, and if

it was incorrect, revelation would come to correct him, making it just like any other

informative revelation. The only difference here is that the revelation came as a

result of an action that the Prophet first did on his own.

In such instances, the Prophet was left to use his own discretion in a matter. If he

chose what was right, then God would confirm his choice through revelation. If he chose

wrong, God would correct him to protect the integrity of the faith. God would never

allow His Messenger to convey an error to other people, because this would cause his

followers to fall into error as well. This would contravene the wisdom behind sendingMessengers, which was that the people henceforth would have no argument against God.

In this way, the Messenger was protected from falling into error, for if he ever erred,

revelation would come to correct him.

The Prophets Companions knew that the tacit approval of the Prophet was actually

the approval of God, because if they ever did something contrary to Islam during the

Prophets lifetime, revelation would come down condemning what they did.

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Jabir said: We used to practice coitus interruptus[1] back when Gods Messenger

was alive. Sufyan, one of the narrators of this hadeeth, commented: If something like

this was forbidden, the Quran would have prohibited it.

Footnotes:[1] Coitus Interruptus: Withdrawal of the penis before emission of sperm during sex. IslamReligion.com

The Difference between the Sunnah and the Quran

The Quran is the foundation of Islamic Law. It is the miraculous speech of God that

was revealed to the Messenger, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, by

way of the angel Gabriel. It has been transmitted to us with so many chains of authority

that its historical authenticity is unquestionable. It is written down in its own volume,

and its recitation is a form of worship.

As for the Sunnah, it is everything besides the Quran that came from Gods

Messenger. It explains and provides details for the laws found in the Quran. It also

provides examples of the practical application of these laws. It is also either direct

revelation from God, or decisions of the Messenger that were then confirmed by

revelation. Therefore, the source of all the Sunnah is revelation.

The Quran is the revelation that is formally recited as an act of worship, and the

Sunnah is revelation that is not formally recited. The Sunnah, though, is just like the

Quran in that it is revelation that must be followed and adhered to.

The Quran takes precedence over the Sunnah in two ways. For one thing, the Quranconsists of the exact words of God, miraculous in nature, down to the last verse. The

Sunnah, however, is not necessarily the exact words of God, but rather their meanings as

explained by the Prophet.

The Position of the Sunnah in Islamic Law

During the Messengers lifetime the Quran and Sunnah were the only sources of

Islamic Law.

The Quran provides the general injunctions that formed the basis of the Law, without

going into all the details and secondary legislation, with the exception of a fewinjunctions that are established along with the general principles. These injunctions are

not subject to change over time or with the changing circumstances of the people. The

Quran, likewise, comes with the tenets of belief, sets down acts of worship, mentions the

stories of the nations of old, and provides moral guidelines.

The Sunnah comes in agreement with the Quran. It explains the meanings of what is

unclear in the text, provides details for what is depicted in general terms, specifies what is

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general, and explains its injunctions and objectives. The Sunnah also comes with

injunctions that are not provided by the Quran, but these are always in harmony with its

principles, and they always advance the objectives that are outlined in the Quran.

The Sunnah is a practical expression of what is in the Quran. This expression takes

many forms. Sometimes, it comes as an action performed by the Messenger. At othertimes, it is a statement that he made in response to something. Sometimes, it takes the

form of a statement or action of one of the Companions that he neither prevented nor

objected to. On the contrary, he remained silent about it or expressed his approval for it.

The Sunnah explains and clarifies the Quran in many ways. It explains how to

perform the acts of worship and carry out the laws that are mentioned in the Quran. God

commands the believers to pray without mentioning the times that the prayers had to be

performed or the manner of performing them. The Messenger clarified this through his

own prayers and by teaching the Muslims how to pray. He said: Pray as you have seen

me praying.

God makes the Hajj pilgrimage obligatory without explaining its rites. Gods

Messenger explains this by saying:

Take the rites of Hajj from me.

God makes the Zakah tax obligatory without mentioning what types of wealth and

produce it is to be levied against. God also does not mention the minimum amount of

wealth that makes the tax obligatory. The Sunnah, though, makes all this clear.

The Sunnah specifies general statements found in the Quran. God says:

God commands you regarding your children: to the male, a portion

equal to that of two females (Quran 4:11)

This wording is general, applying to every family and making every child an inheritor

of his or her parents. The Sunnah makes this ruling more specific by excluding the

children of Prophets. Gods Messenger said:

We Prophets leave behind no inheritance. Whatever we leave behind is charity.

The Sunnah qualifies unqualified statements in the Quran. God says:

and you find no water, then perform tayammum (dry ablution)

with clean earth and rub therewith your faces and hands (Quran

5:6)

The verse does not mention the extent of the hand, leaving the question of whether

one should rub the hands up to the wrist or the forearm. The Sunnah makes this clear by

showing that it is to the wrist, because this is what Gods Messenger did when he

performed dry ablution.

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The Sunnah also comes emphasizing what is in the Quran or providing secondary

legislation for a law stated therein. This includes all the hadeeth that indicate that Prayer,

the Zakah tax, fasting, and the Hajj pilgrimage are obligatory.

An example of where the Sunnah provides subsidiary legislation for an injunction

found in the Quran is the ruling found in the Sunnah that it is forbidden to sell fruit beforeit begins to ripen. The basis for this law is the statement of the Quran:

Do not consume your property amongst you unjustly, except it be a

trade among you by mutual consent.

The Sunnah contains rulings that are not mentioned in the Quran and that do not

come as clarifications for something mentioned in the Quran. An example of this is the

prohibition of eating donkey flesh and the flesh of predatory beasts. Another example of

this is the prohibition of marrying a woman and her aunt at the same time. These and

other rulings provided by the Sunnah must be adhered to.

The Obligation of Adhering to the Sunnah

A requirement of believing in prophethood is to accept as true everything that Gods

Messenger said. God chose His Messengers from among His worshippers to convey His

Law to humanity. God says:

God knows best with whom to place His Message (Quran

6:124)

God also says:

Are the Messengers charged with anything but to convey the

clear Message? (Quran 16:35)

The Messenger is protected from error in all of his actions. God has protected his

tongue from uttering anything but the truth. God has protected his limbs from doing

anything but what is right.

God has safeguarded him from showing approval for anything contrary to Islamic

Law. He is the most beautifully complete of Gods Creations. This is clear from how

God describes him in the Quran:

By the star when it sets. Your companion has neither gone astray

nor has he erred. Nor does he speak of his own desire. It is onlyrevelation that has been revealed. (Quran 53:1-4)

We see in the hadeeth that no circumstances, no matter how trying, could prevent the

Prophet from speaking the truth. Being angry never affected his speech. He never spoke

falsehood even when he was jesting. His own interests never swayed him from speaking

the truth. The only goal that he sought was the pleasure of God Almighty.

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Abdullah b. Amr b. al-Aas related that he used to write down everything that Gods

Messenger said. Then the tribe of Quraish forbade him from doing so, saying: Do you

write down everything that Gods Messenger says, and he is but a man who speaks in

contentment and in anger?

Abdullah b. Amr stopped writing and mentioned this to Gods Messenger who toldhim:

Write, for by Him in Whose hand is my soul, only truth comes forth from this.

and pointed to his mouth.

The Quran, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the jurists all point to the fact that

obeying Gods Messenger is obligatory. God says in the Quran:

O you who believe, obey God and obey His Messenger and those in

authority among you. If you fall into dispute about a matter, refer it

back to God and His Messenger if you believe in God and the Last

Day (Quran 4:59)

Preliminary Issues

The Bible is the sacred scripture ofJudaism

and Christianity. The Christian Bible consists

of the Old Testament and the New Testament,

with the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox

versions of the Old Testament being slightly

larger because of their acceptance of certain

books not accepted as scripture by Protestants.

The Jewish Bible includes only the booksknown to Christians as the Old Testament.

Furthermore, the arrangements of the Jewish

and Christian canons differ considerably.[1]

Prophet Muhammad has been prophesized in

both the Old Testament and the New

Testament.

Jesus and the Apostles are believed to have

spoken Aramaic. Aramaic continued in wide

use until about AD 650, when it was

supplanted by Arabic.[2] The present day Bible

is not, however, based on the Aramaic manuscripts, but on Greek and Latin versions.

Quoting the Bible prophecies does not entail that Muslims accept the present day

Bible in its entirety as Gods revelation. For the Islamic belief on previous scriptures,

please clickhere.

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It is not a pre-condition of acceptance that a prophet be foretold by an earlier

prophet. Moses was a prophet to Pharaoh even though he was not prophesized by anyone

before him. Abraham was Gods prophet to Nimrod, yet no one prophesized his coming.

Noah, Lot, and others were true prophets of God, yet they were not foretold. The

evidence of a prophets truth is not limited to old prophecies, but it includes the actual

message brought by him, miracles and more.

Discussing prophecies is a delicate matter. It requires sifting through Bible versions

and translations, recently discovered manuscripts and searching out Hebrew, Greek, and

Aramaic words and investigating them. The task becomes especially difficult when:

prior to the printing press (15th century), all copies of Bibles show textual

variations.[3] This is not an easy subject for lay people. For this reason, the best

testimony comes from ancient and modern experts in the area who acknowledged the

prophecies.

We have records of early Jews and Christians, both monks and rabbis, who witnessed

that Muhammad was the fulfillment of specific Bible prophecies. The following aresome examples of these people.

The Awaited Prophet

Pre-Islam Jews and Christians of Arabia were awaiting a prophet. Before the

appearance of Muhammad, Arabia was home to Jews, Christians, and pagan Arabs who,

on occasion, went to war with each other. The Jews and Christians would say: The time

has come for the unlettered prophet to appear who will revive the religion of Abraham.

We will join his ranks and wage fierce war against you. When Muhammad actually

appeared, some of them believed in him, and some refused. This is why God revealed:

And when there came to them a Book [Quran] from God

confirming that which was with them although before they used to

pray for victory against those who disbelieved but [then] when

there came to them that which they recognized, they disbelieved in

it; so the curse of God will be upon the disbelievers. (Quran 2:89)

The first witness was Buhaira, the Christian monk, who recognized Muhammads

prophethood when he was still young and told his uncle:

a great fortune lies before your nephew, so take him home quickly. [4]

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The second witness was Waraqah bin Nawfal, a Christian scholar who died soon after

a solitary meeting with Muhammad. Waraqah attested Muhammad was the Prophet of

his time and received revelation exactly like Moses and Jesus.[5]

The Jews of Medina were anxiously awaiting the arrival of a prophet. The third and

fourth witnesses were their two famous Jewish rabbis, Abdullah bin Salam and

Mukhayriq.[6]

The sixth and seventh witnesses were also Yemeni Jewish rabbis, Wahb ibn

Munabbih, and Kab al-Ahbar (d. 656 CE). Kab found long passages of praise and thedescription of the Prophet prophesized by Mosesin the Bible.[7]

The Quran states:

Is it not a sign to them that the learned men of the Children of

Israel knew it (as true)? (Quran 26:197)

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Footnotes:[1]Bible. Encyclopdia Britannica from Encyclopdia Britannica Premium Service.(http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9079096)

[2]Aramaic language. Encyclopdia Britannica from Encyclopdia Britannica Premium Service.(http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9009190)

[3]biblical literature. Encyclopdia Britannica from Encyclopdia Britannica Premium Service.(http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-73396)

[4]Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources by Martin Lings, p. 29. Sirat Rasul Allah byIbn Ishaq translated by A. Guillame, p. 79-81. The Quran And The Gospels: A Comparative Study, p.46 by Dr. Muhammad Abu Laylah of Azhar University.

[5] Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources by Martin Lings, p. 35.

[6] The Quran And The Gospels: A Comparative Study, p. 47 by Dr. Muhammad Abu Laylah of Azhar

University.

[7] The Quran And The Gospels: A Comparative Study, p. 47-48 by Dr. Muhammad Abu Laylah of

Azhar University.

Introduction: The Sunnah and Its Place in Islam

The Sunnah refers to the actions,

statements and way of life of the Prophet

Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of

God be upon him. It is an essential aspect of

the entire system of Islam. God Himself in theQuran has ordered Muslims to take the Prophet

as their role model and to listen and obey his

words. The Sunnah is the ultimate normative

practical expression of Islam. It is also the

definitive explanation of the Quran itself.

Without it there can be no true understanding of how to implement Islam.[1]

The Prophets Sunnah was preserved in what is known as the hadeeth literature. The

question of the preservation of the Sunnah and the hadeeth is actually an issue concerning

the preservation and purity of the religion of Islam itself. This issue becomes even more

important given the fact that, unfortunately, many have a false conception of how thehadeeth were preserved and, therefore, they do not possess full confidence in the

authenticity of the hadeeth of the Prophet.

Some of the Means by Which God Preserved the Sunnah

God, through humans, used many means by which He preserved the Sunnah. Some

of these aspects are unique to the Muslim nation. Most importantly, these means of

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preservation were followed from the earliest times, without any interval available for the

original material and sayings to be lost.

Some of the factors and means that contributed to the preserving of the Sunnah

include the following:

The Companions Understanding of Their Heavy Responsibilities

It is clear in the Quran that the earlier peoples had distorted, tampered and generally

failed to minutely preserve the message that they received.[2] The Companions of the

Prophet understood that the Prophet Muhammad was the final messenger sent for

humankind and that the task of preserving his teachings would fall upon their shoulders.

It was up to them to make sure that what happened to the previous prophets teachings

would not happen to the Prophet Muhammads message. Additionally, the Prophet

himself impressed upon them the fact that they had the responsibility of taking from the

Prophet and conveying to others. For example, the Prophet told them, in front of the

throngs of the people at the time of pilgrimage:

Let the one who is present inform the one who is absent. Perhaps the one who is

present may convey it to one who can grasp it more than he can. (Saheeh Al-

Bukhari, Saheeh Muslim)

This instruction from the Prophet can be seen in a number of his statements, some of

which have been narrated from numerous Companions. For example, the Prophet said:

May God make radiant the man who has heard what I said and has preserved it in

his memory until he conveys it to another. Perhaps the one he conveyed it to has a

better understanding than him. [3]

The Prophet also warned them in a very stern fashion about conveying anything from

him which may not be correct. Using the Arabic word kadhab, which in the dialect of the

Prophet did not mean to lie but meant to convey something which is not correct, the

Prophet stated:

Convey from me, even if it is just a verse. And narrate [stories] from the Tribes of

Israel and there is no harm. And whoever falsely attributes something to my

authority shall take his own seat in the Hell-fire. (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)

It seems that the Prophet stated that warning on a number of occasions, as those words

have been recorded from the Prophet by over fifty Companions.[4]

Thus, the Companions realized that they had to be very careful in their narratives.

They understood the warning stated above concerning one who falsely attributes

something to the Prophet as applying to one who does so intentionally as well as

unintentionally. In a report recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari, the Companion al-Zubair was

asked why he did not narrate as many hadeeth as some of the others did. He replied, As

for me, I never parted from him [that is, the Prophet]. However, I heard him

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say, Whoever falsely attributes something to me shall take his own seat in the Hell-

fire. Commenting on this statement, ibn Hajar[5] noted that al-Zubair was obviously

not speaking about himself forging something in the Prophets name. Instead, he feared

that if he narrated a lot, he would make mistakes. And those mistakes would put him

under the warning mentioned in that hadeeth.[6]

Anas ibn Maalik also said, If I did not fear that I may make a mistake, I would

narrate to you some of the things I heard from the Messenger of God. However, I heard

him say, Whoever falsely attributes something to my authority shall take his own

seat in the Hell-fire.[7] This, once again, implies that Anas, a Companion, understood

that the threat stated in that hadeeth also applies to the one who makes unintentional

mistakes while narrating hadeeth.

In reality, some of the Companions, like Abu Hurairah, continued to study and

memorize the hadeeth they learned from the Prophet. Therefore, they did not have as

much to fear with respect to making mistakes. On the other hand, those who were not

dedicated to such study had more to fear because their memories may fail them whenthey narrated from the Messenger of God.

Footnotes:[1] This author has discussed in great detail the position and role of the Sunnah in Islam in hisThe

Authority and Importance of the Sunnah (Denver, CO: Al-Basheer Company, 2000).

[2] The Quran itself refers to the distortion of the earlier books by the previous peoples as well as their

attempts to conceal some of the revelation. See, for example, Quran 5:14-15 and 4:46.

[3] See Abdul Muhsin al-Abbaad, Diraasat Hadeeth Nadhara Godu imraan Sama Muqaalati...: Riwaayah

wa Diraayah (no publication information given), passim.

[4] Cf., Sulaimaan al-Tabaraani, Turuq Hadeeth Man Kadhaba Alayya Mutamadan (Beirut: al-Maktab al-Islaami, 1990),passim.

[5] One of the most noteworthy commentators ofSaheeh Al-Bukhari IslamReligion.com

[6] Ahmad ibn Hajar,Fath al-Baari Sharh Saheeh al-Bukhaari (Makkah: Maktabah Daar al-Baaz, 1989),

vol. 1, p. 201.

[7] This narration was recorded by al-Daarimi. According to Abdul Rahmaan al-Birr, its chain issahih.

Cf., Abdul Rahmaan al-Birr,Manaahij wa Adaab al-Sahaabah fi al-Taallum wa al-Taleem (Al-

Mansoorah, Egypt: Daar al-Yaqeen, 1999), p. 183.