Lesson 3: Technical Definition of 'Sunnah' Flashcards
Recap: Linguistic meaning of Sunnah
We said there are many linguistic definitions, originally it comes from something that flows forth and comes out with ease, but the meanings most appropriate to us are Seerah (biography of a person, the history of their actions) and Tareeqah (the way a person does something)
هدي النبي ﷺ | The prophet’s guidance/way and example as a generic technical definition of Sunnah and the evidence for it
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هُوَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَرْسَلَ رَسُولَهُۥ بِٱلْهُدَىٰ وَدِينِ ٱلْحَقِّ لِيُظْهِرَهُۥ عَلَى ٱلدِّينِ كُلِّهِۦ ۚ وَكَفَىٰ بِٱللَّهِ شَهِيدًۭا> It is He who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to manifest it over all religion. And sufficient is Allāh as Witness.
- Guidance which means beneficial knowledge
- the religion of truth means righteous actions
- He ﷺ referred to his sunnah as being the guidance of him
- One of the generic meanings of Sunnah is the messenger ﷺ guidance/way/life story etc
How the scholars of ‘Aqeedah use the term: Sunnah
- for the correct belief, like Imam Ahmed in his book usul as sunnah in which he describes the correct creed. So many scholars of ‘Aqeedah uses Sunnah to refer to the correct ‘Aqeedah
- As the opposite to innovation. Like saying a person is a Sunni, someone who’s upon the Sunnah, not of innovation. And from this is term Ahlul Sunnah wal Jama’ah
How the scholars of Fiqh use the term: Sunnah
ُما يُثابُ فاعِلُهُ، ولا يُعَاقَبُ تَارِكُه
> That which the person who does it is rewarded for, and the person who leaves it is not punished
Others said:
ما ثَبَتَ طَلَبُهُ بِدَلِيلٍ شَرْعِي، مِنْ غَيْرِ افْتِرَاضِ ولا وُجُوب
> That which came in the Shariah without making it obligatory for us to do
- such as Sunnah prayers (nawafil)
- So sunnah is used for what is asked of you voluntarily
Dangers of conflating words that are used by different scholars with the example of: Sunnah being used by the scholars of ‘Aqeedah and Fiqh
if one conflates this with the usage of Sunnah in ‘Aqeedah it’ll be a big issue, as in the Hadith of the Ummah splitting into sects:
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**عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِنَّ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ افْتَرَقَتْ عَلَى إِحْدَى وَسَبْعِينَ فِرْقَةً وَإِنَّ أُمَّتِي سَتَفْتَرِقُ عَلَى ثِنْتَيْنِ وَسَبْعِينَ فِرْقَةً كُلُّهَا فِي النَّارِ إِلَّا وَاحِدَةً وَهِيَ الْجَمَاعَةُ**
3993 سنن ابن ماجه كتاب الفتن باب افتراق الأمم
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> Anas ibn Malik reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Verily, the children of Israel split into seventy-one sects and this nation will surely split into seventy-two sects. All of them are in the Hellfire except one: the united community.”
hadith is disputed in terms og grading with regards to all of them in the fire and who is excluded (the meaning is correct)
- So now the word Sunnah is used for the saved ones who aren’t in the fire, an issue of paradise and hellfire
- While for the scholars of Fiqh it’s something voluntary that you are asked to do but you aren’t punished if you don’t do it.
How the scholars of Usul al Fiqh use the term: Sunnah
The scholars of this science look at it 2 things when speaking of Sunnah
- Like the scholars of Fiqh
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**مَا أَمَرَ بِهِ الشّارِعُ لَا عَلَى سَبيلَِ الإِلْزامِ**
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> What Allah commanded you to do but didn’t force you to do
- As a source of evidence (such as for Halal and Haram)
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**كُلُّ مَا أُسْنِدَ إِلَى النَّبيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهُ وَسَلَّمَ مِنْ قَوْلٍ أَوْ فِعْلٍ أَوْ تَقْريرٍ**
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> Whatever that is attributed to the prophet ﷺ from what he said, did and approved of
- The difference between the two is in the first one they’re looking it like the scholars of Fiqh (as something which is optional)
- In the second way they’re looking it as a source of evidence
How the scholars of Seerah use the term: Sunnah
- They use the pure linguistic meaning of it
- They use the meaning of Seerah for it
- Everything that’s reported about him ﷺ , be it prior or after prophethood
How the scholars of Hadith look at ‘Sunnah’ and use it
ما أُضيفَ إلى النبيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم مِنْ قَوْلٍ أو فِعْلٍ أو تَقْرِيرٍ أو صِفَةٍ
> “What is attributed to the Prophet (peace be upon him) from sayings, actions, approvals, or descriptions
- They say what is attributed instead of something like what is authentically reported from him ﷺ because the concern in this isn’t with regards to grading it. Rather it’s with regards to what is attributed to him ﷺ
The scholars of Hadith are concerned with 4 things
- What he ﷺ said
- What he ﷺ did
- What he ﷺ approved of
- His description
This is 2 types:
- صِفَةٌ خَلْقِيَّةٌ-his physical description
- صِفَةٌ خُلُقِيَّةٌ-His behavior, manners and personality
This is of course a simplified example, as the scholars of Hadeeth also deal with the meanings of them and take rulings from them
Similarity and difference between the scholars of Hadeeth and the scholars of Usul al Fiqh with being concerned about the statements, actions, and approval of the messenger ﷺ
The scholars of Hadith are concerned with 4 things
- What he ﷺ said
- What he ﷺ did
- What he ﷺ approved of
with these 3 they share the same issues as those with Usul al Fiqh, as the scholars of usul al Fiqh extract rulings from it, while the scholars of hadith go further. Their focus isn’t solely if it’s the source of ruling, but even things how tall he ﷺ was, his manners, etc.
Example of the part of the definition of Sunnah by the scholars of Hadeeth of: مِنْ قَوْلٍ | From his ﷺ statements/sayings
- عَنْ أَمِيرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَبِي حَفْصٍ عُمَرَ بْنِ الْخَطَّابِ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ: “ إنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ، وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى> It is narrated on the authority of Amirul Mu’minin, Abu Hafs ‘Umar bin al-Khattab (ra) who said:I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: “Actions are (judged) by motives (niyyah), so each man will have what he intended.-Bukhari and MuslimThe hadith happens to be authentic, but what concerns us is someone attributed this to the messenger (inn this case ‘Umar)
Example of the part of the definition of Sunnah by the scholars of Hadeeth of: مِنْ فِعْلٍ | From his ﷺ actions
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وَحَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ نُمَيْرٍ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبِي، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْمَلِكِ بْنُ أَبِي سُلَيْمَانَ، عَنْ عَطَاءٍ، عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، قَالَ شَهِدْتُ مَعَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم الصَّلاَةَ يَوْمَ الْعِيدِ فَبَدَأَ بِالصَّلاَةِ قَبْلَ الْخُطْبَةِ بِغَيْرِ أَذَانٍ وَلاَ إِقَامَةٍ> Jabir b. ‘Abdullah reported:I observed prayer with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) on the ‘Id day. He commenced with prayer before the sermon without Adhan and Iqama.-Saheeh Muslim
- This shows his actions, he began the prayer before the Khutba without an adhan or Iqamah
Example of the part of the definition of Sunnah by the scholars of Hadeeth of: مِنْ تَقْرِيرٍ | From his ﷺ approval {of something}
احتَلمتُ في ليلةٍ باردةٍ في غزوةِ ذاتِ السُّلاسلِ فأشفَقتُ إنِ اغتَسَلتُ أن أَهْلِكَ فتيمَّمتُ، ثمَّ صلَّيتُ بأصحابي الصُّبحَ فذَكَروا ذلِكَ للنَّبيِّ صلَّى اللَّهُ عليهِ وسلَّمَ فقالَ: يا عَمرو صلَّيتَ بأصحابِكَ وأنتَ جنُبٌ ؟ فأخبرتُهُ بالَّذي مَنعَني منَ الاغتِسالِ وقُلتُ إنِّي سَمِعْتُ اللَّهَ يقولُ:( وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ بِكُمْ رَحِيمًا ) فضحِكَ رسولُ اللَّهِ صلَّى اللَّهُ عليهِ وسلَّمَ ولم يَقُلْ شيئًا
> Narrated ‘Amr ibn al As:”I had a wet dream on a cold night during the campaign of Dhāt al-Salāsil. I feared that if I performed Ghusl, I would perish, so I performed tayammum (dry ablution) instead. Then I led my companions in the morning prayer. They mentioned this to the Prophet (peace be upon him), who said, ‘O ‘Amr, you led your companions in prayer while you were in a state of major impurity?’ I explained what prevented me from performing a full ablution and said that I heard Allah say, ‘And do not kill yourselves, indeed Allah is to you ever Merciful.’ The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) laughed and did not say anything.”
- His ﷺ laughter and not commenting shows his approval of what he did
- If what ‘Amr did was not permissible, the messenger ﷺ would never be silent, and wouldn’t be permitted to do so by Allah
Example of the part of the definition of Sunnah by the scholars of Hadeeth of: مِنْ صِفَةٍ | From his ﷺ description
- ### صِفَةٌ خَلْقِيَّةٌ-his physical descriptionدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، حَدَّثَنَا إِسْحَاقُ بْنُ مَنْصُورٍ، حَدَّثَنَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ بْنُ يُوسُفَ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ أَبِي إِسْحَاقَ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ الْبَرَاءَ، يَقُولُ كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَحْسَنَ النَّاسِ وَجْهًا وَأَحْسَنَهُ خَلْقًا، لَيْسَ بِالطَّوِيلِ الْبَائِنِ وَلاَ بِالْقَصِيرِ.> Narrated Al-Bara:Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) was the handsomest of all the people and had the best appearance. He was neither very tall nor short.
- He ﷺ was tall, but not to the point where he sees over the heads of the people
- This shows the physical appearance of the messenger ﷺ
- Shows the shyness and modesty of the messenger ﷺ
What An Introduction to the History of the Sunnah deals with
The history of what is attributed to the prophet ﷺ in his sayings, actions, approvals, or descriptions. How this came about, recorded, reached us, its preservation, its importance and the status of what is attributed to the messenger ﷺ from what he said, did, approved of, and description.
