The Sunnah Note PDF

The Sunnah  Meaning: Literal & Technical  Authority of the Sunnah  Role of the Sunnah  Classification  Literal Meaning  A clear path or a beaten track or a way.  The Arabs used the word 'Sunnah' in reference to the ancient and continuous practice of the community, whi...

The Sunnah  Meaning: Literal & Technical  Authority of the Sunnah  Role of the Sunnah  Classification  Literal Meaning  A clear path or a beaten track or a way.  The Arabs used the word 'Sunnah' in reference to the ancient and continuous practice of the community, which they inherited from their ancestors  Later the term was applied to the practice of the Prophet s.a.w.  The opposite of Sunnah is bid`ah, or innovation.  Technical Meaning  All what is narrated from the Prophet s.a.w. including his actions, sayings and whatever he has tacitly approved. In addition, all the reports, which describe his physical attributes and character, are also considered as Sunnah.  Sunnah and Hadith Sunnah: includes the sayings, doings and tacit approval of the Prophet s.a.w. Hadith: a narration of the sayings of the Prophet s.a.w.  Authority of Sunnah  The authority of al-Sunnah comes from the al-Qur’an itself. ‫ْح‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ُه‬ ‫ْن‬ ‫ى‬ ‫ْل‬ ‫َوَما َيْنِطُق َعِن ا َهَو ِإ َو ِإ َو ٌي‬ ‫ُيوَح ى‬ “Nor does he say (ought) of his own desire. It is no less than inspiration sent down to him ” [Al-Najm, 3-4]  Allah said: ‫َوَما آَتاُكُم الَّر ُس وُل َفُخ ُذوُه َوَما َنَهاُكْم َعْنُه‬ ‫َفاْنَتُهوا َواَّتُقوا الَّلَه ِإَّن الَّلَه َش ِديُد‬ ‫اْلِعَقاِب‬ “And whatever the Messenger gives you, take (observe) it and whatever he forbids you, abstain from it” [Al-Hasr, 59:7]  ‫َأ‬ ‫َّل‬ ‫َأ‬ ‫َيا ُّيَها ا ِذيَن آَمُنوا ِطيُعوا ال َه َو ِطيُعوا‬ ‫َّل‬ ‫َأ‬ ‫َف‬ ‫ُك‬ ‫ُأ‬ ‫الَّر ُس وَل َو وِلي الأْمِر ِمْن ْم ِإْن َتَناَز ْعُتْم‬ ‫ِفي َش ْي ٍء َفُر ُّدوُه ِإَلى الَّلِه َوالَّر ُس وِل ِإْن‬ ‫ٌر‬‫ْي‬ ‫َخ‬ ‫َك‬ ‫ِل‬‫َذ‬ ‫ِر‬ ‫ِخ‬‫ا‬ ‫ال‬ ‫ْو‬‫َي‬‫ْل‬ ‫ا‬‫َو‬ ‫ِه‬‫َّل‬‫ال‬‫ِب‬ ‫َن‬ ‫و‬‫ِمُن‬‫ْؤ‬ ‫ُت‬ ‫ْم‬ ‫ُك‬ ‫ْنُت‬ ‫ْأِم‬ ‫َوَأْح َس ُن َت ِويًال‬ “Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those who are in charge of affairs among you. Should you happen to dispute over some matter, then refer it to Allah and to the Messenger” ]Al-Nisa’: 59[  Role of the Sunnah with regards to the Qur’an  The main role played by the Sunnah is as an explanatory of the Qur’an and an integral with it.  Scholars have identified four main areas in this regard, this include: a. Reemphasis of al-Qur’an b. Explanation and Elaboration of al-Qur‘an c. The Sunnah may enact a ruling on which the Qur’an is silence about it. (al-Sunnah al-Muassisah)  Reemphasis of al-Qur’an  Sunnah reemphasis the injunctions of al-Qur’an  Allah said: ‫ا‬ ‫ْل‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ُك‬ ‫ُك‬‫َل‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ا َأ ا اَّل ي آ وا ال ْأُكُلوا َأ‬ ‫ْمَو ْم َبْيَن ْم ِب َب ِطِل‬ ‫َت‬ ‫َي ُّيَه ِذ َأَن َمُن‬ ‫ِإال ْن َتُكوَن ِتَج اَر ًة َعْن َتَر اٍض ِمْنُكْم‬ O you who believe! Eat not up your property among yourselves unjustly except it is a trade amongst you, by mutual consent. [Al-Nisa’: 29]  In this regard, the Prophet Muhammad saw. said: ‫ال يحل مال امرىء مسلم إال بطيب‬ ‫نفس منه‬  Explanation and Elaboration of al-Qur.´an 1. Sunnah explains and elaborates the concise (‫ )المجم ل‬injunctions of the Qur’an. Example: The injunctions related to the quantity and amount of zakah which the Qur’an is silence about it. The Qur’an says: ‫ُك‬ ‫َأل‬ ‫َك‬ ‫َأ‬ ‫َو ِقيُموا الَّصالَة َوآُتوا الَّز اَة َوَما ُتَقِّدُموا ْنُفِس ْم‬ ‫ِمْن َخ ْيٍر َتِج ُدوُه ِع ْنَد الَّلِه ِإَّن الَّلَه ِبَما َتْعَمُلوَن‬ ‫َبِصيٌر‬ “And perform al-salah, and give zakah, and whatever of good (deeds “And perform al-salah, and give zakah, and whatever of good (deeds that Allah loves) you send forth for yourselves before you, you shall find it with Allah. Certainly, Allah is All-Seer of what you do”. [Al-Baqarah: 110] 2. The Sunnah qualified (muqayyadah) the unqualified (mutlaq) verses of al-Qur’an: Note Mutlaq is when the hukm is unconditional, whereas “Muqayyad” is when the hukm is conditioned to something. ‫َأ‬ ‫َوالَّس اِرُق َوالَّس اِرَقُة َفاْقَطُعوا ْيِدَيُهَما َجَز اًء ِبَما‬ ‫ٌم‬ ‫ي‬‫ِك‬ ‫َح‬ ‫ٌز‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َع‬ ‫َّل‬‫ال‬ ‫ِه‬‫َّل‬ ‫َكَس َبا َنَكاًال ِمَن ال َو ُه ِز‬ “Cut off (from the wrist joint) the (right) hand of the thief, male or female, as a recompense for that which they committed, a punishment by way of example from Allah. And Allah is All­ Powerful, All­ Wise”. (al- Ma’idah: 38) 3. The Sunnah specifies (takhsis) the general (‘Amm) injunctions of al-Qur’an. ‘Am means general or collective rulings, whereas “khas” is contrast to it, i.e it is specified for particular area or case. ‫َأ‬ ‫َوالَّس اِرُق َوالَّس اِرَقُة َفاْقَطُعوا ْيِدَيُهَما‬ “Cut off (from the wrist joint) the (right) hand of the thief, male or female” (al-Ma’idah: 38) Whomsoever commit thievery will end up with one hand chopped off regardless to the amount of the stolen property. But this is not the case, because the Prophet Muhammad saw said: ”‫“تقطع اليد في ربع دينار‬ Narrated 'Aisha: The Prophet s.a.w. said, "The hand of a thief should be cut off for stealing a quarter of a Dinar. 4. To explain the ambiguous verses of the Quran: ‫( ِح َّل َلُكْم َلْيَلَة الِّصَياِم الَّر َفُث ِإَلى ِنَس آِئُكْم ُهَّن ِلَباٌس َّلُكْم‬ ‫ا‬ ‫َف‬ ‫ُك‬ ‫نُف‬‫ْخ تا و َأ‬ ‫ن‬‫ُك‬ ‫ُك‬ ‫َّل َعِل الّل َأ‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ن‬‫َأ‬ ‫َو ُتْم ِلَب ٌس ُهَّن َم ُه َّن ْم ُتْم َت ُن َن َس ْم َت َب‬ ‫َعَلْيُكْم َوَعَفا َعنُكْم َفاآلَن َباِش ُر وُهَّن َواْبَتُغوْا َما َكَتَب الّلُه َلُكْم‬ ‫ْل‬ ‫َأل‬ ‫ْيِط‬ ‫َخ‬ ‫ا‬ ‫َوُكُلوْا َواْش َر ُبوْا َح َّتى َيَتَبَّيَن َلُكُم اْلَخ ْيُط ا ْبَيُض ِمَن‬ ‫َّل‬ ‫َل‬ ‫ْا‬ ‫َأ‬ 187 : ‫اَألْس َوِد ِمَن اْلَفْج ِر ُثَّم ِتُّمو الِّصَياَم ِإ ى ا لْيِل ) البقرة‬ Permitted to you, on the night of the fasts, is the approach to your wives. they are your garments and ye are their garments. God knoweth what ye used to do secretly among yourselves; but he turned to you and forgave you; so now associate with them, and seek what God hath ordained for you, and eat and ;drink, until the white thread of dawn appear to you distinct from its black thread  To Enact Rulings al-Sunnah al-Muassisah  The Sunnah may enact a ruling on which the Qur’an is silence about it. This kind of Sunnah is referred to as al-Sunnah al-Mu’assisah or the founding Sunnah.  Example: The rulings on the prohibition of eating wild animals with canine teeth, prohibition regarding simultaneous marriage to the maternal and paternal aunt of one’s wife, the punishment of rajm (stoning to death) for adultery committed by married Muslim are all originate in the Sunnah which the Qur’an is silence about them.  The Classification of Sunnah a) The Sunnah, according to the reference to a particular authority is divided into four types: 1. Hadith al-qudsi (sacred or divine); it is a revelation from Allah (s.w.t.) relayed with the words of the Prophet s.a.w. 2. Hadith al-marfu‘ (elevated); the chain of the hadith ends at the Prophet s.a.w., e.g. I heard the Prophet s.a.w. saying … 3. Hadith al-mauquf (stopped): the chain of the hadith ends at the companion, e.g., we were commanded to... 4. Hadith al-maqtu‘ (severed) ): the chain of the hadith ends at the successor of the companions. b) Classification according to the number of reporters involved in each stage of isnad : 1. Hadith al-mutawatir (consecutive): is a hadith which is reported by such a large number of people that they cannot be expected to agree upon a lie, all of them together. This type of hadith is considered as the most authentic type of Sunnah and is next to the Qur’an in term of its authenticity. 2. hadith al-ahad (isolated): is a hadith which is narrated by people whose number does not reach that of the mutawatir. Hadith al-ahad can be further divided into three: a) Al-Mashur (famous): It is a hadith reported by more than two narrators at any stage in the isnad, b) Al-’aziz (rare, strong): It is a hadith reported by only two reporters at any stage in the isnad, c) Al-Gharib (strange): At some stage of the Isnad, only one reporter is found narrating it c) According to the nature of the text and isnad, Sunnah can be classified into three kinds: 1. Ziyadh al-thiqah: a particular hadith reported in different sanad (chain) by additional authentic reporters. 2. Hadith al-Munkar (denounced): is a hadith which is reported by a weak narrator, and whose narration goes against another authentic hadith 3. Hadith al-Mudraj (interpolated): an addition by a reporter to the text of the hadith being narrated. d) Classification of Sunnah was based on the degree of their reliability or the quality of the Sunnah. 1. The Hadith Sahih: These are the authentic Sunnah declared so after fulfilling the following five conditions: a) The chain of the hadith (sanad) must be linked or continuous, b) It must be transmitted by an honest and just person c) The transmitter must have a good memory d) The hadith must not contradict other authentic hadith f) The hadith must be free from any hidden defects. 2. The Hadith hasan: These are the fair traditions where their source are known and their reporters are unambiguous although inferior in the matter of authenticity to the hadith sahih. Some scholars defined Hadith Hasan as the hadith that fulfils the conditions of Hadith sahih, except that the narrators have less ability in their memorization. 3. The Hadith dhaif: These are the weak traditions, which are not very reliable. It does not fulfill any one or more of the above-mentioned criteria. 4. The Hadith maudu’: (fabricated or forged): is a hadith whose text goes against the established norms of the Prophet's sayings, or its reporters include a liar Authentic Collections of Sunnah 1. The Sahih of al-Bukhari (d. 256AH = 870 CE). 2. The Sahih of Muslim (d. 261AH = 875 CE). 3. The Sunan of Abu Daud (d. 275 AH = 888 CE). 4. The Sunan of Al-Nasa’i (d. 303 AH = 915 CE). 5. The Al-Jami` of al-Tirmizi (d. 279 AH = 892 CE). 6. The Sunan of Ibn Majah (d. 273 AH = 887 CE)..The Sahih of al-Bukhari (d. 256AH = 870 CE).1 - Al-Jami’ al-Musnad al-Sahih al-Mukhtasar min ‘Umur Rasulullahi wa Sunanihi wa Ayyamihi or well known as Sahih al-Bukhari by Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Ismail Ibn Ibrahim Ibn Al-Mughirah al-Ju'fi from Al- Bukhara, widely known as Imam Al-Bukhari (b. 194 - d. 256 AH). - Compiled over a period of 16 years. - Considered as the most authentic book after the Qur’an. - Consist 7275 hadith with repetitions, 4000 without repetition, selected among 600,000 hadith. - Reported he would pray two rak‘ah of istikharah before recording each hadith. - He has followed strict conditions in the inclusion of hadith in his collection and among these conditions is that there must be a clear indication that shows that a narrator has met with the person who he claim to have hear from. A mere indication that both of them have lived during the same period is not sufficient. - He has divided all the hadith according to books consisting of different topics about Islam. He begins with the Book of Revelation followed by the Book of Belief. - Many commentaries, the most famous commentary is Fath al-Bari SharÍ Sahih al-Bukhari by Ibn Hajar Al-‘Asqalani Al-Shafie (773 - 852 A.H.)..The Sahih of Muslim (d. 261AH = 875 CE).2 - Al-Musnad al-Sahih al-Mukhtasar min Al-Sunan bi al-Naql al-'adl ‘an Rasulillah, popularly known as Sahih Muslim by Abu al-Husain Muslim Ibn al-Hajjaj An-Nisaburi. - This compilation is recognized as equally authoritative as Sahih al- Bukhari with only slight differences in his criterion of acceptance of certain hadith thus giving it second in rank of authority. - Some scholars considered the arrangement of hadith in Sahih Muslim is better than Sahih al-Bukhari. - He would present his work to the scholars, if any fault was found with any hadith he would omit it. Only agreed unanimously by the scholars as authentic is included. - He is reported to have said, “Not all what I considered as authentic is included in this collection, but what is included is those which are unanimously agreed to be authentic”. - He was a student of Imam al-Bukhari. - The number of hadith in his collection based on subjects is 3030 without repetition, and nearly 10,000 hadith with repetition. - There are many commentaries on his book and the most famous is Sahih Muslim bi Sarh al-Nawawi by Imam Al-Nawawi (d. 676)..The Sunan of Abu Daud (d. 275 AH = 888 CE).3 - Sunan of Abu Daud was compiled by Abu Daud Sulaiman Ibn al-‘Ash'ath al-Azdi Al-Sijistani. - He compiled this book over a period of 20years, - Selected some 4800 hadith out of 500,000 in his collection. - His collection focused mainly on the hadith related to different topics of Fiqh. - Imam Abu Daud explained his methodology in the selection of hadith when he said, “ I have mentioned the authentic and what is close to it, from whatever is doubtful, I have enlightened them”. - His book was considered to be the first of its type and is considered the best of the sunan collections next to the collection of Bukhari and Muslim..The Sunan of Al-Nasa’i (d. 303 AH = 915 CE).4 - Al-Sunan Al-Mujtaba or Sunan of Al-Nasa’i by Abu Abdul Rahman Ibn Ahmad Ibn Shu'aib Ibn ‘Ali Ibn Sinan Ibn Bahr Al-Khurasani Al-Nasa’i. - This book is a collection from earlier and larger work called Al-Sunan Al-Kubra. - Imam Al-Nasa’i recorded the different chain of narrators (asanid), then records the isnad where narrators have made some mistakes. He would then explain what is correct. - Therefore, he recorded weak as well as authenticated hadith, mostly to show what defect they had however, the number of weak hadith in his collection is very few. - The total number of hadith in his collection is 5761..The Al-Jami` of al-Tirmizi (d. 279 AH = 892 CE).5 - Al-JÉmi' or Al-Sunan of At-TirmizÊ was compiled by ImÉm al- HÉfiz AbË ‘IsÉ Muhammad Ibn ‘IsÉ Ibn SËrah Al-TirmizÊ. - He was a student of Abu DÉud who further improved the principles of criticism of hadÊth adopted by his teacher. - Introduced new terminologies and categories of hadith such as ÎaÍÊÍ, Íasan, Ìa‘if and gharÊb. - ImÉm al-TirmizÊ is reported to have said, “I have compiled this book and present it to the scholars of al-HijÉz, al-‘IrÉq and al-Khurasan and they were all happy with it, whoever have it (al-JÉmi‘) in his house, is like having the living Prophet with him”. - His aims in his collection were to: a) systematically collect the hadith. b) discuss the legal opinions of early scholars. c) discuss the quality of the ahÉdÊth. - His book has been divided into 50 sub-books and contains 3956 hadith. - Famous commentaries: Bahr al-Mazi  6. The Sunan of Ibn Majah (d. 273 AH = 887 CE). - Sunan of Ibn MÉjah compiled by ImÉm al-HÉfiz AbË ‘Abdullah MuÍammad Ibn YazÊd Ar-QazwÊnÊ Ibn MÉjah. - His book is considered the lowest grade of the six and it contains 4341 hadith, 3002 of which were already recorded by the authors of the previous five books mentioned. - The remaining hadith which he recorded are graded as follows: 428 authentic (ÎaÍÊÍ), 199 good (Íasan), 613 of weak (Ìa‘Êf), 99 munkar or makzËb (rejected or forged). - Where the other narrators would note when they recorded a weak hadith, Ibn Maajah would remain silent. For this reason some scholars do not counting his work among the six books. - The first one to include Sunan Ibn MÉjah as part of the six principle works is AbË FaÌl Muhammad ibn ÙÉhir al- MaqdisÊ in his writing AÏrÉf al-Kutub al-Sittah