The First Principle
Only that thing can be a Sunnah which is religious
by nature and status. The Qur’an is absolutely clear that the prophets of Allah
were sent to deliver His religion. In their prophetic capacity, the ambit of
their thoughts and deeds was only that of religion. Everything besides this, was
primarily of no concern to them. No doubt besides their prophetic capacity they
were also Ibrahim Ibn A%zar, Musa Ibn ‘Imran. ‘I%sa Ibn Maryam and Muhammad Ibn
‘Abdullah in their human capacity; however, in this human capacity, they never
asked obedience from their followers. All their demands were confined to their
prophetic capacity, and what was given to them in this capacity was religion,
and thus it was only religion whose propagation they were liable to:
شَرَعَ لَكُم
مِّنَ الدِّينِ مَا وَصَّى بِهِ نُوحًا وَالَّذِي أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ وَمَا
وَصَّيْنَا بِهِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَمُوسَى وَعِيسَى أَنْ أَقِيمُوا الدِّينَ وَلَا
تَتَفَرَّقُوا فِيهِ (١٣:٤٢)
He has enjoined on you the same religion which He enjoined on Noah, and which
We have now revealed to you, which We enjoined on Abraham, Moses, and Jesus,
with the assertion: “Adhere to this religion [in your lives] and do not create
any divisions in it.” (42:13)
Consequently, it is known history that the Prophet (sws)
used weapons like swords and arrows in wars, traveled on camels, constructed a
mosque whose roof was made of palm trees, ate some foods which were customary in
the Arab society and showed his like or dislike for them, wore a certain dress
which was in vogue in Arabia and whose selection also had much to do with his
personal taste – however, none of these things can be termed Sunnah and neither
can any man of learning regard them to be Sunnah. At one instance, the Prophet (sws)
himself is reported to have said:
إنما أنا بشر إذا أمرتكم بشيء من دينكم فخذوا به وإذا أمرتكم
بشيء من رأي فإنما أنا بشر …إنما ظننت ظنا فلا تؤاخذوني
بالظن ولكن إذا حدثتكم عن الله شيئا فخذوا به فإني لن اكذب على الله …
أنتم أعلم بأمر دنياكم ( مسلم رقم
٢٢٦٣
٢٣٦١
٣٢٦٢)
I am also a human being. When I direct you about
something which relates to your religion, take it from me and when I express my
own opinion [about something which is outside this sphere] then my status in
this regard is nothing more than that of a human being … I had conjectured about
something.1 Do not hold me
accountable for such things which are based on opinion and conjecture. However,
if I say something on behalf of God, take it because I will never forge a lie on
God … You very well know about your worldly affairs. (Muslim, Nos: 2263, 2361,
3262)
The Second Principle
The Sunnah entirely relates to practical affairs of
life. Belief, ideology, history, occasions of revelation (sha’n al-nuzul) and
other similar things do not fall in its sphere. In the Arabic language, Sunnah
means “trodden path”. The way the Almighty dealt with peoples to whom messengers
were sent by rewarding or punishing these people is called Sunnatullah by the
Qur’an. Consequently, the word Sunnah cannot be applied to things such as faith,
and nothing which relates to knowledge can be regarded as Sunnah. Its ambit is
practical things and everything that does not fall in this ambit cannot be
called Sunnah.
The Third Principle
The third principle is that even things which belong
to the practical sphere cannot be regarded Sunnah if they are initiated by the
Qur’an. It is known that the Prophet Muhammad (sws) had amputated the hands of
thieves, flogged criminals of adultery, stoned to death people for sexual
misconduct, fought with people who deliberately denied the truth – however all
these acts cannot be termed Sunnah. All these are directives initiated by the
Qur’an, and the Prophet (sws) merely followed them. On the other hand,
directives such as the prayer, fasting, zakah, hajj and animal sacrifice are
also mentioned in the Qur’an which has also made some corrections in them;
however, it becomes evident from the Qur’an itself that these directives were
initiated by Muhammad (sws) himself once he had revived them as part of the
religion of Abraham (sws) and given them religious sanction. Thus they must be
regarded as Sunnah which the Qur’an has ratified.
Thus, if something is originally based on the Qur’an
and the Prophet (sws) has merely explained it or followed it in exactly the same
way he was directed to, then these words or acts of the Prophet (sws) will not
be called Sunnah; they will be termed as the Prophet’s explanation and exemplary
manner in which he acted upon them. Only those things will be regarded as Sunnah
which are originally based on the words, practices or tacit approvals of the
Prophet (sws), and they cannot be regarded as following a directive of the
Qur’an or an explanation of a directive mentioned in it.
The Fourth Principle
A new Sunnah is not constituted by merely observing
some Sunnah in an optional manner. We know that the Prophet (sws) while
complying the directive: وَمَن تَطَوَّعَ خَيْرًا فَإِنَّ
اللّهَ شَاكِرٌ عَلِيمٌ (He that does a virtue of his own will, (2:158))
of the Almighty offered optional prayers besides the obligatory ones, he fasted
optionally besides the obligatory fasts of Ramadan, offered animal sacrifice at
instances in which it was not obligatory; however, none of these optional acts
of worship constitute a new Sunnah. The way the Prophet (sws) showed diligence
in worshipping over and above what was required of him can definitely be termed
as a good example that he set for his followers; however, it cannot be regarded
as independent Sunan (plural of Sunnah).
Similar is the case of doing some deed of religion
is its most ultimate and perfect form. The wudu (ablution) and ghusl (bathing)
of the Prophet (sws) are two very good examples that can be presented in this
regard. The way the Prophet (sws) went about doing these does not constitute any
independent or original deed that they may be regarded as another Sunnah. He has
in fact tried to obey an original Sunnah in its most complete and perfect form.
Hence they shall be regarded as the exemplary form in which he acted upon a
Sunnah, and not regarded as independent Sunnah.
The Fifth Principle
Things which merely state some aspect of human
nature cannot be regarded as Sunnah. Beasts having canine teeth, wild birds
having claws and tamed donkeys have been prohibited by the Prophet (sws);
however, this prohibition is only a delineation of human nature, which is averse
to eating such things. Hence this prohibition cannot be termed as Sunnah. The
prohibition of certain food items mentioned in the Qur’an (6:146 and 2:173) is a
mere delineation of human nature. Man inherently knows that lions, tigers,
elephants, eagles, crows, vultures, kites, scorpions and human flesh itself are
not meant to be eaten. He is also well aware of the fact that horses and mules
are a means of transportation and have no role in satisfying one’s hunger. There
are some other similar things also which have been mentioned in various
narratives and should be understood thus, and not as independent Sunan.
The Sixth Principle
Those guidelines of the Prophet (sws) cannot be
regarded as Sunnah the nature of which is fully sufficient to show that the
Prophet (sws) never wanted to constitute them as Sunnah. One example of this are
the utterances and supplications which are said in the qa‘dah. It is evident
from various narratives that the Prophet (sws) taught the tashahhud and the
darud to be recited in the qa‘dah; however, it is also very clear from these
narratives that neither did the Prophet (sws) initiate these supplications nor
did he deem them as an essential part of the prayer. He in fact wanted to give
people the option to either read these supplications which he taught them or
read some others to invoke the Almighty. Thus the only thing that is Sunnah in
this regard is that one must sit in the qa‘dah position in the second and last
rak‘at of a prayer; other than this, no other thing is Sunnah in this sphere.
The Seventh Principle
Just as the Qur’an is not validated through khabr-i
wahid, the Sunnah is also not validated through it. The Sunnah is an independent
source of religion. The Prophet Muhammad (sws) was liable to communicate it with
great care and diligence in its original form and in a manner that would render
it certain. It was not left to a person’s choice to communicate it further as is
the case of a khabr-i wahid. Consequently, the source of Sunnah is the consensus
of the ummah, just as the source of the Qur’an is the consensus of the ummah.
Just as the Qur’an has been transmitted to the ummah by the consensus and verbal
perpetuation of the Companions (rta) of the Prophet (sws), the Sunnah is
transmitted to the ummah by the their consensus and their practical
perpetuation. Less than this extent of validation, the Qur’an and Sunnah cannot
be accepted; only the Hadith, which depict the exemplary personality of the
Prophet (sws) or which contain his explication are transmitted through lesser
means of validation.
These are the seven principles of determining the
Sunnah. If what has been transmitted to the ummah by the Prophet (sws) other
than the Qur’an is deliberated upon in the light of these principles, the Sunnah,
like the Qur’an, can be determined with absolute certainty.
(Translated from Ghamidi’s Mizan by Shehzad Saleem)
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