Sunnah

In Islam, ''Sunnah'' ( ar, سنة, ) are the traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet,

Muhammad

, that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time evidently saw and followed and passed on to the next generations. According to classical Islamic theories, the sunnah are documented by

hadith

(the verbally transmitted record of the teachings, deeds and sayings, silent permissions or disapprovals of

Muhammad

), and along with the

Quran

(the book of Islam), are the divine revelation ('' Wahy'') delivered through Muhammad Brown, ''Rethinking tradition in modern Islamic thought'', 1996: p.7 that make up the primary sources of Islamic law and belief/theology. Differing from Sunni classical Islamic theories are those of Shia Muslims, who hold that the Twelve Imams interpret the sunnah, and

Sufi

who hold that Muhammad transmitted the values of Sunnah "through a series of Sufi teachers."

According to Muslim belief, Muhammad was the best exemplar for Muslims, and several verses in the Quran declare his conduct exemplary, and enjoin his followers to obey him. Sunnah provides a basis not only for major laws and rituals in Islam like how to pray

salat

, but for "even the most mundane activities", such as the order in which to cut fingernails or the proper length of a beard. Brown, ''Rethinking tradition in modern Islamic thought'', 1996: p.1

In the pre-Islamic period, ''sunnah'' was used to mean "manner of acting", whether good or bad. During the early Islamic period, the term referred to any good precedent set by people of the past, including both Muhammad, and his companions. In addition, the Sunnah of the Prophet was not necessarily associated with hadith. Brown, ''Rethinking tradition in modern Islamic thought'', 1996: p.10-12

The classical meaning that now prevails was introduced later in the late second century of Islam, when under the influence of the scholar Al-Shafi‘i, Muhammad's example as recorded in

hadith

was given priority over all other precedents set by other authorities. The term ''al-sunnah'' then eventually came to be viewed as synonymous with the ''sunnah'' of Muhammad, based on hadith reports. Brown, ''Rethinking tradition in modern Islamic thought'', 1996: 10-12, p.14 Recording the ''sunnah'' was also an Arabian tradition and once they converted to Islam, Arabians brought this custom to their religion.

The ''sunnah'' of Muhammad as based on hadith includes his specific words (''Sunnah Qawliyyah''), habits, practices (''Sunnah Fiiliyyah''), and silent approvals (''Sunnah Taqririyyah'').Nasr, Seyyed H. "Sunnah and Hadith". ''World Spirituality: An Encyclopedia History of the Religious Quest''. 19 vols. New York: Crossroad Swag. 97–109. In Islam, the word "''sunnah''" is also used to refer to religious duties that are optional, such as ''Sunnah salat''.

Definitions and usage

' ( , plural ' ) is an

Arabic

word that means
*"habit" or "usual practice" (USC glossary); also
*"habitual practice, customary procedure or action, norm, usage sanctioned by tradition" (Wehr Dictionary);
*"a body of established customs and beliefs that make up a tradition" (Oxford Islamic Studies Online);
*"a path, a way, a manner of life" (M.A.Qazi).
*"precedent" or "way of life" (pre-Islamic definition, Joseph Schacht and

Ignác Goldziher

).

Its religious definition can be:
* "the Sunna of the Prophet, i.e., his sayings and doings, later established as legally binding precedents" (along with the Law established by the Koran) (Hans Wehr);
* "All of the traditions and practices of the Prophet" of Islam, "that have become models to be followed" by Muslims (M.A.Qazi);
* "the body of traditional social and legal custom and practice of the Islamic community" (Encyclopædia Britannica);
*"the actions and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad" (Oxford Islamic Studies Online).
Islam Web gives two slightly different definitions:
*"the statements, actions and approvals (or disapprovals) of Prophet Muhammad", (definition used by "legal theorists");
*"anything narrated from or about the Prophet... either before or after he became a prophet, of his statements, actions, confirmations, biography, and his physical character and attributes," (used by scholars of hadith).
It was first used with the meaning of "law" in the Syro-Roman law book before it became widely used in Islamic jurisprudence.

Sunnah and hadith

Sunnah and hadith (the words, actions or approval that are narrated about Muhammad and which are believed to document Sunnah) are sometimes used synonymously, but not always.
*For example, the group known as "Ahl al-Hadeeth" is also sometimes called "Ahl as-Sunnah"; books such as "Kutub al-Hadeeth" are also sometimes called "Kutub as-Sunnah", (according to the Saudi fatwa site "Islam Question and Answer"). In the context of biographical records of Muhammad, ''sunnah'' often stands synonymous with ''

hadith

'' since most of the personality traits of Muhammad are known from descriptions of him, his sayings and his actions from hadith.
*Examples of where they are not used interchangeably but have different meanings are when Sunnah refers to the general affairs, i.e. the path, the methodology and the way of Muhammad; and to "adhering to Islam in the manner prescribed, without adding to it or introducing innovations into the religion", which hadith does not; fuqaha' scholars use the word "Sunnah" when explaining the ruling on doing a specific action as being mustahabb (liked or encouraged), which they do not with hadith). According to Seyyed Nasr, the hadith contains the words of Muhammad, while the sunnah contains his words and actions along with pre-Islamic practices of which he approved. In the context of sharia, Malik ibn Anas and the Hanafi scholars are assumed to have differentiated between the two: for example Malik is said to have rejected some traditions that reached him because, according to him, they were against the "established practice of the people of

Medina

".

''Sunnah Salat''

In addition to being "the way" of Islam or the traditional social and legal custom and practice of the Islamic community, sunnah is often used as a synonym for ''mustahabb'' (encouraged) rather than ''wajib''/''fard'' (obligatory), regarding some commendable action (usually the saying of a prayer).

Ahl as-Sunnah

Sunni Muslims are also referred to as ''Ahl as-Sunnah wa'l-Jamā'ah'' ("people of the tradition and the community (of Muhammad)") or ''Ahl as-Sunnah'' for short. Some early Sunnî Muslim scholars (such as

Abu Hanifa

, al-Humaydî, Ibn Abî 'Âsim, Abû Dâwûd, and Abû Nasr al-Marwazî) reportedly used the term "the sunnah" narrowly to refer to Sunni Doctrine as opposed to the creeds of Shia and other non-Sunni Islamic sects. Sunnah literally means face, nature, lifestyle, etc. In the time of

Muhammad

's companion, newly converted Muslims accepted and rejected some set of creed by using reason. So many early Muslim scholars started writing books on creed entitled as 'sunnah'.

In the Quran

The word "Sunna" appears several times in the Qur’an, but there is no specific mention of sunnah of the messenger or prophet (''sunnat al-rasool'', ''sunnat al-nabi'' or ''sunna al-nabawiyyah''), i.e. the way/practice of Muhammad (there ''are'' several verses calling on Muslims to obey Muhammad—see below). Four verses (8.38, 15.13, 18.55) use the expression “''sunnat al-awwalin''”, which is thought to mean "the way or practice of the ancients". It is described as something "that has passed away" or prevented unbelievers from accepting God. “''Sunnat Allah''” (the "way of God") appears eight times in five verses. In addition, verse 17.77 talks of both the way of other, earlier Muslim messengers (

Ibrahim

, Musa, etc.), and of "our way", i.e. God's way.

his isthe way (''sunna'') of those whom we sent s messengersbefore you, and you will not find any change in Our way (''sunnatuna'').

This indicates to some scholars (such as Javed Ahmad Ghamidi) that sunnah predates both the Quran and Muhammad, and is actually the tradition of the prophets of God, specifically the tradition of

Abraham

.

Christians

,

Jews

and the Arab descendants of Ishmael, the

Arabized Arabs

or Ishmaelites, when Muhammad reinstituted this practice as an integral part of Islam.

History/etymology

According to historians (particularly Daniel W. Brown), the classical Islamic definition of Sunnah as the customs and practices of

Muhammad

(only) was not the original one.

First century of Islam

;"Ancient Schools"
Prior to the "golden age of classical Islamic jurisprudence", the "ancient schools" of law prevailed.
The golden age, starting with the creation of the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali, etc. schools of fiqh in the second century of Islam, limited sunnah to "traditions traced back to the Prophet Muhammad himself" (''sunna al-nabawiyyah''). But the ancient "regional" schools of law, located in several major cities of the new Arab empire of Islam --

Mecca

,

Kufa

,

Basra

, Syria, etc., Burton, ''Islamic Theories of Abrogation'', 1990: p.13—had a more flexible definition of sunnah than is now commonly used. This being the "acceptable norms" or "custom", Brown, ''Rethinking tradition in modern Islamic thought'', 1996: 11 which included examples of the Prophet's Companions, the rulings of the Caliphs, and practices that "had gained general acceptance among the jurists of that school".

;Sunnah without Muhammad
Examples of the use of non-Muhammadan sunnahs at this time is found in a (non-Muhammadan) tradition/hadith comment
*on the difference in the number of lashes used to punish alcohol consumption, Caliph

Ali

reported that (Muhammad and Abu Bakr ordered 40 lashes,

Umar

80) — "All this is sunna"; Brown, ''Rethinking tradition in modern Islamic thought'', 1996: 10
*on

Umar

's deathbed instructions on where Muslims should seek guidance: from the Qur’an, the early Muslims (''muhajirun'') who emigrated to Medina with Muhammad, the Medina residents who welcomed and supported the ''muhajirun'' (the '' ansar''), the people of the desert, and the protected communities of Jews and Christians ('' ahl al-dhimma''); hadith of Muhammad are not mentioned.

;Sunnah without hadith
In al-Ṭabarī's history of early Islam, the term "Sunnah of the Prophet" is not only used "surprisingly infrequently", but used to refer to "political oaths or slogans used by rebels", or "a general standard of justice and right conduct", and not "to specific precedents set by Muhammad", let alone hadith. An early theological writing by Hasan al-Basri (''Risala fi'l Qadar'') also is "empty of references to specific cases" when mentioning Sunnah of the Prophet.
Daniel Brown states that the first extant writings of Islamic legal reasoning were "virtually hadith-free" and argues that other examples of a lack of connection between sunnah and hadith" can be found in:
*''Kitāb al-Irjāʾ'' of al-Hasan b. Muhammad b. al-Hanafiyya,
*the first letter of Abdallah ibn Ibad to Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan,
*and the ''Risāla'' of

Abu Hanifa

addressed to ʿUthman al-Battī."8