Islamic
Jurisprudence (Usul Al Fiqh):
The Sunnah
By Shah Abdul
Hannan
Literal meaning of Sunnah in Arabic
is beaten track or established course of conduct. Pre-Islamic Arabs
used the word for ancient or continuous practice. According to
Ulama of Hadith, Sunnah refers to all that is narrated from the
Prophet(sm),his acts,his sayings and whatever he tacitly approved.
The Jurisprudents exclude the features of the Prophet
(SM) from Sunnah. In the Hadith literature, there are uses of the
word Sunnah in the sense of source of law, for instance in THE
Prophet's farewel Hajj address and at the time of sending Muadh(R.A.)
to Yemen.
The term Sunnah was
introduced in the legal theory towards the end of the first century.
It may be noted that in the late 2nd
Century Hijra Imam Shafii restricted the term to the Prophetic Sunnah
only. In the Usul al Fiqh Sunnah means the source of Shariah next to
the Quran.But to the Ulama of Fiqh Sunnah primarily refers to a
Shariah value which is not obligatory but falls in the category of
Mandub or recommended. But as a source, Sunnah can create obligation
(wajib), Haram, Makruh, etc. In the technical
usage Sunnah and Hadith have become synonymous to mean conduct of the
Prophet (SM) The Sunnah of the Prophet (SM)
is a proof (Hujjah). The Quran testifies that Sunnah is
divinely inspired (53:3). The
Quran enjoins obedience to the Prophet(SM) [59:7;4:59; 4:80;
33:36]Allah asked the believers to accept the Prophet as judge
(4:65)One classification of Sunnah is Qawli, Faili and Taqriri
(verbal, actions and tacit approval)
A very important classification is legal
and non-legal Sunnah . Legal Sunnah (Sunnah tashriyyah) an consists
of the Prophetic activities and instructions of the Prophet (sm) as
the Head of the State and as Judge. Non-legal Sunnah
(Sunnah Ghayr tashriyyah) mainly consist of the natural activities of
the Prophet (Al-afal-al-jibilliyyah),such as the manner in which he
ate, slept, dressed and such other activities which do not form a
part of Shariah. This is called adat (habit) of the Prophet in the
Nurul Anwar,a text -book of Usul. Certain activities may fall in
between the two. Only competent scholars can distinguish the two in
such areas.Sunnah which partake of technical knowledge such as
medicine, agriculture is not part of Shariah according to most
scholars. As for the acts and sayings of the Prophet that
related to particular circumstances such as the strategy of war,
including such devices that misled the enemy forces, timing of
attact, siege or withdrawal, these too are considered to be
situational and not a part of the Shariah. .(Khallaf: .'ILM - Usul al
Fiqh', Mahmud Shalutat: Al Islam, Aqidah wa Shariah)
Certain matters are particular to the
Prophet (SM) such as the case of number of wives, marriage without
dower, prohibition of remarriage of the widows of the prophet (sm).
The Quran has priority over Sunnah, because of nature of revelation
(wahy zahir over wahy Batin), authenticity and also because Sunnah is
basically and mostly an elaboration of the Quran. In case of real
conflict, the Quran should prevail. Never the Quran was abandoned in
favor of the Sunnah.
It may be noted
that Sunnah in many instances confirms the Quran. There is no
disagreement on this.Sunnah also explains and clarifies the Quran as
in the case of Salat, Zakat, Hajj, Riba and many other matters of
transactions.Another part of Sunnah which is called Sunnah al
Muassisah or founding Sunnah (such as prohibition of marrying
paternal or maternal aunt or the right of pre-emption in property
(shuf') cannot be traced in the Quran and originate in the
Sunnah.
It may be noted from 'Usul' books that the
experts in Hadith literature at the stage of collection of Hadith
examined all Hadith before recording in their collections
(particularly the claim of transmission from the Prophet [SM]
downward) and classified Hadith into strong (sahih/hasan), weak
(daif) and forged (Mawdu). It is easy for an expert in Hadith
to find out the status of Hadith. Even now re-examination of Hadith
literature is continuing. In current century, Nasiruddin Albani had
good work on this subject. Anybody who knows Arabic well, can
look into Albani's works (see also M.M.Azami, Studies in Hadith
methodology, published by American Trust
Publications.
Mutawatir Hadith has been considered Qati (definitive) in concept
(Mutawatir bil Ma'na) mostly. There are only a few hadith which
are Mutawatir bil Lafz (Mutawatir word by word). Also note that
because of large number of reporters of Mutawatir Hadith, diversity
of residence of the reporters, it is impossible to concoct a lie in
this manner. The main conditions of Mutawatir Hadith are: (a) large
number of reporters (b) reports must be based on direct knowledge and
through sense perception, (c) reporters must be upright, (d)
reporters are free from sectarian or political bias of that time.
According to the majority of Ulama of Usul, the authority of
Mutawatir is equivalent to the Quran. It gives positive knowledge,
the denial of Mutawatir Hadith or Sunnah is equivalent to denial of
the Quran.
Mashhur Hadith is a kind of Hadith,
which is reported by one or two companions, then become well known.
The majority of Ulama considered Mashhur as a kind of Ahad Hadith and
it gives speculative knowledge, not positive knowledge. Ahad Hadith
(in most cases reported by a single companion and which did not
become well-known in the 2 or 3 generations) does not give positive
knowledge. Majority of Jurists hold that if Ahad is reported by
reliable reporters, it establishes a rule of law. Some hold acting
upon Ahad is only preferable. Aqidah (beliefs) or Hadud
(prescribed punishment) should not be based on Ahad.(Hashim Kamali,
Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, Islamic Texts Society,
Cambridge).
If a hadith is
narrated by a number of narrators and there is additional words
in some of them, then it should be looked into whether the
hadith was originally uttered in one sitting. In that case ,the words
narrated by more narrators will be accepted.. Imam Malik did not rely
on Ahad., if it was in conflict with the practice of Madinah. Most
Imams considered Ahad to be authoritative in principle if reported by
reliable reporters. Majority of Ulama do not insist on
verbatim transmission (rewait bil Lafz) of Ahad. Transmission
of a part of Hadith is permitted, if it is not in conflict with the
full hadith.
What is the difference between Muttasil (connected) and Ghair al
Muttasil (disconnected) Hadith? Mutawatir, Mushhur and Ahad are kinds
of Muttasil hadith. Mursal, Mudal and Munqati are various types
of Ghair al Muttasil Hadith. According to majority, Mursal
means that a successor (Tabii), narrates a hadith without mentioning
the name of companions. Majority of Ulama of Hadith do not
accept the Mursal as evidence. Imam Ahmad and Imam Shafii
do not rely on Mursal unless reported by famous successor, even then
Mursal have to meet certain conditions as mentioned in books on
Usul. Imam Abu Hanifa and Imam Malik are less stringent in
their acceptance of Mursal. Munqati refers to a Hadith whose
chain of narrator has a single missing link somewhere in the middle
of the chain. The Mudal is a Hadith in which two consecutive
links are missing.
The Hadith has
also been classified into Sahih, Hasan and Daif. Hadith is
called Sahih (that is excellent in terms of quality of narrators -
not in the sense of Qati or absolutely correct), if it is reported by
Thiqat Sabitun (highly trustworthy) or by Thiqat (trustworthy)
narrator. A Hadith is considered Hasan if among the
narrators are included (apart from the categories of narrators of
Sahih hadith) some persons who are Sadiq(truthful),Sadiq
Yahim(truthful but commits error) and Maqbul(accepted that is there
is no proof that he is unreliable). A hadith is considered Daif if
among the reporters are any Majhul person(that is unknown person in
terms of identity or conduct) or if there is any Fasiq(violator of
any important practice) or any liar.
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