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THE MEANING OF THE SUNNA
Sunna literally means
‘a conduct and a path good or evil to be followed’. It is used, in its
literal meaning, in the following hadith:
The one who establishes
a good path in Islam, gets the reward of those who follow it without any
decrease in their reward. Another one who establishes an evil path in Islam is
burdened with the sins of those who follow it without any decrease in their
burden.1
In its terminological
meaning, Sunna has different connotations according to each group of the
Traditionists, methodologists and jurists. According to the Traditionists, it
includes everything having some bearing on or relation with religious
commandments, reported from God’s Messenger and categorized, according to the
Hanafis (the followers of Abu Hanifa), as obligations, necessities, practices
particular to or encouraged by the Prophet himself, recommended and desirable.
The methodologists take
the Sunna as every word, deed and approval of God’s Messenger. That is,
according to them, the Sunna means the sayings and acts of God’s Messenger
himself, as well as those acts or sayings he approved in what he witnessed in
his Companions.
Jurists approach the
Sunna as the opposite of innovation in religion (bid‘a) and is, according to
them, a synonym of Hadith (Tradition), it is used for the words, deeds and
approvals of the Prophet which provide a basis for legislation and
categorization of people’s actions.
Hadith, derived from the
word haddatha, to inform, means, literally, tiding or information. It came,
over time, to mean every word, deed and approval ascribed to God’s Messenger.
Ibn Hajar says: ‘What is meant by Hadith in the language of the Shari‘a is
everything related to God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings.’
Some scholars of fine
discernment distinguish Hadith as that which is not Divine, not eternal or
without beginning in time. This is the fine line which separates Hadith from
the Quran: as against the Quran which is Divine and eternal, Hadith
connotes something coming into existence at a point in time. God’s Messenger
himself distinguishes his sayings from the Quran, as can be understood from
the following hadith:
It is two things
only, nothing else: the Word and guidance. The best word is the Word of God
and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad.2
1. Muslim, “Zakat,” 69; Ibn
Ma’ja, “Muqaddima,” 203.
2. I. Ma’ja, “Muqaddima,”
7.
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