Editing Sunnah (section)

==Definitions and usage==
''{{Transliteration|ar|DIN|Sunnah}}'' ({{lang|ar|سنة}} {{IPA|ar|ˈsunna|}}; {{plural form}}: {{lang|ar|سنن}} ''{{Transliteration|ar|DIN| sunan}}'' {{IPA|ar|ˈsunan|}}) is an [[Arabic language|Arabic]] word that means: 
*"habit" or "usual practice" (USC glossary);<ref>[http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/reference/glossary/term.SUNNAH.html Sunnah] {{Webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101205042656/http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/reference/glossary/term.SUNNAH.html |date=5 December 2010}}</ref> 
*"habitual practice, customary procedure or action, norm, usage sanctioned by tradition" (Wehr Dictionary);<ref name="Wehr-369">{{cite web |last1=Wehr |first1=Hans |title=A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic |url= https://giftsofknowledge.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/hans-wehr-searchable-pdf.pdf |website=Hans Wehr Searchable PDF |access-date=15 June 2020 |page=369}}</ref> 
*"a body of established customs and beliefs that make up a tradition" (Oxford Islamic Studies Online);<ref name="OISO">{{cite web |title=Sunnah |url= http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t243/e332 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20130616030931/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t243/e332 |url-status= dead |archive-date= 16 June 2013 |website=Oxford Islamic Studies Online |access-date=15 June 2020}}</ref> 
*"a path, a way, a manner of life" (M. A. Qazi);<ref name="el-Dabbas-1979-65" />
*"precedent" or "way of life" (pre-Islamic definition, [[Joseph Schacht]] and [[Ignác Goldziher]]).<ref>{{cite book |title=The Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence |last1=Schacht |first1=Joseph |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=1959 |orig-year=1950 |page=58}}</ref>

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 Quran) (Hans Wehr);<ref name="Wehr-369" /> 
* "All of the traditions and practices of the Prophet" of Islam, "that have become models to be followed" by Muslims (M. A. Qazi);<ref name="el-Dabbas-1979-65" />
* "the body of traditional social and legal custom and practice of the Islamic community" (Encyclopædia Britannica);<ref>{{cite web |title=Sunnah. Islam |url= https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sunnah |website=Encyclopaedia Britannica |access-date=15 June 2020}}</ref>
*"the actions and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad" (Oxford Islamic Studies Online).<ref name="OISO" />
* "''Al-Hikma'' (wisdom)", as per definition of [[Shafi'i school]] in his book, [[Al-Risala (al-Shafi'i book)|ar-Risala]], based on his interpretation of Qur'an chapter [[Al Imran]] {{qref|3|164}}.<ref>{{cite web |author1=al-Shafi'i |author1-link=al-Shafi'i |title=كتاب الرسالة/بيان فرض الله في كتابه اتباع سنة نبيه |trans-title=The Message Book/Statement of God’s obligation in His Book to follow the Sunnah of His Prophet |url=https://ar.wikisource.org/wiki/%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A9/%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%86_%D9%81%D8%B1%D8%B6_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87_%D9%81%D9%8A_%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%87_%D8%A7%D8%AA%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B9_%D8%B3%D9%86%D8%A9_%D9%86%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%87#cite_ref-6 |website=ar.wikisource.org |access-date=29 August 2024 |language=Ar |quote=وقال: { لَقَدْ مَنَّ اللَّهُ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِذْ بَعَثَ فِيهِمْ رَسُولًا مِنْ أَنْفُسِهِمْ يَتْلُوا عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ، وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ، وَيُعَلِّمُهُمْ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ، وَإِنْ كَانُوا مِنْ قَبْلُ لَفِي ضَلَالٍ مُبِينٍ}}</ref>

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).<ref>{{cite web |title=The Sunnah of the Prophet: Definitions |url= https://www.islamweb.net/en/article/174849/the-sunnah-of-the-prophet-definitions |website=Islamweb.net |access-date=15 June 2020 |date=12 September 2018}}</ref>
It was first used with the meaning of "law" in the [[Syro-Roman law book]] before it became widely used in Islamic jurisprudence.<ref>{{cite book |first=Chibi |last=Mallat |title=Introduction to Middle Eastern Law |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |date=2007 |pages=22–32}}</ref>

=== Sunnah and hadith ===

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.<ref>{{cite book |last=Nasr |first=S. |title=Islamic Studies |location=Beirut |publisher=Seyyed Hossein Nasr |date=1967}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nasr |first1=Seyyed Hossein |title=Islamic Spirituality: Foundations |date=1991 |publisher=Routledge |page=97 |isbn=9781134538959 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Ncz9AQAAQBAJ&q=difference+between+hadith+and+sunnah+seyyed+nasr&pg=PA97 |access-date=16 June 2020}}</ref> 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]]".{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}
{{Muhammad}}

=== ''Sunnah Salat'' ===
{{main|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 {{transliteration|ar|[[mustahabb]]}} (encouraged) rather than {{transliteration|ar|[[Fardh|wajib]]}}/{{transliteration|ar|[[Fardh|fard]]}} (obligatory), regarding some commendable action (usually the saying of a prayer).

=== ''Ahl as-Sunnah'' ===

[[Sunni]] Muslims are also referred to as {{transliteration|ar|Ahl as-Sunnah wa'l-Jamā'ah}} ("people of the tradition and the community (of Muhammad)") or {{transliteration|ar|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.<ref name="AQTU" /> Sunnah literally means "face", "nature", "lifestyle", etc.<ref>[[Lisān al-ʿArab]] by [[Ibn Manzur]]</ref> 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".{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

=== 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 ({{transliteration|ar|sunnat al-rasool}}, {{transliteration|ar|sunnat al-nabi}} or {{transliteration|ar|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 "{{transliteration|ar|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. "{{transliteration|ar|[[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 ([[Abraham in Islam|Ibrahim]], [[Moses in Islam|Musa]], etc.), and of "our way", i.e. God's way:<ref>{{qref|17|77|b=y}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Meaning of 'Sunna' in the Qur'an |url= http://www.quranicstudies.com/prophet-muhammad/the-meaning-of-sunna-in-the-quran/ |website=Qur’anic Studies |date=29 May 2011 |access-date=21 May 2018}}</ref>
{{blockquote|1=[This is] the way (''sunna'') of those whom we sent [as messengers] before 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 [[Adnan|Arabized Arabs]] or [[Ishmaelites]], when Muhammad reinstituted this practice as an integral part of Islam.