Editing Sunnah (section)

==History and etymology==
Prior to the "golden age of classical Islamic jurisprudence",{{efn|According to Mahmoud El-Gamal.<ref>[[#MAEGIFLEP2006|El-Gamal, ''Islamic Finance'', 2006]]: pp. 30–31</ref>}} the "ancient schools" of law prevailed.

The traditions not directly sourced from hadith or practice of Muhammad and instead traced solely to some Sahabah were also acknowledged as a source of jurisprudence. These were regarded by scholars of Islam – such as Nawawi – as "unrecorded hadith" which, while not explicitly attributed to Muhammad himself – were clearly practiced by the first generation of Muhammad's followers. [[Al-Nawawi]] has listed [[Zubayr ibn al-Awwam]]'s ruling regarding ethics of sitting down during eating and drinking in his book, [[The Meadows of the Righteous|Riyadh as Shaliheen]], by basing the ethic in az-Zubayr practice, which was narrated by his son, Abdulah.<ref>{{harvtxt |Nu'man|2020|p=171, Muwatta Imam Malik, no.3424. Nawawi take this ruling from Muwatta despite being Shafiite scholar}}</ref> Another manners and ethic ruling based on az-Zubayr is the prohibition of sleeping after [[Subuh prayer|Sübuh]],<ref>{{harvtxt |Nu'man|2020|p=282, Narrated by Urwah ibn az-Zubayr, that his father forbade his sons to sleep during morning prayer time;narrated by Hadith scholar [[Ibn Abi Shaybah]]}}</ref> as well as the one concerning the ethics of sitting down while drinking.<ref>{{harvnb|Ibn Abdul Aziz Asy-Syalhub|2019|p=227}}</ref>

Other examples of this kind of ''sunnah'' also include:

*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";<ref>[[#DWBRTMIT1996|Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996]]: 10</ref>
*[[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 (Islam)|ansar]]''), the people of the desert, and the protected communities of Jews and Christians (''[[dhimmi|ahl al-dhimma]]''); hadith of Muhammad are not mentioned.<ref>Ibn Sa’d, ''Tabaqat'', III/1, 243. Cf.: {{cite book |first=G. H. A. |last=Juynboll |title=Muslim Traditions: Studies in Chronology, Provenance and Authorship of Early Hadith |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |date=1983}} And: {{cite journal |last=Juynboll |first=G. H. A. |title=Some New Ideas on the Development of Sunna as a Technical Term in Early Islam |journal=Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam |volume=10 |date=1987 |page=108}} Cited in: [[#DWBRTMIT1996|Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996]], p. 10.</ref>

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.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

In [[al-Tabari|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.<ref name="DWBRTMIT1996:11" /> 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".<ref name="DWBRTMIT1996:11" />
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;<ref>{{cite journal |title=Kitāb al-Irjāʾ |author=al-Hasan b. Muhammad b. al-Hanafiyya |author-link=Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya |editor-last=van Ess |editor-first=Josef |journal=Arabica |volume=21 |date=1974 |pages=20–52}}</ref><ref name="DWBRTMIT1996:11" /> 
*the first letter of [[Abdallah ibn Ibad]] to [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan]];<ref>{{cite book |first=Joseph |last=Schacht |chapter=Sur l-expression 'Sunna du Prophet' |title=Melanges d'orientalisme offerts a Henri Masse à l'occasion de son 75ème anniversaire |language=fr |location=Tehran |publisher=Imprimerie de l'université |date=1963 |pages=361–365}}</ref><ref name="DWBRTMIT1996:11" />
*and the ''Risāla'' of [[Abu Hanifa]] addressed to ʿUthman al-Battī".<ref>''Kitab al-ʿalim wa'l-mutaʿāllim,'' ed. M. Z. al-Kawthari (Cairo, 1368 A.H.), 34-38</ref><ref name="DWBRTMIT1996:11" />

According to one source (Ahmad Kazemi Moussavi and Karim Douglas Crow), early Sunni scholars often considered sunnah equivalent to the biography of Muhammed (''[[Prophetic biography|sira]]''). As the hadith came to be better documented and the scholars who validated them gained prestige, the sunnah came often to be known mostly through the hadith, especially as variant or fictional biographies of Muhammad spread.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Ahmad Kazemi |last1=Moussavi |first2=Karim |last2=Douglas Crow |title=Facing One Qiblah: Legal and Doctrinal Aspects of Sunni and Shi'ah Muslims |location=Singapore |publisher=Pustaka Nasional |date=2005 |pages=87–90 |isbn=9971775522}}</ref>

[[File:سنن الدارقطني.jpg|thumb|The ''Sunan ad-Darakutni'', an important work for the implication of the ''sunnah'']]

===Four Madhhabs===

The golden age, starting with the creation of the [[Hanafi]], [[Maliki]], [[Shafi'i]], [[Hanbali]], and other schools of [[fiqh]] in the second century of Islam, limited sunnah to "traditions traced back to the Prophet Muhammad himself" (''sunna al-nabawiyyah''). The ancient regional schools of law, located in several major cities of the new Arab empire of Islam, including [[Mecca]], [[Kufa]], [[Basra]], and Syria,<ref>[[#JBSILITA1990|Burton, ''Islamic Theories of Abrogation'', 1990]]: p.13</ref> had a more flexible definition of sunnah than is now commonly used. This being the "acceptable norms" or "custom",<ref name="DWBRTMIT1996:11">[[#DWBRTMIT1996|Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996]]: 11</ref> which included examples of [[Sahabah|Muhammad's companions]], the rulings of the [[Caliph]]s, and practices that "had gained general acceptance among the jurists of that school".<ref name="DWBRTMIT1996:7" />

Abū ʿAbdullāh Muhammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī (150–204 AH), known as [[al-Shafi'i]], argued against flexible sunnah and the use of precedents from multiple sources,<ref>Joseph Schacht, ''The Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence'' (Oxford, 1950, repre. 1964) esp. 6-20 and 133-137): Ignaz Goldziher, ''The Zahiris: Their Doctrine and their History'', trans and ed. Wolfgang Behn (Leiden, 1971), 20 ff...</ref><ref name="DWBRTMIT1996:7" /> emphasizing the final authority of a [[hadith]] of [[Muhammad]], so that even the Qur'an was "to be interpreted in the light of traditions (i.e. hadith), and not vice versa".<ref>J. SCHACHT, ''An Introduction to Islamic Law'' (1964), supra note 5, at 47</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Forte |first1=David F. |title=Islamic Law: The impact of Joseph Schacht |journal=Loyola Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review |date=1978 |volume=1 |page=13 |url= http://www.soerenkern.com/pdfs/islam/IslamicLawTheImpactofJosephSchacht.pdf |access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref> While the sunnah has often been called "second to the Quran",<ref>{{cite book |last=Rhodes |first=Ron |title=The 10 Things You Need to Know About Islam |publisher=Harvest House Publishers |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Az2o12ZQs08C&q=sunnah+is+second+only+to+the+quran&pg=PA27 |via=Google Books |access-date=19 July 2018 |isbn=9780736931151}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Kutty |first=Ahmad |title=Significance of Hadith in Islam |url= http://www.islamicity.com/forum/printer_friendly_posts.asp?TID=3547 |access-date=19 July 2018}}</ref> hadith has also been said to "rule over and interpret the Quran".<ref>{{cite book |last=Brown |first=Jonathan A. C. |author-link=Jonathan A. C. Brown |title=Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's Legacy |date=2014 |publisher=[[Oneworld Publications]] |isbn=9781780744209 |ref=JACBMM2014 |page=168}}</ref>{{efn|Ahmad Hasan calls the dictum that states: "The Sunnah decides upon the Qur'an, while the Qur'an does not decide upon the Sunnah" {{lang|ar|ألسنة قاضي على ألقرﺁن ,وليس ﺁلقرﺁن بقاض على ألسنة}}<ref>Al-Darimi, Sunan, Cairo, 1349 1:145.</ref> – "well known".<ref>[[#AHToN1965|Hasan, A., "The Theory of Naskh", ''Islamic Studies'', 1965]]: p. 192</ref>}}
Al-Shafiʿi "forcefully argued" that the sunnah stands "on equal footing with the Quran" (according to scholar Daniel Brown), both being divine revelation. As Al-Shafi'i put it, "the command of the Prophet is the command of God"<ref>al-Shafii, ''Kitab al-Risala'', ed. Muhammad Shakir (Cairo, 1940), 84</ref><ref>name="DWBRTMIT1996:18-20">[[#DWBRTMIT1996|Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996]]: p.18-20</ref> This, though, contradicts another point Shafi made, which was the sunnah was below the Quran.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=9P0RAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 |title=The Position of Women in Islam: A Progressive View |first=Syed Mohammed |last=Ali |publisher=SUNY Press |date=2004 |isbn=9780791460962 |page=7 |access-date=27 November 2021}}</ref>

Sunnah of Muhammad outranked all other, and "broad agreement" developed that "hadith must be the basis for authentication of any sunnah", (according to M. O. Farooq).<ref name="Farooq">{{Cite journal |last=Farooq |first=Mohammad Omar |date=1 January 2011 |title=Qard Hasan, Wadiah/Amanah and Bank Deposits: Applications and Misapplications of Some Concepts in Islamic Banking |journal=Arab Law Quarterly |volume=25 |issue=2 |ssrn=1418202 |location=Rochester, New York |doi=10.1163/157302511X553985}}</ref> Al-Shafiʿi's success was such that later writers "hardly ever thought of sunnah as comprising anything but that of the Prophet".<ref>Juynboll, G.H.A., "Some New Ideas on the Development of Sunna as a Technical Term in Early Islam", "Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam" 10 (1987): p.108, cited in {{cite book|last1=Brown |first1=Daniel W.|title=Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought |date=1996 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521570770 |url= https://www.scribd.com/document/116836545/Rethinking-Traditions-in-Modern-Islamic-Thought-Daniel-w-Brown |access-date=10 May 2018 |ref=DWBRTMIT1996 |page=10}}</ref>

===Systemization of hadith===

While the earliest Muslim lawyers "felt no obligation" to provide documentation of hadith when arguing their case, and the sunnah was not recorded and written during Muhammad's lifetime, (according to scholar [[Khaled Abou El Fadl]]), all this changed with the triumph of [[al-Shafi'i]] and a "broad agreement" that hadith should be used to authenticate sunnah (according to M. O. Farooq),<ref name="Farooq" /> over the course of the second century,<ref>[[#DWBRTMIT1996|Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996]]: p.12</ref> when legal works began incorporating Prophetic hadith.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Motzki |first1=Harald |title=The Muṣannaf of ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-Sanʿānī as a Source of Authentic Ahadith of the First Century A.H. |journal=Journal of Near Eastern Studies |volume=50 |date=1991 |page=21 |doi=10.1086/373461 |s2cid=162187154}}</ref><ref>[[#DWBRTMIT1996|Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996]]: p.11-12</ref>

Hadith was now systematically collected and documented, but several generations having passed since the time of its occurrence meant that "many of the reports attributed to the Prophet are apocryphal or at least are of dubious historical authenticity" (according to Abou El Fadl). "In fact, one of the most complex disciplines in Islamic jurisprudence is one which attempts to differentiate between authentic and inauthentic traditions."<ref name="abc-abu-al-fadl" />{{efn|1=According to at least one source [['Abd Allah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As|Abd Allah ibn 'Amr]] was one of the first companions to write down the hadith, after receiving permission from Muhammad to do so.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.kitaba.org/Content.aspx?cid=20| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303014055/http://kitaba.org/Content.aspx?cid=20| url-status=usurped| archive-date=3 March 2011| title=Biography of Abdullah Ibn Amr ibn al-'As}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=An Introduction to the Conservation of Hadith: In the Light of Sahifah Hammam ibn Munabbih |first=Muhammad |last=Hamidullah |date=2003 |publisher=Islamic Book Trust |isbn=9789839154948}}</ref> Abu Hurayrah memorized the hadith.<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/bitstream/handle/10036/4362/GhaniU.pdf |title='Abu Hurayra' a Narrator of Hadith Revisited: An Examination into the Dichotomous Representations of an Important Figure in Hadith with Special Reference to Classical Islamic Modes of Criticism |last=Ghani |first=Usman |date=July 2011 |website=Open Research Exeter |publisher=[[University of Exeter]] |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180725224026/https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/bitstream/handle/10036/4362/GhaniU.pdf |archive-date=25 July 2018 |access-date=25 July 2018}}</ref>}}

===Classical Islam===

Islam jurists divide sunnah into that which has no legal consequences – ''al-sunna al-ʿādīyah'' (the "personal habits and preferences" of Muhammad); and that which is binding on Muslims – ''al-sunna al-hudā''.<ref>[[#DWBRTMIT1996|Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996]]: p. 62</ref> The literalist [[Zahiri school|Zāhirī]] school disagrees holding that there was no sunnah whose fulfillment is not rewarded or neglect punished,<ref name="DWBRTMIT1996:63">[[#DWBRTMIT1996|Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996]]: p.63</ref> while classical Islam holds that following non-binding ''al-sunna al-ʿādīyah'' is meritorious but not obligatory.<ref>Brown 64</ref>

Sufis see the "division between binding and non-binding" sunnah as "meaningless". Muhammad is ''[[al-insān al-kāmil]]'', the perfect man, ''labib-Allah'' beloved of God,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nasr |first1=Seyyed Hossein |title=Huhammad: Man of God |date=1995 |publisher=ABC International Group |page=5 |url= http://traditionalhikma.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Muhammad-Man-of-God-by-Seyyed-Hossein-Nasr.pdf |access-date=14 May 2020}}</ref> an intercessor, a "channel of divine light". Imitating his every action is "the ultimate expression" of piety.<ref name="DWBRTMIT1996:63" /> or in the words of [[Al-Ghazali|Al-Ghazālī]]:<ref>al-Ghazālī, ''Kitāb al-arba ʿin fi uṣūl al-Dīn'' (Cairo, 1344), 89. Quoted in: [[#DWBRTMIT1996|Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996]]: p. 63.</ref> 
{{blockquote|1=Know that the key to joy is following the sunnah and imitating the Prophet in all his comings and goings, words and deeds, extending to his manner of eating, rising, sleeping and speaking. I do not say this only in relation to requirements of religion [''[[Ibadah|ʿibādāt]]''], for there is no escaping these; rather, this includes every area of behavior [''[[Adat|ʿādāt]]''].}}

===Modernist Islam===
In the 19th century, "social and political turmoil" starting with the decline of the [[Mughal Empire]], caused some Muslims to seek a more humanized figure of Muhammad. The miracle-performing "larger than life" prophetic figure was de-emphasized in favor of "a practical model for restoration of the Muslim community", a virtuous, progressive social reformer. Nasserist Egypt, for example, celebrated the "imam of socialism" rather than the cosmic "perfect man".<ref>[[#DWBRTMIT1996|Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996]]: p.65</ref> One who argued against the idea of sunnah as divine revelation, and for the idea that Muhammad's mission was simply to transmit the Quran was [[Ghulam Ahmed Perwez]] (1903–1985). He quoted the Quranic verse "The messenger has no duty except to proclaim [the message]" (Q.5:99),<ref>[[#DWBRTMIT1996|Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996]]: p.69</ref> and pointed out several other verses where God corrects something Muhammad has done or said (8:67), (9:43), (66:1), thus demonstrating Muhammad's lack of supernatural knowledge.<ref>[[#DWBRTMIT1996|Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996]]: p.70</ref>

This era of rapid social and technological change, decline of Muslim power, and replacement of classical madhhab by Western-inspired legal codes in Muslim lands,<ref name="DWBRTMIT1996:111">[[#DWBRTMIT1996|Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996]]: p. 111</ref> also suggested a turn away from the "detailed precedents in civil and political affairs", called for by traditional hadith, "for if worldly matters require detailed prophetic guidance, then every age will require a new prophet to accommodate changing circumstances".<ref>[[#DWBRTMIT1996|Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996]]: p.64</ref>

===Islamic revivalism===
With de-colonialization in the late 20th century, a new [[Islamic revival#Contemporary revivalism|Islamic revival]] emerged. Activists rather than theorists, they sought "to restore Islam to ascendency",<ref>[[#DWBRTMIT1996|Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996]]: p.109</ref> and in particular to restore [[Sharia]] to the law of the lands of Islam it had been before being replaced by "secular, Western-inspired law codes" of colonialism and modernity.<ref>[[#DWBRTMIT1996|Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996]]: p.109, 111</ref> Like modernists, revivalists "vehemently rejected"<ref name="DWBRTMIT1996:110">[[#DWBRTMIT1996|Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996]]: p.110</ref> ''[[taqlid]]'' and were not particularly interested in the classical schools of law (''[[madhhab]]''). But revivalists like [[Abul A'la Maududi]] and [[Mustafa al-Siba'i]] support for "the authority of sunnah and the authenticity of [[hadith]] in general" was "unwavering",<ref>[[#DWBRTMIT1996|Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996]]: p.112</ref> as was their opposition to "Hadith denialism".<ref name="DWBRTMIT1996:110" /> At the same time they agreed that restoring relevant Sharia required "some reformulation" of the law, which would require a return to sources, which required agreement on how the sources were to be "interpreted and understand" and reassessment of hadith.<ref name="DWBRTMIT1996:111" /> This involved examining hadith content (''matn'') for its spirit and relevance "within the context of the Sharia as a whole" according to the method of scholars of Islamic law (''[[Faqīh|fuqaha]]'') and weeding out corrupted hadith inconsistent with "reason, with human nature, and with historical conditions".<ref>[[#DWBRTMIT1996|Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996]]: p.114-5</ref> [[Shibli Nomani]], [[Abul A'la Maududi]], [[Rashid Rida]], and [[Mohammed al-Ghazali]] being proponents of this effort.<ref>[[#DWBRTMIT1996|Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996]]: p.113</ref>