Sunnah Meaning

SUNNAH (سنة‎). Lit. “A path or way; a manner of life.” A term used in the religion of the Muslim to express the custom or manner of life. Hence the tradition which records either the sayings or doings of Muḥammad. Consequently all traditional law is divided into (1) Sunnatu ʾl-Fiʿl, or what Muḥammad did; (2) Sunnatu ʾl-Qaul, or what Muḥammad enjoined; (3) Sunnatu ʾt-Taqrīr, or that which was done or said in the presence of Muḥammad, and which was not forbidden by him.

Those things which the Prophet emphatically enjoined on his followers are called Sunnatu ʾl-Hudā, “Sunna of Guidance,” or as-Sunnatu ʾl-Muʾakkadah: as, for example, the sounding of the aẕān before prayers. Those things which have not been emphatically enjoined, are called as-Sunnatu ʾl-Zāʾidah, or “Supererogatory Sunnah.”

The Honourable Syed Ahmed Khan, C.S.I., says in his Essay on the Traditions, that “upon examining the sayings (or the Aḥādīs̤), and the deeds (or the Sunnah) of the Prophet, we find (1) some of them relating to religion, (2) others connected with the peculiar circumstances of his life, (3) some bearing upon society in general, and (4) others concerning the art of Government.” When Muḥammad spoke on the subject of religion, he is held to have been inspired, and also when he performed a religious act he is believed to have been guided by inspiration; but with regard to other matters, the degree to which he was inspired is held to be a subject for investigation as well as for discrimination. In support of this view, the following tradition is related by Rāfiʿ ibn K͟hadīj: “The Prophet came to al-Madīnah when the people were grafting the male bud of a date tree into the female in order to produce greater abundance of fruit, and he said, ‘Why do you do this?’ They replied, ‘It is an ancient custom.’ The Prophet said, ‘Perhaps it would be better if you did not do it.’ And then they left off the custom, and the trees yielded but little fruit. The people complained to the Prophet, and he said, ‘I am no more than a man. When I order anything [623]respecting religion, receive it; but when I order you about the affairs of the world, then I speak only as a man.’ ” (Mishkāt, book i. ch. vi. pt. 1.)

ʿAbdu ʾllāh ibn Masʿūd says: “The Prophet drew a straight line for us, and said, ‘This is the path of God.’ Then he drew several other lines on the right and left of it, and said, ‘There are the paths of those who follow the devil. Verily my path (sunnah) is straight and you must follow it.’ ”

It is upon the sayings and customs of Muḥammad that that traditional law is founded which is handed down in the Ḥadīs̤, and which is treated of under the article TRADITION.