TITLE:
An Example of Al-Shaf’i’s Jurisprudence
AUTHOR:
Shaykh Gibril Fouad (G.F.) Haddad (PhD)
LANGUAGES :
In English.
ARTICLE:
“The Sunna in Islam is more rare and precious
than Islam is rare and precious among the rest of the faiths.”
Abu Bakr ibn `Ayyash
“Sunna means the path that is trodden (
al-tarîq al-maslûk ), which entails holding fast to whatever the
Prophet and his rightly-guided successors held of doctrines, deeds, and
sayings. This is the perfect and complete Sunna. That is why the Salaf
of old refrained from applying the name of Sunna to anything that fell
short of this.”
Ibn Rajab
The Sunna is wisdom and wisdom is to place each thing in its right context.
Isma`il al-Ansari
The Arabic word sunna lexically means “road” or “practice.”
In the language of the Prophet and the Companions it denotes the whole
of licit [lawful] practices followed in the Religion (dîn),
particularly the pristine (hanîf) path of Prophets, whether pertaining
to belief, religious and social practice, or ethics generally speaking.
In its technical sense sunna has three meanings. In hadith terminology it denotes any saying (qawl), action (fi’l), approval (taqrîr), or attribute (sifa), whether physical (khilqiyya) or moral (khuluqiyya) ascribed to (udîfa ila) the Prophet , whether before or after the beginning of his prophethood.1 Thus the “sciences of the Sunna” (`ulûm al-Sunna) refer to the biography of the Prophet (al-sîra), the chronicle of his battles (al-maghâzî), his everyday sayings and acts or “ways” (sunan), his personal and moral qualities (al-shamâ’il), and the host of the ancillary [1] hadîth sciences such as the circumstances of occurrence (asbâb al-wurûd), knowledge of the abrogating and abrogated hadîth, difficult words (gharîb al-hadîth), narrator criticism (al-jarh wal-ta`dîl), narrator biographies (al-rijâl), etc., as discussed in great detail in the authoritative books of al-Khatîb al-Baghdâdî.
This meaning is used in contradistinction to the Qur’an in
expressions such as “Qur’an and Sunna” and applies in the usage of
hadith scholars.
Imâm
Ahmad raDiy-Allahu-anhu.gif said: “The Sunna in our definition consists
in the reports transmitted from the Messenger of Allah , and the Sunna
is the commentary (tafsîr) of the Qur’ân and contains its directions (dalâ’il).”
The early Sunnî Masters such as Abû Hanîfa, al-Humaydî, Ibn Abî
`Âsim, Abû Dâwûd, and Abû Nasr al-Marwazî also used the term “the
Sunna” in the narrow sense to refer to Sunnî Doctrine as opposed to the
creeds of non-Sunnî sects.
In the terminology of usul al-fiqh or principles of jurisprudence, sunna denotes a saying (qawl), action (fi`l) or approval (taqrîr) related from (nuqila `an) the Prophet or issuing (sadara) from him other than the Qur’an.
In the terminology of fiqh or jurisprudence, sunna denotes whatever is firmly established (thabata) as called for (matlub) in the Religion on the basis of a legal proof (dalîl shar`î) but without being obligatory, the continued abandonment of which constitutes disregard (istikhfâf) of the Religion – also sin (ithm) according to some jurists – and incurs blame (lawm, `itab, tadlîl) – also punishment (`uqûba) according to some jurists.2 However, some jurists have made a distinction between what they called “Emphasized Sunna” (Sunna mu’akkada) or “Sunna of Guidance” (Sunna al-huda),
such as what the Prophet ordered or emphasized in word or in deed, and
other types of Sunna considered less binding in their legal status,
such as what they called “Non-Emphasized Sunna” (Sunna ghayr mu’akkada) or “Sunna of Habit” (Sunna al-`âda).
The above jurisprudential meanings of Sunna are used in
contradistinction to the other four of the five legal categories for
human actions – fard (obligatory), sunna, mubah (indifferent), makruh (disliked), haram (prohibited) – and applies in the usage of jurists from the second Hijri century onwards.
However, the jurists have stressed that the basis for all acts of
worship categorized as sunna is “obligatoriness” not “permissiveness” (al-asl fî al-sunna al-wujûb lâ al-ibâha). Sunna is thus defined as the strongest of the following near-synonymous categories:
“praiseworthy” (mandûb)
“desirable” (mustahabb)
“voluntary” (tatawwu`)
“refinement” (adab)
“obedience” (tâ`a)
“supererogatory” (nafl)
“drawing near” (qurba)
“recommended” (râghîba, murghab fîh)
“excellent” (hasan)
“excellence” (ihsân)
“meritorious” (fadîla)
“best” (afdal).
Al-Dhahabî relates from Ishaq ibn Rahuyah the saying: “If al-Thawri,
al-Awza`i, and Mâlik concur on a given matter, that matter is a Sunna.”
Al-Dhahabî comments:
Rather, the Sunna is whatever the Prophet made Sunna, and the rightly-guided Caliphs after him. As for Consensus (ijma`), it is whatever the ulama of the Community both early and late have unanimously agreed upon, through either assumed (zannî) or tacit (sukutî)
agreement. Whoever deviates from such consensus among the Successors or
their successors, it is tolerated for him alone. As for those who
deviate from the three above-named imams, then such is not named a
deviation from Consensus, nor from the Sunna. All that Ishaq meant was
that if they concur on a given matter then it is most probably correct,
just as we say, today, that it is nearly impossible to find the truth
outside of what the Four Imams of scholarly endeavor agreed upon.
We say this at the same time as we admit that their agreement on a
given matter does not dictate the consensus of the Community, but we
refrain from asserting, in relation to a matter upon which they all
agreed, that the correct position is otherwise.3
In the largest sense, “Sunna” does denote the true knowledge and practice of the Religion and is antonymous with “innovation” (bid`a), as in the expression “People of the Sunna” or Sunnis (Ahl al-Sunna).
Al-Junayd said: “The way to Allah is closed except to those who follow
the traces of the Prophet MHMD and adhere to his Sunna. Allah (swt)
said: { Verily in the Messenger of Allah you have an good exemplar for
him who hopes in Allah and the last Day and remembers Allah much.} Sura
33:21″
NOTES / SOURCES :
1 See al-Siba’i, Al-Sunna wa Makanatuha fi al-Tashri’ al-Islami (p.47).
2 See al-Lucknawi, Tuhfa al-Abrar, chapter entitled “The Legal Status of the Emphasized Sunna and of its Abandonment”
(Hukm al-Sunna al-Mu’akkada wa Tarkiha) (p. 87-92).
3 Al-Dhahabî, Siyar A’lam al-Nubala’ (1997 ed. 7:92).
GF Haddad ©
[sri 1999/06/18 + Sunna Notes Volume 2 with complete text]
BIBLIOGRAPHY :
Author : Shaykh Gibril Fouad (G.F.) Haddad (PhD)
Copyright : © Shaykh Gibril Fouad (G.F.) Haddad (PhD)
