Hadith and Sunna – A Muslim’s Life and Faith

Staff Writer


Table of Contents

This piece of writing aims to describe the life and faith of a Muslim from the perspectives of the hadith and Sunna of the prophet. Generally, as part of a Muslim’s conventional living comes from their traditions, their behaviour is supposedly modelled on the examples of the prophet. Therefore, in this piece, we will seek to understand what a hadith is, the distinctions between prophetic and sacred hadiths, and what is understood as the Sunna of the prophet.

What is Hadith?

In the footnote of the book titled Forty Hadith Qudsi, Ibrahim and Johnson-Davies noted that:

Hadith often rendered as “Tradition”, are the recorded words, actions and sanctions of the Prophet Muhammad. The Arabic plural of the word hadith is ahadith. [i] The ahadith, therefore, are canons of beliefs and customs of Islam handed down by the Prophet. They are the emissary word or messages from God to his messengers who made them intelligible to human beings. [ii] 

Hadith is also viewed as “Narrative stories about the Prophet’s example (Sunnah), known as the hadith (traditions) of the Prophet, record many aspects of Muhammad’s life, including religious belief and ritual, eating, dress, personal hygiene, marriage, treatment of spouses, diplomacy, and warfare....”[iii] Though commonly referred to as hadith (ahadith), it is categorized into prophetic and sacred.

Prophetic and Sacred Hadith

In Islam, a distinction is made between the prophetic word and Hadith Qudsi (that is, sacred hadith). While the prophetic hadith’s authority (Sanad) is traced back to the prophet, the sacred hadith’s authority (Sanad) is traced back to the Almighty. The science of the hadith has grown around these distinctions. As a result, any hadith is put under heavy scrutiny before it is accepted into the body of ahadith. Thus, “admittance is on the basis of isnad (that is support). Each hadith must have a reliable chain of transmitters going back to Muhammad.”[iv] Another obvious distinction between prophetic and sacred hadith is the fact that sacred hadiths are commonly “found in the first person.”[v] 

Classically, the scholar, al–Mulla ‘Ali ibn Muhammad al-Qari, the Hanafi jurisprudent (died 1016 CED) defined sacred hadith in contradistinction to the Qur’an:

… [unlike the Holy Qur’an] Sacred Hadith are not acceptable for recitation in one’s prayers; they are not forbidden to be touched or read by one who is in a state of ritual impurity, or by a menstruating woman or one confined to a childbed; if repudiated, such repudiation does not result in the person so doing is guilty of unbelief; and they are not characterized by the attribute of inimitability.[vi] 

All through the ages, Islamic scholars have considered four typical distinctions as ways of understanding sacred hadith. The listed distinctions are based on  Ibrahim and Johnson-Davies' 1981 observations.

The distinction between Sacred Hadith and Prophetic Hadith 

Terminus ad quem

The terminus ad quem of the chain of authorities is particularly important here. For prophetic hadith, it ends with the prophet while sacred hadith is linked to the Almighty.

Holy Qur'an

Another distinction is with the Holy Qur’an. This distinction asserts that the Holy Qur’an has been handed on down the centuries in its revealed wording by tawatur whereas Sacred hadith has been transmitted in versions recorded by chains of individuals (ahad). Besides, sacred hadith are scrutinized to establish their authenticity just as the same tight rules as the prophetic hadith; and the demands of these rules set them apart as either sound and good or weak and doubtful authenticity.[vii]

Divine Nature of Sacred Hadith

Another is the divine nature of Sacred Hadith – wording and meaning. To understand that a hadith is sacred is to see the different elements it has from the Qur’an. The Qur’an possesses the attribute of inimitability. But sacred hadith can have variations in wording, and the paraphrases can communicate the same meaning without being word for word.[viii]

Form of Recording the Sacred Hadith

Another is the form of recording the Sacred Hadith. Two main forms of recording have been identified as ways of understanding a sacred hadith:

  1. The sacred hadith should start with the words “The Prophet, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, says from among the sayings he relates from his Lord, may He be glorified.”
  2. The second should open with the words “Allah the Almighty has said, from among the sayings related from Him by the Messenger of Allah, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him.”[ix]

It shows that the Holy Qur’an is different from the sacred hadith on one hand and that the sacred hadith is further differentiated from the prophetic hadith, on the other. Inimitability is sorely reserved for the Qur’an, hadiths are subject to different rules, such as authority, good/sound, weak/doubtful, and authenticity which are majorly the criteria of acceptance. 

The second part of this argument is the Sunna of the prophet.  

Sunna of the Prophet

Sunna of the prophet is literally the example of the prophet. For Muslims, Muhammad is regarded as a model, an exemplary man to follow in his steps. Muhammad is often seen as an accomplished individual who did the will of God as these Qur’anic verses testify:

O ye who believe! Obey Allah and His Prophet, and turn not away from him when ye hear (he speak) Al-Anfal 8:20.

Ye have indeed in the Messenger of Allah a beautiful pattern (of conduct) for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day... (Al-Ahzab 33:21).

Because of these qualities of the prophet, “some Islamic scholars argue that Muhammad is the living Qur’an, the witness whose words and behaviour reveal God’s will.”[x] Since the Qur’an presented Muhammad as a good example and one to be imitated, he was thus deemed sinless (perfect), and then all human beings should follow his example in the way they live their lives.[xi] In his analysis of the term Sunna, Andrew Rippin asserts that:

Muhammad, as is implied in the basis of the entire concept of the Sunna, is the “perfect man.” He is the most liberal, the best, the bravest. Most of all, Muhammad is considered to have lived his life in a state of sinlessness (‘isma). With such doctrine, everything Muhammad did is considered to be the perfect embodiment of the will of God – nothing at any point in his life would have been in contravention of that will.[xii]

The Sunna also is viewed as a guide to human beings as they seek to understand the Qur’an. For Sunni Islam, and following the developed jurisprudential theory which has its ultimate basis in the work of al-Shafi’i, there are four sources from which law can be derived: the Qur’an, the Sunna of Muhammad, consensus (ijma’) of the community and/or the scholars, and analogy (qiyas).[xiii] It is relevant to point out that the Sunna of the prophet sums up the convention for Umma consciousness. Understandably, “Muslims’ observations and practices of all that the prophet said and did were passed on orally and in writing through (hadith) “traditions.””[xiv] Thus, for the Muslim, the Qur’an, the hadith, as well as Sunna of the Prophet is very important to life and faith.

[i] Ibrahim, E & Johnson-Davies, D 1981. Forty Hadith Qudsi, The Holy Koran Publishing House, Lebanon. p.7

[ii] Norcliffe, D 1999. Islam, Faith and Practice, Sussex Academic Press, Brighton. p.34

[iii] Esposito, JL 2002. What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam, Oxford University Press, Oxford. p.13

[iv] Norcliffe, D. op. cit.

[v] Ibrahim, E. & Johnson-Davies, D. op. cit. p. 9

[vi] Ibid. pp 8-9

[vii] Ibid.

[viii] Ibid. p.11

[ix] Ibid. pp.11-12

[x] Esposito, JL 2002. Op. cit. pp.10-11

[xi] Norcliffe, D 1999. Op. cit. p.36

[xii] Rippin, A 2005. Muslims: Their Religious beliefs and Practices, 3rd edition, Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group, London. p. 55

[xiii] Ibid. p.94

[xiv] Esposito, JL 2002. Op. cit. p. 11

 

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