Sunnat
Sunnat (purported practices of Prophet Muhammad which have reached us through purported perpetual transmission) and the written Scripture cannot be equated in terms of definitiveness (قطعیت). Attempt at doing so would result in countless anomalies and contradictions with Quranic verses. Sunnat constitutes recommended practices and procedures which we in good faith practice and follow because there is some degree of possibility that they were authorized by Prophet. There is no absolute guarantee however, regarding their absolute authenticity. In the absence of absolute surety, definitiveness (قطعیت) cannot be established. Moreover, even when we assign a high (or very high) likelihood of authenticity to any Sunnat, it does not constitute any substantive commandments. Substantive commandments are only sourced from Quran. We love our Prophet and we want to follow his ways but we love God more (2:165) and cannot dare to add anything to the Deen revealed by Him and delivered through the Book by His Prophet. Practices falling under Sunnat mainly relate to manners, hygiene, some additional acts of worship and to ensure discipline in community. For instance, circumcision is a recommended practice for hygiene, not a part of Deen and hence cannot be made binding. Or consider Salat. The two rakats of Fajar are standardized among Muslims so that when Muslims are praying collectively, there is discipline and predictability. Otherwise collective worship would not be possible. We also have evidence from Quran suggesting that minimum rakats in any Salat should be two. Prophet was a community leader as well, and he felt it appropriate to institute standardization for collective discipline. If anything other than the Quran that we have was deemed definitive, God would have made it part of written Scripture already. Please note that anything that is subject to change or revisions cannot be definitive (قطعی الدلالة) by definition. Calling it definitive would simply be fallacious and self-contradictory. Quran reached us in written form. It has been called “a recorded book, in parchment published” (52:2-3) since day one. It is also highly likely that Prophet wrote it himself with his own hand, at least in the initial years, as testified by his contemporaries which is reported in Quran (25:5). Sunnat reached to us through hearsay. Even if we call it tawatur, the hard fact doesn’t change that it is based on hearsay. Quran’s tawatur constitutes written form from the days of Prophet and additional A-Z memorized tawatur (having millions of man-hours invested in it) is entirely different from the hearsay tawatur, and it would only be naive to claim that both methods yield the same level of accuracy. We can deploy various tests to check the authenticity of a Sunnat, but truth of the matter is that, there is no guarantee. That is why the list is subject to change. There were major cataclysmic upheavels in Islamic History during which Sahaba and scholars were systematically assassinated and imprisoned because of their creed, there were monarchic interventions in religious and spiritual matters, state-level attempts at canonization of different sects and various religious practices and ideas at different times, close intermingling of Zoroastrian and other religion’s practices, there were entire libraries burnt down during wars, and hundreds of thousands of narrations were rejected by Hadith compilers citing their inaccuracy. Who knows which of them were actually authentic or inauthentic? What survived all these storms and what didn’t, there is no surety except for Quran. Many true Sunnats may have been lost, many may have been permeated into practice later on, no one knows. Quran had to survive because it was documented and widespread from Hispania to Indus Valley as one single Book. Moreover, Quran is divinely protected, while Sunnat is not. Equating Sunnat with Quran in definitiveness on one hand, and believing that it is subject to change in status also contradicts the notion of completeness of Deen (5:3). It is a tacit acknowledgement that Deen is still subject to additions and subtractions, hence contradicts Quran. The above opinion that Sunnat is merely recommended practices and procedures and not Deen is further supported by plethora of evidence from Quran: * Quran asserts that it is complete, perfect, and a fully detailed Scripture (16:89, 6:114, etc). This naturally implies that no part of Deen has been missed from Quran. * Prophet Muhammad on the Day of Judgement would complain to God that his people abandoned Quran (25:30). He would not say that his people abandoned Quran and his Sunnat. * Quran tells People of the Book to uphold their respective Scriptures (Torah and Gospels) ( 5:68), and not Scriptures and Sunnat of their Prophets. * The word “Sunnat” is used in Quran only in conjunction with God, i.e. Sunnat of Allah (the way of Allah). Please see ( 33:38, 33:62, 17:77, 48:23, etc) . It hasn’t been used in association with Prophet even once. The singular word sunna is never used for other than God to denote a positive path; but its plural, sunan, is used once in a positive sense in connection to previous generations (4:26). How and when did Sunnat became part of Deen among Muslims? Historically, Quran was always considered above Sunnat, it was Imam Shafii who forecefully equated both on the same footing . He was the one who gave the general word of Sunnah specific meaning of Sunnat of Prophet and declared it a source of Deen besides Quran. He held long polemical debates and diatribes against his opponents especially people of Madina who he accused did not consider Sunnah as Deen. After Shafii, Sunnat as a source of Deen developed its roots and became widely accepted. See THE ORIGINS OF MUHAMMADAN JURISPRUDENCE By JOSEPH SCHACHT (Second Chapter).
جن اعمال کا تعلق فرائض سے ہے یعنی وہ لازمی ہیں جیسے نماز روزہ حج زکوٰۃ اور اس کے متعلقات اس میں کسی کا کوئی اختلاف نہیں۔ کچھ ضمنی چیزوں یا آداب سے متعلق سنتوں کے بارے میں کچھ بحث ہو جاتی ہے۔