Where Do We Get Sunnah From?
I think Faisal Haroon means eg two sajdas were always fard as was ruku and tasleem and faatiha- always- no ikhtilaaf. Therefore the things we are certain about are the fard acts. Everything else, by virtue of there being a difference of opinion is then not obligatory. The sources of these can most likely be pinned down to over-reliance and infalted importance on hadith. There is no need for any record in any book as every muslim knows these things.
You say ‘if there arises a difference of opinion’. I think this is close to impossible. When we know in such certainty the defintion and obligatory nature of sajda and ruku- it doesn’t matter whether someone comes and says they are just actions in the mind or something to that effect. If an action has always been known as fard such as two sajdas and tasleem- then the person who claims it is not fard will have to produce evidence on his behalf that the Prophet SAWS did/didn’t do this- the burden of proof will not lie on the giant that is the amali tawattur in which it is clearly known that these actions are fard, rather on the claimant that struggles against it.
I’ll post this last post in reply to Muhammad Abdullah and after this I think as Sohail bhai suggested we can wait for the experts. What i meant by the sunnah was that the obligations that we are all aware of are obligatory parts of the sunnah. The rest of the ikhtilaaf are that part of the sunnah which are not obligatory. I will leave it to the experts now inshaAllah
Assalamualikum everyone! The ongoing discussion is very intriguing & it grappled me with great interest & curiosity while reading it. I would like to draw your attention towards the following points to mull over and respond accordingly. It is true that amli-tawatur of Sunnah as initiated by the Prophet (sws) is present within ummah since it’s initiation; but that is not the primary mode of transmission of Sunnah. The primary mode of its transmission is Ijma of Sahaba (companions of Prophet) which is trickled down from generation-to-generation till this day. Many prominent scholars like Shafi, Ibn-Abdul Bar and others explicitly mention this category of Sunnah exactly in the same sense. Let’s take Quran for example, we know that Quran’s original mode of transmission is the same Ijma with an addition of Qauli-tawatur. What this ijma means is that the exact words of Prophet (sws) given to Sahaba have been transmitted down to us in a ditto format, each and every word of it is the same as given by Prophet Muhammad (sws) as a word of GOD. We received the words in their purest form, now comes the task of interpreting those words, this is the stage where differences arise when different scholars try to interpret these words. So now if I ask a counter question that where is original Quran kept at? why are there differences in interpreting its different verses? To me, such questions would not hold any value as long as we are talking about authenticity of Quran, because we know that words of this Book have been transmitted to us in the most reliable way of transmission. It’s only people / scholars, when they start interpreting those words, its is perfectly natural that such differences will arise. People can simply listen to logic of every scholar behind their interpretation of any specific verse(s) and prefer the explanation more logical and rational to them as long as they are not influenced by any bias or prejudice (which also is an ibtila / test for us humans to seek the truth and uphold it without any bias to achieve tazkiya (purity) of ilm (knowledge)). Now if we apply the same approach to Sunnah–transmitted through ijma with amli-tawatur in place since the time of Prophet–Just like words of Quran, the actions of amli-tawatur will be interpreted by scholars so as to differentiate farz ibadah (obligatory) from nafl (optional); for example we know that Ibadah of Aitafak (seclusion) & Qurbani (Animal Sacrifice) which are not obligatory but still initiated as part of Sunnah (although Qurbani is considered wajib (semi-obligatory) by ahnaf but it is still not the same category as farz (obligatory) in their fiqh). Considering the nature of Sunnah as opposed to Quran (i.e. actions vs. words), Sunnnah is more prone to adulteration because actions can be altered so subtly at times and the same alteration then builds on over many generations and gets solidified to a point where people naturally confuse it with Sunnah. Nevertheless, perseverance and hard work in tracing back those Sunnah to Prophet Muhammad (sws) can tell us the exact picture regarding actual status of that Sunnah. In order to do that, reference has to be made to all available sources including current ijma & amli-tawatur, tracing back that amli-tawatur to earliest of times as incorporated in books of fiqh, history and books of ahadith as well. One has to exhaust all possible options in tracing back of Sunnah just like all possible linguistic options were exhausted while interpreting meanings of different verses of Quran. Just like verses of Quran, this job needs to be done by scholars who then present their findings and we as regular muslims, see their reasoning and rationality behind their conclusion. In addition to these factors, another source for difference of opinion arises in deciding status of Ahadith. Since Imam Shafi and Imam Ahmed ibn-e-Hambal considered these as a second category of Sunnah, holding same value as the first category. This has led to another source of difference among jurists; but all this can be sorted out following the approach mentioned above. In order to understand this whole explanation, I would like to point you all towards A perfect case-study in this regard i.e. the famous misnomer of Sunnah of reciting adhan (azan) in new born’s ears . It will show you how tracing back of Sunnah works and how we can reach at the right conclusion after persevering on the whole tracing back process. Please follow the link below to analyze that case-study: Discussion 1312 I would also like to point that differences that exist in determination of Sunnah are very few just like differences in interpretation on verses of Quran. The majority of Ummah is continuously practicing all these Sunnah more or less in the same way. The major differences do not lie in determining Sunnah at a broader level, rather they lie more at a micro-level. If you excuse my paraphrasing of Imam-Malik’s words: ‘there lies diversity of ilm, ibadah and actions among people and it’s this diversity which gives life its beauty and its colours’ . GOD didn’t intend for us to fit ourselves into a rigid structure of religion, rather GOD gave us a little room for freedom within all these ibadah so as to not feel confined within a circle of rituals only, but to actually understand the spirit of Ibadah, search for the truth to achieve Tazkiya of ilm and to act accordingly as per our attachment to Allah, and eventually achieve Tazkiya of amal (actions) and be eligible for that eternal life promised to the ones who achieve this Tazkiya. I hope this will make some sense.
Thanks @UmerQureshi – This case-study can be used against the notion that Sunnah is as authentic as Quran. There is no confusion on Surah’s of Quran (total) but Ghamidi sb. considered this Sunnah a while ago (adhan in new born’s ear) but now he believes it is not Sunnah. Can there be something else on his list that is not Sunnah and yet to be discovered? If this is deen (required) shouldn’t this be common knowledge like Quran if people are supposed to follow it or not? Jurists had this IJMA and Amli tawatur available to them like Shafi (and possibility of less innovation and corruption due to proximity) or lets take Malik who would consider living tradition of Madina as Sunnah – Why is this “deen” or Sunnah not finalized in 1400 some years specially if we are saying jurists have been documenting it also.
So would you basically say that if EG we wanted to write all sunnah down, would we just look at the common actions donne by muslims around the world? I think the problem is that if the hadith have problems with chinese whispers type things then what about these actions? Unless God swore to protect them