How To Confirm That A Sunnah Is Transferred In Generations?
Sunnah is present in Amli tawatur ( perpetual adherence ) and Ijma of Muslims ( consensus ) which can be traced back to Sahaba ( who acquired it from Prophet and transmitted it to next generation with their consensus ). Usually there is no need to trace Sunnah back to Sahaba because there lies no doubt in its existence and its religious status. If somehow a need arises to trace it back, then this can be done through books of ‘ fiqh ‘ which are documenting ijma and tawatur of every time period. Akhbar-i-Ahad ( Hadith corpus or riwayaat ) do contain application of both Sunnah and Quranic directives, but they are not source for either of them – but rather a record of the application. Please refer to the videos of Ghamidi Sahab provided in the following thread where he has discussed how to trace Sunnah : Discussion 50125