Sunnah Tawatur And Ijma
Yes bhai but therein lies the problem. Even with such a large population of people speaking a language one generation comes- they make up a new word or change the meaning of another and it spreads like wildfire. How could this not have happened with sunnah unless there is some sort of divine protection? Also the part of the question about tawatur. How can we trace back an action to the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم if we don’t use a text? How can we verify an action knowing that these changes could take place? If it is simply a case of looking around for the majority of the people and what they do then unfortunately there is massive ikhtilaaf on some major issues such as movements in prayer and faraid of wudu and what breaks it. And there is agreement on things like beard. Now how do we know if their views are based on observation or they have taken it from a hadith book?
Ok bhai I have read the resources now. I still have the question of how can we trace back an action to a point in history (to prove it’s not an innovation) if we don’t use historical texts. If we need to use them to do this doesn’t it make sunnah in need of them? This question is purely about tawatur and not ijma
Tawatur denotes two things. There has never been a time when a thing didn’t exist after it was started. It is continuous in nature. For example, prayer was performed by the prophet in a particular way then the sahaba and then tabi-een so on and so forth. It was seen and then taught from one generation to another. What ever was practiced by hundreds of thousands was documented in the books of fiqh. It is present in so many people that it will be illogical to imagine a falsehood in the practice. It is not transmitted via akhbaar-e-ahad. It is not reported by 1 or 2 or 15 people rather by hundreds. In short, there is a continuum and widespread presence! Next issue! The sunnat-i-rasool will be found in the texts of scholars and Faqih. The most crucial aspect is to analyze, what could be true and what couldn’t. One must know the definitions of each term and what it can teach and what it can’t. Proper understanding of the principles is crucial. I always keep emphasizing, know your principles, know your words and terms. The books documented what existed, so the oral and practical tradition superceded the written tradition. We can trace all practices to their time or person of origin through books. Like the issue of variant qira’a of quran. The issue is to place proper importance to everything, I.e oral, practical, written form of knowledge. Wa Allah ho ‘Alam.