The Sunnah is Dhikr

ِ‫س ّيئَات‬
َ ْ‫من‬ ِ ‫سنَا َو‬ ِ ‫شرُورِ َأنْ ُف‬ُ ْ‫فرُهُ َونَعُوذُ بِالِّ مِن‬ ِ ْ‫ستَغ‬
ْ َ‫ستَعِي ُنهُ َون‬ْ َ‫مدُهُ َون‬ َ ْ‫مدُ لِّ َنح‬ْ َ‫ِإنّ ا ْلح‬
ُّ‫هدُ أَنْ لَ ِإَلهَ ِإلّ ال‬ َ ْ‫ض ِللْ فَلَ هَا ِديَ َلهُ وََأش‬ ْ ‫منْ ُي‬ َ ‫ضلّ َلهُ َو‬ ِ ُ‫لّ َفلَ م‬ ُ ‫هدِهِ ا‬ ْ َ‫منْ ي‬
َ ‫أَعْمَاِلنَا‬
ُ‫ع ْبدُهُ وَ َرسُولُه‬ َ ‫محَمّدًا‬ ُ ّ‫شرِيكَ َلهُ وََأن‬ َ َ‫حدَهُ ل‬ ْ ‫َو‬
[‫سلِمُون‬ ْ ُ‫حقّ تُقَاتِهِ َولَ تَمُوتُنّ ِإلّ وََأ ْن ُتمْ م‬ َ َّ‫منُوا اتّقُوا ال‬ َ ‫]يَا َأيّهَا اّلذِينَ آ‬
[‫منْهُمَا‬ِ ّ‫منْهَا َزوْجَهَا َوبَث‬ ِ َ‫خلَق‬ َ ‫فسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ َو‬ ْ ‫منْ َن‬ِ ْ‫كم‬ ُ ‫خلَ َق‬
َ ‫كمِ اّلذِي‬ ُ ّ‫يَا َأيّهَا النّاسُ اتّقُوا َرب‬
‫كمْ َرقِيبًا‬ُ ‫ع َل ْي‬
َ َ‫] ِرجَالً َكثِيرًا َونِسَاءً وَاتّقُوا الَّ اّلذِي تَسَا َءلُونَ ِبهِ وَالَْ ْرحَامَ إِنّ الَّ كَان‬
[ْ‫كم‬ُ َ‫م ُذنُوب‬ْ ‫ك‬
ُ َ‫فرْ ل‬ ِ ْ‫كمْ َويَغ‬ُ َ‫كمْ أَعْمَال‬
ُ َ‫صلِحْ ل‬ ْ ‫سدِيدًا ُي‬ َ ً‫منُوا اتّقُوا الَّ وَقُولُوا قَ ْول‬ َ ‫يَا َأيّهَا اّلذِينَ آ‬
, ‫ فإن أصدق الحديث كلم ال‬: ُ‫عظِيمًا أَ مّا بَ ْعد‬ َ ‫قدْ فَا َز َفوْزًا‬َ َ‫منْ ُيطِعِ الَّ وَ َرسُوَلهُ ف‬ َ ‫َو‬
‫]وخير الهدي هدي محمد‬
‫ وكلّ ضللة في النار‬, ‫ وكلّ بدعة ضللة‬, ‫ل محدثة بدعة‬ ّ ‫وشر المور محدثاتها وك‬
Verily all praise is for Allaah, we praise Him and seek His aid and ask for His
forgiveness, and we seek refuge with Allaah from the evils of ourselves and our evil
actions. Whomever Allaah guides there is none who can misguide him, and
whomever Allaah misguides there is none who can guide him, and I bear witness
that none has the right to be worshipped except Allaah Alone, having no partner,
and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. O you who
believe! Fear Allaah as He should be feared, and die not except in a state of Islaam.
[Soorat-ul-Aal-i-'Imraan ayah 102] O mankind! Reverence your Guardian-Lord, Who
created you from a single person, created, of like nature his mate, and from them
twain scattered countless men and women; reverence Allaah, through Whom you
demand your mutual (rights) and (reverence) the wombs (that bore you): for Allaah
ever watches over you. [Sooratun- Nisaa' ayah 1] O you who believe! FearAllaah,
and (always) say a word did to the right that He may make your conduct whole and
sound and forgive you your sins: He that obeys Allaah and His Messenger, has
already attained the highest achievement. [Sooratul-Ahzaab ayaat 70-71] Verily the
most truthful speech is the Word of Allaah and the best guidance is the guidance of
Muhammad (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam), and the worst of affairs are the novelties
and every novelty is an innovation and every innovation is a going astray and every
going astray is in the Fire.

Abdullah ibn Mas’ud said: Allah looked upon the hearts of the people and found the
heart of Muhammad as the best among them, so He chose him for Himself, and He
sent with him His message. Then he looked at the hearts of the people after the
heart of the Prophet and He found the hearts of the companions as the best among
the people. Therefore He made them helpers to His message.

“Verily, We, it is We Who have sent down the Dhikr and surely We will guard it.”
[Soorah Al-Hijr 15:9]
The Prophet Muhammad said: “I have left for you two things: The Book of Allah and
my Sunnah.”

The sources of Islam are the Quran and authentic Sunnah/Hadith of the Prophet
Muhammad :saw:.

.The Sunnah/Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad :saw: are an integral part of Islam.
The following points elucidate this briefly:

I. The "Dhikr" Is The Quran and Hadith

Allah said:

“Verily, We, it is We Who have sent down the Dhikr and surely We will guard it.”
[Soorah Al-Hijr 15:9]

In the above ayah, the preservation of the Dhikr is mentioned. What is the Dhikr ? Is
it the Quran only or is it the Quran and Hadith ?

Allah has called the Quran Dhikr:

“And this is a blessed Dhikr which We have sent down” [Soorah Al-Anbiyaa 21:50]

Allah has also mentioned the statements of the Prophet Muhammad :saw: as Dhikr:

“And We have also sent down unto you the Dhikr, that you may explain clearly to
mankind what was sent down to them, and that they may give thought.” [Soorah
An-Nahl 16:44]
Allah mentioned that He sent down the Dhikr to the Prophet Muhammad :saw: so
that he may explain to mankind what was sent down to them, i.e. the Quran. The,
Sunnah/Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad explains the Quran. Thus, Allah called the
statements of the Prophet Muhammad :saw: Dhikr.

Therefore, the Dhikr in the ayah:

“Verily, We, it is We Who have sent down the Dhikr and surely We will guard it.”
[Soorah Al-Hijr 15:9]

is the Quran and Hadith. The exclusion of the Sunnah/Hadith from being the Dhikr
does not stand as a valid interpretation. In order for the Dhikr to mean only the
Quran there must be evidence stating that only the Quran is meant excluding the
Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad :saw: since the hadith was called dhikr as well.

II. What Is The Revealed Hikmah ?

Allah said:

“Allah has revealed to you the the Book and the Hikmah, and taught you that which
you know not.” [Soorah An-Nisaa 4:113]

“He it is Who sent among the unlettered ones a Messenger from among themselves,
reciting to them His ayaat, purifying them, and teaching them the Book and the
Hikmah. And verily, they had been before in manifest error” [Soorah Al-Jumuah
62:2]

Here, two things are being revealed, the Book and the Hikmah. The Book is the
Quran, but what is the Hikmah? The Hikmah is the Ahadith of the Prophet
Muhammad :saw:. The following ayah proves it:

“And remember (O you members of the Prophet’s Family), that which is recited in
your houses of the Aayaat of Allah and the Hikmah.” [Soorah Al-Ahzab 33:34]
Besides the Quran, the only thing that was revered and recited in the houses of the
wives of the Prophet Muhammad :saw: was his Ahadith. Thus, the Hikmah is the
Sunnah/Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad :saw:.

III. The Preservation Of The Quran Without The Hadith Has No Meaning

Allah is All-Wise. Every action done by Allah is done so with the highest degree of
wisdom. The Quran tells us to pray:

“And perform/establish As-Salah…” [Soorah Al-Baqarah 2:43]

However, the Quran does not tell us the amount of the units of prayer (rakah) for
the Fajr, Dhuhr, ‘Asr, Maghrib, and ‘Ishaa prayers.

Allah, the All-Knowing, did not forget to reveal it, He says:

“And your Lord is never forgetful” [Soorah Maryam 19:64]

The amount of the units of prayer is only found in the ahadith of the Prophet
Muhammad :saw:. Thus, without the ahadith of the Prophet Muhammad :saw: a
critical pillar of Islam, the Salah, can never be performed. The same is true for many
other acts of worship like the paying of Zakah, Hajj rites, etc.

How can one fulfill the command, “Establish Prayer” without knowing the number of
its units or the manner in which it is to be performed ? Thus, the preservation of the
Quran by itself has no meaning.

Would Allah, the All-Wise, preserve the Quran without preserving the statements of
the Prophet Muhammad :saw: that explain to us the manner in which the acts of
worship are to be performed ? The All-Wise would not do such a thing because:
1. Allah is All-Wise, All-Knowing. Thus, He would do everything with full knowledge
and wisdom.

2. Allah will take us into account for not praying and that could only be so if the
manner of praying and its units have been revealed and preserved.

3. The idea that Allah preserved the command, “Establish Prayer” without telling us
how to pray or the units of prayer is a belittlement of Allah’s Wisdom and
Knowldege. Allah is above the deficiencies that they ascribe to him !

Islam can not exist without the Sunnah/Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad :saw:.
Anyone who completely rejects the Sunnah/Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad :saw:
in reality is rejecting Islam.

Do away with the hadith and then you have done away with Islam, because then
you can explain any command in the Quran in any manner you like. Once incorrect
understandings and interpreteations have been allowed to be the source of Islam,
then the commands in the Quran have no meaning anymore.

Sheikh Muhammad Salih Al Munajjid said:

It is essential that it should be in the mind and heart of every Muslim that the
Sunnah is one of the two parts of divine revelation that were revealed to the
messenger of Allah. The other part of revelation is the Holy Qur’an.

Allah says:

“Nor does he speak from [his own] inclination. It is not but a revelation revealed,”
(An-Najm 53:3-4)

It was narrated from Miqdaam ibn Ma’di Yakrib that the messenger of Allah said:

Verily, I have been given the Qur’an and something similar to it along with it, but
soon there will be a time when a man will be reclining on his couch with a full
stomach, and he will say you should adhere to this Qur’an: What you find that it
says is permissible, take it as permissible, and what you find it says is forbidden,
take it as forbidden, but indeed, whatever the messenger of Allah forbids is like
what Allah forbids. (Hasan Ghareeb)

Hassaan ibn ‘Atiyah said in Al Kifaayah b

Y Al Khateeb (12):

Jibreel used to bring the Sunnah down to the Prophet as he used to bring the Qur’an
down to him.
Allah said:

With clear arguments and scriptures; and We have revealed to you the Reminder
that you may make clear to men what has been revealed to them, and that haply
they may reflect.

As the Sunnah is the second source of the two parts of revelation, it is only
inevitable that Allah will protect it, so as to preserve the religion from distortion and
additions or subtractions.

Ibn Hazm said in Al Ihkaam (1/95):

Allah says:

“Verily, We, it is We Who have sent down the Dhikr and surely We will guard it.”
[Soorah Al-Hijr 15:9]

And

Say (O Muhammad, unto mankind): I warn you only by the Inspiration. But the deaf
hear not the call when they are warned.

Allah tells us that the words of His Prophet are all Wahy (revelation) and Wahy is
undoubtedly Dhikr, and Dhikr is preserved according to the text of the Qur’an. Thus
it is correct to say that his words are all preserved by Allah, may He be glorified and
exalted, and He has promised that none of them will be lost to us, because that
which Allah preserves can certainly not be lost at all. It has all been transmitted to
us and Allah has established proof and left us with no excuse. (End quote)

Sheikh Munajjid said:

Once it is established that the Sunnah is part of divine revelation, it is essential to

note that there is Only one difference between it and the Quran, which is that the
Quran is the word of Allah, may He be exalted, which was revealed verbatim ( or
word for word ) to the prophet, whereas the Sunnahmay not be the words of Allah,
rather it is only His revelation, so it need not necessarily co me to us verbatim, but
the meaning of it comes to us.

Once we understand this difference, we see that the point in transmission of the
sunnah is to convey the meanings, not the exact same words that were uttered by
the Prophet. Islam tells us that Allah only preserves the words of the Qur’an in full,
and He preserves the general meanings of the Sunnah, and that which explains the
book of Allah, not the exact words and phrases.

However, the scholars of this Ummah throughout the early centuries strove to
preserve the Shari’ah and the Sunnah. They have transmitted to us the words of the
Prophet as he said them and distinguished between the reports that were right and
wrong.

Sheikh Muhammad Taqi Usmani said:

It follows from the foregoing discussion that the revelation the Holy Prophet receives
from Allah is of two kinds:

1) The revelation of the Qur’an, the Holy Book, named in the Islamic terminology
as Al-Wahy Al Matluww (the recited revelation, i.e. revelation that can be
recited in the prayers). This kind of revelation is confined to the verses of the
Holy Qur’an and written verbally in it’s folds.
2) The revelation received by the Prophet from time to time to let him know the
pleasure of Allah in day to day affairs and the details of the principals laid
down in the Holy Qur’an with their correct interpretation. This kind of
revelation is called Al Wahy Ghair Al Matluww (the recited verses).This kind of
revelation is not conveyed to the people verbally. It has been demonstrated
through the sayings and acts of the Holy Prophet.

Sit.

Stand

Sheikh al Albani said:

In site of the Shari’ah accepting divisions, by not referring to the Sunnah to end this
division is a major cause for the failure of Muslims in all their matters and the cause
for their losing their strength and effectiveness.

Ash-Shafi’I said in his book ar-Risalah; the hadith must be accepted at the time it is
proven correct, even if previous scholars have not practiced what is contained in it.

Al Albani said:

Some consider the Sunnah to be in a lesser grade than what Allah has given it. They
are in doubt of the validity of the Sunnah. Otherwise how can they prefer Qiyas over
the Sunnah? Qiyas is based on personal opinions and Ijtihad which are not immune
from error. This is why Qiyas must not be used unless it is absolutely necessary. The
saying of Ash-Shafi’I, stipulates:

Qiyas is impermissible when there is a khabar (hadith).

Ibn Qayyim said in I’lam Al-Muwaqq’in;

To them (Ahlu al Kalam), Sunnah is only a name, and something else (meaning
qiyas) is obeyed; Sunnah has the reputation and people speak in it’s name, but the
obeyed order or prohibitation is for something else (qiyas and opinions).

Al Albani said; Allah made truth apparent and bestowed on it a light that is similar to
the sun. This light can be clear to those who have rightly guided minds. Allah has
made falsehood clear in it’s darkness, similar to the darkness of the night.

It is not strange that a blind person cannot distinguish between day and night. It is
not strange to confuse truth and falsehood by those who have misguided hearts.

Mu’ath ibn Jabal said;

Accept the truth from whoever conveyed it to you for the truth has a light.

Al Albani said:

However, when the hearts become dark, then guidance is not comprehended,
because of the shunning what the messenger of Allah was sent with. And when
darkness becomes thicker, because of depending on the laws of men, truth will be
confused with falsehood to some men. generation to be false! They also think that
false hadiths that are in agreement with their own desires can be true!

Ibn Qayyim also said;

Ahlu al Kalam are people of ignorance and injustice. They equate the khabar by As-
Siddiq (Abu Bakr), Al Farouq (Umar) and Ubai ibn Ka’ab with Khabar of common
people. The difference is however, very apparent. There is no injustice more than to
equate, in certainty and confidence in truthfulness, the Khabars of a companion and
the Khabar of the common folk. This is similar to equating them in matters of
knowledge, piety and high position.

In summary, we say that every Muslim must believe in matters of Aqueedah and
laws that are contained in every correct hadithof the messenger of Allah, accepted
by people of knowledge, whether it was Mutawatir or Ahad, and whether the Ahad
Hadith leads to Thann Rajih or certainty. The obligation in this matter is totally belief
and submission to the hadith. This is how one can realize the acceptance obligated
on him:

O you who believe, you shall respond to Allah and to the messenger when he invites
you to what gives you life. You should know that Allah is closer to you than your
heart, and that before Him you will be summoned. 8:24

Abu Hanifah said:

It is impermissible for anyone to accept what we say, unless he knows where we

took them from (the proof to whatever we say).

He also said:
It is Haram for whoever does not know my proof, to issue a fatwa using my saying.
We are only humans. We something today and forsake it tomorrow (because we find
proof to the contrary of what we have said before).

And Ash-Shafi’I said:

Muslims are unanimous, that for whoever knew of the Sunnah of the Messenger of
Allah, that he is not permitted to forsake it for someone else’s saying.

He also said:

Every matter, that depends on a correct Khabar of the messenger of Allah, as

confirmed by people of knowledge in narration, and if what I said is in disagreement
with it, then I disown my saying during my lifetime, and after my death.

And he said:

Everything that I have said, and If there exists a correct Hadith of the Prophet which
is in disagreement with it, then the Prophet’s Hadith is valid. Do not imitate me.