QURAN AND SUNNAH

Submitted To : Sir Arshad

Submitted by : Rabia Aftab 845

Section 9A
 Quran and Sunnah
Quran
The Islamic sacred book, believed to be the word of Allah as dictated to Muhammad
by the archangel Gabriel and written down in Arabic. The Koran consists of 114 units of
varying lengths, known as suras, the first sura is said as part of the ritual prayer. These touch
upon all aspects of human existence, including matters of doctrine, social organization, and
legislation.

Major Books.
The Quran mentions at least three main Islamic scriptures which came before the
Quran by name.

Taurat
According to Qur'an, the Taurat was revealed to Moses, but Muslims believe that the
current Torah, although it retains the main message] has suffered corruption over the years,
and is no longer reliable. Moses and his brother Aaron used the Torah to preach the message
to the Banu-Isra'il .The Quran implies that the Torah is the longest-used scripture, with
the Jewish people still using the Torah today, and that all the Hebrew prophets would warn
the people of any corruptions that were in the scripture.[

Zabur
The Quran mentions the Zabur, often interpreted as being the Book of Psalms, as
being the Holy Scripture revealed to King David. Scholars have often understood the Psalms
to have been holy songs of praise. The current Psalms are still praised by many Muslim
scholars, but Muslims generally assume that some of the current Psalms were written later
and are not divinely revealed.

Injeel
The Injeel was the holy book revealed to Jesus, according to the Quran. Although
many lay Muslims believe the Injil refers to the entire New Testament, scholars have pointed
out that it refers not to the New Testament but to an original Gospel, given to Jesus (Isa) as
the word of God. Therefore, according to Muslim belief, the Gospel was the message that
Jesus, being divinely inspired, preached to the Children of Israel. The current canonical
Gospels, in the belief of Muslim scholars, are not divinely revealed but rather are documents
of the life of Jesus, as written by various contemporaries, disciples and companions. These
Gospels, in Muslim belief, contain portions of the teachings of Jesus, but neither represent
nor contain the original Gospel, which has been corrupted and/or lost, which was a single
book written not by a human but by God.
 Sunnah
Sunnah is the verbally transmitted record of the teachings, deeds and sayings, silent
permissions (or disapprovals) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as various reports
about Muhammad's companions. Along with the Quran (the holy book of Islam), the Sunna
makes up the two primary sources of Islamic theology and law. The Sunna is also defined as
"a path, a way, a manner of life"; "all the traditions and practices" of the Islamic prophet that
"have become models to be followed" by Muslims. The word is derived from the root
meaning smooth and easy flow or direct flow path. The word literally means a clear and well-
trodden path.

Sunnah may mean a way of life, or a path or behaviour that is followed whether praiseworthy,
or otherwise. Mostly, however, it refers to something good. The Prophet (PBUH) said,

"Whoever starts a good Sunnah he will get the reward for it and the reward of others who
would do the same thing until the Day of Judgment. And whoever does a bad Sunnah he will
have the punishment for doing it and the punishment of others who practice it."

Types of Sunnah
There are three types of Sunnah

Sunnah Qawliyyah - the sayings of Muhammad, generally synonymous with

hadith, since the sayings of Muhammad are noted down by the companions and
called hadith.
Sunnah al Fiiliyyah - the actions of Muhammad, including both religious and
worldly actions.
Sunnah Taqririyyah - the approvals of the Islamic Prophet regarding the actions of
the Companions which occurred in two different ways:

When Muhammad kept silent for an action and not opposed it.

When the Islamic Prophet showed his pleasure and smiled for a companions action.

Unlike the Quran, the Sunna was not recorded and written during the Prophet's lifetime, but
was systematically collected and documented beginning at least two centuries after the death
of Muhammad.

According to scholar Khaleed Abu El Fadl, "the late documentation of the Sunna meant that
many of the reports attributed to the Prophet are apocryphal or at least are of dubious
historical authenticity. In fact, one of the most complex disciplines in Islamic jurisprudence is
one which attempts to differentiate between authentic and inauthentic traditions.
Sunnah and hadith
In the context of biographical records of Muhammad, Sunnah often stands
synonymous with hadith since most of the personality traits of Muhammad are known from
descriptions of him, his sayings and his actions after becoming a prophet at the age of
forty. Sunnah, which consists not only of sayings, but of what Muhammad believed, implied,
or tacitly approved, was recorded by his companions in hadith. Allegiance to the
tribal Sunnah had been partially replaced by submission to a new universal authority and the
sense of brotherhood among Muslims.

Early Sunni scholars often considered Sunnah equivalent to the biography of Muhammed as
the hadith which was then poorly validated while contemporary accounts of Muhammad's
life were better known. As the hadith came to be better documented and the scholars who
validated them gained prestige, the Sunnah came often to be known mostly through the
hadith, especially as variant or fictional biographies of Muhammad spread.

Sunnah Salat
Sunnah salat are optional prayers performed in addition to the five daily
compulsory Salat prayers. Some are done at the same time as the compulsory prayers, some
are done only at certain times, e.g. late at night, and some are only done for specific
occasions such as during a drought. They are called Sunna because how they are practiced is
based on stories, narrations, interpretations, traditions of Muhammad by his companions.

Alternative views on Sunnah:

According to the view of some Sufi Muslims who incorporate both the outer and inner
reality of Muhammad, the deeper and true Sunnah are the noble characteristics and inner state
of Muhammad. To them Muhammad's attitude, his piety, the quality of his character
constitute the truer and deeper aspect of what it means by sunnah in Islam, rather than the
external aspects alone.[ They argue that the external customs of Muhammad loses its
meaning without the inner attitude and also many Hadiths are simply custom of the Arabs,
not something that is unique to Muhammad. and Khuluqin Azim or 'Exalted Character'[ in the
Quran, real sunnah cannot be upheld.

According to some scholars, Sunnah predates both the Quran as well as Muhammad, and is
actually the tradition of the prophets of Allah, specifically the tradition of Abraham. From
surah 17 (Al-Isra) ayah 77, "(This was our) way with the messengers we sent before thee:
thou wilt find no change in our ways."
 IJMA
IJMA' means consensus, that is, acceptance of a matter by a specified group of people. In
Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) the matter on which ijma' is of interest is understood in one of
the two following ways:

Any matter related to Shari'ah

Any matter (of interest to Muslims)

Various schools of thought within Islamic jurisprudence may define this consensus to be that
of the first generation of Muslims only; or the consensus of the first three generations of
Muslims; or the consensus of the jurists and scholars of the Muslim world, or scholarly
consensus; or the consensus of all the Muslim ...

Sunni view:
The hadith of Muhammad which states that if that "My ummah will never agree upon
an error" is often cited as a proof for the validity of ijm'. Sunni Muslims regard ijm' as the
third fundamental source of Sharia law, just after the divine revelation of the Qur'an, and the
prophetic practice known as Sunnah. While there are differing views over who is considered
a part of this consensus, the majority view is split between two possibilities: that religiously
binding consensus is the consensus of the entire Muslim community, or that religiously
binding consensus is just the consensus of the religiously learned. The names of two kinds of
consensus are:

1) ijma al-ummah - a whole community consensus.

2) ijma al-aimmah - a consensus by religious authorities

Shia view
Initially, for Shia the authority of the Imam rendered the consensus as irrelevant. With
the development of sectarian communities of Imam Sha Islam, the question of guidance and
interpretation between different ulamas became an issue, however the importance of ijm
never reached the level and certainty it had in Sunni Islam. For Shia, the status of ijm is
ambiguous.
 Qiyas
An Arabic term for analogy. Qiyas is used in Islamic law to deal with new situations as they
arise. For example, the Quran forbids the use of alcohol but does not mention narcotics
.Because alcohol and narcotics are both intoxicating, one may use Qiyas to determine that
Islamic law forbids narcotics as well. This has implications in Islamic finance.

Sunni view
Late and modern Sunni jurisprudence regards analogical reason as a fourth source of
Islamic law, following the Qur'an, prophetic traditional binding consensus. While Muslim
scholarship in the later period traditionally claimed that analogy had existed in Islamic law
since their religion's inception, modern scholarship generally points to Muslim scholar Abu
Hanifa as the first to incorporate analogical reason as a source of law. Since its inception,
analogical reason has been the subject of extensive study in regard to both its proper place in
Islamic law and its proper application.

Shia view
Not unlike the Sunni Hanbalis and Zahiris, the Shia rejected both pure reason and
analogical reason completely on account of the multitude of perspectives that would arise
from it, viewing both methods as subjective. There are various instances in which the Qur'an
disapproves of a divergence of beliefs such as the following:

And obey Allah and His Messenger; and fall into no disputes, lest ye lose heart and your
power depart; and be patient and persevering: For Allah is with those who patiently
persevere:

Ijtihad
It is defined as an Islamic legal term that means "independent reasoning" or "the utmost effort
an individual can put forth in an activity.
Sunnis View

In the years immediately following the Mohammed's death, Sunni Muslims

practiced ijtihad because they saw it as an acceptable form of the continuation of sacred
instruction. Sunni Muslims, therefore began to practice ijtihad primarily through the use of
personal opinion, or ra'y. As Muslims turned to the Quran and Sunnah to solve their legal
issues, they began to recognize that these divine proponents did not deal adequately with
certain topics of law. Therefore, Sunni Muslims began to find other ways and sources
for ijtihad such as ra'y, which allowed for personal judgment of Islamic law. Sunni Muslims
justified this practice of ra'y with a particular hadith, which cites Muhammad's approval of
forming an individual sound legal opinion if the Qur'an and Sunnah contain no explicit text
regarding that particular issue. Therefore, during the first two and a half centuries of Islam
there were no restrictions placed on scholars interested in practicing ijtihad. Beginning in the
9th century, jurists began to make more restrictions on who could practice ijtihad and the
kinds of qualifications necessary. Therefore, the practice of ijtihad became limited to a
qualified scholar and jurist otherwise known as a mujtahid. Abu'l-Husayn al-Basri provides
the earliest and most expansive outline for the qualifications of a mujtahid, they include:

Enough knowledge of Arabic so that the scholar can read and understand both the
Qur'an and the Sunnah.

Extensive comprehensive knowledge of the Qur'an and the Sunnah. More specifically,
the scholar must have a full understanding of the Qur'an's legal contents. In regards to
the Sunnah the scholar must understand the specific texts that refer to law and also the
incidence of abrogation in the Sunnah.

Must be able to confirm the consensus (Ijma) of the Companions, the Successors, and
the leading Imams and mujtahideen of the past, in order to prevent making decisions
that disregard these honoured decisions made in the past.

Should be able to fully understand the objectives of the sharia and be dedicated to the
protection of the Five Principles of Islam, which are life, religion, intellect, lineage,
and property.

Be able to distinguish strength and weakness in reasoning, or in other words exercise

logic.

Must be sincere and a good person.

Shiis View

The Shi'i Muslims understand the process of ijtihad as being the independent effort used
to arrive at the rulings of sharia. Following the death of the Prophet and once they had
determined the Imam as absent, ijtihad evolved into a practice of applying careful reason in
order to uncover the knowledge of what Imams would have done in particular legal
situations. The decisions the Imams would have made were explored through the application
of the Qur'an, Sunnah, ijma and 'aql (reason). It was not until the end of the eighteenth
century that the title of mujtahid became associated with the term faqih or one who is an
expert in jurisprudence. From this point on religious courts began to increase in number and
the ulama were transformed by Shi'i Islamic authorities into the new producer of ijtihad. In
order to produce perceptive mujtahids that could fulfill this important role, principles of Shi'i
jurisprudence were developed to provide a foundation for scholarly deduction of Islamic
law. Shaykh Murtada Ansari and his successors developed the school of Shi'i law, dividing
the legal decisions into four categories of certainty (qat), valid conjecture (zann), doubt
(shakk), and erroneous conjecture (wahm). These rules allowed mujtahids to issue
adjudications on any subject, that could be derived through this process of ijtihad,
demonstrating their great responsibility to the Shi'i community Furthermore, according to
Shi'i Islamic Jurisprudence a believer of Islam is either a Mujtahid (one that expresses their
own legal reasoning), or a Muqallid (one performing Taqlid of a Mujtahid) and a Muhtat (one
who acts with precaution). Most Shi'i Muslims qualify as Muqallid, and therefore are very
dependent on the rulings of the Mujtahids. Therefore, the Mujtahids must be well prepared to
perform ijtihad, as the community of Muqallid are dependent on their rulings. Not only did
Shi'i Muslims require:

Knowledge of the texts of the Qur'an and Sunnah

Justice in matters of public and personal life

Utmost piety

Understanding of the cases where Shi'i mujtahids reached consensus

Ability to exercise competence and authority

However, these scholars also depended on further training that could be received in religious
centers called Hawza. At these centers they taught the important subjects and technical
knowledge a mujtahid needed to be proficient in such as:

Arabic grammar and literature

Logic

Extensive knowledge of the Qur'anic sciences and Hadith

Science of narrators

Principle of Jurisprudence

Comparative Jurisprudence