Explain the various types of Sunnah and their value in Islamic Law with examples.

Matthew Wallis

Charles Sturt University

Usul al Fiqh (Islamic Law and Jurisprudence)

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In Islamic law, the Sunnah [note: Sunnah refers to what Prophet Muhammad did and said]

plays an imperative and vital role in decision making and judgements in Islamic issues in

today’s time and the past. For Islamic jurists Sunnah is one of the central sources along with

the Qur’an to extract certain evidences in decision making. The Sunnah includes everything

that our Prophet did. In that case, the wishes and prohibitions of Allah are also included in the

Sunnah. In Islamic sciences, sunnah is classified by scholars according to its different types,

aspects and representations on various values. Since there is a wide range of certain types of

Sunnah categorized in Islamic law such as those are obligatory upon people through to

recommended also the different positions that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh [note: pbuh stands

for peace be upon him]) held throughout his life and ruled in certain circumstances and also

the types of sunnah that are legal and non-legal upon Muslims. It is the aim of this paper to

explore the various types of Sunnah; their roles, importance and impact on Islamic Law.

In Islamic jurisprudence a category defined by scholars is known as non-legal sunnah. The

non-legal sunnah refers to the activities which do not establish the shariah (Islamic Law).

This type of sunnah mainly consists of the personal lifestyle and habits of the Prophet

examples of this are the way the Prophet ate, dressed and slept (Dogan, 2014). This category

of Sunnah is not binding upon Muslims – hence the classification of non-legal Sunnah. In this

category of non-legal Sunnah some scholars define this as Sunnah-zawaid. This is defined as

customary Sunnah. Which refers to the daily activities of Prophet Muhammad, although this

is not legally binding upon Muslims, scholars have stated that if one acts accordingly with the

intention of following the Prophet’s sunnah, they will get rewarded. An example of sunnah

zawaid is applying kohl (eyeliner) (Dikmen, 2009).

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However, there is also the legal Sunnah, The legal sunnah refers to the instructions that the

Prophet gave while head of state. It can also be defined as the acts, words and approvals of

the Prophet as the Messenger of God, head of state and as judge. In this category there are

subcategories, these come under Prophet as head of state, Messenger of God and as a Judge.

These are categorised as such, because there are certain circumstances in which the Prophet

made particular rulings, thus the Islamic Jurists have classified these for further

understanding of the particular context in which a certain rule was given.

As the Messenger of God, The Prophet established rules that were correspondent to the

Qur’an but he also established rulings on where the Qur’an did not give specific information.

Within this category, the Sunnah may contain of an explanation of the unspecified portions of

the Qur’an, or stipulating its broad declarations. (Dogan, 2014). An example of this is that the

Qur’an states “And perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat), at the two ends of the day and in

some hours of the night [i.e. the five compulsory Salat (prayers)]. Verily, the good deeds

remove the evil deeds (i.e. small sins). That is a reminder (an advice) for the mindful (those

who accept advice)” (Quran, 11:114). Yes the Qur’an mentions the prayer, but does not

explain how they should be performed or the exact timings for the prayers, it is for this reason

the through the Prophet’s Sunnah, the Qur’an can be explained. This category of sunnah

contains overall rules that are not bound by time or circumstance. Therefore these types of

commands that are established through this type of Sunnah are binding upon Muslims.

(Kamali, 2003)

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Another classification that is categorised by jurists is known as The Prophet as a Ruler or as

Head of State. This type of Sunnah originated from the Prophet as the Head of State. Some

examples of this are: distribution of public funds, military and strategy decisions and

selection of officers and officials. These issues are not binding upon individuals and do not

enable them to act upon these types of rulings unless with the permission of the governing

legal body. (Dogan, 2014). Also this type of Sunnah originating from the Prophet (pbuh) as a

judge in actual differences typically consists of two portions. One is circumstantial, involving

the detailed difference and does not establish overall law. The second part, being the ruling

and the verdict itself places a general law. As mentioned previously this is not binding and

individuals are not able to act upon these particular juristic decisions, since the Prophet

(pbuh) was acting as a judge, and certain laws and rulings are specific to the context of which

a particular event occurred. (Amin, 2011)

Islamic scholars also categorise Sunnah in the following categories; the verbal, the practical

and approval. With regards to the verbal Sunnah, this refers to the the Prophet’s words which

provides the basis for many religious commandments. There are examples of this throughout

the Prophet’s lifetime such as the Prophet said “A sea is that of which the water is clean and

the dead animals are lawful to eat” (Abu Dawud, Sunan, Tahara #41). This is an example of

the verbal Sunnah in which the Prophet approved verbally in regards to taking ablution with

seawater (Dogan, 2014)

The practical sunnah refers to the daily practices of the Prophet. The revelation he received

communicated rules and principles. But the inspiration he received allowed him to practice

the finer details of certain rulings. (Dogan, 2014)

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The sunnah based on his approval includes the periods when the Prophet heard, or saw

actions from the companions and gave a sanction by neither approving them or rejecting

them. An example of this is the approval that was given to the Companions when they used

their discretion in deciding when to pray during the Battle of Bani Quraydhah. God’s

Messenger had said to them:

“None of you should perform your afternoon prayers until you arrive at Bani Quraydhah.”

(Darimi, Sunan, Maghazi, #30)

The Companions did not arrive at Bani Quraydhah until after sunset. Some of them took the

Prophet’s words literally and postponed the afternoon prayer, saying: “We will not pray until

we get there.” Others understood that the Prophet was only indicating to them that they

should hurry on their journey, so they stopped and prayed the afternoon prayer on time.

The Prophet learned about what the two groups had decided, but did not criticize either of

them. This is an example of sunnah based on approval.

According to other scholars, there is another classification of what is sunnah, they say that

sunnah can be divided into more parts

i. Fard (Obligatory) - Everything that Allah definitely wants humans to do or to

avoid. It is the Prophet who carries out the commands and prohibitions of Allah in

the best way and who serves as an example.

ii. Wajib – The wajib acts of religion an example of this is the witr prayer.

iii. Nafilah:The things other than fard and wajib

iv. Adab: If we do as the Prophet did while doing our daily tasks like eating, sleeping,

entering the mosque or toilet, etc, we will have done them in accordance with their

procedures. A person who does not act accordingly is not regarded to have

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 committed sins. It means we can divide sunnah as fard, wajib, nafilah and adab. It

is the order of the superiority of the parts of sunnah. (“What is sunnah?”, 2013

para. 1)

There are more types of legal rules in Islamic law based on sunnah,

i. The emphasised sunnah; muakkadah, this refers to the acts that the Prophet

consistently performed. They are the sunnahs that our Prophet generally did but

rarely abandoned. It means strong sunnah; like the sunnah prayers of the morning,

noon and evening prayers. (Dogan, 2013)

Sunnahs like adhan, iqamah, praying in congregation, which are regarded as

fundamentals of Islam, are sunnah muakkadah.

An example of sunnah muakkadah prayer would be the two rakat before fajr

prayer.

ii. Sunnah ghayri muakkadah are acts that were not performed consistently by the

Prophet, an example of such is the duha prayer.

iii. Sunnah zawaid: As previously mentioned in this paper, these are the customary

acts performed by the Prophet.

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All of the various categories of sunnah play a large role in Islamic jurisprudence, their

importance cannot be underestimated. The fuqaha refer to the Sunnah of the Prophet when

they do not find a certain issue in the Qur’an. Therefore, the Sunnah is the secondary source

in Islamic Law. Which is absolutely important for scholars to derive rulings

When the companions were unsure of a Qur’anic statement they would consult with the

Prophet for an explanation. Thus the Prophet explained the Qur’an through his sunnah. The

sunnah is the interpretation the Qur’an. (Dogan, 2014)

There are certain rulings that originate directly from the Sunnah that are not mentioned in the

Qur’an. An example of this is that birds of prey are forbidden for human consumption.

As the Qur’an mentions (4:59) O you who believe! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger

(Muhammad SAW), and those of you (Muslims) who are in authority. (And) if you differ in

anything amongst yourselves, refer it to Allah and His Messenger (SAW), if you believe in

Allah and in the Last Day. That is better and more suitable for final determination.

In conclusion, In Islamic law, the Sunnah has an authoritative part in judgment decisions and

in Islamic issues. It is without a doubt that the Sunnah is one of the vital foundations with the

Qur’an to gain definite indications in religious verdicts. We can see that since all of the

categories discussed in this paper play different roles in Islamic Law, their importance and

significance cannot be underestimated, it is evident that sunnah is indeed one of the primary

Islamic sources for jurists to use when a decision is needed to made.

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References

Abū, D. S.-A.-S., & Hasan, A. (1984). Sunan Abu Dawud. Lahore: Sh. M. Ashraf.

Amin, M. (2011). In Islamic Jurisprudence, Retrieved from:

http://www.mohammedamin.com/Reviews/Principles-of-Islamic-jurisprudence.html

Dārimī, A. A. A.-R., Zamarlī, F. A., & ʻAlamī, K. -S. (1987). Sunan al-Dārimī. Bayrūt,

Lubnān: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʻArabī.

Dikmen, M. (2011). In What is sunnah, Retrieved from:

http://www.questionsonislam.com/article/what-sunnah-0

What is the Sunnah? (2013). Retrieved from:

http://www.questionsonislam.com/article/what-sunnah-could-you-explain-importance-

sunnah-islam

Dogan, R. (2013). Islamic law with the quran and sunnah evidences. S.l.: Fb Partners.

Dogan, R. (2014). Usul al-fiqh: Methodology of Islamic jurisprudence. Clifton, NJ : Tughra

Books.

Kamali, M. H. (2003). Principles of Islamic jurisprudence. Cambridge, UK: Islamic Texts

Society.

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