Source: www.khalduun.com

The Sunnah and its People

Allaah the Most High said:

وَأَنَّ هَـذَا صِرَاطِي مُسْتَقِيمًا فَاتَّبِعُوهُ وَلاَ تَتَّبِعُواْ السُّبُلَ فَتَفَرَّقَ بِكُمْ عَن سَبِيلِهِ ذَلِكُمْ وَصَّاكُم بِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ

  And this is my path, straight, follow it and do not follow other paths lest you should deviate from His path. That is what has been ordained for you so that you may achieve Taqwa. [Surah al-An’aam, verse 153] And He said:

قُلْ هَـذِهِ سَبِيلِي أَدْعُو إِلَى اللّهِ عَلَى بَصِيرَةٍ أَنَاْ وَمَنِ اتَّبَعَنِي وَسُبْحَانَ اللّهِ وَمَا أَنَاْ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ

  Say; this is my path, I call unto Allaah upon firm knowledge, me and those who follow me. Glory by to Allaah and I am not from amongst the Mushrikeen. [Surah Yoosof, verse 108] Narrated by al-‘Irbaadh bin Saariyah – may Allaah be pleased with him – that the Prophet – may Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him – said: “Verily whoever amongst you lives after me will see a lot divisions, so stick to my Sunnah and the sunnah of the rightly guided caliphs, hold on to it with your molar teeth and beware of newly invented matters because every new thing is an innovation and verily every innovation is misguidance.”  [Ahmad 126/4, Aboo Daawood 200/4, at-Tirmidhi 44/5, Ibn Maajah 18/1, authenticated by al-Albaanee in as-Saheeh 2735] Narrated by Aboo Hurayrah – may Allaah be pleased with him – he said that the Prophet – may Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him – said: “I have left behind me amongst you two things, you will never go astray after them – the book of Allaah and my Sunnah – and they will never be separated until I come to the Hawd (pond)” [ad-Daaraqutnee 245/4,  authenticated by al-Haakim 172/1, al-Bayhaqiy in as-Sunan al-Kubraa 114/10, declared Hasan by al-Albaanee in Manzilat as-Sunnah fee al-Islaam p. 18 and in Saheeh al-Jaami’ 2937] And the pillar of the Sunnah, Abul Qaasim at-Teemee al-Asbahaanee said: “The scholars of the Arabic language said: as-Sunnah means a path or a way. So when they say such and such person is upon the Sunnah or from the people of the Sunnah it means that he is following the evidence both in his speech and action. Because it is not possible to follow the Sunnah whilst going against Allaah or going against His Messenger.” [al-Hujjah fee bayaan al-Mahajjah 384/2] Ibn Rajab said: “as-Sunnah is a path that is threaded upon which includes everything that the Prophet – may Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him – and his righteous companions either believed in or spoke or acted according to, and this is the complete Sunnah. And this was the practice of the salaf in old times; they did not use the term as-Sunnah except to mean every aspect of it. This is what has been reported from al-Hasan, al-Awzaa’ee, al-Fudayl bin ‘Iyyaadh. Whilst many recent scholars use the term to refer to the aspect of the creed since this is the essence of the religion and whoever objects to the creed is in grave danger.” [Jaami’ ‘Uloom wal Hikam 263/1] Ibn Hazm said: So the ahl as-Sunnah are the People of the truth and whoever goes against them is from the ahl-Bid’ah (people of innovation) because they (the ahl as-Sunnah) are the companions – may Allaah be pleased with them all – and everyone who threads upon the same path from the pious Taabi’een – may Allaah have mercy upon them – and the People of Hadeeth and whoever followed them from amongst the scholars, generation after generation until our day. Including whoever strives to be like them from among the common folk in the lands of the Far East and to the west – may Allaah have mercy upon them all – [al-Fasl  fee al-Milal wa al-Hawa wa an-Nahl 90/2] Benefits: Firstly: The Sunnah is the way shown by the Prophet – may Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him - both in speech and action. Secondly: The actions of the companions fall underneath the definition of as-Sunnah. Thirdly: The People of the Sunnah are those who follow the evidence of the Prophet – May Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him – and follow his companions in all matters of the religion. Fourthly: Linking the Qur’aan with Sunnah, and the Sunnah with the Qur’aan.