In the Spirit of the Sunnah [Transcript]
21st March 2006, Friends Meeting House, London
This presentation is brought to you by The Federation of Student Islamic Societies, Young Muslims Organisation UK, Q-News the Muslim Magazine and Muhabba Unlimited.
You can listen to this lecture online.
[Introduction to Hasan Al-Banna]:
Hasan Al-Banna is one of the co-founding directors of the Islamic Institute for Development and Research. He graduated with a BA in Arabic and Law from the University of London, studied Arabic and Literature from the European Institute of Islamic Sciences and is currently pursuing post-graduate studies at Al-Azhar University, in Islamic Jurisprudence. He will be addressing us on the topic of ‘In the Spirit of the Sunnah’. I invite him to the stage.
[Opening du’a]
My dear, respected teachers, shayūkh, brothers and sisters in Islam and humanity,
Al-Salām ‘alaykum wa rahmat Allahi wa barakātuhu.
It’s indeed a pleasure to be with you today. May Allah count this blessing of ours in our balance of good deeds. Allah subhāna wa ta’āla (swt) says in the Qur’ān,
But verily, Allah (swt) in his legacy, in his mannerisms, in his character, in his good life – in his Sirah you have the best of models, you have the best of examples, he is a fine example and role model.
Role models are to be emulated, to be followed. We have Allah (swt) asking us to follow. He, we know, is the Khātim Al-Anbiyā’ and Mursalīn. He is the seal of all the Prophets and Messengers, and also the best.
Al-Ghazi, a classical Scholar said, ‘Our Prophet is better than all the other Prophets and Messengers’. Imam Al-Busayri says that ‘he (saw) surpassed all other Prophets in his physical beauty and character.’ No other Prophet came near to him in knowledge and honour. It is from our belief, Scholars say, that we believe that Allah (swt) created the Prophet (saw) as the best of creation, the best human being to walk this Earth. The Scholars say that mankind has never seen such a creation in the past, and nor will you see such a human creation.
His life is our role model. His life is our Sunnah. Sunnah in the Arabic language means Al-Tarīq, a path, a manhaj, an approach, a methodology. We find this meaning in the Qur’ānic verse, ‘you will never find in the Sunnah of Allah, any change.’ The Scholars define Sunnah in different ways, ‘Ulamā’ Al-Usūl, the theologians of Islām define Sunnah as everything that has been narrated to us by the sayings of the Prophet (saw), his actions and his approvals. Perhaps some Companions undertook an action that the Prophet (saw) approved of. The Scholars of Ahādīth add two further items, his description (Sifa) as we heard in the first presentation – what he looked like, his physical beauty, and the events surrounding his life (Sirah). The Jurists, the fuqahā’ , the legal jurists in Islām, view Sunnah as a secondary source of Islāmic legislation. Everything that we do as Muslims must be based on the Qur’ān and the Sunnah. Also, Sunnah is used as a Hukum, as a ruling – we have acts which are obligatory, we have acts which are harām, acts which are recommended and acts which in this light, scholars use the term Sunnah – it’s a praise worth action which is recommended for one to do. We see the different approaches of understanding this Sunnah. The Sunnah covers all aspects of the Rasūl’s (saw) life. Be it legal or otherwise.
How do we as Muslims, interact with the Sunnah? How do we understand this Sunnah and how do we implement this Sunnah?
It is indeed sad to say that our interaction with the Sunnah is very limited, shallow, narrow and to an extent, a legal interaction with the Sunnah. We have reduced the Sunnah to a few items and acts of worship where the Sunnah is a living reality – which is an embodiment of certain principles and values that the Prophet (saw) promoted. The Sunnah is not limited to certain acts of worship be it length of the beard, the siwāk, praying Sunnah prayers, and many other acts which are part of the Sunnah.
And yet the Sunnah is a comprehensive path. It should cover everything to do with our life from our birth to our death – even before we came to existence and after we leave, it should cover all scenarios in our life – home, work, mosque, play – it covers all aspects of our life.
In the Sunnah we find examples. In the first presentation we heard Abdul-Rahman mentioning about the Prophet (saw) resting. We find guidance on resting from the Sunnah.
I was thinking whilst listening to that, that if our British Muslim boxer Amir Khan stipulated to every single opponent he defeated that they had to convert to Islam, we would increase the number of Muslim boxers that we have.
The Sunnah addresses all dimensions of life – be it the spirit, the intellect, the physical body, it is a role model for everyone – not just for the old, the shayūkh or the knowledgeable, for the young, the old, the women, the men, for the poor, the rich – all sections of society, the Sunnah provides guidance.
The Sunnah is also a path of balance. It balances between the spirituality and the body – between the intellect and emotions, between ideals and realities, between theory and practice, between this dunyā and the ākhira, between adherence and creativity, the Sunnah adopts this middle path, and thus we see the Prophet (saw) when he heard of the three companions who, when told about the Prophet’s worship, one of them said, ‘I’m going to fast all day and all night.’ One said ‘and I will stand and never sleep.’ And the third said ‘I will refrain from marrying women.’ The Prophet, upon hearing this was far from praiseworthy, ‘I am the one who is most pious amongst you all, I am the one who fears his Lord more than all of you, yet I fast and I break my fast; I sleep and I wake up in the night and pray. I also marry women. Those who neglect my Sunnah are not from amongst my Ummah.’
The Sunnah here is not referring to a few acts of worship; the Sunnah here is referring to this balanced approach to our lives. The Prophet’s du’ā, what does it teach us? ‘Oh Allah give us the good of this world and the hereafter.’
The Sunnah of the Prophet (saw) is a realistic Sunnah. It acknowledges that human beings are weak, are prone to forgetfulness; we eat, we sleep, we get tired, we have ups and downs in our lives, we have passions, we have desires, and thus it interacts with us with this in mind.
When Hanzala, a famous Companion of the Prophet (saw) said, ‘Hanzala has become a hypocrite, Hanzala has become a hypocrite.’ When the Prophet asked him why, he said ‘Oh Prophet, when I am in your presence, I remember Al-Ākhira, I remember Allah, I remember the day of Judgement, tears drop from my eyes, I feel I am in the presence of the divine, yet when I leave you, I go home, I play with my children, I speak to my wife. I feel as though my Imān has become weak, thus I feel I have become a hypocrite.’
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