Friday, November 28, 2008

Sunnah

Sunnah (سنة, plural سنن Sunan) literally means “trodden path,” and therefore, the sunnah of the prophet means “the way and the manners of the prophet”. Terminologically, the word ‘Sunna’ in Sunni Islam means those religious achievements that were instituted by the Islamic prophet Muhammad during the 23 years of his ministry and which Muslims initially obtained through consensus of companions of Muhammad, and further through generation-to-generation transmission. According to some opinions, the sunna in fact consists of those religious actions that were initiated by Abraham and were only revived by Muhammad.

The question of hadith (Arabic: حديث pl. أحاديث, "words and deeds of Muhammad") falling within the abode of the sunna is a disputed one, and is highly dependent on the context. In the context of Islamic Law, Imam Malik and the Hanafi scholars assumed to have differentiated between the sunna and the hadith. In some instances, for example, Imam Malik is supposed to have rejected hadiths that reached him because, according to him, they were against the 'established practice of the people of Medinah'. According to other opinions, sunna constitutes of what Muhammad believed, implied or tacitly approved and was noted down by his companions in form of what is today known as hadith. In Shi'a Islam, the word 'Sunna' means the deeds, sayings and approvals of Muhammad and the twelve Imams who Shi'a Muslims believe were chosen by Muhammad to lead the Ummah - the world muslim community.

In the context of biographical records of Muhammad, sunna indeed often stands synonymous to hadith as most of the personality traits of Muhammad are known through descriptions about him, his sayings and his actions, after becoming a prophet at the age of forty.

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Monday, November 24, 2008

Message of Islam

The prime message of Islam is the Unity of God, that the Creator of the world is One and He alone is worthy of worship and that Muhammad (peace and blessings on him) is His Messenger and Servant. The follower of this belief is thus a Muslim - a Muslim’s other beliefs are: God’s angels, previously revealed Books of God, all the prophets, from Adam to Jesus (peace be on them both), the Day of Judgement and indeed the Decree of God. A Muslim has five main duties to perform, namely; bearing witness to the Unity of God and Muhammad (peace and blessings on him) as His Messenger, observing the prescribed prayer, payment of Zakat, keeping the fasts of Ramadhan and performing the pilgrimage to Mecca.