What exactly is Sunnah... and what isn't?

We all know that following the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is an essential part of deen. But did you know that everything that the Prophet said or did is not necessarily Sunnah?

There is a chapter in Hujjatullah alBaligah that explores how Hadith and Sunnah are two different things.

Every Sunnah is not in the form of Hadith. For instance, we have Mutawatir narrations (verbal or practical), that have been passed on generation after generation, but are not found in any Hadith book, like namaz procedure from start to end.

Likewise, every Hadith is not required to be followed as Sunnah. Shah Waliullah Muhaddis Dehlvi lists down 5 categories in this regard:

1) Whatever Prophet Muhammad ﷺ has opined on worldly topics like medicine, horse breeds etc. These, the Prophet said out of his own intuition and experience, not on account of any divine revelation. Hence, it is not mandatory upon Muslims to abide by them.

e.g. Pollination of date palms, hijamah etc.

The Ansar of Madinah practiced artificial pollination (called ta'bīr or talqīḥ) of date palms, which involved manually inserting the spadix or sprinkling pollen from a male date palm onto the flowering parts of a female date palm to ensure fertilization and a high-yield crop.  

When Prophet Muhammad ﷺ arrived in Madinah and observed them doing this, he asked them what they were doing and remarked out of personal opinion, "Perhaps if you do not do that, it will be better." Trusting his word, the Ansar completely stopped manually pollinating the trees for that season. As a result, the trees yielded far less fruit, and the dates dropped early or failed to mature properly.  

When the companions reported the poor harvest to him, the Prophet ﷺ clarified the distinction between his divine revelation and human, worldly expertise by stating:

‏إِنَّمَا أَنَا بَشَرٌ إِذَا أَمَرْتُكُمْ بِشَىْءٍ مِنْ دِينِكُمْ فَخُذُوا بِهِ وَإِذَا أَمَرْتُكُمْ بِشَىْءٍ مِنْ رَأْىٍ فَإِنَّمَا أَنَا بَشَرٌ"‏

أَنْتُمْ أَعْلَمُ بِأَمْرِ دُنْيَاكُمْ

“I am only a human being. If I command you with something regarding your religion, adhere to it. But if I command you with something based on my personal opinion, I am only a human being... You are more knowledgeable of your worldly affairs.” [Sahih Muslim]

2) Whatever tools Prophet Muhammad ﷺ used during his time, or the things that he personally liked or disliked, or his personal habits.

e.g. Bows and arrows for warfare, camels for riding, twigs for cleaning teeth etc. All these were specific to 7th Century Arabia, and not to be copied as-it-is. Only the principles would be taken, and then applied to modern technology. Thus, we would use modern tools of warfare, transport, and toothbrushes respectively. This is because Sunnah is to defend yourself and your nation, to use vehicles, and to clean your teeth, and not simply using archaic 7th Century tools to do these.

In the same vein, eating foods that he liked (like gourd), or cutting nails in a particular order, or copying his hairstyle or wearing a thobe are not Sunnah either.

3) Whatever the Prophet spoke in the form of informal banter with his wives and friends. This includes telling them folk stories, discussing delicacies, cracking jokes etc.

These were not divinely revealed either. What we can, at best, learn from these things, are his etiquettes of speech and humour.

4) Whatever guidelines the Prophet issued in specific situations.

e.g. The Prophet’s suggestions on the placement of troops in Badr, or his offer to make a deal with the Banu Ghatafan during the siege of Madinah. On both these occasions, his companions ؓ held dissenting views, and the Prophet accepted them. Accordingly, the Prophet repositioned the troops beyond the wells of Badr, and did not proceed with the deal with Banu Ghatafan.

Barirah refusing to take back Mughees as her husband despite the Prophet interceding on his behalf is another example in this regard. Barirah asked the Prophet, "O Messenger of Allah, are you commanding me?" The Prophet replied, "No, I am only interceding (mediating)." Hearing that it was personal advice rather than a divine command, Barirah politely declined, saying she no longer had need for him.

5) Court verdicts issued by the Prophet which cannot be applied generally; they dealt with specific cases. As a judge, the Prophet used to judge on face value, and pass his verdict in favour of the person who defended his case the best. And he used to reverse his verdict if the truth was later laid bare.

We tend to have a very skewed idea of ‘Sunnah’. Maulana Dr. Athar Habib Nadvi avers that even eating dates is not a Sunnah. The Sunnah, rather, is to eat the things that the poorest of the poor can easily afford. It is for this reason that the Prophet preferred dates, salt and water for opening his fasts - not because they are inherently virtuous in any way, but because those are the things that every family of Madinah could easily afford. Thus, showing empathy towards the poor is Sunnah, and not eating dates per se. Think, what would the Prophet have opted for had he lived amongst you today? What can the poorest of the poor in your locality afford? That, my friends, is Sunnah. Sunnah is not just to have dessert, Sunnah is also to tie two stones on a starved stomach to empathize with one's hungry companions.

Sunnah, my friends, is a way of life; it is the philosophy of Islamic life. It is not about merely copying the Prophet (for, Islam is not a personality cult), but to imbibe and inculcate his teachings in our lives. And whoever does that out of love for God, God would love him back, and forgive his sins.

قُلۡ اِنۡ کُنۡتُمۡ تُحِبُّوۡنَ اللّٰہَ فَاتَّبِعُوۡنِیۡ یُحۡبِبۡکُمُ اللّٰہُ وَ یَغۡفِرۡ لَکُمۡ ذُنُوۡبَکُمۡ ؕ وَ اللّٰہُ غَفُوۡرٌ رَّحِیۡمٌ

[Aal Imran, ayat 31]