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The word Sunnah (سنة [ˈsunna], plural سنن sunan [ˈsunan], Arabic) is driven from the root (سن [sa-n-na] Arabic) meaning smooth and easy flow [of water] or direct flow path. The word literally means a clear and well trodden path. In the discussion of the sources of religion, Sunnah denotes the practice of Prophet Muhammad that he taught and practically instituted as a teacher of the sharī‘ah and the best exemplar.^[1] According to Muslim belief, this practice is to be adhered to in fulfilling the divine injunctions, carrying out religious rites and moulding life in accord with the will of God. To institute these practices was, the Qur’ān states, a part of the Prophet’s responsibility as a Messenger of God^{[Quran 3:164][Quran 33:21]}

The sunnah of Muhammad includes his specific words, habits, practices, and silent approvals:^[2] it is significant because it addresses ways of life dealing with friends, family and government.^[2] Recording sunnah was an Arabian tradition and, once people converted to Islam, they brought this custom to their religion.^[3] The sunnah is consulted after referring to the Qur'an, if the issue is not addressed there. The term "Sunni" denotes those who claim to practice these usages, as part of the Ummah.

Etymology[link]

Sunnah (سنة [ˈsunna], plural سنن sunan [ˈsunan]) is an Arabic word that means "habit" or "usual practice".^[4] Sunnis are also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa'l-Jamā'ah ("people of the tradition and the community (of Muhammad)") or Ahl as-Sunnah for short.

Sunnah and hadith[link]

In the context of biographical records of Muhammad sunnah often stands as synonymous with hadith since most of the personality traits of Muhammad are known from descriptions of him, his sayings and his actions after becoming a prophet at the age of forty. Sunnah, which consists of what Muhammad believed, implied, or tacitly approved, was noted down by his companions in ahadith. Allegiance to the tribal sunnah had been partially replaced by submission to a new universal authority and the sense of brotherhood among Muslims.^[5]

Early Sunni scholars often considered sunnah equivalent to the biography of Mohammed (sira) as the hadith was then poorly validated while contemporary accounts of Muhammad's life were better known. As the hadith came to be better documented and the scholars who validated them gained prestige, the sunnah came often to be known mostly through the hadith, especially as variant or fictional biographies of Muhammad spread.^{[citation needed]}

How far hadith contributes to sunnah is disputed and highly dependent on context.^{[citation needed]} Classical Islam often equates the sunnah with the hadith. Scholars who studied the narrations according to their context (matn) as well as their transmission (isnad) in order to discriminate between them were influential in the development of early Muslim philosophy. In the context of Islamic Law Imam Malik and the Hanafi scholars are assumed to have differentiated between the two: for example Imam Malik is said to have rejected some traditions that reached him because, according to him, they were against the "established practice of the people of Medina".

Sunnah and Islam[link]

Passages in the Qur'an command that the prophet be followed, such as 3:32 "Obey God and His messenger".^[6] For Muslims the imitation of Muhammad helps one to know and be loved by God: one lives in constant remembrance of God.^[2]

Shi'a Muslims do not use the six major hadith collections followed by the Sunni. Instead, their primary collections were written by three authors known as the 'Three Muhammads'.^[7] They are: Kitab al-Kafi by Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni al-Razi (329 AH), Man la yahduruhu al-Faqih by Muhammad ibn Babuya and Al-Tahdhib and Al-Istibsar both by Shaykh Muhammad Tusi. Unlike Akhbari Twelver Shi'a, Usuli Twelver Shi'a scholars do not believe that everything in the four major books is authentic. In Shia hadith one often finds sermons attributed to Ali in The Four Books or in the Nahj al-Balagha.

Traditional Muslims believe that the sunnah is justified by verses such as "A similar (favour have ye already received) in that We have sent among you a Messenger of your own, rehearsing to you Our Signs, and sanctifying you, and instructing you in Scripture and Wisdom, and in new knowledge.(2:151)^{[citation needed]} The verse "Verily in the messenger of God you have a good example for him who looks unto God and the Last Day and remembers God much". (33:21), further emphasizes that Muhammad's mission is to teach and exemplify The Qur'an, not just to relate its verses and leave. Muhammad was not to be worshipped or deified but his role was to deliver The Qur'an with comprehensive explanations of how to live according to the Qur'anic guidelines preserved in Sunnah. The teachings of "wisdom" have been declared to be a function of Muhammad along with the teachings of the scripture.^[8]

For a better understanding of "wisdom" (hikmah), one can refer to The Quran itself. For example, verse 4:113 states; "God reveals the Book (i.e. the books of revealed religion, especially The Qur'an) to you, and wisdom, and teaches you that which you did not know. The grace of God towards you has been very great". Verse 2:231 states; "And remember God's grace upon you, and that which He has revealed unto you of Scripture and wisdom whereby He exhorts you". Verse 33:34 states, "And bear in mind which is recited in your houses of the revelations of God and of wisdom".

Some have said that "wisdom" here is simply another name for sunnah. Therefore, along with divine revelation the sunnah was directly taught by God. Modern Sunni scholars are beginning to examine both the sira and the hadith in order to justify modifications to jurisprudence (fiqh). The sunna, in one form or another, would retain its central role in providing a moral example and ethical guidance.

Alternative views on Sunnah[link]

According to the view of some Sufi Muslims who incorporate both the outer and inner reality of Prophet Muhammad, hold the view that the deeper and true Sunnah are the noble characteristics and inner state of Prophet Muhammad. To them the Prophet's attitude, his piety, the quality of his character constitute the truer and deeper aspect of what it means by Sunnah in Islam, rather than the external aspects alone.^[9] They argue that the external customs of the Prophet loses its meaning without the inner attitude and also many Sunnah are simply custom of the Arabs, not something that is unique to Prophet.^[10] and Khuluqin Azim or 'Exalted Character'^[11] in the Quran, real Sunnah cannot be upheld.

According to some scholars, Sunnah predates both the Quran as well as Muhammad, and is actually the tradition of the Prophets of God, specifically the tradition of Abraham. A broad form of Sunnah was already being practised by the Christians, Jews and the Arab descendants of Ismail, when Muhammad reinstituted this practice as an integral part of Islam. Sunnah and Quran both are equally authentic and the former includes worship rituals like Salah, Zakah, Hajj, fasting in Ramadan as well as customs like circumcision^[12]

See also[link]

Islam portal

• Qur'an
• Bid'ah
• Sira
• Sharia
• Fiqh
• Hadith
• Categories of Hadith

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Difference between Hadith and Sunnah
• Musa, Aisha Y. Hadith as Scripture: Discussions on the Authority of Prophetic Traditions in Islam, New York: Palgrave, 2008. ISBN 0-230-60535-4.

External links[link]

• The Meaning of "Sunna" in the Qur’an, Qur'anic Studies
• Sunnah and Hadith, Center For Muslim-Jewish Engagement

This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in the Danish Wikipedia. (September 2011) Don't speak Danish? Click here to read a machine-translated version of the Danish article. Click [show] on the right to review important translation instructions before translating. Google's machine translation is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. After translating, {{Translated|da|Bilal Philips}} must be added to the talk page to ensure copyright compliance. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips
Philips in August 2010
Born	Dennis Bradley Philips (1946-01-06) 6 January 1946 (age 66) Kingston, Jamaica
Education	B.A. Islamic Studies, M.A. Aqeedah, & PhD Islamic Theology
Alma mater	B.A. - Islamic University of Medina, M.A. - King Saud University, & PhD - University of Wales
Occupation	Islamic preacher
Years active	1971-present
Religion	Islam
Website
www.bilalphilips.com

Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips (born Dennis Bradley Philips on 6 January 1946 in Jamaica) is a contemporary Islamic scholar, teacher, speaker, and author, resident in Qatar.^[1][2] He appears on Peace TV, which is a 24-hour Islamic satellite TV channel broadcasting to many countries around the world.

Biography[link]

Education[link]

Philips was born on 6 January 1946^[3] in Jamaica, but grew up in Canada, where he converted to Islam in 1972. He received his B.A. degree from the Islamic University of Medina and his M.A. in Aqeedah (Islamic Theology) from the King Saud University in Riyadh, then to the University of Wales, where he completed a PhD in Islamic Theology in the early 1990s.^[4] Philips comes from a family of educators, as both his parents were teachers and his grandfather was a Christian minister and Bible scholar.^[5]

Islamic Information Center[link]

In 1994 he founded (and continues to direct) an Islamic Information Center, now known as Discover Islam, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.^[5]

Islamic Online University[link]

The Islamic Online University has been founded by Dr. Bilal Philips as a completely tuition-free institution that is offering an online intensive, undergraduate, and graduate courses in Islamic Studies. The university offers a four year bachelor of arts degree in Islamic studies program.^[6]

The IOU was initially launched in 2001 from UAE with an offering of a few short courses. After a five year interlude, it was restarted in 2007 from Qatar with a greater offering of completely free short courses.^[7]

Controversies[link]

According to Steven Emerson, Executive Director of Investigative Project on Terrorism, he follows a strong anti-Western agenda and is connected to radical and terrorist Islamists.^[8] Bilal has made statements against suicide bombing and other terrorist tactics as un-Islamic. He has also suggested that once violent conflicts between Muslims and non-Muslims can be better solved with education.^[9]

Bilal Philips (left) and Pierre Vogel speaking on a rally in Frankfurt in 2003.

In an interview given, Philips accused the Australian authorities of "blindly following American allegations and unsubstantiated false accusations" claiming that investigations in the UK, Canada and Australia had found no evidence that he was in any way connected with terrorism.^[2] In this interview, he also pointed out that he had not entered the USA since 1995, characterizing media claims that he had been deported in 2004 as an "outright lie". Philips also called the statement that he was an "unindicted co-conspirator” in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing "really a joke", claiming that it was based on a "supposedly leaked report" of over 100 prominent Muslims who were never charged. In April 2011 he has been banned from re-entering Germany as persona non grata.^[10]

At a conference in Toronto during the city's Pride Parade on July 3, 2011, Philips briefly reiterated his view that homosexuals caught in the act should be executed in countries governed by Islamic law.^[11]

Publications[link]

Books[link]

• Fundamentals of TAWHEED (Islamic Monotheism) International Islamic Publishing House; ISBN 9960-9648-0-9^[12]
• The Evolution of Fiqh (Islamic Law & The Madh-habs) International Islamic Publishing House (Edited by Bradley Philips); ISBN 9960-672-86-7^[13]
• True Message of Jesus Christ Islamic Book Services 2006; ISBN 81-7231-360-8^[14]
• Purpose of Creation 84pp, Islamic Book Services 2002; ISBN 81-7231-358-6^[15]
• Funeral Rites International Islamic Publishing House; ASIN 9960850846^[16]
• Polygamy in Islam Islamic Book Services; ISBN 81-7231-715-8^[17]
• Islamic Studies Al-Basheer 2002; ISBN 1-898649-19-7^[18]

Videos[link]

• Sundry videos at LightUponLight.com

See also[link]

• List of Da'ees
• Dawah
• Islam in Canada
• Zakir Naik
• Jamaal al-Din M. Zarabozo
• Muhammad bin Jamil Zeno

References[link]

External links[link]

• Bilal Philips' official website
• Bilal Philips' Blog
• Bilal Philips audio and video lectures
• Interview with Bilal Philips on Famous Muslims
• Lecture: Hardening of the Heart
• Bilal Philips' Islamic Online University