USMANU DANFODIYO UNIVERSITY, SOKOTO

FACULTY OF LAW

SUNNAH AS THE SECOND PRIMARY SOURCE OF SHARIAH

PRESENTED BY

GROUP B

NAME ADMISSION NUMBER

SULAIMAN OLAMIDE HABEEB 2310500014
NASIR NAUWARA MUHAMMAD 2310500015
BELLO AHMAD SHEHU 2310500016
AISHA ADAMU 2310500017
SANUSI RASHEED TAIWO 2310500018
CHIKA MUHAMMED 2310500019
2310500020
2310500021
AISHA IBRAHIM ALKALI 2310500022
UMAR KHADIJA YELWA 2310500023
NASIRU MUHAMMAD IBRAHIM 2310500024
BELLO MUHAMMAD 2310500025
ADAMU FATIMA 2310500026

MARCH, 2024

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INTRODUCTION

Sunnah in Islamic terminology refers to the teachings, actions, sayings and

approvals of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). It serves as a guide to

Muslim providing practical examples on how to implement the principles

outlined in the Qur’an. In Islam the primary sources of law are the Qur’an and

the Sunnah with the latter often regarded as equally essential in the extraction of

rules in Islamic jurisprudence. Its significance as a primary source of sharia lies

in its ability to provide context, clarification and practical application of the

Qur’anic principle. So in this presentation we are going to explore the

conceptual definition of Sunnah, the importance of Sunnah, its authority, its

roles in complementing the Qur’an, its mode of transmission and its

interpretation in Islamic jurisprudence.

CONCEPT AND DEFINITION

The Muslims agreed that the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah

bless him and grant him peace) is the second of the two fundamental primary

source of Islamic law after glorious Qur’an. The automatic Sunnah is contained

within the vast body of hadith literature e.g. people says:-

“Warn you about my sunnah who ever left behind my sunnah is

not together with me.”

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Hadith and Sunnah are closely connected for the term hadith is the term sunnah.

Sunnah is a verbal, prescribe or establish the technical meaning of the term

sunnah is the mode of life of the prophet (SAW).

The two (2) terms Hadith and Sunnah are translated as tradition of the Prophet

(SAW), they are often in5terchangeable used but nevertheless there is a suitable

difference between the two terms. In short Sunnah represents what was

practiced by the Prophet (SAW) while hadith is the record of what Prophet

(SAW) said.

“The best of you is the one who studies Qur’an and teaches it”

THE ORIGIN/SOURCES OF SUNNAH

In Islamic Jurisprudence, shariah is considered to make rules for every aspect of

life, whether economic, social or religious. The primary source of shariah are

the qur’an and sunnah.

The prophet (SAW) life divides the sources of Islamic law into two main

categories; first are the resources established by the prophet (SAW) during his

lifetimes, i.e, the Quran and Sunnah, while the others are sources that were

identified and used by Muslims after the Prophet (SAW) death i.e, Ijma, Qiyas,

Urf etc.

In Islamic jurisprudence, the significance of Sunna is equal in importance to

Qur’anic injunctions as the prophet (SAW) was inspired by Allah (SWT) in

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whatever he said and did, a theme supported in the Qur’an (53: 3-4) Suratul

Najm.

“Nor does he say (ought) of (his own) desire”

During the time of Prophet (SAW), companions wrote his sayings, which they

also conveyed to others. However, concerted efforts to collect and edit ahadith

started in the mid eight century (around 100 years after the prophet’s (SAW)

death). In order to maintain the authenticity and accuracy of ahadith, a unique

referencing method called “Isnad” was developed by the researchers, which

meant that every hadith was to be supported by a chain of informants where the

first person would be the one who heard or saw the prophet (SAW) saying,

doing, or approving something. Various compilations of hadith were made

afterwards; six of these are considered to be the most authentic (Sihah al-sittah).

TYPES OF SUNNAH

1. Sunnah Al-Qawliyyah: It is the type of Sunnah that provide a

comprehensive picture of the life and teachings of the prophet (SAW).

The prophet taught his Sunnah in different ways.

a. The prophet did a verbal teaching of his sunnah

b. The prophet did a written teaching of his Sunnah where he wrote letter

to kings, Muslim countries, kingdom or Muslim Governor telling

them about paying of taxes, zakkat and other form of Ibadah.

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 c. Also the prophet did a practical teachings of his sunnah, like

performing Wudu (ablution) and praying etc.

2. Sunnah-Ad-Dhahirah: This is the type of Sunnah talking about the words

and saying of the prophet. Like it is narrated by Umar bin Abu-salamat:

“O you boy, eat your food by the name of Allah, eat what’s in your front and
eat with your right hand”
3. Sunnnah Fi’iliyyah: This is the type of Sunnah talking about the actions

of the prophet (SAW) from the way he dresses, the way he eat and the

way he communicate with his family and in the community.

4. Sunnah Tahrimiyyah: They are the things that the prophet (SAW)

forbade or prohibit. It is narrated by Abdullahi bin-Umar (R.A) he said:

“Any intoxicant is alcohol, and any intoxicant is prohibited”

5. Sunnah Taqririyah: This is the type of Sunnah that is talking about the

silent approval of the prophet (SAW). What the prophet never object to,

is considered part of his Sunnah.

IMPORTANCE OF SUNNNAH IN ISLAMIC JURISPRUDENCE

1. It roles in complementing the Qur’an for instance, it was stated in the

qur’an for Muslim to observe five daily salat, but we got to know how

the salat is to be said and done from the sunnah of the prophet (SAW). It

is stated in the Qur’an (Suratul Israil verse: 78):

“Keep the prayers established from the declining of the sun

and till darkness of the night and the Qur’an at dawn. Indeed
the angel witness the reading of the Qur’an at dawn”

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 2. The mode of transmission and interpretation of Sunnah- As we all know,

the Sunnah of the prophet is contained in the hadith. However, the hadith

is interpreted differently by different scholars based on their diverse legal

opinion within the Islamic tradition but the main objective is to derive a

practical guidance which is in accordance with the Qur’an and Sunnah.

CONCLUSION

Henceforth, based on the forgoing explanation, we may cognitively understand

that Sunnah is the tradition of Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and in some

other ways it is interchangeably with hadith (unanimously), with this we can

coupled that sunnah/hadith are second sources of Islamic Law in the world i.e.

Where Islam is advocating.

REFERENCE

Haqqun Mubin by Abu-Mustapha Muhammad Kabir bin Abdullahi Al-

kanowiy.

Islamic Shariah Law by Abdulrahman Doi.