The Sunna : Its Obligatory and Exemplacry Aspects

by Hamid Algar

The authority and excellence of the Sunnah, the normative mode of conduct of the Prophet (pbh), is mandated in the Qur'an itself, even though the term itself does not occur there with the same meaning. Certain aspects of the Sunnah are obligatory for the Muslim to follow, these include those several instances where the Sunnah clarifies the mode of implementation of a Qur'anic injunction, as is the case with prayer. A number of jurists hold, in fact, the Sunnah is a source of legal authority independent of the Qur'an. Other dimensions of the Sunnah are exemplary, to observe them is meritorious, but to omit them is not sinful. These include certain acts of devotion in which the Prophet (pbh) would engage. Finally, there are those matters in which the Prophet (pbh) was exercising his personal taste or judgement in matters not intrinsic to his prophetic mission; these must be regarded as incidental to the Sunnah.

Genres: Religion, Islam

56 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Hamid Algar began his studies of Arabic, Persian and Islamic Civilzation at Cambridge in 1959. After graduating, he spent a lengthy and fruitful period of travel in Iran, Turkey and Afghanistan before returning to Cambridge in 1963 and completing his doctorate there two years later. He has been teaching in the Department of Near Eastern Studies since 1965, providing a wide range of instruction in the fields of Arabic, Persian and Ottoman Turkish literature and offering lecture courses on various aspects of Islamic religion and culture. His research interests center on Shi’ism in Iran and Sufism in the Persian and Persian-influenced world, with particular emphasis on the Naqshbandi order. His copious writings have been published in an array of languages additional to English: French, German, Russian, Italian, Bosnian, Turkish, Arabic, Persian, and Malay/Indonesian. He was recently awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Tehran.