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How To Distinguish Between Compulsory And Optional Sunnah?
Seems like some Sunnah, like number of Rakahs in Prayer and how to perform prayer is compulsory. On the other hand, cleaning mouth and nose in Wudu or having pants above ankles or covering head during prayer are optional Sunnahs.
How distinction between the compulsory and non compulsory drawn?
Is there a source of reading for compulsory (Fard) Sunnah?
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13 Replies
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How To Distinguish Between Compulsory And Optional Sunnah?
updated 3 years, 5 months ago
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13
Replies
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I think that as the practices themselves are transmitted throughout societies, their status as an optional or compulsory act is also known. For example the records of the ijma and tawatur if the muslimeen would be the fiqh books in which they would say clearly which rakaat are fard. When it comes to things like washing the mouth out and the nose one could perhaps do qiyaas and see that the usul is already in the Quran that we are told to simply wash our faces so to do extra would be nafil
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Ahmad, you sound correct and logical. Let’s see if others come up with the same information.
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Dr. Irfan Shahzad responded to one of my related questions. I’m reproducing his response below. @Irfan76 if you would like to add anything please feel free.
Dr. Irfan Shahzad’s response:
فرض سنت کے بارے میں نص موجود ہوتی ہے کہ یہ فرض ہے۔ رسول اللہ ﷺ کا طرز عمل اسے متعین کرتا ہے جیسے قربانی عید کی نماز سے پہلے ہو تو آپ نے دوبارہ کرنے کو کہا کہ پہلی والی عام صدقہ قرار پائے گی۔
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Also this explanation by Hassan Ilyas sahab will be useful:
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Thank you Faisal for your answer.
Is there a list of Farad Sunnah available?
As Ahmad Shoaib described above, is this how it is determined if a Sunnah is fard?
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I’m a bit blurry on this myself that’s why I have shared responses of those who know better than I. Hopefully Dr. Irfan Shahzad will enlighten us when he has a chance.
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I gave a little thought on when Sunnah/Hadith is likely to become Fard. So far, here is my opinion and thought process until I learn more or corrected by a scholar. I need your feedback.
According to Quran it is Fard on Muslims to follow any guidance given by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) related to the religion. When the prophet was physically present, there was no question to follow every instruction given by him related to religion (not science, technical skills, health, personal preferences).
Now that he is not among us, it is also Fard to follow his guidance, provided…
1. We need to make sure that any Sunnah or Hadith that reached us is nearly 100% authentic, complete and with the full description of context, situation and circumstances.
2. The instructions are not against Quran directly or indirectly.
3. The instructions are…
a. A direct religious instructions to all Muslims that he repeated numerous times and shown us practically; such as prayer and how many Rakahs to perform in each prayer.
b. Any indirect act or message need to be followed according to the soul of the message and it purpose. For example if there is Sunnah to have pants above the ankles during prayer. It is not a direct religious message like how to perform prayer, but keeping pants above ankles within the context means “not to show smugness and superiority”. So any symbol of smugness and superiority today will be prohibited during prayer. If keeping pants below ankles is not a sign of smugness now, we can pray with the pants below ankles.
Any instructions related to specific context, situation or circumstances, will be applicable to the same context, situation or circumstances; not beyond.
c. Any other information that is related to his personal life, such as, what he liked to eat, can’t be Fard, but optional.
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Understanding of compulsory or optional parts of an act of sunnah comes with the act from the prophet with Ijma and Tawatur. Understanding of whole Umamah stands the same on that.
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In recent Q&A Session with Ghamidi Sahab on Questions selected from ASK GHAMIDI Platform:
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Thank you all for your help. This was very helpful.
In a nutshell if Quran mentions something Fard, but doesn’t provide all details, then the Sunnah that provides the missing details is Fard to its entirety. For example number of Fard Rakah in prayers and what to recite and how to physically perform prayer.
The authenticity of details is verified from Ijmah and Twatur and consensus among Muslims.
Did I capture it right?
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Yes.
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Sunnah precedes Quran, its status has to be taken from the tradition of Ijma and Tawatur. Quran sometimes mentions it that it is fard or not.
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Assalam u Alaikum @Irfan76
I would appreciate your assistance in answering some or all of the below questions. Apologies in advance if they appear to have a broader scope. They are relevant to me because they continue to add confusion to the topic as a whole unless addressed and understood in light of the information already shared in this thread.
1. Sometimes there are differences in the way Muslims observe the Sunnah. For example, Muslims who subscribe to different schools of thought may offer Salaat slightly different. Are these differences regarding non-obligatory aspects of the Sunnah? Are the obligatory parts of the Sunnah always clear and known because of Ijma and Tawatur, or there being a nass in the Quran?
2. Are all of the Sunnah practices/ehkaam known or is the exercise of determining various Sunnah practices/ehkaam an ongoing process among ehl-e-ilm? I recall from “Ghamidi Jawab do” that this may be an ongoing process subject to the merits of research and probative worth of the supporting arguments and conclusion.
3. When we say that the Sunnah precedes the Quran, do we mean that knowledge of the precise Sunnat e Ibrahimi, and the Sunnat of previous Messengers and Prophets, had been inherited and passed down by the ancestors and close family members of the last Messenger P.b.u.H?
4. The Messenger’s Sunnah is one of the main sources of guidance in our religion. Like the Holy Quran, did the last Messenger P.b.u.H arrange a thorough review and the preservation of His entire Sunnah in his final days/months/years? For example, did He issue relevant instructions or personally ensure that all or most of His close companions and the sector of the population located near Him were following His Sunnah accurately without the existence of differences or doubts? The purpose of this question is to address an objective inquiry whether early or later generations of Muslims – on account of being fallible – may have erred in diligently conducting Ijma and Tawatur to either establish or maintain certain Sunnah practices, ehkaam, or prohibition? What is an ideal approach to address a claim of a potential breach of the security provided to the Sunnah by Ijma and Tawatur?
Regards
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