The Terms Sunnah and Mustahabb
In the Islamic Jurisprudence
Sheikh Salman al-Oadah
In the name of Allāh, the Most
Gracious, the Most Merciful;
All the praise and Thanks are due to
Allāh, the Lord of al-ā’lamīn. There is none worthy of worship except Allāh,
and that Muhammad, Sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam is His Messenger.
Frequently,
when we discuss the acts of worship, they hear terms like Sunnah, Mustahabb, Nafil (Nawafil),
Tatawwu’, and Mandûb being applied. This may causes confusion for
some people. Of special concern is the question: What is the difference between
the term “sunnah”
and the term “mustahabb”
as they are used by scholars of Islamic Law?
All
of these terms apply to legal rulings, just like the terms Obligatory (Wâjib and Fard),
Permissible (Mubâh),
Disliked (Makrûh),
and Unlawful (Harâm) apply to legal rulings.
The
terms Sunnah,
Mustahabb (Encouraged), Nafil (Optional), Tatawwu’ (Voluntary), and Mandûb
(Recommended) are legal rulings that
refer to acts that are enjoined upon us by Islamic
Law without being obligatory.
We
should begin our discussion by pointing out that the term Sunnah, when it is employed by
scholars of Islamic Law and scholars of Islamic jurisprudence, is being used on
its narrowest possible meaning. This is like when one of us says: “This is a sunnah
act while that other act is obligatory” or: “In
this issue, some scholars hold the view that it is Sunnah while others consider it to be a legal obligation”.
We
need to be cognizant of the fact that there are other ways that the word Sunnah
is used by various scholarly disciplines, especially those disciplines related
to the study of Hadîth. However, these do
not concern us right now.
As
for scholars of Islamic Law and jurisprudence, they exhibit two different
approaches in the way that they employ these terms.
The First Approach:
The
first approach is to treat them as synonymous. They use the terms Sunnah, Mustahabb,
Mandûb, Nafil (Nawafil), and Tatawwu’ interchangeably. They all refer to the same legal ruling. This is
the approach of Fakhr al-Dîn al-Razî. Al-Subkî
declares: “This is the approach of most Shâfî‘îe
scholars and the vast majority of the scholars of Islamic jurisprudence.”
[Al-Ibhâj (1/257)]
Some
of the scholars who follow this approach define this legal ruling according to
its legal consequences. They give definitions like the following:
- It is any activity that brings about reward for the one who engages in it.
- It is any activity that entitles the one who engages in it to reward.
- It is any activity that entitles the one who engages in it to reward if he does so as an act of obedience.
Others
offer definitions like the following:
- It is any activity whereby the Lawgiver determines its performance to be preferable to its abandonment.
- It is any activity that is prescribed by Islamic Law without being made compulsory.
This
last definition, I feel, is the best.
The Second Approach:
The
second approach employed by scholars of Islamic law and Islamic jurisprudence
regarding the terms sunnah and mustahabb is to give each of these terms a
distinct meaning of its own.
This
is the approach employed by Hanafî jurists.
It is also found among some Mâlikî scholars,
a few Hanbalî scholars, and even some Shâfî‘îe jurists like al-Qâdî
Husayn.
The
scholars who follow this approach are not all in agreement about how these two
terms are to be defined.
It
seems, nonetheless, that they agree that the term Sunnah refers to a legal ruling
of a higher-rank than the one
referred to by the term Mustahabb.
Some
of them define the term Sunnah as: “any
activity that the Prophet (Sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) engaged in on a
regular basis” while defining mustahabb as “any
preferred activity that the Prophet (Sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) did not
engage in on a regular basis.” [Refer to: al-Bahr al-Râ’iq (1/29),
Hâshiyah Ibn `Abidîn (2/375), Badâ’i` al-Sanâ’i` (1/24) and al-Bahr al-Muhît
(1/378)]
On
the basis of this definition, the term Sunnah would be used to refer to the voluntary
prayers that are regularly observed along with the five obligatory ones and to
the Solāt Witr (for those who do not consider that prayer to
be obligatory).
With
regard to the Solāt
Duhâ, it would be debatable as to
whether it would be classified as Sunnah according to this definition.
Distinguishing
between these two terms on the basis of the Prophet’s regularity in performance
is better than what some scholars have suggested – that the term mustahabb
refers to “any preferred act that the Prophet
(Sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) engaged in only once or twice.”
The
problem with this definition is that there are certain acts of worship that by
their very nature, the Prophet (Sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) only had the
chance to perform once or twice, like the pilgrimage, the eclipse prayers, and
the prayer for rain. On the basis of this definition, any activity associated
with these acts of worship would only be classified as mustahabb, when clearly it would
be more appropriate to classify them as sunnah.
Some
scholars define the term mustahabb as: “any
activity that the Prophet (Sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) enjoined upon his
followers but never engaged in himself.” i.e one may perform it,
permissible. [Refer to: al-Bahr al-Muhit]
This
would include the two units of voluntary prayer that can be offered before the
obligatory Maghrib (sunset) prayer. The Prophet (Sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam)
said thrice: “Pray before the maghrib prayer.”
Afterwards, he said: “This is for whoever wishes to
do so.” disliking that it would become a Sunnah act. [Sahîh al-Bukhârî
(1183)]
Perhaps
the scholars who chose this approach did so on the basis of this hadîth, arguing that the term Sunnah has to refer to something
of a higher degree than the term Mustahabb. This is why the Prophet (Sallallāhu
‘alayhi wa sallam) disliked that the two units of prayer before Solāt Maghrib
would become Sunnah.
However,
this hadîth actually makes problematic the whole idea of differentiating
between what is Sunnah
and what is mustahabb
on the basis of the Prophet’s actions. The very context of the
hadîth indicates that Sunnah acts may be derived from the words and
commands of the Prophet (Sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) as well as from his
actions, since by his merely enjoining these prayers upon them, they would have
become a Sunnah
act. This is the very reason why he had to qualify his statement the way he
did.
Some
scholars – for instance al-Halîmî – define
the term Sunnah
as: “any activity that it is preferable to perform
and disliked to neglect” while defining terms like Tatawwu’ (Voluntary) as: “any activity that it is preferable to perform and not
disliked to neglect”.
Ibn al-Sam‘ânî
says something similar about the terms Nafil and Mandûb, placing the former below the
latter in strength. [Qawâti’ al-Adillah (1/21)]
In
the Mâlikî school of thought, the term Sunnah
is defined as “any activity that has a higher
degree of importance and that Islamic Law has gone to great lengths in
encouraging” while preferred acts of a lesser degree are described with
terms like Tatawwu’
and Nafil. [Refer to: al-Bahr al-Muhît and Sharh al-Kawkab al-Munîr
(126)]
Analysis:
Though
this question is purely one of legal terminology, if we look at the actual
practice of Muslim jurists and legal scholars, we see that most of them use
these terms synonymously and make no distinctions between them. The only
exceptions to this is where we see a scholar stating directly that he means to
make a distinction between these two terms in his discussion or where the
context of what he is saying makes it clear that such a distinction is being
made.
We
see that when the scholars discuss topics like the Sunnah acts of wudû’
or of solāt
or of (tawaf)
circumambulating the Ka‘abah, they make no
distinction between those acts that the Prophet (Sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam)
encouraged but did not act upon himself and those that he put into practice.
Likewise, they make no distinction between those activities that he engaged in
on a regular basis and those that he did on occasion.
What
we actually see the scholars doing is qualifying the term Sunnah with another term to
express greater importance or emphasis. They describe particularly encouraged
activities as being Sunnah Mu‘akkadah (Emphasized Sunnah).
Application of these
rulings to the Solāt Witr:
The
Witr prayer is a prayer that the Prophet (Sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) never
left off, regardless of whether he was at home or on a journey. Moreover, he
enjoined this prayer upon his followers and encouraged them to perform it,
going so far as to warn them against leaving it.
For
this reason, the Hanafî school of thought
considers it an obligatory prayer. They declare it wâjib and make a distinction
between Wâjib
(Obligatory) and Fard (Emphatically Obligatory) which others
scholars do not do.
A
number of early scholars considered it to be obligatory only upon those who
have committed the Qur’ān to memory. They derive this ruling from the hadîth: “Perform the Witr prayer, O people of the Qur’ân!”
[Sunan Ibn Mâjah (1170), Sunan al-Nasâ‘îe (1676), and Sunan Abî Dâwûd (1416)]
This is the opinion favored by Ibn Taymiyah.
The
Solat Witr is described by most jurists as being Sunnah Mu‘akkadah. This is the
best opinion on the matter.
And
Allāh knows best.
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