Sunnah

by Shaykh Taner Ansari

Bismillah er Rahman er Rahim, In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. All praise belongs to Allah. He owns everything. All power belongs to Him and not to us. May His peace and blessings be on his Prophet Muhammad and his family and on all the other prophets and their families.

What is Sunnah?

Allah sent the Holy Qur'an to humankind so that we would know the right way to live. All of the holy scriptures culminate in this last book which was revealed to our Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. In the Holy Qur'an Allah says that there is a good example of how to live in our Prophet (saws). In other words, we should model our own behavior after that of Muhammad (saws). In doing so we are following sunnah, the way our Prophet lived. We have the manual for living in the Holy Qur'an and we have the practical application and interpretation of it in the behavior of Muhammad (saws).

Sunni and Shi'a

The controversy between the Sunnis and Shi'ites has been going on for generations. These differences in Islamic tradition did not occur until after the death of the Prophet Muhammad (saws). After his time the Prophet had four khalifas, or representatives: Abu Bakr (RA), Umar (RA), Osman (RA), and Ali (RA), may Allah be pleased with all of them. The model of a perfect human being was manifested in our Prophet. Each of his four khalifas embodied a different aspect of the total reality which was represented in our Prophet (saws). It is as if they were the four parts which made up the whole in Muhammad (saws).

As long as our Prophet was alive, there was no separation in Islam, but the tribal tendency to compete for supremacy was always a part of the political mentality in that part of the world. For example, some of the more powerful tribes in Arabia could not accept the fact that Allah would send His Prophet as Quraysh and not their own. The early Muslims were constantly faced with this tribal tension, but within the Muslim community itself there was no division. After our Prophet (saws) passed from this world, this mentality surfaced yet again when it was being decided who would be the first khalifa to succeed him. During the controversy Ali, following the advice given by our Prophet (saws) concerning fitna (conflict), went home instead of becoming involved in the dispute. The khalifate was given to Abu Bakr then, although Ali inherited it later. But the seeds of division had been sown, and eventually escalated to the followers of Ali being labeled Shi'a and the others Sunni.

Spiritual Heritage of the Prophet (saws)

According to hadiths our Prophet (saws) said, "I am leaving you three trustees: Qur'an, my religion, and my family." Therefore it is sunnah to respect the ehli bayt (Muhammad's family) as the followers of Ali did. These people were labeled Shi'a and the ones who called themselves Sunni were responsible for the assassinations of the Prophet's grandchildren. So who are the real Sunni? The point is to follow the Prophet's example to the best of our ability and we should be labeled as Muslims, those who surrender to Allah's will.

Our Prophet (saws) said, "If I am the house of knowledge, Ali is the door." All of the inner or batini knowledge of Islam and all of the tariqas proceed from Ali, except the Naqshbandi, which comes from Abu Bakr. The secret knowledge of how to get to Allah's essence was passed from Ali to Hassan and Husayn and so on, through our spiritual lineage (silsilla). Yet Ali never claimed to be closest to the Prophet (saws). He always deferred to Abu Bakr, to Umar, to Osman, in a state of humility and surrender. Ali is the head of the awliya, the protecting friends.

Walis are authorized by Allah to show miracles, inshallah (if God so wills). They have reached the highest levels of surrender. The Prophet Ibrahim (saws) was such a friend of Allah. When he was thrown into the fire for being a believer, the angel Gabriel can down and asked him, "Do you need anything?" Prophet Ibrahim responded, "Does Allah know I am here?" Gabriel answered, "Yes." Then Ibrahim said, "Then I don't need your help." This is surrender.

Following Sunnah on Four Levels

We Sufis follow our Prophet (saws) on four levels. The first, sharia, is the backbone of everything. This is what our Prophet (saws) said to do. Tariqa is how our Prophet (saws) put into action what he said to do. Allah says to pray five times a day, and we follow Muhammad's example in doing so by bowing and prostrating so many times. Haqiqa is the secret of Muhammad, his reality. Marifat is his understanding and knowledge. Each of these levels has its standard of behavior, which becomes finer as the Sufi passes through them. What was acceptable when you were on the level of sharia may not be so when you pass to tariqa.

Allah says that this is the world of proofs, the physical manifestation of forms. Some people look at the form of what our Prophet did and forget about the idea behind it. Because our Prophet (saws) used miswak on his teeth, does this mean that we should not use an electric toothbrush? The point is that we should keep our teeth clean. Muhammad said so many things, but to whom? Where? How? In what situation did he say these things and with what intention? The intention is behind the form. For Sufis, the goal is not the form, the goal is Allah. Our job is to praise Allah and do everything for His sake. We wish to follow the Prophet's (saws) intention to be Allah's lover.

The whole direction is toward unity, not divisiveness. We don't believe in Shi'a and we don't believe in Sunni, we believe in Allah and we make no distinction between His prophets. Our intention is to follow in the footsteps of our Prophet (saws) by maintaining our focus on Allah, by serving Him wllingly, knowingly and lovingly. As Muhammad's was a mission of unity and peace, we wish to avoid fitna and forget about how people label themselves. We love the Prophet and his family and everybody who has helped Islam, even a grains worth. If they carry the message and help us to become a human being a little bit more, may Allah be pleased with them no matter what they call themselves.