The Breeze of Dusk with the Scent of Musk

Chapter 8: Learning the Honorable Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad

In Bilad Ash-sham in the city of Damascus, after Mohammad Azzumurrud memorized the Holy Koran, became a certified Koran memorizer, read multiple books about the exegesis of the Holy Koran to deepen his understanding of the Holy Koran, he decided to learn about the Honorable Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad.

Islam, the only true religion, is built on two resources: the Holy Koran and the Honorable Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad. Allah promised to preserve and protect the Holy Koran from any corruption as He said in the Holy Koran:

"Verily We: It is We (Allah) Who have sent down the Reminder (i.e. the Koran) and surely, We will guard it (from corruption). (9)" [THK: S 15: V 9].

Not only has Allah preserved the Holy Koran, but He also preserved the Honorable Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad by the companions of Prophet Muhammad and the scholars of Hadeeth. The Holy Koran is the miraculous Word of Allah and the Honorable Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad is the words, actions and stories of Prophet Muhammad. The word and meaning of the Holy Koran are a revelation from Allah. As for the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad, its meaning is a revelation from Allah but its word is the word of Prophet Muhammad.

The Honorable Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad clarifies, explains and complements the Holy Koran. Not all the rules of Islam can be found in the Holy Koran. A myriad of Islamic rules can be found in the Honorable Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad. For example, Allah orders Muslims in the Holy Koran to pray but there is no mention in the Holy Koran about how to pray. The details of how to pray can be found in the Honorable Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad. Prophet Muhammad with his words and actions that are compiled in the Honorable Sunnah represents the ideal and perfect interpretation and application of Islam.

In Islam, the science of Hadeeth documents the words, actions and stories of Prophet Muhammad. The Arabic word Hadeeth linguistically means: speech. But it has another idiomatic meaning which is a speech delivered by Prophet Muhammad or a speech that describes the actions or stories of Prophet Muhammad as described by the companions of Prophet Muhammad.

The science of Hadeeth has multiple aims and functions:

Oral memorization of the Hadeeths of Prophet Muhammad.

Written documentation of the Hadeeths of Prophet Muhammad by authoring books that compile the Hadeeths of Prophet Muhammad.

Classifying Hadeeths as true or false. This is because some liars told lies against Prophet Muhammad and attributed them to Prophet Muhammad as valid Hadeeths. The science of Hadeeth sifts all Hadeeths and classifies them as true Hadeeths that can be truly attributed to Prophet Muhammad or false Hadeeths that are lies by malicious narrators and cannot be attributed to Prophet Muhammad.

Tracking the biographies of the narrators of Hadeeth in order to be able to judge their truthfulness, integrity and the quality of their memorization.

Classifying the narrators of Hadeeth as truthful or liars.

Technically, a Hadeeth is composed of two parts: Alisnad and Almatn. Alisnad is the chain of narrators who narrated the Hadeeth in sequence. Almatn represents the words of Prophet Muhammad. Consider for example this Hadeeth: (من مات يشرك بالله شيئاً دخل النار)

Albukhari said: Omar Bin Hafs told us: my father told us: Alaamash told us: Shaqeeq told us: Abdullah Bin Masoad (the companion of Prophet Muhammad) said: Prophet Muhammad said: "Anyone who dies worshipping others along with Allah will definitely enter the Fire."

In the above Hadeeth, Alisnad represents the chain of narrators as follows:

Albukhari → Omar Bin Hafs → the father of Omar Bin Hafs → Alaamash → Shaqeeq → Abdullah Bin Masoad (the companion of Prophet Muhammad) → Prophet Muhammad.