In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, without partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger ﷺ.
Chapter: What Allah made clear to His creation of His obligation upon His Messenger ﷺ to follow what was revealed to him, His testimony that he followed what he was commanded and was rightly guided, and that he is a guide for whoever follows him:
Imam al-Shafi’i devotes this chapter to explaining what Allah made clear to His creation of His obligation upon His Messenger ﷺ to follow the revelation, His testimony that he followed the command and was rightly guided, and that he is a guide for whoever follows him. The main points can be summarised as follows:
- The obligation to follow the revelation: Imam al-Shafi’i affirms that Allah obliged His Messenger ﷺ to follow what He revealed to him, whether in the Qur’an or otherwise (the Sunnah). He cites verses such as: “O Prophet, fear Allah and do not obey the disbelievers and the hypocrites. Indeed, Allah is ever Knowing and Wise. And follow that which is revealed to you from your Lord. Indeed Allah is ever, of what you do, Aware” (al-Ahzab 33:1-2); “Follow, [O Muhammad], what has been revealed to you from your Lord - there is no deity except Him - and turn away from those who associate others with Allah” (al-An’am 6:106); and “Then We put you, [O Muhammad], on an ordained way concerning the matter [of religion]; so follow it and do not follow the inclinations of those who do not know” (al-Jathiyah 45:18).
- Allah’s testimony that the Messenger followed: Imam al-Shafi’i explains that Allah testified for His Messenger ﷺ that he followed what was revealed to him and obeyed His command. He cites verses such as: “O Messenger, announce that which has been revealed to you from your Lord, and if you do not, then you have not conveyed His message. And Allah will protect you from the people” (al-Ma’idah 5:67), and the saying of Allah the Exalted: “And if it was not for the favor of Allah upon you, [O Muhammad], and His mercy, a group of them would have determined to mislead you. But they do not mislead except themselves, and they will not harm you at all. And Allah has revealed to you the Book and wisdom and has taught you that which you did not know. And ever has the favor of Allah upon you been great” (al-Nisa’ 4:113).
- Allah’s guidance of the Messenger, and his guidance of whoever follows him: Imam al-Shafi’i affirms that Allah guided His Prophet ﷺ and testified that he is a guide for whoever follows him. He cites the saying of Allah the Exalted: “And thus We have revealed to you an inspiration of Our command [i.e., the Qur’an]. You did not know what is the Book or [what is] faith, but We have made it a light by which We guide whom We will of Our servants. And indeed, [O Muhammad], you guide to a straight path” (al-Shura 42:52).
- The protection of the Prophet ﷺ: Imam al-Shafi’i clarifies that Allah protected His Prophet ﷺ from opposing His command and from going astray, and that attempts to lead him astray do him no harm at all; rather, they harm those who attempt it.
- The obligation of submitting to the Messenger’s judgment and following his command: Imam al-Shafi’i explains that Allah established His proof against His creation by requiring submission to the judgment of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and following his command, and that this is a foundation of legislation like the Book.
- The Sunnah carries the ruling of Allah: Imam al-Shafi’i affirms that whatever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ established as Sunnah, concerning which Allah has no ruling in the Qur’an, is Sunnah by the ruling of Allah. He cites the saying of Allah the Exalted: “And indeed, [O Muhammad], you guide to a straight path - the path of Allah, to whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Unquestionably, to Allah do [all] matters evolve [i.e., return]” (al-Shura 42:52-53).
- The categories of the Sunnah: Imam al-Shafi’i divides the Sunnah into two main categories:
- What agrees with the text of the Book: what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ clarified just as the Book stated it.
- What clarifies, on Allah’s behalf, the meaning of what He intended in the Book: clarifying the summary, qualifying the unrestricted, and specifying the general.
- He may mention a third category, namely what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ established as Sunnah where there is no text of the Book; but in reality this falls under the second category, because it is a clarification of something summary in the Book, such as the saying of Allah the Exalted: “And whatever the Messenger has given you - take; and what he has forbidden you - refrain from” (al-Hashr 59:7).
- The hadith of Abu Rafi’: Imam al-Shafi’i cites the hadith of Abu Rafi’: “Let me not find any one of you reclining on his couch, when a matter comes to him from my affairs, something I commanded or forbade, and he says: ‘We do not know; whatever we found in the Book of Allah, we followed.’” He explains that this hadith is an explicit text on the obligation of following the Sunnah.
- Disagreement about how the Prophet ﷺ established Sunnah where the Qur’an is silent: Imam al-Shafi’i points to the scholars’ disagreement about how the Prophet ﷺ established Sunnah where there is no text of the Book, and mentions some of the views on this:
- That Allah, by making obedience to him obligatory, granted him the authority to establish Sunnah where there is no text of the Book.
- That he never established any Sunnah except that it has a basis in the Book.
- That a message from Allah came to him with it.
- That it was cast into his heart.
He explains that the disagreement is not over the necessity of following the Sunnah, but over the manner in which it came.
- No excuse for opposing the Sunnah: Imam al-Shafi’i affirms that no one has any excuse for opposing a command he knows to be from the command of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and that following the Sunnah is obligatory on every legally responsible person.
- People’s need for the Sunnah of the Messenger: Imam al-Shafi’i clarifies that Allah made people need His Messenger ﷺ in their religion, and established His proof through what He guided them to of his sunnahs, so that whoever knows of them what we have described may know that, since his Sunnah clarifies on Allah’s behalf what He intended of His obligations, both where there is a Book they recite and where there is no text of the Book, it is the same wherever it occurs: the ruling of Allah and then the ruling of His Messenger ﷺ do not differ; rather, it is binding in every case.
All parts of Summary of the Explanation of al-Shafi'i's al-Risala by Dr. Yasir Burhami