In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. May blessings and peace be upon the noblest of the prophets and messengers, our Prophet Muhammad, and upon all his family and companions.
This is a summary of what was presented in this part of the explanation of Imam al-Shafi’i’s book al-Risala, focusing on the important points and clarifications.
Paragraph two hundred and ninety-four:
- The obligation to follow the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ:
- Everything the Prophet ﷺ established as Sunnah, Allah has made following it binding, has made following it obedience to Him, and has made deviating from it disobedience to Him.
- The hadith: “Let me not find one of you reclining on his couch, when a matter of mine comes to him, something I commanded or forbade, and he says: ‘I do not know; whatever we found in the Book of Allah, we followed.’” This hadith indicates that the concept of “command” is broader than what the later legal theorists understood. Arikah (couch) means a bed or a chair.
- Imam al-Shafi’i does not use a mursal report (one in which a Successor narrates directly from the Prophet ﷺ) as proof unless it is corroborated. This hadith was corroborated by another, connected chain.
- The relationship of the Sunnah to the Qur’an:
- The Sunnah stands with the Book of Allah in two ways:
- A text of the Book, which the Messenger ﷺ followed just as Allah revealed it (such as the rulings of Hajj).
- A general statement (jumlah, summary), in which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ explained, on Allah’s behalf, the meaning of what He intended (such as prayer, zakah, and sales).
- Imam al-Shafi’i knew of no one among the people of knowledge who disagreed that the Sunnahs of the Prophet ﷺ are of three kinds, and they agreed on two of them:
- That in which Allah revealed a text of the Book, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ explained the like of it.
- That in which Allah revealed a general statement of the Book, and he explained, on Allah’s behalf, the meaning of what He intended.
- The third kind: what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ established as Sunnah in matters where there is no text of the Book, neither in detail nor in general. There are three views on it:
- Allah granted him this through the obedience to him that He made obligatory, given what He knew of His enabling him to attain His good pleasure.
- He never established any Sunnah except that it has a basis in the Book (such as sales: “But Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden interest” (Al-Baqarah 2:275)).
- Allah’s message came to him with it, so his Sunnah was established by Allah’s obligation; this resembles the first view in terms of its outcome.
- A fourth view: everything he established as Sunnah was cast into his heart (ru’) (the Wisdom). The hadith: “The Trustworthy Spirit has cast into my heart that no soul will die until it has received its full provision, so be moderate in seeking.” Being moderate in seeking means taking one’s time, gentleness, deliberateness, and not rushing.
- The Sunnah stands with the Book of Allah in two ways:
- Conclusion:
- Everything that has come from the Qur’an and the Sunnah is among Allah’s blessings.
- Allah the Exalted made clear that He made obedience to His Messenger ﷺ obligatory through revelation.
- No one has any excuse for opposing the command of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ after knowing it.
- The Sunnah explains, on Allah’s behalf, the meaning of what He intended of His obligations in matters where there is a recited Book, and in matters where there is no text of the Book it is likewise obligatory to follow.
- What Imam al-Shafi’i will mention later:
- Using the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ as evidence for the abrogation of a rite from the Book of Allah.
- The explicitly stated obligations alongside which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ established Sunnah.
- The obligations stated in general terms, for which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ made clear, on Allah’s behalf, how they are performed and their appointed times.
- The general in Allah’s command by which the learned one [knows]: the general by which the general is intended, and the general by which the specific is intended.
- His Sunnah in matters where there is no text of the Book.
- The beginning of [the discussion of] the abrogating and the abrogated.
Some important benefits:
- Precision in reporting: out of his precision, Imam al-Shafi’i says “I do not know of anyone among the people of knowledge who disagreed” rather than “This is consensus.”
- Interpreting according to the meaning: such as saying “I read it” about a book, meaning “I read the pages of the book.”
- The importance of revering the Qur’an and the Sunnah: our reverence for the Qur’an and the Sunnah should be greater than our reverence for anything else. The speech of Allah and His Messenger must be given precedence over the speech of anyone else.
- The importance of returning to the source: before mentioning any juristic issue, its basis in the Qur’an and the Sunnah should be mentioned.
- Shaykh Ahmad Shakir’s comment on the hadith of al-Muttalib ibn Hantab: Shaykh Shakir authenticated the chain of the hadith and showed that there has been confusion between al-Muttalib who was a Companion or among the senior Successors and other, later men named al-Muttalib.
We ask Allah the Exalted for acceptance and ease.
All parts of Summary of the Explanation of al-Risala by Shaykh Dr. Ahmad al-Naqeeb