Three Requirements of Following the Sunnah: Action, Abstention, and Pause
Islam is the name given to attaining the pleasure of Allah Almighty through obedience to Him, and a servant has four means of obeying Allah Almighty:
➊ Heart
➋ Tongue
➌ External body parts
➍ (Eyes, ears, hands, feet, etc.)
and
➎ Spending wealth.
These are the four things that serve as means of performing worship, therefore worship is generally categorized into four types:
➊ Heartfelt worship
➋ Verbal worship
➌ Physical worship
➍ Financial worship.
(Heartfelt worship) refers to acts of obedience and worship whose doing or not doing is related to the heart, for example, adopting correct Islamic beliefs instead of false and invalid beliefs, seeking only the pleasure of Allah Almighty through righteousness without considering worldly benefits, protecting oneself from negligence, carelessness, doubt, and suspicion, and acting with pure attention and certainty, etc.
(Qawli Ibadat) refers to acts of obedience and worship that are related to the tongue, such as declaring the Kalima Tayyiba, reciting, reading prescribed remembrances and supplications, engaging in teaching and preaching, and avoiding frivolous and vain talk, etc.
(Badani Ibadat) refers to acts of obedience and worship that are related to the various external parts of the body, such as prostrating only to the Creator instead of the creation, limiting one’s gaze to only one’s wife instead of looking at non-mahram women, avoiding gatherings based on obscenity and shamelessness and choosing religious and pure assemblies, helping each other in good deeds and not assisting each other in bad deeds (even if the one calling for help is a “dear” one).
(Financial acts of worship) refer to acts of obedience and worship related to spending or not spending wealth, such as regularly giving zakat, tithe, and fitrana, helping the helpless, giving the rightful dues to those entitled, not spending even a penny on sins, misguidance, and frivolous activities, etc. Every act of worship involves the heart because a true Muslim seeks only Allah’s pleasure through his worship (while a polytheist seeks the pleasure of his false deity). Since seeking pleasure is an act of the heart, every act of worship is necessarily heartfelt. However, some acts of worship involve other means along with the heart. For example, prayer is primarily a (heartfelt act of worship) but also involves bodily and verbal acts of worship. Similarly, in Hajj, all four means are used in performing the worship: the heart, tongue, limbs, and wealth (which is spent abundantly).
In short, just as doing a task under any circumstance is an action, similarly, not doing something despite being able to is also an action. Just as a person who prays becomes deserving of reward and blessings, similarly, a person who does not pray despite being able to commits disbelief.
Similarly, a person who commits fornication with his cousin is considered a criminal and sinner, but a person who refrains from this act solely out of fear of Allah, despite having the opportunity, will certainly be counted among the righteous and pious.
Since Allah Almighty is the creator, owner, Lord, and provider of every human being, He is the one who gave existence to man, continuously watches over him every moment, and provides for all his needs, it is necessary that the servant also lives life adhering to His likes and dislikes. That is, the servant’s heart adopts the beliefs liked by Allah Almighty and abandons the disliked beliefs; his tongue utters the words liked by Allah Almighty and refrains from saying disliked words. His ears, eyes, hands, etc., should be engaged in performing deeds liked by Allah Almighty and not be used for disliked deeds. Even a person’s wealth should be spent on matters liked by Allah Almighty and not on disliked deeds (such as polytheism and innovation, sin and misguidance, oppression and indulgence, and futile and purposeless matters).
This is the very test for which Allah Almighty created jinn and humans, sent prophets and messengers to them, revealed His religion, and informed them of His likes and dislikes. Almost the entire religion consists of these likes and dislikes. For example, if you consider words like Islam and disbelief, faith and hypocrisy, truth and falsehood, right and wrong, obedience and disobedience, halal and haram, permissible and impermissible, good and evil, Sunnah and innovation, guidance and misguidance, and other similar terms, it will become very clear to you that in Islam there are some actions to be done and some to be avoided. Then, the actions which Allah Almighty has commanded or encouraged are His liked actions; doing them is required and performing them is called action. And the actions which Allah Almighty has forbidden or made detestable are disliked by Him; avoiding them is required and refraining from them is called abstention. This action and abstention is the distinguishing feature of obedience and following the Messenger ﷺ. However, another aspect of human actions is also mentioned, which is the aspect of choice. Choice means that a servant is given the option among multiple actions to do any one of them and leave the others, whereas permissibility means that the servant is given the option regarding a single action to either do it or not do it. Since the servant is free to decide whether to perform or not perform the optional action, therefore this form of choice and permissibility also falls under action or abstention, because when the servant prefers one aspect, he does so by leaving the other aspect; if he prefers to do it, then not doing it is left out, and if he decides not to do it, then doing it is left out.
Sunnah and Bid’ah are actually the names of two different and opposing methods. The common factor between them is that both are practiced with very good intentions, considering them as religion, righteousness, and a means of reward. However, Sunnah is the original method of religion, while Bid’ah (introduced in the name of religion) is the name of a fabricated method. Sunnah was given to the Ummah through the Prophet ﷺ, whereas Bid’ah is the result of the intellectual efforts of some self-interested rulers and clerics.
If one acts upon the Sunnah, it brings a person closer to Allah, and if one acts upon innovation (Bid’ah), it distances a person from Allah. Observing the Sunnah in every situation and condition, while abandoning innovation in every situation and condition, will be considered the best example of obedience and following. This is why those who consistently engage in and insist upon innovation at every opportunity permanently miss out on the Sunnah of competition. Since following the Sunnah and abandoning innovation is what the Shariah evidence demands, in this regard, this issue also becomes connected with a person’s actions and abstentions.
One aspect of human trial is doubtful matters. Among these, performing some actions cautiously is required, while refraining from certain actions reflects piety and purity. For example, if a person praying becomes uncertain about the number of rak’ahs performed and cannot decide the correct count, then acting on certainty (the lesser number) and performing one more rak’ah is the cautious and Sunnah practice.
When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed by a fallen date, he said:
If I did not suspect it to be charity, I would have eaten it.
The first example is of an action, and the second is of refraining.
However, besides action and omission, the Book and Sunnah also provide a third option, which is suspension (tawaqquf). Apparently, this is the state between action and omission, meaning neither affirming the action nor denying it, neither acceptance nor rejection, but choosing to suspend judgment. That is, regarding matters about which Allah and His Messenger ﷺ have deliberately remained silent, it is better to remain silent as well, unless it is a matter of ijtihad. Allah the Exalted says:
﴿وَلَا تَقْفُ مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلْمٌ ﴾
And do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge.
When the Prophet ﷺ himself was asked about certain matters, sometimes he would suspend judgment awaiting revelation. For example, upon the request of the Jewish scholars of Medina, the Quraysh of Mecca asked the Prophet ﷺ the following three questions:
What is the soul?
Who were the companions of the cave?
What is the story of Dhul-Qarnayn?
The Prophet ﷺ suspended judgment until Surah Al-Kahf was revealed.
Allah the Exalted says:
(يَأْيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُقَدِّمُوا بَيْنَ يَدَيِ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ)
O you who have believed! Do not go ahead of Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ) (follow them in all matters).
That is, O group of the Companions (رضي الله عنهم)! When the Prophet ﷺ is present, do not give any command on your own until the Prophet ﷺ gives that command. Similarly, do not forbid anyone from anything on your own until the Prophet ﷺ forbids it.
After the Prophet ﷺ, the meaning of this verse appears to be that without seeking guidance from the Book and Sunnah, do not decide on any action or omission on your own, but rather exercise restraint. واللہ اعلم
Perhaps this is why the scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah say that the attributes of Allah Almighty mentioned in the Book and Sunnah should be affirmed, and those things from which He is declared pure and free should be denied, and regarding those matters about which there is silence, one should remain silent (neither affirm nor deny, but exercise restraint).
For example, the attribute of Allah Almighty
(اسْتَوٰى عَلَى الْعَرْشِ)
The meaning of it being “raised” is taken from the Salaf.
Shah Rafiuddin Dehlvi has interpreted it as “settled”
, but the exact nature of this raising or settling has not been explained by the Book and Sunnah. Therefore, we will refrain from commenting on it and remain silent, because when the Book and Sunnah are silent, remaining silent is the Sunnah. However, the innovators, as usual, broke this silence and found a new path; that is, they first dared to question and answer about the nature of it, then began to describe their own fabricated qualities, and when the comparison (tashbih) became widespread, they ended up denying the original attribute itself.
But it has been observed that some ignorant preachers, in the heat of their speech, say:
“Allah was sitting on the Throne laughing,” even though sitting is a quality that the Book and Sunnah have not described. So why do these people describe it? In this matter, remaining silent is the cautious and prudent course of action.
One sign of innovation (bid’ah) is that it is neither explicitly mentioned by name in the Book and Sunnah, nor is it commanded, encouraged, declared forbidden, or disliked; rather, its permissibility or impermissibility is not even discussed. This is why various groups among the innovators raise a commotion to defend their own innovations by saying,
“Since the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ did not forbid it, Wahhabis should also refrain from forbidding us.”
We tell them that despite having the power to repeatedly introduce innovations throughout the era of Prophethood, no Muslim did so, neither the Holy Prophet ﷺ nor the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them all. Therefore, do it yourself and do not make others do it, then we will not stop you either. The main point, as we have indicated before, is that the Holy Prophet ﷺ, throughout his entire life, despite having the need, ease, and capability, and with no obstacle, never did a certain act even once; therefore, not doing it is the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. Now, if some self-interested group repeatedly does this act on various occasions, then this behavior will be an innovation (bid’ah).
Anyway, the discussion was about exercising restraint. Regarding all the unseen news about the past and future mentioned in the Book and Sunnah, the established principle is that whatever has been told, accept it; whatever has been negated, reject it; and whatever has been left silent upon, remain silent about it.
Along with matters of the unseen, this is also the principle of all Islamic beliefs. As far as the actions of the accountable persons, i.e., sane and adult Muslims, are concerned, a principle of the hadith scholars comes to mind that when an apparent contradiction or conflict is seen between two authentic hadiths, first an effort will be made to reconcile and harmonize them, meaning compatibility and agreement will be created between them and they will be combined under a common meaning. If this is not possible, then the abrogation will be identified. If identified, the abrogating hadith will be acted upon and the abrogated hadith will be abandoned.
If the source of the narration is not known, then transcending sectarian bias, the narration with additional technical merits will be acted upon as the preferred (rajih) hadith, and the less preferred (marju’) hadith will be abandoned. If both narrations are equally accepted and none of these stages can resolve the conflict, then the practice of acting upon both narrations will be suspended, meaning instead of acting on one and abandoning the other, both will be withheld until a reasonable scholarly and technical reason emerges to prefer one over the other. However, such suspension rarely occurs. Generally, the conflict is resolved within the first three stages.
والحمد لله علىٰ ذلك
