I will first present all the positions, from past to present, concerning the Sunnah of the leader and master of the prophets and messengers, the beloved of the Lord of the worlds, peace be upon him. I will then comment on them in a fair and balanced way, without being extreme or excessive. I will summarize these positions into five groupings.
The first group has restricted itself to the Qurʾān as entirely independent from the Sunnah in a way that leaves room for injustice and transgression, along with elements of arrogance and pride. It is actually an outrageous view that is faulty and false, and one that opposes both revelation and reason. As for revelation, God commands the believers to obey, follow and emulate the example of the Prophet, peace be upon him, in numerous verses, while sternly warning those who oppose his instructions. As for reason, can it be imagined that the Qurʾān could be acted upon without those things which would explain the meanings and applications of its verses? It would represent the heights of delusion and folly were a person to take its meanings from other than the Prophet, peace be upon him, whom God entrusted with this task and favored over the rest of creation. The Prophet, peace be upon him, stated in a sound ḥadīth: “Surely I have been given the Book along with something like it. Surely I have been given the Qurʾān along with something like it. Soon a time will come when a man reclining on his couch will say, ‘Stick to the Qurʾān alone. Whatever it deems permissible, treat it as permissible. Whatever it deems forbidden, treat it as forbidden.’ Here, ‘something like the Qurʾān’ refers to the Prophet’s interpretation and application of the Qurʾān. His interpretation reveals the truth in an impartial manner, and his application is both accurate and protected from error. Numerous reports have reinforced the obligation of following him and warned against opposing him in any way. I don’t believe this weak and feeble view deserves any response more than this.
The second group has accepted sunnah reports concerning prayer, pilgrimage and its likes, while turning people away from sunnah practices that are not widespread or those based upon solitary reports, even if these reports are otherwise sound and narrated by trustworthy and accurate experts. This is the approach of many proponents of the Muʿtazilite creed and contemporary reformists. This also represents a deviant approach that deprives Muslims from divine mercy which was placed in the way and manner of the Messenger, peace be upon him. Woe onto these individuals! They reject what has come from the protected Prophet, peace be upon him, while mandating that people accept their own fabricated views and delve into their contrived interpretations. This group resembles the previous one in contradicting overt logic and reason, and in that, it is more akin to fleeting dreams.
