A Simple Guide to ISLAM
Fiqh – Jurisprudence
~ 114 ~
According to Imam Malik,
Sunnah
does not purely consist of
traditions from the Prophet. For him,
Sunnah
is sometimes based
on the traditions from the Prophet, sometimes on the behaviour of
the Companions and the Successors and occasionally on the
practice prevalent among the people of Madinah. Thus, it was the
established practice of the Muslims in Madinah which served as the
channel to judge the real
Sunnah
.
Imam Malik often refers to this established practice as the
consensus of the scholars of Madinah. Al-Shafii, a disciple of Imam
Malik, has explained what is meant by
Sunnah
in this context. He
says: “You establish the
Sunnah
on a two-fold basis: first, what
conforms to the opinion of the Companions, and secondly, which
involves no difference of opinion of the people.” This makes it
clear that by the word
sunnah
Imam Malik means the
Ijma
(agreed
practice) of the people of Madinah.
There were about thirty thousand Companions living at Madinah.
They had seen the Prophet behave in all sorts of conditions. The
Companions were followed by their Followers and they were
followed in turn by their Followers. Thus, by the time of the third
generation, the
Sunnah
of the Prophet had come to be established
in the community.
It is obvious therefore that the established practice of the people of
Madinah was far more reliable than an isolated tradition. The
Companions and their Followers in general followed the traditions
accompanied by practice.
