Page 74 - The Importance of the Ahl Al-Sunnah

HARUN YAHYA

There is no disagreement among the imams of the schools of
the Ahl al-Sunnah with regard to the virtues of the Sunnah.
Some differences have, however, emerged regarding the
understanding of these hadiths. The fact that the imams of the
schools possessed different or more or less knowledge of the
hadiths compared to one another led to various different rul-
ings being issued. The school imams would first turn to the
Qur’an whenever an issue was brought to them. In the
absence of any relevant provision on the subject in the Qur’an,
they would then consider the Sunnah of the Prophet (saas). If
they couldn’t find it in the Sunnah, then they would look into
how the Companions behaved. In the event that no definitive
conclusion could be drawn from this either, a decision was
taken on the basis of ijtihad. Since ijtihads could differ, some dif-
ferences arose between the schools.
Ultimately, it is impossible for any one person to have a
complete mastery of the hadiths. This always needs to be
remembered. Indeed, as Imam al-Shafi‘i stated:
“I know of nobody who knows all of the Sunnah, or all of
the hadiths. Only if the knowledge of all the scholars of
the hadiths were collected together could all the Sunnah
be known. Since the hadiths of scholars are widely dis-
persed, there will of course be hadiths unknown to a par-
ticular scholar. The hadiths one scholar does not know
will be known by another.”
Some have considered deeds performed by the Prophet
(saas) at various times as compulsory observances, while others
have interpreted them as supererogatory. There are several
instances of this in the schools of the Ahl al-Sunnah. In addition,
the inability to fully understand an action taken by the Prophet
(saas) or else an action of his being witnessed only in its second

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