Levels of Prophet’s Sunnah An answer to a question appearing on Yahoo! Answers asking whether all deeds are parts of Prophet’s Sunnah. The word "Sunnah" in Arabic means pathway or tradition. Prophet's Sunnah has many levels of weight. The deeds which the asker mentioned are God's orders in the Qur'an and all the preceding Holy Scriptures. For example you do not say it is Prophet's Sunnah is to refrain from telling lies. The Prophet's Sunnah certainly is the result of his adherence to the Qur'an and other revelation episodes through Gabriel. 1.
Prophet's Hadiths, when authenticated, could be in the form of instruction to the followers to do something or to refrain from another. This is something that amounts to an order and should be followed, unless one has a good reason for being unable to do it. Many of them are simple explanatory notes on verses in the Qur'an. Examples are those Hadiths on details of prayers. They are not in the Qur'an, but as a Sunnah, we all follow them strictly, and shall be held to be questioned if we don’t. How many Raka’a as are in the Fajr prayer? How many Sajdas are there in each Raka’a? What is the minimum to say in each, etc. Prophet clearly says "start eating after saying bismiLlah, eat with your right hand" We should do that.
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Other Hadiths, though authenticated, do not tell Muslims to do this or not to do that. They were narrated by Sahaba or one of the Wives of the Prophet, because they saw him practice it, almost regularly. It would be good, and a sign of love of the prophet to practice it similarly. God will be pleased with someone who seeks the habits of the prophet and tries to imitate them if still applicable at our time, but He will not punish those who do not. The practice of the Nawafil prayers, regular (ratiba) or on occasions serves as an example here. The Prophet used to pray two or more Raka’as at Dhuha time (between morning and midday). He never asked Muslims to do the same but considered such prayer as a great act that pleases God.
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Other Hadiths are narrated by one Sahabi or a couple of them that saw the prophet on one occasion do something, or that an act was recommended by him. The practice was never regular, not supported by other Hadiths narrated by other Sahabis and the prophet did not ask his Ummah to do it. He may even have advised a Sahabi to do it when the Sahabi inquired about a point. These practices are called Sunnah as well, but if you think about it deeply, it was not the "path" that the prophet followed or asked Muslims to follow. He could have been noted to like white clothes, perform “Jelset Istiraha" between the 1st and second Raka’a or 3rd and fourth Raka’a, sit on his left buttock when reciting "Tashahhud", or could have recommended performing wudhu
before going to bed. If one wants to do it, he/she can do that. However, one should not criticize those who don't do it, as not following the Sunnah. Also, the Hadiths do not say the Prophet was always and regularly doing that, so one need not stick to the practice all the time, because otherwise he is not doing it the Prophet's way and may give the wrong impression that it is considered mandatory. Akram Al-Hilali 2011