Preserving the Sunnah: Unmasking Doubts, Upholding Prophetic Guidance

In an era when information circulates at lightning speed, much of it unverified, the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ has become a frequent target of doubt and confusion. Voices from outside and within the Muslim community question the preservation and authority of the Prophetic teachings, sowing uncertainty among believers. Some suggest that Hadith collections only emerged centuries after the Prophet ﷺ, while others outright reject the Sunnah in favour of a “Qur’an-only” approach. Yet, the reality is far different—and far more robust—than these critics would have us believe.

This blog will demonstrate the integrity of the Sunnah’s preservation and its indispensable role in Islam. Drawing exclusively on the evidence and arguments laid out by scholars of the past and present, we aim to refute doubts raised by Orientalists, misguided sects, and others who undermine the authority of the Prophetic Sunnah.

1. The Sunnah Under Attack: Understanding Shubuhāt

Shubuhāt: Subtle Doubts with a Veneer of Truth

In Arabic, the term شبهات (shubuhāt) refers to doubts and misconceptions that superficially resemble truth but are, in fact, distortions or falsehoods. Unlike obvious falsehoods—easily recognized and discarded—shubuhāt are insidious precisely because they contain a grain of plausibility.

A critical Islamic principle warns us that:

"الشبه خطافة"

"Doubts can snatch you away very quickly."

If these doubts settle in a person’s heart—especially when one is not fully focused or informed—they can sprout into deeper confusion, even leading some to question core tenets of Islam. That is why addressing shubuhāt about the Sunnah demands our undivided attention and diligent study.

2. Why These Doubts Matter

Attacks on the Sunnah are never an isolated matter. They serve a larger agenda: to weaken Islam from within by dismantling its second primary source of guidance. By casting suspicion on Hadith and Prophetic traditions, critics hope to strip the religion of its vitality. If the Sunnah is invalidated, the commands and details of Islamic practice crumble, leaving believers without the full scope of the Prophet’s guidance—exactly what those hostile to Islam desire.

3. Sources of Doubts: Who Questions the Sunnah?

Orientalists and Some Missionaries: Western academics (often referred to as Orientalists) and certain Christian missionaries commonly question the authenticity of the Sunnah. By portraying Hadith as unreliable—alleging that its formal compilation happened too late—they aim to undermine Islam’s practical framework.
Groups Within Islam That Reject or Undermine the Sunnah

Those Who Deny All of the Sunnah (the Quraniyyoon): Sometimes called “Qur’an-only” adherents, they reject ahadith, insisting that the Qur’an alone suffices. However, no genuine scholar from the early generations shared this view. By discarding the Sunnah, they inevitably abandon large parts of the Qur’an’s commandments, which the Sunnah clarifies and implements.
Those Who Reject Most of the Sunnah: Certain sects, like the Twelver Shia (Rāfiḍah), dismiss the majority of Hadith from Ahl al-Sunnah. They only accept narrations aligning with their sectarian perspectives, effectively discarding the consensus of the earliest generations.
Those Who Reject Some of the Sunnah: Others doubt specific categories of narrations—often Āḥād (single-chain) reports—and claim these cannot be used in matters of creed or if they supposedly contradict personal rationalities. Even if they do not reject the entire Sunnah, this selective approach weakens Islam’s textual integrity.

4. The Solid Foundation: A Brief History of Sunnah Preservation

One of the most persistent misconceptions is the notion that the Sunnah was not written until the time of Imām al-Bukhārī (3rd century AH). At first glance, this might sound plausible, but a closer look at history quickly dispels it:

Written Documentation Began in the Prophet’s ﷺ Lifetime
- The Companion ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ (رضي الله عنهما) kept a compilation called al-Ṣaḥīfah al-Ṣādiqah, where he wrote down Hadith with the explicit permission of the Prophet ﷺ.
- Other Companions also noted the sayings of the Prophet ﷺ in various written forms, disproving the claim that documentation started only centuries later.
Continued Preservation by the Sahābah
- After the Prophet’s ﷺ death, the Companions meticulously verified each other’s narrations. ʿĀ’ishah (رضي الله عنها) famously cross-checked hadiths for authenticity.
- ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (رضي الله عنه) would also investigate narrations, ensuring accurate transmission. Their dedication underscored a culture of precise documentation, both oral and written.
Formal Compilation in the Age of the Tābiʿeen
- The Umayyad Caliph ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (رحمه الله) commissioned renowned scholars like al-Zuhrī to collect Hadith into organized writings.
- Long before Imām al-Bukhārī, scholars like Imām Mālik (in al-Muwaṭṭaʾ), Sufyān al-Thawrī, and Ibn Jurayj produced compilations, laying the groundwork for later systematic works.
Oral Preservation: A Highly Reliable Tradition
- Arabs of the Prophet’s era were unparalleled in memorization. Poetry, lineage, and religious teachings were preserved through a robust oral culture.
- The chain of narration (isnād) system functioned like a rigorous verification network, ensuring each transmitter’s reliability was scrutinized. This same system preserved the Qur’an, further solidifying the case for the Sunnah.

Hence, while Imām al-Bukhārī’s Ṣaḥīḥ is a monumental work, it was by no means the starting point. Rather, it crowned a centuries-long effort that began at the time of the Prophet ﷺ himself.

5. Why the Sunnah Is a Binding Proof

5.1 The Qur’an Commands It

Numerous verses in the Qur’an unequivocally establish the Sunnah’s authority:

وَمَآ ءَاتَىٰكُمُ ٱلرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَىٰكُمْ عَنْهُ فَٱنتَهُوا۟

“Whatever the Messenger gives you, take it; and whatever he forbids you from, abstain from it.” (Surah Al-Hashr: 7)

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ أَطِيعُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا۟ ٱلرَّسُولَ

“O you who have believed, obey Allāh and obey the Messenger.” (Surah An-Nisā’: 59)

وَمَا يَنطِقُ عَنِ ٱلْهَوَىٰٓ ٣ إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا وَحْىٌ يُوحَىٰ

“And he does not speak from his own desire. It is nothing but revelation sent down to him.” (Surah An-Najm: 3–4)

These ayahs make following the Prophet ﷺ a direct command from Allah. Neglecting the Sunnah isn’t just a scholarly difference of opinion; it’s a rejection of a divine mandate.

5.2 The Prophet ﷺ Commanded It

The Prophet ﷺ himself emphasised adherence to his Sunnah:

مَنْ يَعِشْ مِنْكُمْ بَعْدِي فَسَيَرَى اخْتِلاَفًا كَثِيرًا فَعَلَيْكُمْ بِسُنَّتِي وَسُنَّةِ الْخُلَفَاءِ الْمَهْدِيِّينَ الرَّاشِدِينَ تَمَسَّكُوا بِهَا وَعَضُّوا عَلَيْهَا بِالنَّوَاجِذِ

“Whoever lives among you will see much differing, so follow my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly guided caliphs. Hold onto it with your molar teeth.” (Sunan Abī Dāwūd, 4607)

Far from being irrelevant post-Prophethood, his guidance is precisely what protects believers from misguidance in confusing times.

5.3 The Sahābah’s Unanimous Practice

The Companions—eyewitnesses to revelation—unanimously recognized that the Sunnah is inseparable from the Qur’an. Their actions and comments, as well as the consensus (ijmāʿ) of subsequent generations, reaffirm this stance. Any sect’s attempt to bypass the Sunnah has never been endorsed by the earliest and most authoritative generations of Muslims.

6. Same Method of Preservation as the Qur’an

Critics often argue they trust the Qur’an because it’s “mutawātir” (mass-transmitted) but dismiss the Sunnah as lacking a similar chain-based reliability. However, both the Qur’an and the Sunnah were safeguarded using the same isnād methodology:

Both Rest on Chains of Narrators

The Qur’an we recite (e.g., Ḥafṣ from ʿĀṣim) is traced back to the Prophet ﷺ through uninterrupted chains of memorization and recitation.
The Sunnah also rests on chains of reliable narrators, documented and scrutinized for authenticity.

Mutawātir Sunnah

Much of the Sunnah is also narrated by multiple Companions, forming “mass-transmitted” chains. Foundational Islamic practices—like praying five times daily—are established through such robust narration.

Rejecting the Sunnah Undermines the Qur’an

If one discredits the isnād system for Hadith, consistency would demand rejecting the Qur’an’s chain-based preservation as well.
This reveals a selective and inconsistent stance: praising the chain system for the Qur’an but scorning the same methodology for the Sunnah.

7. Practical Illustrations: The Sunnah in Action

7.1 Clarifying the Qur’an’s General Commands

The Qur’an’s style is often general, requiring Prophetic explanation:

Prayer (Salah): Allah commands, “Establish prayer” but does not detail how many rakʿāt (units) to pray, their timings, or the method of bowing and prostration. The Sunnah provides these details.
Zakāh: The Qur’an instructs, “Give zakāh,” yet does not specify the amount, the wealth types subject to zakāh, or eligible recipients. Again, the Sunnah teaches us how to carry out such instructions.

Without the Sunnah, even fundamental rites like Salah and Zakāh become impossible to perform correctly. This alone testifies to the Sunnah’s necessity and authority.

7.2 Independent Legislation

Contrary to the claim that the Sunnah merely explains the Qur’an, it also provides rulings not explicitly mentioned in the Qur’an but that remain binding:

Prohibiting Specific Foods: The Sunnah forbids eating predatory animals, for example, which the Qur’an does not directly address.
Inheritance for Grandmothers: This ruling is established through the Prophet’s instruction, not through direct Qur’anic text.

Since the Sunnah itself is a form of revelation (as indicated in Surah An-Najm: 3–4), these rulings stand on par with Qur’anic legislation.

7.3 Abrogation (Naskh)

Another critical point is that the Sunnah can play a role in abrogation (naskh), just as the Qur'an itself mentions the concept of abrogation:

مَا نَنسَخْ مِنْ ءَايَةٍ أَوْ نُنسِهَا نَأْتِ بِخَيْرٍ مِّنْهَآ أَوْ مِثْلِهَآ

“We do not abrogate a verse or cause it to be forgotten except that We bring forth one better than it or similar to it.” (Surah Al-Baqarah: 106)

Abrogation means that a ruling may be replaced by another ruling, either within the Qur'an or between the Qur'an and the Sunnah. The Sunnah may:

Abrogate a ruling in the Qur'an.
Be abrogated by a ruling in the Qur'an.
Introduce a ruling that is later abrogated.

8. Exposing Inconsistencies: The Logical End of Rejecting the Sunnah

A key question to critics: If you abandon Hadith, how do you interpret the Qur’an? Those who claim to rely solely on the Qur’an must answer:

How to pray five times daily? Many of them reduce prayers to three because the explicit five times are not stated in the Qur’an.
How to understand Tafsīr (Qur’anic commentary)? Tafsīr is based on narrations from the Prophet ﷺ and the earliest generations. Rejecting Hadith erodes the foundation of Qur’anic interpretation.
What about the Prophet’s biography (Sīrah)? It too stands upon chain-based narrations. Rejecting Hadith inevitably leads to discarding the Prophet’s historical example and the context of revelation itself.

This selective rejection reveals that the real issue is not methodology but personal inclination—picking and choosing Islam’s commandments at will. Such an approach uproots the religion’s core structure, leaving only confusion in its wake.

9. The Qur’an and Sunnah: Divine Protection

Allah has promised:

إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا ٱلذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُۥ لَحَـٰفِظُونَ

“Indeed, We sent down the Reminder, and indeed, We will guard it.” (Surah Al-Ḥijr: 9)

The Reminder (adh-dhikr) entails both the Qur’an and its explanatory embodiment in the Sunnah. The notion that Allah would safeguard the Qur’an but allow the Sunnah—vital to practising Islam—to wither away contradicts the very promise of protection and the completion of Islam:

ٱلْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِى وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ ٱلْإِسْلَـٰمَ دِينًا

“Today I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favour upon you, and have approved Islam as your religion.” (Surah Al-Mā’idah: 3)

A “perfected” religion cannot be perfect if its integral part has been lost or rendered untrustworthy. The presumption that the Sunnah disappeared for centuries only to re-emerge later stands in direct conflict with these divine assurances.

10. Conclusion: Hold Fast to the Sunnah

The grand narrative of Islam’s preservation shows that the Sunnah—like the Qur’an—was meticulously documented, transmitted, and safeguarded through generations. From the Prophet’s Companions to the leading scholars, every step in Islamic history testifies that the Sunnah forms an inseparable component of divine guidance.

Rejecting the Sunnah undermines basic acts of worship, dismisses centuries of scholarly consensus, and stands at odds with the clear commands of the Qur’an.
Embracing the Sunnah affirms our trust in Allah’s promise to protect Islam and provides the practical details needed to live out the Qur’an’s commands.

Far from being a peripheral set of narrations, the Sunnah stands as an indispensable pillar that makes the Qur’an’s instructions actionable. All who cherish Islam must defend it against groundless shubuhāt—whether they arise from Orientalist critiques, sectarian biases, or claims of “Qur’an-only” followers.

In times of confusion, let us remember: