Title: Some Clarifications Regarding Hadith & Sunnah Question: Dear brother, I have been very impressed with your site and your logical approach to all the questions. May Allah bless you for all your hard work. My question is as follows: I have been reading all about the Hadith and Sunnah but it has left a lot of questions unanswered for me and I would appreciate if you could help me comprehend these things a bit better. Is it not true that the practical propagation of Sunnah is also part of the hadith ? Just like the Quran was written was the Sunnah written? How is the Shari`ah formed, both from the Qur’an and the practical propagation of Sunnah or is it from the Hadith ? Could you also please let me know what is Hadith Qudsi ? Would appreciate if you could give in chronological order how the Quran has come in the current form of one book and also the various books on Hadith (For ex. which was the 1st book on hadith and so on)? How did the four Imams come in the picture and do they have separate books propagating Sunnah ? I understand, this to be many questions, but it will help me understand things a little better and I would like to thank you for your patience. Assalam-u-alikum May Allah (swt) help you in your endeavors. Shakeel Abdul Answer: Thank you for your encouraging remarks regarding our efforts. May the Almighty guide us to the path of His liking. Answers to your questions follow: The practical perpetuation of the Sunnah is not a part of Hadith . Hadith is a narrative ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh) and relies heavily on the honesty, understanding and accurate narration of all the narrators in the chain reporting it. On the contrary, the practical perpetuation of Sunnah means that elements entailed in the Sunnah have been transmitted from one generation to the other through the practical actions of one generation to the other. Thus, the practical perpetuation of Sunnah is not dependent on the honesty, understanding and narration of one or a limited number of people. A practical example of an element of Sunnah is the number of obligatory Rak`ahs offered in each prayer. In most of the cases, under normal circumstances, Muslim children are exposed to and informed about the number of obligatory Rak`ahs offered during each prayer, without even developing the ability of reading any books of Hadith . The case of most of the elements of Sunnah is more or less the same. Contrary to the Qur'an, which was written under the supervision of the Prophet (pbuh) and, later on, under the auspices of the Muslim state, the elements of Sunnah were not put to writing by either the Prophet (pbuh) or by the Caliphate, which followed the Prophet (pbuh). The two primary sources of the Shari`ah are 1) the Qur'an and 2) the Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh). " Hadith Qudsi " is a term used for narratives ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh), in which the Prophet (pbuh) is reported to have narrated something as having said by God. The Qur'an was compiled and written down during the Prophet's lifetime. Later on, official copies of this compilation were prepared and disseminated during the caliphate following the Prophet (pbuh). As for the more well known compilations of narratives ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh), they, in chronological order, are: Mu'atta of Imam Maalik , Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal , Sahih Bukhariy , Sahih Muslim , Sunan of Tirmidhi , Sunan of Abu Dawood and Sunan of Al-Nasaaiy . The so-called four Imams are, in fact, scholars of Islam, who, due to their excellent and in depth work and analysis won tremendous respect and following. Of the four great scholars, compilations of narratives ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh) of two of them - Malik ibn Anas and Ahmad ibn Hanbal - are recognized and considered among the more respected compilations of Hadith . However, the compilations ascribed to Abu Hanifah and Shaafi`iy - are not considered as reliable as the former two. I hope this helps. Regards, Moiz Amjad December 12, 2001