What follows is a brief explanation of what the Hadith and Sunnah of the prophet are, so that if any non- muslims come across this blog they can have a clearer view of some of the things being discussed.
The Sayings of Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihi wa Sallam) are called his Hadith. The Companions (Sahaba) of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) have narrated his Hadith. These Hadith have been compiled in Books of Hadith. There are six major Books of Hadith. They are Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah and An-Nasai. They contain thousands of Hadith. From the Books of Hadith, we also learn what Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) did. What he did is called his Sunnah.
We as muslims should try to follow his Sunnah and example in every action we do. We learn about the life of the Prophet (PBUH) and of his Family and Companions (Rady Allahu Anhum). We learn about the hardships they faced and the sacrifices they made in spreading the religion of Islam. The Hadith teach us in more detail what Allah has taught in the Qur’an. And the Sunnah teaches us how exactly to perform many of the acts required of us in the Qur’an. And the Hadith teach us more about what is Halal (permitted) and what is Haram (forbidden) for us as Muslims. After the Qur’an, the Hadith are our most important resource and guide.
Thru following the Sunnah of the prophet, we build our Islamic character, manners, and ethics. We learn how exactly to conduct ourselves as muslims and how to handle our affairs.
One beautiful Hadith regarding a Muslim’s character is-
“The most perfect Muslim in the matter of faith is one who has an excellent behavior, and the best among you are those who are best towards their wives.” (Tirmidhi).
Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihi wa Sallam) has taught us many things in his Hadith. Some of the things he has taught us are:
o to become properly educated
o to obey, respect and take care of parents
o to have good relations with the family, with brothers and sisters, and all the relatives
o to have good manners and good character
o to dress decently
o to be kind and merciful
o to be friendly and to greet everyone with a smile
o to fulfill our responsibilities
o to work and earn our living, and not to beg of others
o to put in our best effort in everything we do
o to help our neighbors
o to take care of orphans
o to consider all the Muslims as our brothers and sisters
o to visit the sick
o not to lie and cheat
o not to abuse others
o not to be quarrelsome
o to have good drinking and eating habits and not to overeat
o to eat and drink what is permitted in Islam
o not to eat or drink what is prohibited in Islam
o not to drink intoxicants
o to wash the hands before eating and after eating
o to eat with the right hand
o to enter the masjid with the right foot
o not to show off
o to cooperate with others in doing good deeds
o to stop others from doing evil deeds and from sinning
o to be humble and not to be arrogant
o to be generous and not to be miserly
o to keep our promises
o to honor our guests
o to repay our debts
o to thank Allah and do His dhikr (remembrance)
o to recite salawaat (blessings) on Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihi wa Sallam), may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him.
This is just a general short summary of some of the themes in the thousands of Hadiths. It is good for us as muslims to read the books of Hadith and to try and remember as many as we can, and to follow the example of the Prophet (PBUH) as closely as possible.
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