has a Prophet been sent before me by Allaah to his people except that
he had, among his people, disciples and companions who followed his
way and obeyed his command. Then there came afterthem their successors
who proclaimed what they did not practice, and practiced what theywere
not commanded to do. )He( who strove against these)people( with his
hand was a believer; he who strove against them with his heart was a
believer; and he who strove against them with his tongue was a
believer; and beyond that there is no grain of faith."]Muslim[
The Companionscomprehended this very well and also kept in mind the
saying of the Prophetwhich was reported by Anas:"He who shuns my
Sunnah is not from me."]Al-Bukhaari[ These sayings made them love the
Sunnah of theProphetsallallaahualayhi wa sallam and spread and
propagateit amongst their successors.
The Companionsfulfilled theirduty and played their expected role in
spreading and propagating the Sunnah of theProphetsallallaahualayhi wa
sallam; they taught it to others with sincerity and advised those who
shunned it to adhere to it, warning them against their actions.
Huthayfahonce saw a man rushing during his prayer and failing to be
tranquil in his bowings and prostrations; so he said to him: "You did
not pray! Had you died in that state then you would have died upon
other than the way ofMuhammad." ]Al-Bukhaari[ He was bringing his
attention to the fact that being tranquil and submissive during
prayers was how the Prophetwould perform them.
'Abdullaah ibn 'Umarwould sit on his buttocks during the Tashahhud in
his prayer, so his son began imitating him; when 'Abdullaahsaw this,
he forbade him from doing so and informed him that this was not how
the Prophetperformed his prayers, so his son said to him: "I saw you
praying this way." His father informed him that his legs were injured
from the time of theBattleof Khaybar, and that he could not therefore
adhere to the Sunnah in this position of prayer. ]Al-Bukhaari[
'Abdullaah ibn 'Umardid not consider this part of prayer a minor or
trivial issue which he could overlook when seeing someone performing
it a way other than that of the Prophet's; compare this to the way
some people consider certain acts of the Sunnah to be minor, thereby
undermining them.
Taawoossaid: "We asked Ibn'Abbaasabout sitting in the position
ofIq'aa' between the two prostrations )which is to sit with one's
buttocks on his heels while bending his toes and directing them
towards the Qiblah(. He informed them that it was the Sunnah, but they
remarked: `We do not see it befitting a man to sit in such a manner.`
But he repeated and emphasised to them the fact thatthe Prophetwould
sit this way." ]Muslim[
This is one of the ways hewould sit, while the other and most common
practice of his was that he would sit on his left foot and have his
right foot raised while having its toes pointing towards the direction
ofthe Qiblah.
These were some examples of how the Companionswould propagate the
Sunnah of the Prophetand they would also openly forbid those who
contradicted the Sunnah, as in the story when Marwaan ibn 'Abdul-Malik
delivered the Khutbah of 'Eed before the prayer, which is directly
contrary to the Sunnah, so a man stood upwhilst he was delivering the
Khutbah and told him that he had opposed the way of the Prophetby
doing what he did. Marwaan paid no attention to what the man said, and
so AbuSa'eedsaid: "This man )i.e., the one who spoke to Marwaan( has
fulfilled his duty by informinghim of the Sunnah and attempting to
forbid him from continuing; I heard the Prophetsay:"He who sees an
evil must change it with his hands)i.e. physically(; if he is unable
to, then he must change it with his tongue )i.e. verbally(, and if he
is unable to, then with his heart)i.e., hating it( - and this is the
weakest level of faith."]At-Tirmithi[
Acts of worship were not the only thing which the Companionslearned
the ways of theProphetsallallaahualayhi wa sallam - he even taught
them their manners. Anassaid: "Once the Prophetcame to our house and
asked for something to drink, so we milkeda sheep for him and I gave
him the milk to drink while Abu Bakr, 'Umar and other senior
companionswere sitting to his left, and a Bedouin was sitting to his
right. When hefinished drinking, 'Umar said: `O Messenger of Allaah!
Abu Bakr is to your left` in an attempt to bring that to his
attention, but heturned to the Bedouin andhanded him the container to
drink from, saying:"It is the rightof those to your right, It is the
right of those to your right, It is the right of those to your
right."]Muslim[
All the Companionsold and young, were keen to adhere to the Sunnah of
the Prophet; it was never reported from a single one of them that they
said about any part of it: "This is only a Sunnah and is not
mandatory… this is only recommended and not obligatory… this is a
minor issue and not a major one, and we should not waste our time in
it… this is a trivial matter" quite unlike what many people say
nowadays about the Sunnah, thereby giving it a low ranking in their
list of importance. Instead, the Companionswould apply anything that
came to them fromtheProphetsallallaahualayhi wa sallam and would
practice it fully and very precisely. Even in matters that were
related to man's natural disposition, such as growing the beard, using
the Siwaak )a special twig that is used as a toothbrush( and so on.
Is it not time for us to apply the Sunnah in our practices and
actions, our families, the way we dress, our children, our homes, our
prayers and all other affairs?
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