The Essence of Islam – Volume II — Page 130
130 Essence of Islām II same. The third source of guidance is Hadith, by which we mean those traditions which were compiled from the statements of diverse narrators a century and a half after the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him). The distinction between Sunnah and Hadith is that Sunnah is a continuous practice which was started by the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him). It is only next to the Holy Qur'an in its certainty. As the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) was commissioned for the propagation of the Qur'an, he was also commissioned for establishing the Sunnah. As the Holy Qur'an is certain so is the continuous Sunnah which he practised. Both these tasks were performed by the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) as his duty. For instance, when the Prayer services were made obligatory, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) illustrated by his action how many rak'as were to be performed in each Prayer service. In the same way, he illustrated the performance of the pilgrimage. He thus established thousands of his companions on his practice. The practical illustration which has been continuous among the Muslims is the Sunnah. On the other hand, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) did not have the Hadith recorded in his presence nor did he make any arrange- ment for its compilation. Hadrat Abū Bakr (May Allāh be pleased with him) had collected some Ahādīth and then had them burnt out of greater caution as he himself had not heard them from the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and did not know their reality. When the time of the companions of the Holy