Forty Gems of Beauty — Page 11
Difference between Hadith & Sunnah An important point which should be borne in mind is that, although the general mass of people makes no distinction between A ha d i th and Sunnah, the two are, in fact, quite distinct. A ha d i th consist of the actual words or details of the deeds of the Holy Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be on him) as reported down the line of successive narrators. But these A ha d i th or reports were committed to memory, jealously safeguarded and treasured in the hearts of the reporters and were communicated verbally at first. They were later collected and edited with great care in the form of books at different times, varying from one hundred to two hundred and fifty years after Hijra. As against this, the Sunnah is not the name of a recorded report but stands for the actual practice of the Holy Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be on him) in respect of a religious matter and which his companions adopted in his own lifetime and under his own supervision. Each generation held fast to this actual form in which the Holy Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be on him) practised religion, and which in its turn was passed on to the succeeding generations. As, for example, when the Quranic command about Prayers was revealed to the Holy Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be on him), it did not contain full details in an explicit manner, such as the number of times a Muslim must pray during the course of the day and night, respective timings of different Prayers, the number of raka‘ a t [which consists of the prescribed movements and words recited while offering Prayers to Allah] in each, and the manner in which each rak‘ah was to be performed, etc. In this regard he set for his companions a practical example of compliance with these