Strict Adherence of Sahabah on the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him)

[Shehzad Sattar]

Shaykh Ibn Baz (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned these narrations from sahabas on their strict adherence on Prophet's (peace be upon him) Sunnah:

A grandmother came to Al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) asking him about her share in inheritance, he said to her: "There is nothing prescribed for you in Allah's Book, nor do I know anything prescribed for you in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), but I will ask the people." He (may Allah be pleased with him) asked the Sahabah. Some of them testified that the Prophet (peace be upon him) gave the grandmother one sixth of the inheritance, so he gave it to her.

'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) used to ask his governors to judge among the people according to Allah's Book. If they failed to find a solution to a case in Allah's Book, they would refer to the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace be upon him). When he could not decide the ruling on Imlas (miscarriage of a fetus due to aggression against its mother), he asked some of the Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them) about it. Muhammad ibn Maslamah and Al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah (may Allah be pleased with them) testified that the Prophet (peace be upon him) gave a verdict of paying the value of a male or female slave, so he (may Allah be pleased with him) gave the same verdict.

When 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) was confused about the ruling on a woman spending 'Iddah (woman's prescribed waiting period after widowhood) in the house of her husband or moving to her parents' house, Furay'ah bint Malik ibn Sinan, sister of Abu Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with them both), testified that the Prophet (peace be upon him) commanded her to spend 'Iddah in her husband's house. Therefore, 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) gave that verdict. Also, the judgment of the Sunnah was applied by implementing the Had (ordained punishment for violating Allah's Law) of drinking Khamr (intoxicant) upon Al-Walid ibn 'Uqbah.

When 'Aly (may Allah be pleased with him) was told that 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) forbade Tamattu' Hajj ('Umrah during the months of Hajj followed by Hajj in the same year with a break in between), 'Aly (may Allah be pleased with him) performed Tamattu' Hajj and said: "I shall never leave an act of Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) because of the opinion of any person."

When Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) heard some people objecting to his Fatwa (legal opinion issued by a qualified Muslim scholar) regarding Tamattu' Hajj, taking as evidence the opinion of Abu Bakr and 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) who preferred Ifrad Hajj (performing Hajj only), Ibn 'Abbas said: "Stones from the sky are about to fall on you. I am telling you that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said such and such, and you say that Abu Bakr and 'Umar said such and such!" If those who contradict the Sunnah and favor the opinions of Abu Bakr and 'Umar are liable to punishment, what about those who contradict it favoring the opinion of someone less important or for personal opinions?

When some people argued with 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) about some matters pertaining to the Sunnah, 'Abdullah said to them:" Are we commanded to follow the Prophet (peace be upon him) or follow 'Umar?"

While 'Imran ibn Husayn (may Allah be pleased with him) was telling the people about the Sunnah, a man asked him to tell them about the Qur'an. He (may Allah be pleased with him) became angry and said that the Sunnah is the interpretation of the Qur'an; without the Sunnah we would not have known that Zhuhr (Noon) Prayer is four Rak'ahs, Maghrib (Sunset) Prayer is three Rak'ahs, and Fajr (Dawn) Prayer is two Rak'ahs. We would not neither have known the details of the rulings on Zakah, in addition to other details mentioned in the Sunnah.

There are many cases reported from the Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them) about honoring the Sunnah, the obligation of applying it, and warning about violating it.

- Majmoo' Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baz (1/217-218)