The Sunnification of Ḥadīth and the Hadithification of sunna

Abstract

Today, the words ḥadīth and sunna are nearly synonymous in the minds of most Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Since the time of Muhammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfi’ī (d. 204/820), the ḥadīth have been seen as the primary repository of the Prophetic Sunna and an essential part of Islamic scripture. Indeed, the Saḥīḥ of al-Bukhārī is considered by many to be the second most important text after the Qur’ān. Thus, the concept of sunna is seen by most as inextricably linked to ḥadīth literature. This chapter will contribute to the work in this volume by demonstrating the ways in ḥadīth literature developed in the service of fiqh, and the ways in which that literature solidified both the sunnification of ḥadīth and the hadithification of sunna. The usage of the term sunna will be examined at two levels. First, at the level of the ḥadīth collections themselves; this includes how the compilers use the word in the titles of sections and subsections and how they organize sections and subsections in relation to each other, as well as appearance of the term in the titles of ḥadīth collections. As the following analysis will show, hadithification of the concept of sunna—and indeed, religious knowledge more broadly—is clearly apparent in the evolution of ḥadīth collections, the internal organization of those collections, and in the composition of the Sunnīcanon. The second level of analysis is of the terminology in individual ḥadīth reports: how and in what contexts is the word sunna and/or its related verbs used in those reports and by whom? What is described as sunna?. Who institutes a sunna?. This analysis at both the level of the collections themselves and the level individual reports will help to shed light on the evolution of the Muslim community’s understanding of the nature and scope of sunna in the formative period.