Gifts of Knowledge

The Sunnah is the Quraan’s Counterpart

It is clear from what has preceded that the meaning of the Sunnah can be summed up as: [1] whatever statements, actions, or tacit approvals have been attributed to the Prophet ﷺ and [2] that the Sunnah is also a part of Divine Revelation: “It is only a revelation sent down ˹to him˺. He has been taught by one ˹angel˺ of mighty power.” [53:4-5] 

This is also indicated by the statement of the Prophet ﷺ, “Indeed, I have been given the Quraan and something like it along with it.”

The Sunnah, therefore, is the Quraan’s twin or counterpart. It is revelation just as the Quraan is, it is inseparable from it and scarcely ever parts from it.

The Quraan can hardly be understood as it ought to be understood without referring back to the Sunnah for many of its aayahs, especially the aayahs talking about legal rulings.

The Meaning of Revelation

Revelation (waḥy) is hidden and swift communication. For this reason, scholars of the language apply the term to hidden signs and gestures saying that these are forms of waḥy. Inspiration (ilhām) is also of this kind: it is the casting of particular meanings into the soul. Revelation to those who are not prophets is of this nature, such as Allaah’s revelation to the bees, “And your Lord inspired the bees …” [16:68]

As for its meaning in the terminology of the Sharīʿah: then it is Allaah’s communicating to His prophets, by a hidden means, information from the Heavens and whatever instructions, guidance, and legislation He wishes to convey to them, in such a manner that they acquire unequivocal  knowledge, untainted by the slightest doubt that it is from Allaah سبحانه.

So the source of revelation is Allaah alone, there is no revelation except from Allaah. And the recipients of that revelation are the prophets. The one to whom revelation is given can never be any one other than a prophet. In this way, as you can see, it becomes clear that the Sharīʿah meaning is more specific than the [wider] linguistic meaning.

The Categories of Revelation

Allaah’s communicating to His prophets whatever He wishes to communicate to them occurs in three ways, and the Quraan has alluded to these, for He says, “It is not ˹possible˺ for a human being to have Allaah communicate with them, except through revelation [waḥy], or from behind a veil, or by sending a messenger-angel to reveal whatever He wills by His permission.” [42:51]

First: what is meant by His saying, “… except through revelation …”, is communication through inspiration, which is the casting of the intended meaning into the heart of one of His prophets so that he understands it well and becomes certain that it is from Allaah.

Second: speech from behind a veil [hijaab], i.e., actual speech which he is absolutely certain is the speech of his Lord who spoke to him as He willed, without seeing Him. As occurred with Allaah’s Prophet and the one He spoke to directly, Moses ﷺ, at the very beginning of revelation, “… he was called, ‘O Moses! Indeed, I am your Lord …,” until he actually heard Him without seeing Him. The same occurred when he came to the appointed meeting-place, as Allaah سبحانه said, “When Moses came at the appointed time and his Lord spoke to him …” [7:143]. This type of revelation also occurred with our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ on the Night of the Miʿrāj, when Allaah prescribed the five daily prayers on him and his Ummah, the story is well known so there is no need to repeat it here.

Third: Allaah’s communicating what He wants to convey to one of His prophets through an angel—Jibrīl, and this is the most common and most frequently occurring type. Jibrīl would come to the Prophet ﷺ in various forms. At times he would appear in the form of the eminent Companion Diḥyah al-Kalbī. At other times he would come in the form of a Bedouin. And the Prophet ﷺ saw him twice in his true form: once at the Cave of Ḥirāʾ, where he would retreat in seclusion before he received revelation. And then once at the Lote Tree of the most extreme limit ˹in the seventh heaven˺ [Sidratul-Muntahā] on the Night Journey and Ascension.

At times, the Prophet ﷺ would not see the angel at all, rather when he came the Prophet ﷺ would hear a sound like the buzzing of bees and a powerful ringing, and he would undergo an extraordinary spiritual state. 

These meanings, in whole or in part, may be derived from the hadith narrated by ʿUrwah from ʿĀʾishah, may Allah be pleased with her, which al-Bukhārī recorded in his Ṣaḥīḥ, “Al-Ḥārith ibn Hishām asked the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ, “O Messenger of Allaah ﷺ! How is the Divine Inspiration revealed to you?” Allaah’s Messenger ﷺ replied, “Sometimes it is [revealed] like the ringing of a bell, this form of Inspiration is the hardest of all and then this state passes off after I have grasped what is inspired. Sometimes the Angel comes in the form of a man and talks to me and I grasp whatever he says.” ʿĀʾishah added, “Verily, I saw the Prophet ﷺ being inspired divinely on a very cold day and noticed the sweat dropping from his forehead [as the Inspiration was over].””

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