Gifts of Knowledge

See previous post here.

The Shaikh continued:

The Sunnah is the Wisdom

Allaah has mentioned wisdom [ḥikmah] in numerous verses of the Noble Book at the same time that He mentions the Book, [i.e., pairing their mention together]. And there is no doubt that what is meant by the wisdom in all such verses is the Prophetic Sunnah.

Among these verses is His saying, “Our Lord! Raise from among them a messenger who will recite to them Your revelations, teach them the Book and wisdom, and purify them. Indeed, You ˹alone˺ are the Almighty, All-Wise.” [2:129]

And, “Indeed, Allaah has done the believers a ˹great˺ favour by raising a messenger from among them—reciting to them His revelations, purifying them, and teaching them the Book and wisdom. For indeed they had previously been clearly astray.” [3:164]

And, “Allaah has revealed to you the Book and wisdom and taught you what you never knew. Great ˹indeed˺ is Allaah’s favour upon you!” [4:113]

And, “Remember Allaah’s favours upon you as well as the Book and wisdom He has sent down for your guidance.” [2:231]

And His saying, “˹Always˺ remember what is recited in your homes of Allaah’s revelations and ˹prophetic˺ wisdom. Surely Allaah is Most Subtle, All-Aware.” [33:34]

All the verses bearing this meaning place wisdom alongside the Book in a manner that naturally indicates that the two are distinct [i.e., wisdom is not another name for the Quraan here].

Imaam ash-Shāfiʿī, Allaah have mercy on him, said, “Allaah has made it obligatory on people to follow His revelation and the Sunnahs of His Messenger ﷺ.” And in his famous Risālah, he said, “So Allaah mentioned the Book, which is the Qur’an, and He mentioned wisdom. So I heard one of the scholars of the Quraan whose opinion I approve of say, ‘‘The Wisdom’ is the Sunnah of His Messenger.’” The Imaam, Allaah have mercy on him, then commented on this statement, saying, “And this is the most accurate of what has been said, and Allaah knows best.”

He then explained the reason for this, saying, “Because Allaah mentioned the Quraan, and then wisdom followed it. Allaah also mentioned the favour He gave to His creation in teaching them the Book and the wisdom. Therefore, and Allaah knows best, it would not be correct to say that wisdom here means something other than the Sunnah of the Messenger. This is because it is mentioned alongside the Book of Allaah, and because He has made obedience to His Messenger obligatory and made it binding upon people to follow his command. Thus, it is not permissible to say about a statement that it is obligatory to follow, except the Book of Allaah and then the Sunnah of His Messenger ﷺ.” He continued, “This is because of what we have [already] explained: that Allaah has made faith in His Messenger inseparable from faith in Him, and that the Sunnah of His Messenger is what clarifies on behalf of Allaah the meaning of what He intended.” Then He coupled wisdom with His Book, appending it to it. And He did not grant this distinction to any of His creation except His Messenger ﷺ.

Tagged: quraniyoon