WHAT IS THE meaning of the Sunnah? The following episode will present a better understanding of the meaning of the Sunnah.

A Buzrug once came to Hadhrat Mujaddid Alf-e-Thaani (Rahmatullah Alayh) and said: “I was in a state of Qabdh (spiritual depression) pertaining to Nisbat with Allah Ta’ala for a number of years. I went to Hadhrat Khwaajah Baaqi Billah (Rahmatullah Alayh) and complained of by state of Qabdh. By the tawajjuh (spiritual focus) and dua of Hadhrat Baaqi Billah my state of Qabdh vanished and was replaced by the state of Bast (spiritual exhiliration). I implore you to also direct tawajjuh on me. Hadhrat Khwaajah (rahmatullah alayh) have entrusted all his khulafa and mureedeen to you.”

In response, Hadhrat Mujaddid Alf-e-Thaani (Rahmatullah Alayh) said: “I have nothing besides Ittibaa-e-Sunnah (following the Sunnah).” This statement exercised such a profound effect on the Buzrug that an extremely lofty spiritual haal (state) overcame him. The effect of his spiritual power and Nisbat caused the entire land to tremble. A tremor was felt throughour the land. Hadhrat Mujaddid (rahmatullah alayh) instructed a mureed to bring his miswaak from the shelf. When the miswaak was brought, Hadhrat Mujaadid took it and fixed it into the ground. Immediately, the tremor ceased and along with it the spiritual state of the Buzrug terminated.

Hadhrat Mujaddid Alf-e-Thaani (Rahmatullah Alayh) then commented: “By your karaamat (miracle) the land of Sarhind trembles. If this Faqeer (referring to himself) makes Dua, then Insha-Allah, all the dead in Sarhind will become alive. However, making miswaak during Wudhu according to the Sunnah is infinitely superior to both these acts of Karaamat.”

This is the conception of the Sunnah according to the Sahaabah and the Auliya. Nothing is better and more meritorious than acting in accordance with the Sunnah, regardless of the Fiqhi classification of the Sunnah act, be it Mustahab or be it an Adab.

The Sunnah of Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) in every detail is for practical implementation. The Sunnah is not for mere study and for relegation to the kitaabs Since the Madaaris no longer impart the correct knowledge of

the Sunnah, the Asaatizah themselves lacking in proper comprehension of the Sunnah, today we find even the Ulama

frowning askance when forgotten and dead aspects of the Sunnah are revived. By Ulama in this context, is meant sincere Ulama. As far as the flotsam of ulama-e-soo’ is concerned, they are beyond the scope of this naseehat. The Qur’aan Majeed says: “None but the people of intelligence ponder (and derive lesson).”

Mujaddid Alf-e-Thaani was the Mujaddid (Reviver of the Deen) of the second Islamic millennium. At the beginning of each century, Allah Ta’ala dispatches a Mujaddid whose function it is to combat and weed out the accretions of bid’ah and baatil which have become attached to the Deen like parasites.