The Meaning of the Hadith: “So Hold Fast to My Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs”
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Q251: Do the four Rightly Guided Caliphs have a Sunnah to be followed, and does the hadith: Mishkat al-Masabih 165Sahīh (Zubair `Aliza'i) refer to the four Caliphs, or does it include other Caliphs?
A251: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan al-Bayhaqi 17:1232 The Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs is subordinate to the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him); they revive the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and explain it to the people, so it is an explanatory Sunnah, not
an independent one, and this is restricted to the four Caliphs: Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman, and 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with them). As for the remaining Caliphs and governors, the obligatory duty with them is obedience in what is good.
You must therefore follow my sunna and that of the rightly guided Caliphs
عليكم بسنتي وسنة الخلفاء الراشدينA251: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
For whoever lives after you will see much disagreement, so hold fast to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs after me
فإنه من يعيش منك فسيرى اختلافاً كثيراً، فعليكم بسنتي وسنة الخلفاء الراشدين المهديين من بعديan independent one, and this is restricted to the four Caliphs: Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman, and 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with them). As for the remaining Caliphs and governors, the obligatory duty with them is obedience in what is good.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.