Is it correct to say that applying the Sunnah in this time is considered a cause of division among Muslims?

The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. There has been a lot of talk about the topic of the Sunnah and applying the Sunnahs in many Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia. We see some of the speakers now, of whom we hold a good opinion, using phrases to the effect that applying some of the Sunnahs may divide the Muslims. Does this statement have any basis in truth? What is your comment on this, and how do we respond to such people, who are Salafis and have a role in da'wah? Perhaps we can convey to them some of your opinion on this matter.

The Shaykh : By Allah, I personally do not believe that a Salafi scholar would speak such words. He may be a young Salafi, and this is out of the hope for a good opinion of him; otherwise, I would almost say that he is not a Salafi at all. How can the Sunnah be a cause of division for the Ummah? In fact, the reality is that the Sunnah is what must unite the Ummah. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said in a well-known hadith whose authenticity is agreed upon by all of them: If holding fast to the Sunnah is the guarantee of the Ummah's cohesion, its unity, and its protection from falling into disagreement and division, then there is no doubt that anyone who claims that holding fast to the Sunnah is the cause of the Ummah's division is saying something else entirely. There is no specific definition of the term "Sunnah" that these people, whom you referred to, use. The Sunnah they refer to may be from the category of recommended acts (mandub), or from the recommended acts (mustahabb), or from the confirmed Sunnahs, or from the obligatory Sunnahs. Which of the Sunnahs are they using this term for, and claiming that it is a cause for dividing the Ummah? Please proceed.

The questioner : To clarify the picture, some of them gave an example: if a man wanted to pray in congregation, and they held the view of reciting the Basmala aloud before al-Fatihah, while he did not hold that view, and if he prayed with them without reciting it aloud, it would be a cause for dispute. He sees that he should concede what he believes in this regard and recite the Basmala aloud. They also give another example: the disagreement on the issue of the Tarawih prayer, regarding the number of rak'ahs—twenty, twenty-three, eleven, or thirteen. Pray with the imam what he prays without stirring up this dispute. These are the examples they give.

The Shaykh : Fine. How can one revive the Sunnahs that have died out with time and extinguish the innovations that have been revived with time, if the learned da'iyah wants to follow the majority by using one of the disputed invented names, and so on? How is that to be done? Does this not mean that we are calling people to overturn the legal realities because of a non-legal policy? I do not deny that if the imam is a scholar and has studied the society in which he lives, and if he recites aloud or quietly, and if the majority recites aloud, then if he recites the Basmala quietly before al-Fatihah, he may be of the opinion that harm will result for the congregation in which he wishes to live and reside. So I say there is no harm in reciting it aloud. This is not following them, nor is it a concession from what he believes to be the Sunnah, but rather it is the application of another Sunnah established for us from our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). In the hadith, Abu Qatadah al-Ansari says: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to lead us in the Dhuhr or 'Asr prayer, or both together, and he used to let us hear the verse sometimes. So he used to let us hear the verse sometimes, and the prayer was quiet. This was for a wisdom, which was the wisdom of teaching the people. The Farooq (may Allah be pleased with him) followed this wisdom and would sometimes recite the opening supplication aloud also to teach the people. So there is no doubt that the root, the Messenger (peace be upon him), saw this wisdom, and the branch, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), did the same. But the wisdom is not limited in scope. The wisdom can be from the category of "repelling the greater evil with the lesser evil," as the Messenger (peace be upon him) did when he said to 'A'ishah, who wanted to enter the Ka'bah and pray two rak'ahs following the Messenger: to the end of the hadith. So he applied wisdom (peace be upon him) in another sense here. It is possible for the learned, juristic imam of the Muslims, who does not want to follow the people but wants to reform their hearts and draw them to him, to recite the Basmala aloud sometimes. But does the wise scholar limit himself only to reciting the Basmala aloud, or does he continue to give lessons to the people until their hearts are opened and they accept the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace be upon him)? He tells them at times and at times that the authentic hadith says: Therefore, do not be too extreme in reciting the Basmala aloud, for if he recites it aloud his prayer is valid, and if he recites it quietly his prayer is valid, but the Sunnah is this way. If he is teaching them on one hand and accommodating them and being lenient with them on the other, then there is no harm in that; indeed, we see it as the very essence of wisdom. But to follow the people and go along with them on the basis of the previous argument that holding fast to the Sunnah divides the Ummah—this is truly the ultimate overturning of realities.

The questioner : We can say that following the people is a temporary phase, until they are taught and the Sunnah is established among them.

The Shaykh : Yes, that is so. Let us move on to the issue of Tarawih as an example you mentioned. Tarawih is an agreed-upon matter among the scholars of the Muslims that it is a Sunnah, not an obligation, because it is part of the night prayer. And this Sunnah can be prayed as two, four, six, and so on, until the issue reaches the point of disagreement. What compels the Muslim who is enthusiastic to follow his Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the night prayer? He is told, "Follow the congregation, my brother." Whereas if he prayed two rak'ahs and then turned his back, no one would ask him why, why? Because it is established in the mind that this is a voluntary prayer, not an obligation. But when the issue reaches the point of dispute, here, as they say in our region of Sham, "six souls must be completed." Why must it be completed here and not there? Because that is an old saying that a person prays as much as he wishes. And here, because with time I forget, so I cast into your mind that I read a letter from a brother, I don't know his name, who spoke about the Tarawih prayer according to the scientific usuli rules. I found, unfortunately, that he was also swept along with the majority. Why? Because he was not arguing with fairness. We say that the Tarawih prayer varies between increasing and decreasing, but the most reported number is eleven rak'ahs. He says in a narration it is thirteen rak'ahs. I am mentioning this; I am not concealing it or ignorant of it. He turns the page for us and mentions it as if he is correcting me, saying, "No, there is also a narration of thirteen." If I were ignorant of this narration, he would say, "Yes, thirteen." Are there fifteen rak'ahs, and so on? No, there is no such thing. The second thing is how he says...The Shaykh : ...such and such, while the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray seven at times and nine at other times, and so on. But my brother, tell me, did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) pray more than eleven rak'ahs? Did he pray more than thirteen? He turns this away and never addresses it. This is not according to the principles...

The questioner : He is a doctor, a noble man, and I met him. He is a good doctor, Ibrahim.

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, but none of us is free from having some of his words accepted and some rejected, other than him.