Why do some scholars restrict the Sunnah to a single Caliph?
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The questioner : The hadith: Mishkat al-Masabih 165Sahīh (Zubair `Aliza'i) Some scholars say: "The Caliphs are a general group. Why do you not say that the followed Sunnah is the Sunnah of all the Caliphs, so that you apply the Prophet's hadith to the general case? How should one respond to that?"
The Shaykh : How?
The questioner : They say, O Shaykh:Mishkat al-Masabih 165Sahīh (Zubair `Aliza'i) The wording of the hadith is general, so why do you restrict the Sunnah to a single Caliph, for example?
The Shaykh : No, that did not happen; we did not restrict it to a single Caliph.
The questioner : The point is, O Shaykh, they deny why the Sunnah should be based on the action of a single Caliph...?
The Shaykh : Yes, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not intend by this gathering that they should all agree on it. He intended his Sunnah to be the Sunnah of one of them. He did not intend that it is necessary for them all to agree on it. Yes.
You must therefore follow my sunna and that of the rightly guided Caliphs
عليكم بسنتي وسنة الخلفاء الراشدينThe Shaykh : How?
The questioner : They say, O Shaykh:
You must therefore follow my sunna and that of the rightly guided Caliphs
عليكم بسنتي وسنة الخلفاء الراشدينThe Shaykh : No, that did not happen; we did not restrict it to a single Caliph.
The questioner : The point is, O Shaykh, they deny why the Sunnah should be based on the action of a single Caliph...?
The Shaykh : Yes, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not intend by this gathering that they should all agree on it. He intended his Sunnah to be the Sunnah of one of them. He did not intend that it is necessary for them all to agree on it. Yes.