What are types of sunnah? Will you explain the concepts such as sunnah al-huda, sunnah ghayr muakkadah and sunnah al-kifayah?

Dear Brother / Sister,

According to the classification in terms of the structural feature of the sunnah, the sunnah consists of three types: the statements (qawl) of the Prophet (pbuh), his deeds (fi’l) and his approval/consent (taqrir). It is accepted that sunnah taqriri, which means the attitude of the Messenger of Allah interpreted as approval though he saw and heard something, shows that the deed in question is not forbidden at least and that the commands and prohibitions in the verbal sunnah are binding in principle like the ones in the Quran.

The sunnah prayers that are performed before and after Friday prayers and five daily prayers are called “sunan ratiba / sunan rawatib” (sunnahs performed regularly). 

Makhul b. Abu Muslim, who is a fiqh scholar of Tabiun divided sunnah into two as sunnah that is regarded as guidance (huda: following the true path) to perform and as aberration to abandon, and sunnah that is regarded as good (hasan) to perform and that is not objectionable to abandon. According to Hanafi methodologists who adopt this classification and call the former “sunnatul-huda”, the latter “sunnatuz-zawaid”, deeds such as eid prayers, adhan, iqamah and prayer in congregation are examples of the first type. The sunnahs that are related to deeds of worship but that are not at the level of the sunnahs of the first type and the human deeds of the Prophet (pbuh) that do not have religious significance are examples of the second type.

According to another classification by Hanafis, the deeds that the Prophet (pbuh) constantly did and rarely abandoned just to show that they are not binding are called sunnah muakkadah like rinsing the mouth and nose while making wudu, and performing two rak’ahs before the fard of the morning prayer (fajr). He who performs those sunnahs deserve thawabs; he who abandons them does not deserve punishment but deserves to be blamed or rebuked.    

The deeds that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) sometimes did and sometimes abandoned are called sunnah ghayr muakkadah, nafilah or mustahab. Prayers of four rak’ahs performed before the afternoon prayer (asr) and night prayer (isha), fasting performed on Monday and Thursday are examples of that type. He who performs those sunnahs deserves thawabs but he who does not perform them does not deserve to be blamed or rebuked. [Zekiyyüddin Şa‘bân, İslâm Hukuk İlminin Esasları (transl. İbrahim Kâfi Dönmez), Ankara 2003, pp. 245-246]. 

According to another classification, sunnah is divided into two as ayni and kifai just like in wajib (fard). When a person or a group of people performs the deeds that are defined as sunnatul-ayn, the responsibility of the other part of the society to perform those deeds will not be lifted. Suunahs are generally ayni. If a deed that is sunnatul-kifaya is performed by a person or a group, the other people are not demanded to perform them. For instance, some people’s calling adhan and iqamah in a town is an example of that type of sunnah. (Badraddin az-Zarkashi, al-Bahrul-Muhit (published by Abdulqadir Abdullah al-Ani), Kuwait 1413/1992, I, 291-292)

(Diyanet İslam Ansiklopedisi, Sünnet Item.)

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