اتباع سنت

Abu Najih al-Irbad ibn Sariyah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) once delivered a deeply moving admonition that made hearts fearful and eyes overflow with tears. We said: "O Messenger of Allah, this is like the admonition of one bidding farewell, so give us a counsel." He said: "I counsel you to fear Allah and to listen and obey (that is, to heed the command of your leader and act upon it), even if an Abyssinian slave is appointed over you. (Remember!) Whoever among you lives after me will see much disagreement. So hold fast to my Sunnah and the way of the rightly-guided caliphs; cling to it with your teeth, and beware of newly-invented matters in religion (bid'ah), for every innovation is misguidance." (Sunan Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi)

Besides adopting piety and obedience to the leader, this hadith urges following the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the Sunnah of the rightly-guided caliphs, and it also emphasises avoiding innovation. Moreover, in this noble hadith the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) foretold that the Ummah would fall into disputes, and at the same time pointed out the correct path: that in this age of disagreement, salvation lies only in adopting my Sunnah and the way of the rightly-guided caliphs. Outwardly it seems that this noble hadith refers to our very own age, for today the Ummah is in disarray and its people are at each other's throats. Would that Muslims today accept this Prophetic standard as the one and only criterion! May Allah grant us all the ability to understand the true religion and to follow the true Sunnah (Ameen).