One day, Ya'ala Ibn Umayyah asked Umar Ibn al-Khattab to show him the Prophet (peace be upon him) while revelation descended. The opportunity arose during a journey for Umrah, when a man asked the Messenger about entering Ihram heavily perfumed. The Prophet stayed silent, and then revelation came. Ya'ala looked beneath a shade covering the Messenger and saw his face flushed and heard him breathing heavily with a snoring sound. Afterward, the Prophet told the questioner: "Wash off the perfume that is on you three times, remove your cloak, and do during your Umrah what you do during your Hajj." This hadith is recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.
Sunnah as Divine Revelation
The Prophet (peace be upon him) did not speak from personal desire. Allah declared in the Qur'an: "Nor does he speak from [his own] inclination. It is not but a revelation revealed" (Surah al-Najm, 3-4). The Sunnah, therefore, is an integral part of the Reminder sent down to the Prophet, as Allah says: "And We revealed to you the message [the Reminder] that you may make clear to the people what was sent down to them" (Surah al-Nahl, 44). The Prophet himself said: "I have left among you two things after which you will never go astray as long as you hold fast to them: the Book of Allah and my Sunnah. They will never separate until they meet me at the Prophet's Basin" (narrated by al-Hakim).
Because Allah guaranteed the preservation of the Reminder, as He said: "Indeed, it is We who sent down the message and indeed, We will be its guardian" (Surah al-Hijr, 9), the Ummah received a complete system for safeguarding the Prophetic words. The Prophet (peace be upon him) urged his Companions to memorise and convey his teachings, saying: "Let those who are present convey it to those who are absent, for perhaps the one to whom it is conveyed will understand it better than the one who heard it directly" (narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim). He also promised a bright life to anyone who transmits a Hadith: "May Allah grant brightness and beauty to a person who hears a Hadith from us, memorises it, and conveys it to others" (narrated by Abu Dawud).
The Companions' Devotion to Preservation
The Companions responded with extraordinary dedication. Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet once said: "No one will spread out his garment until I finish this speech of mine and then gather it to himself except that he will retain everything I say." Abu Hurairah spread his cloak and, after the speech, gathered it to his chest. He later said, "I never forgot a single word from that speech of the Messenger of Allah" (narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim). Similarly, Abdullah Ibn Amr was keen to write down everything he heard. He related: "The Quraish discouraged me, saying, 'Do you write down everything you hear, when the Messenger of Allah is a human being who speaks in times of anger and joy?' So I stopped. Later, the Prophet pointed to his mouth and said: 'Write! For by the One in Whose hand is my soul, nothing comes out of it except the truth!'" (narrated by Abu Dawud).
At the same time, the Prophet warned sternly against false attribution: "A lie against me is not like a lie against anyone else. Whoever intentionally fabricates a lie against me, let him take his place in the Fire" (narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim). It was this seriousness that led the Companions to transmit with precision. Among the most prolific narrators were Abu Hurairah, Abdullah Ibn Umar, Anas Ibn Malik, Aisha, Abdullah Ibn Abbas, Jabir Ibn Abdullah, and Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with them all).
The Tabi'un and the Written Record
The generation that followed, the Tabi'un, received the Sunnah from the Companions through both listening and writing. Sa'id Ibn Jubair said: "I used to listen to Hadith from Ibn Umar and Ibn Abbas at night, and I would write it down" (narrated by al-Darimi). Bashir Ibn Nahik described how he wrote down what he heard from Abu Hurairah and then read the book back to him, and Abu Hurairah confirmed it. Ma'ruf al-Khayyat also saw Wathilah Ibn al-Asqa dictating hadiths while people wrote them down. These efforts led to the multiplication of booklets and the strengthening of the chain of narration.
The first major official compilation came under the caliph Umar Ibn Abdul'aziz, who wrote to Abubakar Ibn Amr Ibn Hazm, governor of Madinah: "Look for whatever there is of the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah, or his Sunnah, and write it down for me, for I fear the fading of knowledge and the passing away of the Islamic scholars" (narrated by Malik). Ibn Shihab az-Zuhri, a leading scholar of the time, said: "Umar Ibn Abdul'aziz commanded us to collect the Sunan; so we wrote them down volume by volume, and he sent a volume to every land over which he had authority" (narrated by Ibn Abdul-Barr).
The Science of Hadith: Protecting the Sunnah
Following the initial recording, scholars in the second century AH began to classify and codify the hadiths with their chains of narration. When fabricators and people of innovation emerged, the scholars established rules to distinguish authentic reports from false ones. They developed the sciences of al-Jarh wat-Ta'dil, scrutinised the reliability of narrators, and made the Isnad an integral part of the religion. Muhammad Ibn Sirin advised: "Indeed, this knowledge is religion, so look to whom you take your religion from." Abdullah Ibn Mubarak added: "The chain of narration is part of the religion; were it not for the Isnad, anyone who wished could say whatever they wanted."
The result is that no nation in history has preserved the words and actions of its Prophet as meticulously as the Muslim Ummah. Even a prominent orientalist critic of Islam admitted: "The Muslims are justified in taking pride in their science of Hadith." The Ummah recorded not just the Prophet's sermons and legal rulings, but also his smiling, weeping, laughter, food, drink, and even the names of his riding animals, transmitting them through connected chains of narration.
Living the Sunnah in Daily Life
Following the Sunnah is a core duty in Islam. It protects the heart from doubt, keeps the believer on the straight path, and demonstrates sincere love for Allah. The Qur'an commands obedience to the Messenger, and the Prophet's way remains a divine guide. Simple acts such as smiling, eating with the right hand, saying the supplications for waking and sleeping, treating neighbours with kindness, speaking good or remaining silent, showing mercy to the young and old, performing the regular Sunnah prayers, and visiting the sick are all part of the blessed Sunnah.
The sermon concluded with heartfelt prayers for the Muslim Ummah, including those in Nigeria and Gaza, and a plea for Allah to preserve the religion and grant security. The sermon was delivered by Murtadha Muhammad Gusau, Chief Imam of Nagazi-Uvete Jumu'ah and the late Alhaji Abdur-Rahman Okene's Mosques, Okene, Kogi State, Nigeria. It was prepared for Friday, Safar 16, 1448 AH (July 31, 2026).
