Review of the Faculty of Divinity University of Süleyman Demirel

Abstract

The Koran is the fundamental source of Islam. The duty of announcing it, tebyin, inculcating, and representing through experience belongs to Muhammad, first, and then to his Muslim ummah. The Prophet carried out this duty, put the theory into practice, transmitted his sunnah, which is the result of his endeavour to understandand practice the Koran, to the Muslims, and shuffled off this mortal coil. Muhammad lived up to the Koran, which he announced and declared, and he never spoke against it. In this respect, the Koran and sunnah are an inseparable whole like “flesh and nail”. If the Koran is a flower bud, “sünnet-i seniyye” is its state of “rose in blossom.” Authentic sunnah is Koran’s “nebevî tefsir” and opening to the life. If the Koran is the constitutional law, authentic sunnah is the law in keeping with the constitutional law. In this respect, when the principles of both sources are correctly understood, there is not any problem that Muslims will not solve.
This article discussed the “individual, social, and universal dimensions” of Muhammad’s sunnah that becomes ethical with the ethics of Koran, turns it to life, and for this reason, is called “living Koran.” This article discussed the “individual , social, and universal dimensions” of sunnah of Muhammad who becomes ethical with the ethics of Koran, turns it to life, and for this reason, is called “living Koran.” The reason is that, in the scientific studies conducted until today, “individual dimension of sunnah” has generally been brought to forefront; however, the other two dimensions imposing Muslims important duties and requirements have been ignored to a large extent. For this reason, the main purpose of the study has been to draw attention to the “social and universal dimensions of the sunnah” and to contribute that they are understood correctly and that the Muslim's concepts of sunnah are formed positively. In the study, concerning the methodology, the Koran, being in the first place, and the sources of history, prophetic biography, and main hadith sources addressing the life of Muhammad were used as references. When three dimensions of the sunnah were identified, reports in these sources were analysed, the topic was examined under three separate titles, and the study was satisfied with a limited number of examples in order not to compel the volume of the article. The reason is that there have been several individual, social, and universal sunnahs that the Prophet introduced during his 23 years-long risâlah.
In the article, it was concluded that a lot of duties fall on the Ummah of Muhammed that is in charge of obeying and keeping up with the Prophet. The Believers are obliged to learn social and universal dimensions of the sunnah of the üsve-i hasene Prophet and to find solutions to the material and spiritual problems of both their own and the whole of humanity. The Believers are obliged to struggle against and find substantial and permanent solutions to “war, persecution, exploitation, starvation, famine, oppression, torture, and environmental issues continuing at a social, regional, and universal scale” with a new interpretation by considering all the principles and objectives that the sunnah represents. If the Believers find “only the individual sunnahs” adequate but neglect the regional and universal dimensions of the sunnah, they cannot find relief from the problems that they are in, cannot be the hope of the oppressed in the world, cannot powerfully reestablish the Islam civilization, and lose the qualification to “be good ummah”. The reason is that every Muslim has to aim for the true path for all humanity together with the true path for himself to struggle for the sake of Allah with his life and property for this aim, announce and represent Islam like the companions of Prophet Muhammad, to ensure peace and justice in the world, and to transform the Prophet’s sunnah into “a model that the humanity will take as an example”.