The Sunni School of Islam Is Not Perfect Either

I have seen many sunni commentators online preach the message of Islam. When confronted with a question about Shia Islam or Muslims, they passingly exclude Shia Islam from the fold of Islam regulating them as a fringe offshoot of Islam that should not be considered as a serious option for a Muslim. I have dedicated this blog to pointing out many of the superstitions and bidda in creed that many Shias (often amateur theologians) choose to follow. However, the Sunni school of thought has several and many large pitfalls that plague it at almost every corner. Problems that are often much more serious than the shia school I would argue. I will highlight some examples here. Does this mean Sunnis are not real muslims? No. Does this mean all Sunnis should become Shias? Again, no. Allah swt in the Quran has stated:

And We gave them clear proofs of the matter [of religion]. And they did not differ except after knowledge had come to them – out of jealous animosity between themselves. Indeed, your Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that over which they used to differ.

45:17 وَآتَيْنَاهُم بَيِّنَاتٍ مِّنَ الْأَمْرِ فَمَا اخْتَلَفُوا إِلَّا مِن بَعْدِ مَا جَاءَهُمُ الْعِلْمُ بَغْيًا بَيْنَهُمْ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ يَقْضِي بَيْنَهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ فِيمَا كَانُوا فِيهِ يَخْتَلِفُونَ

Here I will simply list off a few examples where Sunnis have deviated from the path.

1. The idea of a Caliph: here, Sunnis are completely inconsistent with who can become a caliph, with what standard, and what authority a caliph has. Sunnis are completely vague on this topic, and this has lead them to believe one must follow the religious rulings of a caliph, a caliph that can be elected by a small group of individuals, the prior caliph, or self appoint himself caliph. This person can change religious laws as taught by Allah in the Quran (ie. muttah, or the edict to live in peace with non-muslims, etc). This has lead to absurd results. Also most sunnis, despite following their caliph rulings and authority as divine (even allowing these ruling to abrogate prior rulings made by Allah swt), they will then flip-flop and allow some to go to war against a caliph – i.e. Aisha RA or Mu’awiah – and still consider them to be leaders of their madhab. But when a muslim only disagrees that Abu Bakr should not have been leader, he is labelled as a rejecter or a shia. What’s more, sunnis base almost half of their theology on the religious hadith’s transmitted Aisha or Abu Hurairah which neither is fit to lead. A woman for example, even our mother, can only count as 1/2 of a witness. And Abu Hurairah’s real name is unknown and was declared a liar by Aisha ra. The position of exactly what is a caliph, and what religious authority they hold is vague, and has lead to Fitnahs and tyrants among the ummah, causing the muslim nation to be dis-united until today. Imam Ali as, believed he should have been caliph, however no shia ever questions Imam Ali’s decision to pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr to keep the ummah together. The sunnis on the other hand seem the sanction or at the least follow those who caused Fitnahs against the caliph Ali. Very confusing and does not provide a clear answer for a religion that should have nothing but clear answers. Is is possible that a small group of elites sought leadership for personal gain rather than what was best for the Islamic ummah? We see in sunni history, that is the norm. Following corrupt leaders blindly in matters of religion, and we see that until today. Many sunnis are not even allowed to question the authority of Mu’awiah or Yazid, even today. Rather, they state that it is in Allah’s hands, with no quranic authority. Did not the people of the book become mislead after receiving the clear message due to corruption? These matters should be reconsidered and discussed.
2. On what authority can Sunnis follow hadiths? Sunnis all the time question Shias regarding their belief in the authority of Ali (as) and his progeny as the rightful caliphs/Imams after our holy prophet (saw). However, what religious basis is there to follow hadiths? And if so, who can narrate these hadiths? The quran is clear in its banning of hadiths. The Quran states, “And recite (and teach) what has been revealed to thee of the Book of thy Lord: none can change His Words, and none wilt thou find as a refuge other than Him.” (18:27). Allah swt further states in the Quran, “But there are, among men, those who purchase idle tales, without knowledge (or meaning), to mislead (men) from the Path of Allah and throw ridicule (on the Path): for such there will be a Humiliating Penalty.” (31:6). Allah further states, “Say (O Muhamad), ”I’m not any different from other Messengers. I’ve no idea what will happen to me, or to you! I only follow what is revealed to me; I am not more than a clear warner.”(46:9). “Those are the signs of Allah that We recite to you with the Truth. In which hadith then, after Allah and His signs, (will) they believe?” (45:6) In Sahih Muslim narrated on the authority of Abu Said Al Khudri, the prophet said “Don’t write about me and anything written about me other than in the Quran should be erased” and in the Sunnan of Al Tirmidhi also on the authority of Abu Said Al Khudri, “We asked the Prophet permission to write and he declined” and Ahmed Ibn Hanbal in his Musnad narrated from Abu Huraira said when the Prophet heard what they were writing he became angry and said “Books other than the book of God? Praise the book of God and be faithful to it”. Abu Hurairah said we gathered everything we had written in one pile and set it on fire. Despite the prophet’s censure of writing the Hadith, there are accounts that champion their writing. Here, we see, from first the Quran, and then from Sahih Muslim itself, and even in Al Tirmidhi narrated by Abu Hurairah, that the Prophet Muhammad (saw) banned any writings other than the quran. So on what authority do sunnis write hadith? Even Omar is reported to have called Abu Huraira a liar, and to stop spreading lies about our dear Prophet. Abu Hurairah has narrated most hadiths that sunnis follow today. The second most is from Aisha, a woman who is unfit to lead men, yet leads the sunni madhab. She refers to Abu Hurairah as a liar, and Abu Hurairah refers to her as a liar. Yet, they are both upheld as leaders in Sunni religious law.
3. The insane history of hadiths. Hadiths were first recorded under the rule of khalifa Omar Ibn Abdel-Aziz (101 AH). It took over 100 years after our prophet’s hijrah for the ban to be lifted. In a letter to Abu Bakr b. Hazm, ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz commanded that hadiths from the Prophet (s) be transcribed. ( Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, vol. 1, p. 33.). Before that, since the caliphate of Abu Bakr, the policy of banning the transcription of hadiths was enforced, and thus, people were prohibited from transcribing hadiths from the Prophet (s).(Dhahabī, Tadhkirat al-huffāẓ, vol. 1, p. 11-12.). To give you some numbers; about 5374 hadiths (with over 500,000 chain narration) are said to be narrated from Abu Hurairah. Roughly 2000 are said to be narrated from Aisha. Despite all the prior rulers banning hadiths and even burning them, suddenly, over a hundred years later when the ban was lifted, we see hundreds of thousands of hadiths all pop up, and then many books and notebooks appeared containing hadith, e.g. Ibn Greeg, Malik Ibn Anas, Mohammed Ibn Is’haq. The most famous from among these were the book of Malik Ibn Anas, (Al-Muwattaa) which had about 500 hadith. At the end of the second century, the books known as ‘Masaned’ appeared, e.g. the Masnad of Ahmed Ibn Hanbal that has about 40,000 hadith. In the first half of the third century, the famous six books of hadith appeared. These are the books used by the scholars today. 1- Sahih Bukhari. 2- Sahih Muslem. 3- Sunan Abu Daoud. 4-Sunan Al-Termezhy. 5-Sunan Al-Nesaay. 6- Sunan Ibn Mageh. (1) Malik Ibn Anas collected about 500 hadith in his famous book, Al-Muwattaa. (2) Ahmed Ibn Hanbal, collected about 40,000 hadith, in his famous Musnad. He chose these 40,000 hadith from among 700,000 hadith. In other words he thought 660,000 hadith were un-proven, lies and/or fabrications and the others may be authentic. That means 94% were lies and fabrications. (3) Bukhari collected about 600,000 hadith. He accepted 7275 hadith and considered 592,725 hadith to be un-proven hadith, lies and/or fabrications. In other words, 99% of what he collected were considered unauthentic. (4) Muslem collected 300,000 hadith. He accepted 4000 of them and rejected 296,000, that is, almost 99% were rejected. This gives us an idea of how much corruption entered or tried to enter Islam from the back door. And the story only get weirder from here when it comes to hadith history.
4. Ridiculous hadiths: The punishment for adultery is death in the Sunni madhab, but only 100 lashes in the Quran. ‘Ubada b. as-Samit reported that Allah’s apostle said that the punishment of adultery in case of married persons is one hundred lashes and then stoning (to death). (Muslim Book 17, Number 4192). Apparently despite us having to guard our privates, the prophet is said in Bukhari to have visited all of his wives in one round, and had the sexual stamina of 30 men. Anas bin Malik said, “The Prophet used to visit all his wives in a round, during the day and night and they were eleven in number.” I asked Anas, “Had the Prophet the strength for it?” Anas replied, “We used to say that the Prophet was given the strength of thirty (men).” And Sa’id said on the authority of Qatada that Anas had told him about nine wives only (not eleven). (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 5, Number 268). Apparently prayer is haram during certain times of day – narrated Abdullah: “I heard the prophet forbidding the offering of prayers at the time of sunrise and sunset.” (Bukhari, Volume 2, Book 26, Number 695). There are almost an unlimited amount of other “sahih” hadiths that slander the prophet (saw). One hadith narrates that our holy prophet (saw) advised would be converts to drink camel urine. In another hadith, it is narrated that women are crooked, and in yet another it is said that our prophet (saw) that barren women are useless like a used mop. Another states, that we are not to urinate while standing, and in another it states don’t urinate while sitting. There is a hadith that states don’t drink while standing, and if you forget to vomit what you drank. Another states that a prayer is void if a black dog, donkey, or woman pass in front of you, and so on and so forth. This shameful list of “sahih” hadith is only the tip of the iceberg of what some uneducated and unwise sunnis follow.
5. The prophet Muhammad is the best of prophets. Sunnis believe in this concept. Yet the Quran states, “Say (O Muhamad), ”I’m not any different from other Messengers. I’ve no idea what will happen to me, or to you! I only follow what is revealed to me; I am not more than a clear warner.’” (46:9). (See also 2:285). Allah makes it clear there is no distinction between prophet Muhammad saw and other prophets. The hadith create a different story and different creed.
6. The position of women in Islam and the marriage age. I can never understand why sunnis today feel it is okay to follow the “hadiths” narrated by Aisha. Women are known to all muslim sects as being incapable to leading muslims in religious matters. The quran in fact states that two women witnesses are needed to equal that of one man. Yet, Aisha has narrated thousands of hadiths, which are believed, spread, and followed by sunnis today. For example, there is the hadith where Aisha is said to have described marrying our holy prophet saw at the age of 6, and consummating this marriage at the age of 9! (Sahih al-Bukhari 5134). I do not think our prophet, whom himself married in his med 20s, to an older woman, would be with a 9 year old sexually. A 9 year old is a child. Today, all over the world non-muslims write off Islam as being an evil religion, because its founder is reported to have married a 9 year old. The amount of people that could have converted if this hadith was never invented would never be known. Most of the criticisms of Islam, mainly stem from the illogical hadiths and edicts found in sunni Islam, which has spawned an innumerable amount of weird offshoots and beliefs.
7. The plague of Sufi’sm. Sunnis cannot deny that Sufi’sm is a sunni offshoot, that could only have started as early in Islamic history as it did, thanks to the confusion brought on by the sunni sect. Sufis simply believe that anyone of good moral character, if he works on his spirituality enough, can receive and accept divine guidance and powers. This divine guidance then can be relayed and taught to other muslims to widen the scope of Islam. This heresy had a precedent in Islam, and that is the Sunni concept of caliphite. Sunni caliphs are non-prophets, non-divinely appointed, yet they attained a special status among muslims, enough to be able to abrogate and create laws. Sufis are just doing the same thing in their minds.
8. An important concept of Sunni Islam is what has known as “the law of abrogation.” It is called naskh. This has allowed Sunnis to reinterpret portions of the Quran that were vague to contradict verses in the Quran that were clear. Allah states, “There is no compulsion in religion.” (Surah 2:256). Yet, sunnis, at the direction of fallible caliphs, have decided that other unclear verses abrogate this, and it is a muslim’s job to go around the world fighting jews, christians, and idol worshipers to force them to submit them to Islam. This is inconsistent not justified in light of the above verse, rather many verses in the Quran which order muslims to live in peace and maintain treaties, and how our greatest friends will be christians. How do sunni’s justify this? Will a sunni state that some muslims leaders wanted conquest for financial gain? If so, why do sunni’s obtain their entire shariah from fallible rulers?
9. The abrogation of mutta. Mutta existed as a means for muslim men, who do not have the financial means to get married, to find a temporary partner among the women in Islam that may not be chaste among the slaves or among others that have a capacity to marry themselves. Allah in the Quran states, “Also (prohibited are) women already married, except those whom your right hands possess: Thus hath Allah ordained (Prohibitions) against you: Except for these, all others are lawful, provided ye seek (them in marriage) with gifts from your property,- desiring chastity, not lust, seeing that ye derive benefit from them, give them their dowers (at least) as prescribed; but if, after a dower is prescribed, agree Mutually (to vary it), there is no blame on you, and Allah is All-knowing, All-wise.” (4:24). Omar Ibn Khattab outlawed this on his own, with no direction from Allah. On what basis can Omar, a non-prophet, and a non divinely appointed leader, change the rule of Allah in the Quran?

It is true, Shia Islam has many issues within it, and these issues are being debated among scholars. We all should speak out against the mainstream shia ideologies that have become widespread, in a respectful manner. However, sunni Islam as well has at least an equal amount of issues, I would argue much more. At least a wise shia can find the truth as narrated by the pure Imams. Sunni Islam maybe not as much. This has lead to the people blindly following whatever their governments tell them to do, because in sunni Islam, your religious leadership is your government – (unless that leader is the 4th caliph Ali (as), or the 5th caliph Hassan (as). However, I must state, the sunnis school has one advantage, its books are so nonsensical so the followers end up sticking purely to the Quran, and this has lead most sunnis to a good and acceptable path. The shias are far behind in this regard. I will continue to focus my writings mainly upon the shia madhab, and the work it has to get done. This article is only to serve as a reminder to those sunnis that your madhab is divided, and needs leadership upon the good straight path as well.

Sunnis, by their own creed, must follow their political leaders, who are not the most learned in religion, as their religious leaders too. The West sees muslims as stupid, short sighted, unable to lead, unable to progress, unable to invent anything, unable to lift themselves out of poverty and war, and most of all weak. A small nation like Israel can subjugate the entire sunni Arab world. This is because sunnis, in their school, have accepted corrupted leaders as part of Islamic orthodoxy and creed, so the future has played out exactly this way. Of course some sunni sects have minimized this effect, by following the example of Hussein (as) and the people of the house such as Hassan (as), and others from the ahlul bayt. These sunnis are on the straight path and should work to reform their madhab. At its core, I believe sunni Islam, and shia Islam can merge under the guidance of the sunnah and ahlul bayt – which can be found under both schools.

These glaring issues are only the tip of the iceberg of what sunnis have to work on. As I learn, I will update this article or write a new article. Like shias, sunnis will follow certain hadiths they like, and discard others they don’t like. This is hardly a coherent school for the masses to follow towards justice. There are many trying to reform the sunni school, as well as many trying to reform the shia school. The reformed ideas of those with understanding, we’ll see the schools merge in their understanding of fiqh and aqeeda on the straight path inshallah.

Update: I have updated this article many times as my knowledge expands. Please do not take offense to anything I have written, as I am still learning different facts and perspectives. In fact, I have come to appreciate the ahlul sunna wa jemaha much more.