السنّة
al-Sunna
The path and example of the Prophet Muhammad, made up of what he said, did, approved or condemned.
What it means
Al-Sunna means a way or a customary practice. In Islamic law it names the example of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him): what he said, what he did, and what he approved or disapproved. It is the second source of Islamic guidance after the Quran, and it is largely known through the hadith, the reports passed down by his Companions. The Quran tells believers, “In the Messenger of God you have a good example” (33:21), and “Whatever the Messenger gives you, take it, and whatever he forbids you, abstain from it” (59:7). Faruqi divides the sunna into three kinds: his words (qawliyya), his deeds (fiʿliyya) and his tacit approvals (taqrīriyya).
Often misunderstood as
The sunna is sometimes treated as a synonym of hadith, although the hadith are the reports and the sunna is the way of life they describe.
What the sources say
Most jurists treat the sunna as an authority that explains the Quran: it details the prayer, the fast, the alms and the pilgrimage. Muslim scholars developed the science of hadith to separate sound reports from weak ones, and the sunna in its legal sense rests on the reports that meet their standards.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 50, listed as AL SUNNAH. The definition is restated here.