Debate
Debate Question: How much of the sunnah* can we practice in today’s day and age?
Intro:
We know that the Qur’an was revealed 1400 years ago. The Qur’an obliges all Muslims to take Muhammed (pbuh) as an example for all aspects of their lives. But, the reality of the days then must have been very different to how it is now.
In light of this, how much of the prophet’s life can we emulate? What are the differences between these two periods? What practical problems would we encounter if we were to perfectly imitate all the things that he (pbuh) did?
Here are some arguments I’ve come across over the years. Please post some of your own arguments. Everyone is free to comment. Try to be brief though. 
Argument 1:
We must all emulate the prophet as much as possible even if we can’t see the relevance of some of the actions of the prophet to our lives. Allah (swt) said ‘he is the best example’ to be imitated . Muslims must take this command of Allah’s seriously and not be picky about what aspects of the sunnah we should take. We should take it all. This means, we should dress like the prophet, appear like him, and conduct our affairs exactly in the same manner as he did. So what if people find our appearance strange, or outdated!
Argument 2:
I disagree. It matters very much if people see us as ‘strange’ because in this day and age we are labelled as ‘extremists’ for just having a beard. For those who live in the West we know how non-Muslims perceive us. As a Muslim living in the West its very difficult for us to get a job or to go about in the community. We need to follow the sunnah but not everything. Time has changed, and so we need change with the time. We should embrace all the good things that comes from the West. I don’t think the Qur’an saids anything against modernization or progression. For God’s sake, this is the 21st century, lets let go of the camel days!
Argument 3:
Whether it’s the ’21st century’ or the 31st century, the sunnah will be always applicable to our reality no matter where we live. We need to understand what sunnah means though. There are things in the sunnah all Muslims must take no matter where they (like obligations and prohibitions), there are other things which we have a choice whether to emmulate or not. Having said that, we should try to learn about the sunnah of the prophet and apply them as much as we can even if they are not obligatory. Hey, you don’t have to look like an ‘extremist’ or take everything from the sunnah blindly!
* Sunnah means the words, actions and the consents of the prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
I think, we need to reform either the Muslims or Islam.
Bismillahirahmanrahem, I don’t literally by the assumptions of the aforementioned ends of the spectrum for some reasons.For one, according to Abdulhamid(who wrote crises in the Muslims mind, PhD) there are points worth mentioning concerning a total taqlid or imitation.For instance,I don’t necessarily have to be married to four or perhaps nine the way the prophet did(PBUH).According to him, we also need to take in to account what is going on all around us, that’s according to many, called Iqr’a learning and engaging in Tefekur.Therefore, in light of the these arguments, I think the possible solution would be focusing the basics of Islamic creed including the sunnah, as well as the present.
R Prophet s.a.w. said (meaning)if u hold on to 2 thing n u will never astray; Quran Sunnah..
Prophet s.a.w. was a living example of Quran as narrated by Ummul mominin Syda Aisha r.a..This means that u cannot ignore or bypass Sunnah.The real spirit of Islam lies in practicing Sunnah. All aspects of life r explain only through Sunnah..The Prophet never did or say anything of his own accord,it was revealed by Allaah s.w.t….Actually we r so overwhelmed by the western ways that we have become a dumb community and lost r wits and intelligence….R thinking has restricted to ,how to be acceptable in the modern society, oblivious of the consequences..We r stuck up in the dress and other fashions,instead of progressing in education n technology…My brothers n sisters !u can wear what ever u please as long as it satisfy the code of ‘sutr’..If u claim to be true believers this will never fall hard on u..
Rejoice my Muslim sisters n brothers, we r followers of a deen chosen by Allaah s.w.t. for whole of mankind..so feel eliated n proud that we r Muslims..r deen is a complete package that is going to lead us to a path where inshAllaah we will meet r Ever Benevolent n Most Exalted Allaah s.w.t n we will drink AbeKauser from the hands of r Prophet..So be proud to behave like a true Muslim dress like a Muslim n lead a true Muslim life…STUDY UR DEEN!
I think the line of argument is not about as to whether we have to follow what we were told(In fact, by Allah(sw)that we wateollah weatioresul)as command by our creater and sustainer.Howevere, the point being, apart from what Allah wants and of course commanded us to do, should we adhere to the “EVERY THINGS” of the prophit(pbuh).This may include issues of marrying up to nine;to wear the sandals that the prophit used to put on; and a number of other things that we may aspire to do, but in actual-time and space- constraints it does not hold and in most cases not materialised.
Indeed, its true that the point of departure for may sectrian division now a days is mainly the tradition of the prophit not really Qura’n.
Generally speaking,one has to bear in mind the time and space dimmenssion of the tradition of the prophit.That does not, however means that the basics-those that we can not compromise-should be contested.