Imam Shafii said that those who do not accept the sunnah (practices and rules derived from the Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) habits and words) either reject the sunnah as a proof or reject the bindingness of the “al-khabar al-khassa (the genuine news).” In addition to those who fully reject the sunnah as a proof, there are groups that only accept it on certain topics or accept it when it is in agreement with proofs of the Quran and reason.

According to Sunni scholars, the sunnah is proof of knowing Allah’s commands. The sunnah can be proof of knowing the command from its manifestation, discovery or sign. The sunnah, being an absolute proof of knowing Allah’s commands, is only possible with the “purity” of the Prophet and the protected status of his sunnah.

For this reason, in order to determine the value and obligation of the sunnah, it is necessary to put forth his source or, in other words, determine the sources of the Prophet’s knowledge and, in particular, how the sunnah/revelation relationship was understood during the age of hadith (sayings of the Prophet) transmission.