al-Minah al-Aliyya fi Bayan al-Sunan al-Yawmiyya
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- Maktabat Dar al-Hijaz li-l-Nashr wa-l-Tawzi'
al-Minah al-Aliyya fi Bayan al-Sunan al-Yawmiyya (The Sublime Gifts in Explaining the Daily Sunnahs) is a contemporary legal and devotional treatise by the Saudi scholar Abdullah al-Furayh (Abdullah ibn Hammud al-Furayh), dedicated to documenting and categorizing the daily non-obligatory practices and supplications (Sunnah) of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
Background and Purpose
The author completed the preface of the work on 1 Rajab 1442 AH (February 2021 CE). He recorded that he undertook its compilation following the suggestion of a colleague, driven by two primary motives:
- Defending the Prophet ﷺ against contemporary mockery, insults, and defamatory caricatures by elucidating his character, reviving his practical guidance, and encouraging Muslims to embody his daily traditions.
- Addressing the widespread neglect of voluntary practices among Muslims who treat recommended acts with indifference because abandoning them incurs no sin, contrasting this laxity with the zealous adherence of the Companions and early generations (al-Salaf).
Scope and Methodology
In the legal taxonomy of the book, al-Furayh adopts the technical definition of sunnah established by jurists and legal theorists (Usul al-Fiqh), meaning recommended or supererogatory actions (al-mustahabb and al-mandub) whose performance is rewarded and whose omission is not punished.
Methodologically, the author restricted his compilation to practices substantiated by authentic hadith evidence, deliberately omitting acts subject to weak narrations or divergent textual interpretations. He also excluded sunnahs that are contingent on specific geographic locations (such as visiting the Sacred Mosque in Makkah or the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah) or specific functions (such as the actions exclusive to prayer leaders and callers to prayer), focusing instead on habits accessible to every individual in ordinary daily life.
Structure and Contents
The book is organized into two primary divisions:
- Timed Sunnahs (al-Sunan al-Mawquta): Traditions tied to specific times of the day and night, divided into seven successive intervals: before dawn (beginning with waking up, using the tooth-stick [miswak], and morning supplications), dawn (Fajr), mid-morning (Duha), noon (Dhuhr), afternoon (Asr), sunset (Maghrib), and nightfall (Isha), along with the sunnahs of retiring to sleep.
- Untimed Sunnahs (al-Sunan Ghayr al-Mawquta): Recurrent daily practices not bound to a fixed hour, such as the etiquette and sunnahs of eating, drinking, and incidental daily transactions.
Reception
The work received an endorsement by the Saudi jurist Khalid al-Mushayqih, who praised it in a preface for its comprehensive investigation of verified verbal and physical daily sunnahs. Its material has also been utilized in educational training programs and student competitions.
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