There is no substitute for the Sunnah

بسم الله والحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله ، وبعد

Do not abandon the Sunnah or substitute it with something YOU might feel is “better”, nor should you abandon it only because YOU could not understand the reason behind it.

Narrated Zaid bin Aslam from his father who said: `Umar bin Al-Khattaab رضي الله عنه addressed the Corner (Black Stone) saying: ❝By Allaah! I know that you are a stone and can neither benefit nor harm. Had I not seen the Prophet ﷺ touching (and kissing) you, I would never have touched (and kissed) you.❞ 

Then he kissed it and said: ❝There is no reason for us to do Ramal (i.e. rapid walking for men in the first three rounds around the Ka`bah during Tawaaf) except that we wanted to show off before the pagans, and now Allaah has destroyed them.❞

`Umar added: ❝(NEVERTHELESS), THE PROPHET ﷺ DID THAT AND WE DO NOT WANT TO LEAVE IT (i.e. Ramal).❞

📚 [Saheeh al-Bukhaaree (1605)]

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📑 NOTE:

🌟 1) `Umar رضي الله عنه kissed the Black Stone even though he knew that it could neither harm nor benefit anyone. He saw the Prophet ﷺ doing it, and that was enough a reason for him to do it.

🌟 2) Regarding Ramal, even though the reason behind it was to show to the Mushriks that the climate of Madeenah had not weakened the Muslims physically. After the conquest of Makkah, and especially during the Khilaafah of `Umar, there were no Mushriks left in Makkah, yet they did the Ramal, in obedience to the Prophet’s Sunnah, even though the reason behind it was not there.

🔥 3) These are two important points to remember because when a way has been prescribed in the Sunnah then our logic cannot supersede it. I have personally heard people raise rhetorical questions to justify using logic over religious edicts repeatedly over the years. Now I am not reluctant to call it a trend. Example: If we found an alternative way to do Dhabeehah slaughter that caused less pain for the animal and drained more blood, would we adopt that method of ritual slaughter? In this particular case, the asker was advocating that indeed we should as it would meet the aims that we know about relating to the said slaughter. In reality, this is an arrogant thought because such thought stems out of the propaganda that the Islaamic method of slaughtering is barbaric and cruel while the "Western" method is less painful to the animals. Do these Muslims forget that the Prophet ﷺ was sent as a Mercy and that he ﷺ instructed to sharpen the knives and to avoid slaughtering one animal in front of the other? Had there been any method less painful to the animals, don't you think he ﷺ would have employed it?

🚩 This does not mean that we cannot use technology if it serves the same purpose. Example: using loudspeakers while giving Adhaan, or using cars and others vehicles as means of transportation instead of horses and camels.