The Sunnah of the prophet Muhammad (s) is the second fundamental source for faith and practice in Islam. But while the Qur'an is a handy volume and an easily accessible written document, sunnah is a far less clear-cut term. For some Muslims it might denote, in the first place, the additional ritual prayers before and after the obligatory ones. Others might think of circumsision that is simply called "sünnet" in Turkish. Again others feel reminded of certain ways of behaviour while eating or drinking or doing other things connected with everyday life. Some might immediately associate the term with the numerous volumes of hadîth literature. All these links are of course right but still only part of the whole. Sunna means habit, life example, and in the more technical sense the word is used for the life example of the Prophet Muhammad (s) and the first community of contemporary faithful men and women. Behaviour in everyday life is certainly part of it although external forms of greeting, hospitality, eating, dress etc. were not essentially different from what was practiced in those days. However, the core of the sunnah - and that is where it really is a source that can and should be used as a foundation to solve problems together with the Qur'an - is the general attitude of the Prophet (s) not only while teaching his message but also by gradually educating the people who accepted it and by building up the community.

Nowadays the terms sunna and hadîth are often treated as synonyms because details of the sunnah are known to us mainly through hadîth literature, through the report about the sunnah. But hadîth literature certainly does not give us an overall view of the Prophet's life example but a number of short reports, often arranged according to subjects and issues, that rather look like parts of a jigsaw puzzle and are difficult to put together as long as there is no general idea at least of the outlines of the whole image, and even then there will remain gaps and unclear aspects. Nevertheless, if studied in the context of the Prophet's biography, hadîth literature can help us - not to become copies of the Prophet (s) and his male and female companions but to find approaches to our own questions in the light of his teachings.

When I now try to outline the Prophet's life example, I will not start with the "established" practice of Medina as it is often done, nor with the time of the first revelation, but with his practice already before his appointment to prophecy. Among the characteristics of the young businessman Muhammad there were honesty and sincerity that prompted his collegues to give him the nickname al-Amîn (the Trustworthy), as well as a keen sense for justice that made him commit himself to the cause of hilf al-fudûl, a group of young men who looked after the interest of the poor and underprivileged, trying to guarantee their rights. The Qur'an points to this ethical foundation of his spirituality when it tells people that the prophet is one of them and that they had enough opportunity to know him that could not leave any doubts in the sincerity of his intentions. Later on, the Prophet (s) uses neither miracles nor authoritative statements from the Qur'an to support his arguments against the Quraish but reminds of the fact that they have always known him.

His search took him beyond these characteristics of his. Most of his contemporaries in Mecca practiced polytheism with certain religious privileges for members of some clans. Besides, there were individual Christians in Mecca, among them scholars like Waraqa bin Nawfal, and some Jews. There were also the so-called Hanifs who, without feeling attracted to Judaism or Christianity, searched for a monotheist path, often linked with the tradition of Abraham that, in spite of the widespread polytheism, still had a central role for the Arab tribes. It is very difficult to determine what other religious communities the Quraish came in touch with through their business relations. There were different Christian denominations in Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Ethiopia and Egypt. There were also different traditions within contemporary Judaism. The Arabs certainly were acquainted with Persian Zoroastrianism, and it is quite possible that they met Buddhists who lived in the Persian empire, at least indirectly. They might have known something about their beliefs and the corresponding social systems. Between the two contemporary superpowers and their systems that then began to show signs of desintegration, Mecca was in a position of independence. Thus, religious search did not take place in a vacuum, and this also applies to the search of young Muhammad who had a geneal antipathy against polytheism, religious privileges and social injustice. He was a mature man experienced in econimical and socio-political matters when he, by the age of forty, started to withdraw into solitude in order to fast and to pray. He shared this attitude with his wife Khadija, many years his senior, an experienced businesswoman and committed to the cause of social justice, so it is not surprising that she understood and supported his prophetic task right from the beginning.

Up to this point, it was his own search based on a stable ethical attitude. However, revelation is given; it is nothing that could be caused or made by human efforts like some ekstatic states while, on the other hand, it does not come completely unprepared or without any preceding search and struggle. There are various tendencies in theology to emphasize human efforts or divine grace respectively, but in fact there seems to be a dialogue between God and a human being in which prophetic revelation is an extremely clear and detailed divine address to the person concerned that can only be received by those who are able and ready. For the Prophet Muhammad (s), it was both the answer to a lifelong search and the beginning of a new task in life: to be a teacher for others.

We now have to differentiate between two approaches. One is the education of people to become members of an existing community. When educating children, we usually begin by encouraging them to do what is good and by keeping them away from what is bad and harmful even before they are able to recognize the context. Later on, a child becomes acquainted with ethical values, at first perhaps through stories that illustrate them; gradually he/she learns more about his/her role in the structure of the community, about tact when dealing with each other, and about human responsibility in general, and finally, he/she is prompted to think about the meaning of life. The way the Qur'an is arranged now, it follows a similar method except that it does so in a way that is aimed at adult readers, for commandments and prohibitions are not expressed without their background: they are meant to regulate individual and community life in a way that is supposed to guarantee optimum possibilities for the development of the human potential, and they are explained. The stories told in the Qur'an not only illustrate values and laws but also processes of development and conflicts within the individual and in society. Thus e.g. the story of Adam shows a fundamental human experience of mistake, repentance and forgiveness; the story of Abraham who is about to sacrifice his son shows the inner conflict between one's love for God and one's own interests; the conflict between Moses and Pharao shows the conflict between the intellect and the ego on one level and the political resistance against tyrants on the other, the greater and he lesser jihhad in one story as it were, etc..

The other is the education of human beingswithin an existing but corrupt society for a higher level of wisdom and responsibility so that the individuals thus educated can become the core out of which a new community can grow. This is the line the Prophet (s) followed with his male and female companions (and that mystics in later centuries followed with their students), reflected in the chronological order of the Qur'an that was never quite left out of sight: at least a rudimentary differentiation of Meccan and Medinan text is always given. The links between passages of the text and their historical background are explored, considering the transcendental origin of the former - they are not just documents of an era but speak to the people of that time and beyond.

Thus in the first revealed passages, the Prophet (s) himself is addressed and enjoined to read and to proclaim, in view of the createdness of human beings and the mercy of the Creator who teaches them. Early texts often contain this aspect of gratefulness and a reminder of the human limitation in time and the personal responsibility. We should keep in mind that this text had a central role not only for the Prophet (s) himself but also for the small circle of those whi joined him first: his wife Khadija; his young cousin Ali who grew up in his household, his adopted son Zaid; his friend Abu Bakr etc.. These very first Muslims must have felt equally addressed by these words as the Prophet (s) himself because they did not hesitate to take them to heart, to develop a new spiritual dimension and perspective for themselves and in turn to pass these thoughts and impulses on to their relatives and friends. They were soon joined by quite a number of poor people and slaves but also of young people who started to think for themselves.

Although Mecca was the background for the greater part of the history of Qur'anic revelation, we find only rather few reports about this important phase in hadîth literature and it is therefore not easy to reconstruct the situation of the early Muslims in great detail. The centre of the new community soon was the house of Arqam where Muslims held their meetings. Following the spirit of the first revealed passages, teaching and studying was among the most important activities, obviously not only in the sense of mere reception of informations but linked with experience and a vision of the future as well as a perspective of brotherly relations within the community. I would outline the emphasis at this stage by using two terms that are often mentioned together in the Qur'an and that were formalized in later times:

1. Salâh is today used for ritual prayer, a sequence of recitations from the revealed texts, gestures of acceptance and surrender, the testimony of faith, prayers for blessings on the Prophet (s), praises and supplications. The word, however, is derived from a root that means to connect - this means that the meaning of ritual prayer is to establish or confirm the links with the One God, to turn towards Him, to remember our responsibility before Him and to feel secure in His presence. In the verse quoted above, it says, "It is He who blesses you, and His angels pray for blessings on you ...", and the word for bless used here is the same as the word for pray from the side of the human beings or angels. It would therefore be far from enough to understand ritual prayer only on its formal level. Rather it is a living dialogue between the Creator and the created being that has a certain focus in the five daily ritual prayers but in reality is manifested in every aspect of life.
2. Zakât is today used for a certain percentage of one's property that is given to the poor and needy. As becomes obvious from its semantic field, it is clearly connected with aspects of growth on one hand and purification on the other. During the Meccan time, Zakat was not a formal institution yet because there was no infrastructure for its collection and distribution. What did exist, however, was the attitude of self-purification by giving up the attechment to material wealth and to show gratefulness to God by sharing His gifts with others, and an intuitive solidarity that recognized the needs of others and prompted to help them both materially and with good advice. This in turn was linked with the honesty and reliability in economic matters that was already one of the central characteristics of the Prophet (s) and without that the main problem of exploitation and oppression would continue while any "charity" could be no more than a alleviating treatment of the symptoms.

The experience of the Muslims in Mecca was the experience in a minority situation. It was a challenge for each individual. There were no norms that were checked by "social control" but only a sense of responsibility for values that were to be implemented in everyday behaviour - often enough against the pressure of wider society. To return to the example of zakât: there was no bait al-mâl and no rule of giving 2,5%, but the mutual help worked because the faithful were not concentrated on their own immediate interests but open for the needs of others. Muslims were brothers and sisters who knew and supported each other.

Besides, Muslims were not a minority with claims to certain legal rights but a persecuted minority. Each single day they were exposed to verbal and physical attacks and, as far as they were dependendent on adversaries of Islam as slaves or poor family members, they were tortured and sometimes even killed. Had Islam been no more than an ideological programme, it would not have been possible to live through those years with a sound self esteem. In this context I would like to point back to the example of salâh: the certainty that resulted from that inner link gave courage, strength and patience to the Muslims.

Apart from God's clear injunction there were several reasons for the Prophet (s) and the Muslims finally to leave Mecca. One of them was certainly the persecution that already caused some to emigrate to Abyssinia. The second was an invitation by the people of Yathrib (later Medina) who saw the possibility of the peacemaking intervention by the Prophet (s) as a perspective to end the feud that had exhausted the city for several generation. In this contest there was moreover the possibility to realize a community based on the ethical principles of Islam that considered both the variety and the equality of the citizens. Hijra was no flight but a well-planned emigration.

After the hijra there came, in addition to the spiritual and ethical foundations presented in the Qur'an, examples for practical solutions of human and social problems e.g. in family life, related to external and internal aggression, concerning the coexistence of different religions etc.. As before, the foundation was personal responsibility. Initially it was on the personal level that the Prophet (s) arranged the integration of the Muslims by assigning each one muhâjir (emigrant) to one of the ansar (helpers) as a brother, whereupone everything was shared between the two of them as it was usual in a family, not only material resources but also the knowledge of agriculture (Medina) and business (Mecca) as well as the spiritual foundations and experiences.

While this the vision of an organic unity was realized on the personal level, the same happened on the political level with the constitution of Medina the basic principle of which was cooperation and joint external politics of autonomous tribal units. Decisions were to be made in mutual consultation as it was usual among the contemporaty tribes, something self-evident that is mentioned in Surah 42:38 alongside with salâh and zakât; apart of his task as a spiritual teacher and example, the Prophet (s) was the last instance judge in case of disagreement. The centre of the new, now independent community was the mosque that was not only a place of prayer and study like Darul-Arqam in Mecca but also a shelter for homeless people, students, travellers and liberated male and female slaves, a hospital, a centre for counselling as well as a place for negotiations and the reception of foreign delegations: life as a unity without a separation between the spheres of the "sacred" and the "profane" for all activities are to happen in God's presence. The Prophet (s) said, "Ihsân is that you serve God as if you could see Him, for even though you cannot see Him, He does see you."

Later on there were problems caused by treason and broken treaties, and it is not easy to find satisfactory and efficient solutions for this because the foundation of community life is trust.

The same is true for the conflicts with the Quraish in Mecca. In a privileged situation, it is easy to speak up for "non-violence" in the sense of not using physical violence, but there is always the danger of hypocricy if the fact is forgotten that economical, psychological and social pressure can create an intolerable situation. This is considered in the Qur'an, and people are told to "repel evel with what is better (Surah 41:34-35)" and "to forgive and work for the better (Surah 42:39-43)" as far as they have the necessary inner wealth. Examples from the life of the Prophet (s) are the peace treaty of Hudaibiya that he signed in spite of the conditions that were not favourable for the Muslims in order to end the armed conflict, and the general amnesty after the non-violent opening of Mecca. Within a certain framework, however, it is legitimate to defend oneself and others who suffer injustice; in those cases, the means should be chosen in a such a way that greater harm is avoided and, if possible, reconciliation is achieved.

Both in the Qur'an and in the constitution of Medina, the vision is a constructive coexistence of the religions. Based on the concept of unity, Islam teaches that religion always goes back to the one origin and nucleus (e.g. in Surah 42:13-15) and that the One God revealed Himself to all nations in the past (the relevant traditions speak of thousands of prophets and messengers), as the case may be in very different ways according to the cultural context. It is self-evident that a faithful person bears witness for his/her faith, but beyond that, the Qur'an tells us to look for common grounds with people from other religions - especially our Abrahamic sister religions - and to build up on them (e.g. in Surah 3:64), and in hadî:th literature we find many instances of exchanges between members of the different faith groups. The fact that there were conflicts in Medina because of broken treaties neither means that the Islamic ideals in this respect cannot be realized nor that we should give up any further attempts after these experiences. In fact, there have been models of this kind again and again in Muslim history e.g. with Hindus and Buddhists in the Indian subcontinent, with Jews and Christians in Palestine and Andalusia etc.. Mystics even had much more in mind than constructive coexistence: the discovery of divine revelation in the spirituality of the other religion. The most well-known written testimony is perhaps the dialogue between Darah Shikoh and the yogi Baba Lal Das.

For a modern Western observer, such a link between spirituality and politics might be difficult to understand. The reason for this may be that again and again in history religious slogans and doctrines have been used as a pretext for power politics (this is true for any religion and ideology). The Islamic understanding of politics corresponds to the original Greek one in the sense of "community building". The condition is not just any network of relationships between people but also thoughts about a balanced justice aiming at peace that is more than armed neutrality. It is no coincidence that Islâm, surrender to God, is related to Salâm, peace, and with a root that means "to be whole, to be complete". Just as an individual has to travel through verious stages in order to come to peace with him/herself, the environment and the Creator, society has to go through various stages of development. Thus the term dîn, often translated as religion, actually denotes a network of relations with mutual rights and duties; dayyân is, both in Arabic and in Hebrew, the judge who restores the balance of justice; and Madîna is the state as the implemented system of these relations. "The community," said the Prophet (s), "is like a body: when one member is ill, all others suffer as well" The necessary link between spirituality is that ethical values are realized in community life with insight and responsibility while human life is not split up into different spheres but experienced as one. However, this also implies the resistance against tyrants with the trust in God - especially if they misuse religious terms as slogans for their own purposes. This is is the "most excellent jihâd" that demands insight and a well developed feeling for ethical values as well as discipline, self-knowledge and inner wealth.

While the existing arrangement of the Qur'anic test has an educational value for all human beings that grow into the Muslim community, the example of the Prophet (s) and the chronological order of the revealed Text is important for spiritual unfolding and wisdom. Here, the Prophet (s) is the guide for the spiritual teacher who, within the ethico-legal framework, wakens the ability of his/her students to refine their ethical consciousness, to unfold their human potential, to sharpen their intellect, to bear their responsibility in God's presence, to make meaningful decisions, to look beyond their own interests and to remain in a constant dialogue with the Source of all Being. That is why a faithful person's love for God is linked with the love for His messenger who shows this way and who is connected with us through our common humanity.

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