Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Question

1. What is meant by اعتاد ترك السنة or habitually leaving a Sunna (Mu’akkada)? What does “habitual” mean?
2. What constitutes habitually leaving a Jama‘a (which is a Sunna Mu’akkada)?
3. What does “habitual” mean practically? How is it defined in the Hanafi books? For example, is this habitual if I don’t cover my head for 3 weeks, then cover it for 3 weeks and alternate every three weeks?
4. More specifically, how does the definition of “habitual” apply to leaving jama‘a (a Sunna Mu’akkada)? Does it refer to leaving a specific prayer habitually or more generally and holistically in the context of all jama‘a? If I attend all jama‘a but leave Fajr jama‘a 2 or 3 days in a row, is that what “habitual” means? Jazakum Allah

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.

Leaving out a sunna once without a valid excuse is mildly disliked (makruh tanzihan) and entails “doing wrong” (isa’a). If one persistently leaves a sunna without an excuse, then it could be sinful depending on the level of its emphasis, as some sunna acts are more emphasized than others. However, the sin is deemed less severe than that incurred by omitting a mandatory requisite (wajib)  and an obligatory integral (fard).

[Tahtawi, Hashiyat al-Tahtawi ‘ala Maraqi al-Falah]

Confirmed Sunna (Sunna Mu’akkada)

The Confirmed Sunna (sunna mu’akkada) is that which our Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) or the Companions did most of the time (and was not of worldly habits)

One who leaves it without excuse deserves reproach, not punishment. Leaving it habitually is sinful because it entails turning away from the guidance of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace), whom we have been commanded to follow.

How Many Times Constitutes Leaving Out a Sunna?

How many times does it constitute leaving out a sunna? This is not mentioned. Although more than three can be defined or whatever is considered persistent customarily.

I would like you to go through the valuable answers and links below. You will receive guidance and direction in sha Allah.

Related Answers

• How Are the Actions of Morally Responsible Individuals Categorized? – SeekersGuidance
  
• What Is the Difference Between the Non-Emphasized Sunna and the Recommended? (seekersguidance.org)
• Am I Sinful For Leaving Out the Sunna Prayers? – SeekersGuidance

Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.