“Ye have indeed in the Messenger of Allah a beautiful pattern (of conduct) for any one whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day, and who engages much in the Praise of Allah.”
Sunnah means the way of the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). This guide gathers the good deeds he did and encouraged beyond the duties of Islam. Most of them take a minute. Many are simple good manners that anyone would recognise: a smile, a greeting, a visit to someone who is ill. Each one is a small step nearer to Allah (﷾). If you are new to Islam, begin with the duties, and add these one at a time.
Duties, and more if you wish
Islam asks for a few duties, such as the five daily prayers and the fast of Ramadan. Beyond them, the door is open. A man from Najd once asked the Prophet (ﷺ) about Islam. He was told of the five prayers, and asked if there was anything more. The Prophet (ﷺ) said no, unless he wished to do more of his own accord. It was the same for fasting and for charity. The man left, saying he would do no more and no less, and the Prophet (ﷺ) said he would succeed if he kept his word.
“If ye do love Allah, Follow me: Allah will love you and forgive you your sins: For Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
The extra deeds bring a person closer to Allah (﷾). The Prophet (ﷺ) said that Allah (﷾) says: My servant comes near to Me most of all through the duties I have given him, and he keeps coming nearer through extra good deeds until I love him.
Little and often is best. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that the deed Allah (﷾) loves most is the one done regularly, even if it is small. So choose one or two of the deeds below, and keep them.
Through the day
Clean your teeth. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that if it would not be hard on his followers, he would have told them to clean their teeth with the siwak, a tooth-cleaning twig, before every prayer.
Say Bismillah, “in the name of Allah”, before you eat, eat with your right hand, and eat from what is in front of you. The Prophet (ﷺ) taught this to a boy in his care. And he said that Allah (﷾) is pleased with a servant who praises Him for food and drink, saying Alhamdulillah, “praise be to Allah”.
Before you sleep, make wudu, the washing before prayer,, lie on your right side, and hand your affairs over to Allah (﷾) in a short prayer. The Prophet (ﷺ) taught this to one of his Companions.
Prayer
Alongside the five daily prayers, the Prophet (ﷺ) prayed extra units (rak’ahs) before and after them. He said that whoever prays twelve such units in a day and a night will have a house built for them in Paradise. Of these, he said, the two units before the dawn prayer are better than this world and all it holds.
Duha is a short prayer in the morning, once the sun is up. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that every joint of the body owes a charity each morning, and two units of Duha are enough to pay it.
The best prayer after the duties, the Prophet (ﷺ) said, is the prayer at night. Even two units before you sleep, or before dawn, are a start. He told his followers to make witr, an odd number of units, the last prayer of the night.
After each prayer, the Prophet (ﷺ) taught these words. Say SubhanAllah, “glory be to Allah”, 33 times; Alhamdulillah, “praise be to Allah”, 33 times; and Allahu Akbar, “Allah is the Greatest”, 33 times. Then complete the hundred with: there is no god but Allah (﷾) alone, with no partner; His is the kingdom and His is the praise, and He has power over all things. He said that whoever does this is forgiven their sins, even if they are as many as the foam of the sea.
Fasting
Beyond Ramadan, the Prophet (ﷺ) fasted on other days and spoke of their reward. Asked about fasting on Mondays, he said it was the day he was born and the day he was sent as a prophet. He said that fasting three days every month, with Ramadan each year, is like fasting all the time. Fasting on the day of Arafah, the 9th of Dhul-Hijjah, in the days of Hajj, wipes out the sins of the year before and the year after. Fasting on Ashura, the 10th of Muharram, wipes out the sins of the year before.
He also said that whoever fasts Ramadan and follows it with six days of Shawwal, the month after it, is as if they had fasted all the time. And the best fasting after Ramadan, he said, is in Muharram, the month of Allah (﷾).
Remembering Allah (﷾)
“Then do ye remember Me; I will remember you. Be grateful to Me, and reject not Faith.”
Remembering Allah (﷾) needs no set time and no set place. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that two phrases are light on the tongue, heavy on the scales and loved by the Most Merciful: SubhanAllahi wa bihamdihi, “glory and praise be to Allah”, and SubhanAllahil Azim, “glory be to Allah, the Almighty”.
Ask Allah (﷾) for forgiveness often, saying Astaghfirullah, “I ask Allah’s forgiveness”. The Prophet (ﷺ), the most devoted of people, turned to Allah (﷾) and asked His forgiveness more than seventy times a day.
Send blessings on the Prophet (ﷺ). He said that whoever blesses him once, Allah (﷾) blesses ten times.
Read some of the Qur’an each day, even a few verses. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that on the Day of Resurrection the Qur’an will come to plead for those who read it, and that the best of people are those who learn the Qur’an and teach it.
With other people
Greet people with salam: “as-salamu alaykum”, peace be upon you. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that spreading the greeting of peace makes people love one another.
Smile. The Prophet (ﷺ) said never to think any good deed too small, even meeting your brother with a cheerful face.
Visit people who are ill. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that whoever visits a sick person is in the fruit gardens of Paradise until they return.
Never harm your neighbours, be generous to your guests, and speak well or stay silent. The Prophet (ﷺ) named all three as signs of a person who believes in Allah (﷾) and the Last Day.
Friday
On Friday, the day of the weekly congregational prayer, the Prophet (ﷺ) encouraged a full bath (ghusl), oil or perfume, going to the mosque without pushing between people, praying what you can, and listening quietly to the sermon. He said that whoever does this is forgiven what came between that Friday and the one before.
There is also an hour on Friday when, the Prophet (ﷺ) said, any Muslim who is praying and asks Allah (﷾) for something is given it. So make dua, a personal prayer in your own words, on Friday.