[The Impossibility of Accessing the Sunnah of the Prophet of Allah After Him]

Yes, most of his words and actions could be followed by the people of his time; because, although their authority is not inherently limited to them, in practice, they can be followed by those who attain certainty about them. However, certainty about them is attained through seeing and hearing them, which are possible for the people of his time and not for those after him—except through a widely transmitted report, which rationally provides certainty; considering that its narrators at each level are of such a number that it is impossible for them all to agree on error or collude in lying. These two means are the only ways of benefitting from what Allah has revealed to His Prophet; as He Himself has explicitly affirmed it, saying: ﴿إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَذِكْرَى لِمَنْ كَانَ لَهُ قَلْبٌ أَوْ أَلْقَى السَّمْعَ وَهُوَ شَهِيدٌ﴾[1]; “Indeed, there is a reminder in it for whoever has intellect or listens attentively while present.” Accordingly, there is no reminder in it for one who does not have access to a rational proof, such as a widely transmitted report from the Prophet , or to a sensory proof, such as reception from him in person. However, reception from him in person is impossible for later generations. Widely transmitted reports from him have also not sufficiently reached them and are absent in many scholarly and practical domains, since the reports that exist in many of these domains are solitary, which naturally do not provide certainty; considering that, in most cases, their narrators do not exceed one or two individuals, and thus there is a possibility of lying, error, or forgetfulness in them. For this reason, at best, these reports provide conjecture for later generations, while the lack of authority and sufficiency of conjecture is one of the essential rules of Islam.

Based on this, the Sunnah of the Prophet —although authoritative for all Muslims—is accessible only to the people of his time, and it is impossible for later generations to access it with certainty;