Proof That the Name “Sunni” Is Well-Founded

Question

A certain religious scholar — a holder of a B.A. degree and “Munshi Fazil” (a higher degree in Persian) — says: “I am neither Hanafi, nor Maliki, nor Shafi‘i, nor Hanbali, nor Shi‘i, nor Qadiani, nor Sunni — I am simply a Muslim,” and his students go about everywhere saying that being Sunni is not established from the Noble Qur’an at all: Sunnis, they say, appeared only a century and a half to two centuries after the Prophet ﷺ, having received this name because they “heard” [the report] and thereby became Muslims.

Answer

Sunnis are the group that acts according to the Sunna of the Noble Messenger ﷺ and the way of his Companions, for many hadiths establish the command to adopt and follow the way of the Sunna and the Jama‘a of the Companions, and explicit condemnation of departing from it is likewise found.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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