What are the forgotten Sunnahs? They are the acts that our beloved prophet used to do and are now known by little people.
Our rules as Muslims are to revive the teachings and acts of the prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). To do our best in order to live our lives like our beloved prophet, Allah Almighty said in the holy Quran:
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ أَطِيعُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا۟ ٱلرَّسُولَ وَأُو۟لِى ٱلْأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ ۖ فَإِن تَنَـٰزَعْتُمْ فِى شَىْءٍۢ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ وَٱلرَّسُولِ إِن كُنتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلْيَوْمِ ٱلْـَٔاخِرِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ خَيْرٌۭ وَأَحْسَنُ تَأْوِيلًا ٥٩
“O believers! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. Should you disagree on anything, then refer it to Allah and His Messenger, if you truly believe in Allah and the Last Day. This is the best and fairest resolution.” [Surah Anisa, 59]
We learn from the Quran and Sunnah how to live our lives and be better Muslims and the acts that we should do to have a successful life now and in the hereafter. The Quran and sunnah are what cleanse our hearts and souls and keep our minds clear.
Try your best to follow the sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in your daily life. At first, it might seem hard but with time you will get used to it.
You might wonder, are there any forgotten sunnah? And the answer is yes, there are many in fact, and only a few people know about them. It is our role as Muslims to seek to learn about all the sunnahs of the prophet and teach it to others.
Our beloved prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said if we love him, we should follow his teachings and Sunnah. Following the footsteps of the prophet is how we show our love and respect to him.
What is the forgotten sunnah? How can we revive them? And why are they so important? Let’s find out.
What are Sunnahs and why are they important in Islam?
What is a sunnah? A sunnah refers to the acts and teachings of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). They are the acts that the prophet used to do and taught us to do in order to come closer to Allah and be better Muslims. As we all know Islam is not just a religion, it is a way of life.
Sunnah of the prophet refers to not just the acts but also the sayings of the prophet and what he approved and disapproved of. How can we learn about the Sunnah? We learn about the Sunnahs from the sahih hadiths.
But why is it important for us to follow the sunnah of the prophet? because it is how we show our love and respect to our beloved prophet, in addition to bringing ourselves closer to Allah Almighty, and to gain rewards in this life, and working hard for the afterlife.
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
“Whoever revives my Sunnah, then he has loved me. And whoever loved me, he shall be with me in Paradise.” (Tirmidhi)
When we revive the forgotten sunnah and the sunnah of the prophet we show our love to the prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and we will be with him in the hereafter. What more do we want? We should do our best to follow the teachings of the prophet and teach it to others.
We send blessings and peace upon the prophet to express our love to him and follow his sunnah.
Allah Almighty says in the Quran:
“Indeed, Allah confers blessing upon the Prophet, and His angels [ask Him to do so]. O you who have believed, ask [ Allah to confer] blessing upon him and ask [ Allah to grant him] peace.” [Surah Al-Ahzab: 33:56]
In the above verse, Allah Almighty is instructing us to send peace and blessings upon our beloved prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
“Whatever the Messenger has given you – take, and what he has forbidden you – refrain from. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is severe in penalty.” [Surah Al-Hashr: 59:7]
Our roles as Muslims are to follow the prophet’s teachings, obey him, and refrain from what he ordered us to refrain from.
Abu Hurairah (R.A.) Narrated that the prophet of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ” Whoever obeys me, obeys Allah, and whoever disobeys me, disobeys Allah, and whoever obeys the ruler I appoint, obeys me, and whoever disobeys him, disobeys me.” [Sahih al-Bukhari 7137]
We learn how to be better Muslims and how to bring ourselves closer to Allah from the sunnah of the prophet and his teachings. We should strive to follow and implement the sunnah learn the forgotten sunnah and teach it to others.
Anas bin Malik Narrated: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to me: ‘Whoever revives my Sunnah then he has loved me. And whoever loved me, he shall be with me in Paradise.'” [Tirmidhi: 2678]
Therefore, we will now learn some of the forgotten sunnah of the prophet and how to make it a part of our daily lives.
What is the meaning of forgotten Sunnah?
The word sunnah refers to the teachings and sayings of the prophet which we learn about from the hadiths. Then what is the meaning of the forgotten sunnah? The forgotten sunnah refers to the acts that are no longer known or performed by many Muslims.
What are some forgotten Sunnah?
We should seek to follow in the footsteps of our beloved prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in order to live a successful life and show our love and respect to our prophet. So here are some of the forgotten sunnah:
1. Miswak:
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to brush his teeth with the Miswak before every prayer.
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Were it not that I would be overburdening my community I would have ordered them to use a tooth-stick.” (Mawatah Malik)
2. The forgotten sunnah of eating from what is in front of you.
When eating you should eat from the side of the plate that is in front of you, not from the middle that is a forgotten sunnah that we should revive.
The prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Blessing descends upon the middle of the food, so eat from the sides of the plate (which is nearest to you) and do not eat from the middle.” (Abu Dawud)
3. Sit while drinking.
One of the forgotten sunnahs is to sit first and then drink, not to drink while standing. Also, you should say In the name of Allah before drinking.
4. Perform Wudu before sleeping.
Our beloved prophet used to perform Wudu and then sleep.
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said,” There is no person who goes to sleep in a state of Wudhu but an Angel spends the night with him, and every time he turns over, the Angel says, O Allah! forgive Your slave, for he went to bed in a state of Wudhu.” [AIMuJamAlAwsat]
5. The forgotten sunnah of Greeting others.
The prophet ordered us to greet everyone in the room not only the ones that we know.
Abdullah Ibn Amr narrated: “A man asked Rasulullah (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him), “What qualities in Islam are the best? Rasulullah (SAW) replied, ‘Feeding people and greeting those who you know and also those who you do not know.”
6. Greeting children.
Whether children or adults when you should greet both, that is one of the forgotten sunnahs of the prophet that most of us don’t know about.
Anas narrated that: “Whenever Rasulullah (SAW) would pass by young children, he would greet them.” [Sahih Bukhari]
7. Don’t criticize food.
When we eat food that someone else made, we shouldn’t criticize it or say that it tastes bad. Hurting someone else’s feelings is a bad thing, and remember that the person who made the food did his best.
Abu Hurayrah narrated that: “the Messenger of Allah did not ever criticize food. If he liked it, he ate it and if he disliked it, he left it.” (Agreed upon)
8. The forgotten sunnah of Smiling to others.
Our beloved prophet used to smile at others. a smile may be taken lightly but it may change someone’s day for the better.
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Do not regard any good deed as small even it be meeting your fellow Muslim with a smiling face.” [Sahih Muslim]
That is one of the forgotten sunnahs that we should revive.
9. Reciting the 3 Quls before sleeping.
One of the forgotten sunnahs is to recite surah Al-Naas, Surah Falaq, and Surah Ikhlaas before sleeping.
Aisha RA narrated: “Whenever Rasulullah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) went to bed at night, he would join his hands, blow into them(after) reciting Surahs Ikhlaas, Falaq, and Naas and then pass his hands over his body starting with his face and head, He would do this thrice.” (Sahih Bukhari)
10. The forgotten sunnah of wearing a new dress.
Our beloved prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to recite the following dua when wearing something new:
“O Allah, all the praise is for You that You have given it to me to put on. I ask You its goodness and the goodness of the purpose for which it was made, and I seek Your Protection from its evil and the evil of the purpose for which it was made.” [Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi].
11. Prostration of gratitude.
One of the forgotten sunnahs is praying when hearing good news.
Abu Bakrah narrated: “Whenever happy news or glad tidings came to Rasulullah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), he would fall into prostration out of gratitude to Allah.” [Abu Dawud]
12. The Forgotten Sunnah of Making Dua for Others.
It is a Sunnah to make dua for others. The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “No Muslim makes Dua for another Muslim in his absence except that the angels say: ‘May the same be for you too.” (Sahih Muslim)
13. Writing a will.
It was narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
“It is not right for a Muslim who has anything concerning which a will should be made, to abide for more than three nights without having a written will with him.” (An Nisai)
14. the forgotten sunnah of Dusting the bed before going to sleep.
It is a sunnah to dust the bed before sleeping as our beloved prophet used to do so.
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “When any one of you goes to bed, he should first dust it and say ‘Bismillah’ because he does not know what might have entered (the bed).” (Sahih Muslim)
15. Eat the food when it falls on the ground.
It is one of the forgotten sunnahs to pick up the food that falls from us and dust it off then eat it.
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Whenever a morsel falls then pick it up, clean it, eat it, and do not leave it for Shaytaan”.
16. Praying the Duh prayer.
Our beloved prophet used to pray the Duha prayer and instructed us to do so.
Abu Hurairah narrated: “My dear friend Rasulullah (SAW) advised me with three things which I will never leave out until I pass away;(one of them being) Salaat-ud-Duha (the mid-morning Prayer).” [Sahih Bukhari]
17. The forgotten sunnah of Taubah prayer.
Whenever we make a mistake or commit a sin we should pray the Tawbah prayer and ask Allah for forgiveness.
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “There is no servant who commits a sin then performs Wudhu and performs two Rakaats of Salaah after which he asks Allah for forgiveness except that Allah forgives him.” (Abu Dawud)
18. Touch the rain.
Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) said: “It rained upon us as we were with the Messenger of Allah. Rasulullah (SAW) removed his cloth (from a part of his body) till the rain fell on it. We said: Messenger of Allah, why did you do this? He said: It is because it (the rainfall) has just come from the Exalted Lord.” (Muslim)
19. Reciting the Dua of entering a marketplace.
When go shopping you should recite the following Dua:
‘Laa ilaaha illallaahu wahdahu laa shareeka lah, lahul mulku wa lahul hamdu yuhyee wa yumeetu wahuwa hayyun laa yamootu, biyadihi alkhayru wahuwa ala kulli shayyin qadeer’
(There is none worthy of worship in truth except Allah alone, He has no partners, He has the dominion and for him is all the praise, He gives life and he takes life and he is the ever-living and does not die, in his hand is goodness and he is capable of all things) Allah will write for him thousand thousand rewards and erase from him thousand sin and raise him thousand thousand and build for him a house in Jannah! (An-Nasa’i, At-Tirmidhi)
The dua is in the Hisn-ul Muslim book, if you have it with you recite it from it, if you don’t have the book, you could write the dua on a piece of paper until you memorize it.
20. The Dua of changing clothes.
Before changing your clothes, you should say Bismillah’ (in the name of Allah) to prevent the jinn from hurting you or seeing your awrah, which is one of the forgotten sunnahs.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “To put a barrier that will prevent the jinn from seeing the ‘awrah of the sons of Aadam, let any one of you say ‘Bismillah’ when entering the toilet.” (At-Tirmidhi)
21. Distraction during prayer.
When being distracted during prayers you should say Audhu Billahi min-as-shaytaanir rajeem three times.
Uthman ibn Abi’l-‘Aas came to the Prophet and said: “O Messenger of Allah, Satan interferes between me and my prayer and my recitation, and he makes me confused. The Messenger of Allah said: That is a devil called Khinzab. If you feel that, then seek refuge with Allah from him (e.g ‘Audhu Billahi min-as-shaytaanir rajeem) and spit dryly to your left three times. He said: I did that and Allah took him away from me.” (Muslim)
22. Take a Break in prayer.
Anas said: “I pray as I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessing be upon him) leading us.”
Thaabit said: “Anas used to do something which I do not see you doing; when he lifted his head from bowing (ruku’) he stood up (so long) that one would say: He has forgotten (to bow down in prostration/sujud). And when he lifted his head from prostration (sujud), he stayed in that position, till someone would say: He has forgotten (to bow down in prostration for the second Sajdah).” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim said: “This sunnah was forsaken by many people after the time of the companions, may Allah be pleased with them, came to a close. When you pause between two prostrations you can say: Rabbi-ghfirli Rabbi-ghfirli (Oh Lord forgive me Oh lord forgive me), as the Prophet used to supplicate.”
23 Wear the right shoe first.
It is a forgotten sunnah to put on the right shoe first.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
“If one of you puts on shoes, let him begin with the right. And when he takes it off, let him begin with the left. And let him put them both on or let him take them off both.” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
Remember when taking off your shoe start with the left, not the right.
24. The forgotten sunnah of taking permission to enter.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
“Seeking permission is three times. If you are given permission then you can otherwise return.” (Muslim)
25. Don’t drink in one breath.
It is a forgotten sunnah to drink three times, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
“Do not drink in one breath just as the camel does. Rather, drink twice and thrice, and mention (Allah’s) Name before drinking and thank (Him) upon finishing.” (At-Tirmidhi)
Also don’t forget to sit before drinking and mention the name of Allah, and finish with Alhamdulillah.
26. Forgotten sunnah of Wudu.
When performing Wudu our beloved prophet used to say Bismillah (in the name of Allah) and perform Wudu in Islam, and when finishing recite:
أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لا إِلَهَ إِلاّ اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لا شَريكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمّداً عَبْدُهُ وَرَسولُه
‘Ashhadu an laa ilaaha ill-Allaah wahdahu laa shareeka lah, wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan ‘abduhu wa rasooluhu,’
“I testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is His slave and Apostle.”
It is one of the forgotten sunnahs that we all should strive to revive. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “There is no one among you who does Wudu and does it properly and does it well, then he says, Ashhadu an laa ilaaha ill-Allaah wahdahu laa shareeka lah, wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan ‘abduhu wa rasooluhu,’ (“I testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is His slave and Apostle.”) but the gates of Paradise will be opened to him and he may enter through whichever of them he wishes.” (Narrated by Muslim, al-Tahaarah, 345).
al-Tirmidhi narrated that we could also add the following to the dua:
اللّهُمَّ اجْعَلني مِنَ التَّوّابينَ وَاجْعَلْني مِنَ المتَطَهّرين الله أكبر
“Allaahumma ij’alni min al-tawwaabeena wa’j’alni min al-mutatahhireen
(O Allaah, make me one of those who repent and make me one of those who purify themselves).” (Saheeh Sunan Abi Dawood, classed as saheeh by al-Albaani)
27. Recite Dua during prayers.
Our beloved prophet used to recite supplications during Salah.
Hudhaifah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: “I performed Salat with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) one night, and he started reciting Surat Al-Baqarah. He ﷺ then started reciting Surat An-Nisa’ which he followed with Surat Al-Imran. He recited leisurely. When he recited an Ayah that mentioned the Tasbeeh, he would say Subhan Allah and when he recited the Ayah which tells how the Rubb is to be asked, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would then ask from Him. When he ﷺ recited an Ayah asking one to seek Protection Allah, he would seek Protection of Allah…” [Muslim].
28. Praying the Sunnah prayers at home
It is a sunnah to pray the Sunnah prayers at home not in the Mosque in order to bless our homes and protect them.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
“O people, pray in your houses, for the best of prayer is a man’s prayer in his house, apart from the prescribed prayers.” [Reported by Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]
“When any of you finishes his prayer in his mosque, let him give his house a share of his prayer, for Allah will create something good (i.e bless him) in his house from his prayer.” [Reported by Muslim]
“Man’s voluntary prayer, where people do not see him, is twenty-five times as equal as that which he performs publicly.” [Reported in Musnad Aboo Ya’ala, Hadeeth 3821, Authenticated by Shaykh al-Albaanee in al-Jaami’ as-Sagheer, #3821]
29. Make up for the Sunnah Prayers.
One of the forgotten sunnahs that not many of us know about is that we can make up for the sunnah prayer when its time passes. So we don’t just make up for the Fard (obligatory) prayers but sunnah too.
It was narrated in a Hadeeth by Bukhari and Muslim: “The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) made up the Sunnah of Zuhr after praying ‘Asr”. [al-Bukhaari, 4370; Muslim, 834].
Tip for you.
Don’t forget to pray the sunnah prayers as they completely change your life. The sunnah prayers are Two Rakahs before Salat al-Fajr, Four Rakahs before Salat al-Zuhr, two Rakahs after Salat al-Zuhr, Two Rakahs after Salat al-Maghrib, and Two Rakahs after Salat al-Isha.
They may seem a lot to you but they aren’t and they won’t take much of your time.
Now you know everything you need to know about the forgotten Sunnah and how to revive it. That is it for today’s article, I hope you found what you were looking for, and if you have any questions don’t hesitate to drop a comment below and we will gladly help you.
