Also (7 Sunnet), 8 Sonna, 9 Sonnah, Sunnah, -eh, Soonna. [a. Arab. sunnah (sunnat) form, way, course, rule.] The body of traditional sayings and customs attributed to Mohammed and supplementing the Koran. (Cf. SUNNI, SUNNITE.)
[1687. A. Lovell, trans. Thevenot’s Trav., I. 48. The difference which they put betwixt that time which God commanded, and the two times of Mahomet, is that they call the first Fars, and those of Mahomet, Sunnet.]
1728. Chambers, Cycl., Sonna, a Book of Mahometan Traditions, wherein all the Orthodox Mussulmans are required to believe.
1842. Penny Cycl., XXIII. 300/1. Sunnah.
1867. Chambers’ Encycl., IX. 214/1. The Sunna not only comprises religious doctrines and practice, but also civil and criminal laws, and the usages of common life: the way to eat and to drink, and to dress, and the like.
1883. Encycl. Brit., XVI. 553/1. Just as the Torah grew out of the decisions of Moses, so did the Sunna out of those of Mohammed.
