The Impact of Prophet Muhammad’s Misconceived Sunnah on the Traditional Muslim’s Lifestyle in Tripoli, Lebanon

Abstract

Within Lebanon, the Northern region has been seen as a sanctuary for Islamic extremism, ignorance, and females’ oppression. The Northerners’ efforts to attract other Lebanese citizens to Tripoli, known as the second capital of the Lebanon, have proven to be a failure due to the notorious reputation of the city. Yet, despite being touted as the citadel of extremism, Tripoli remains essential to the tourism economy and provides the fundamentals for the needy. Tripoli lacks the moderate religious education to attract tourists and especially other Lebanese citizens from different areas of the country. This study, bridging Muhammad’s teachings (hadith or ‘saying’, and his life example, Sunnah) and their implementation, explores the contradiction of being symbolically valorized while remaining socially wrongly put into practice.
This quantitative study describes and analyzes the perspectives of Sunna Muslims in Tripoli, Lebanon, regarding the influence of the misinterpreted or orally transmitted Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) on the ordinary Muslims’ daily life, their families, and in particular on their women in Tripoli, Lebanon. The research design involves “in depth phenomenological interviews” (Seidman, 1991) and observations involving a sample composed of three Tripolian families, each one from a different social background: lower class, middle class and upper class. The research will have implications for Muslims who want to make a positive difference in implementation, and interpretations of the Sunnah and Shari’a or Islamic law.