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the sunna of the prophet 105Wisdom is the believer’s lost property; wherever he finds it he takesit. 38Another feature is that words of wisdom are formulated from thepool of human experiences and hence come from within humanbeings. They may be perceived by revelation but revelation is notnecessary in order to speak words of wisdom. The following ÈadÊthmakes it clear that wisdom is of a distinct quality to revelation:Wisdom is harmful to the believer when he finds it [and it is] takenaway [again]. 39No religious or civil law should be based on words of wisdom. Oneof the above-mentioned ÈadÊths states that ‘the one who believes inGod and the Last Day, he shall speak nicely or not speak at all’.Such prophetic statements cannot be turned into a doctrine or religiouslaw, because if they were, every believer who is very talkativeand sometimes prattles utter nonsense must be imprisoned or calleda k§fir, that is, someone who, because of his talkative nature, is arenegade and a disbeliever in Allah and the Last Day. God forbidthat words of wisdom are turned into law or doctrine. What thisÈadÊth wants to teach us is that a good believer is moderate in hisspeech, chooses his words carefully, and tries to be as exact andprecise as possible when he describes things or talks about otherpeople.B. Statements of the ProphetProphetic statements are divided into five categories:6. Statements about rituals:These are the aȧdÊth al-sha#§"ir, MuÈammad’s (ß) instructions, comprisinghis messengerhood, on how to perform the ritual obligationsof the Book. Believers of MuÈammad’s (ß) message have to obey hisorders; their adherence to them is what we have called ‘combinedobedience’.38Al-TirmidhÊ, Sunan, vol. 5, 51 (ÈadÊth no. 2687).39Al-TirmidhÊ, Sunan, vol. 5, 41 (ÈadÊth no. 2611).