Words and deeds of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) before his mission began

 

Are the deeds and words of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) before his mission began regarded as Sunnah, such as his marriage to Khadeejah (may Allaah be pleased with her)?.

Praise be to Allaah.

The basic principle is that
the actions of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
before his mission began are outside of the legislative Sunnah, and that we
are not required to follow him or take him as an example in that regard,
except in cases where sharee’ah – after his mission began – affirmed that
something was prescribed or Islamically acceptable, either by way of being
obligatory or mustahabb, such as fulfilling promises, helping the destitute,
honouring guests, helping people when calamity strikes and so on. In that
case we are obliged to follow his example, because it became a law for us
after his Prophethood began, and not just because he (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) did it before he was a Prophet. Based on
this, there are some actions that he did before his mission began that we
are not obliged to follow, either because there is no proof that it is
prescribed for us or because there are reports to show that it was abrogated
after his mission began. 

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn
Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: The things that happened
before Prophethood are not mentioned as things to be followed or that are
legislated, as is the case with his actions after Prophethood, because the
Muslims are unanimously agreed that what is obligatory with regard to
believing in him (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and
following what he brought, is that which has to do with what happened after
he became the Prophet. 

Hence whoever stays away
from Jumu’ah prayer and prayers in congregation, and lives alone in caves
and mountains, where there is no Jumu’ah or prayer in congregation, and
claims to be following the example of the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) because he was used to worship alone in the cave of
Hira’ before his Prophethood, thus forsaking the acts of worship that were
prescribed and enjoined by Allaah and His Messenger, and following the
example of what he used to do before Prophethood, is wrong. That is because,
after Allaah honoured him with Prophethood, the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) no longer did what he used to do before
that, of worshipping alone in the cave of Hira and so on.  

None of his Sahaabah after
him went to the Cave of Hira’, and they did not stay away from Jumu’ah
prayer or prayers in congregation in isolated places, and none of them
observed any kind of forty-day retreat, as some of the later Muslims did.
Rather they worshipped Allaah by means of the prescribed acts of worship
that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) ordained
for them. End quote from Majmoo’ al-Fataawa (18/10). 

With regard to the
muhaddithoon (scholars of hadeeth), they paid attention to what was narrated
from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) at all
times, even if it was before his mission began. That is part of the Sunnah
according to the definition of the muhaddithoon, who regard everything that
was narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) as Sunnah, so they narrated it in their books on that basis. 

See: Af’aal al-Rasool
sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam wa Dalaalatuhaa ‘ala al-Ahkaam, by Dr.
Muhammad al-‘Aroosi (149). 

And Allaah knows best.