International Journal of Basic & Applied Sciences IJBAS-IJENS Vol:10 No:02 61 Student’s Perspective on Factor Influencing Them in Understanding and Practicing the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. Mashitah Sabdin 1 and Ridhuan Tony Lim 2 1 Mashitah Sabdin is with the Department of Management & Humanities, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Perak, 31750 Malaysia. (Corresponding author to provide phone: +605-3687758; fax:+605-365 6280; email: mashitah_sabdin@petronas.com.my). 2 M. Ridhuan Tony Lim is with the Department of Management & Humanities, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Perak, 31750 Malaysia. (Corresponding author to provide phone: +605-3687769; fax:+605-365 6280; email: ). ridhuan_tony@petronas.com.my). Abstract-This study is an attempt to identify secondary school students’ views concerning their understanding and practice of Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad S.A.W., specifically the factors that influence students in secondary religious schools in Malaysia in order to understand and practice the Sunnah in their daily life. The samples for this study consisted of 576 students from four secondary religious schools selected from four states in Malaysia. The study adopts a survey technique via questionnaires to collect data. The questionnaire was analyzed based on the Likert Scale. The findings revealed that the students’ attitude is the most prominent factor that may influence them in understanding and practice of Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. (mean=18.14) besides other factors like Parents’ role (mean=17.42), Teachers (mean=15.22) and Syllabus (mean=13.49). The outcome of this study could assist teachers, schools administrators, students and the Ministry of Education of Malaysia in equipping students with Islamic teachings. This research is also hoped to enrich the Hadith literature and Hadith study in Malaysia. Thus a fresh draft can be drawn to upgrade the Hadith studies in the curriculum to benefit a new generation of students in Hadith studies. Keywords: Sunnah, Hadith Studies, Malaysia, Secondary Schools, Secondary Religious Schools I. INTRODUCTION There are two major legal sources of jurisprudence in Islam: the Qur’an and the Sunnah. The Sunnah confirms what is mentioned in the Qur’an, interprets and explains it, specifies what is meant by some general verses, limits and restricts the meaning of some verse in it, or explains something that has been revealed in Qur’an. In general, the word Sunnah means tradition, practice, customary procedure, or action, norm and usage sanctioned by tradition. In specific, any time the word Sunnah is mentioned, it refers to Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. Here it means his sayings, practices, and living habits. The Hadith are reports on the Sunnah. The Sunnah has a high authority in Islam; and Allah in many places (examples) in the Qur’an orders the Muslims to follow the teachings of Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. The word Hadith and Sunnah are used interchangeably, but sometimes these are used for different meanings. But in this research the researchers used it as having the same meaning. To deal with the topic, it is necessary to know the position of the prophet in Islam because of the indispensability of Hadith depending upon the position of the prophet. Educational system in Malaysian schools is extensive. It is divided into 4 levels; pre-school, primary school, secondary school and higher learning institution or university. Education at the secondary school is the most vital one. It offers a comprehensive education programmes. The curriculum includes a wide range of subjects from the arts and sciences as well as vocational