Prophet image in young and old people on the basis of hadith and sunnah: The example of Balıkesir

There is no doubt that Muslims, who are the addressees of Islam, can live a life in accordance with the Qur'an through the sunnah of the Messenger of Allah. For this reason, the knowledge and approaches regarding the hadith/sunnah of our Prophet (pbuh) actually draw the portrait of the imagination of the Prophet (pbuh) in minds. It is seen that every word containing the name of the Prophet (pbuh) or hadith expressions is easily believed as a hadith, and many cultural customs from the past are known as sunnah, especially by the elderly, and are implemented accordingly. Similarly, in today's world, where some hadiths that seem contrary to reason but are transmitted by breaking the connection with the before and after are perceived by young people as a situation that the mind cannot accept, there are serious deficiencies and mistakes in understanding, living and keeping alive Him (pbuh) and his hadith/sunnah. Therefore, the subject of this study is to reveal the vision of the prophet in the minds of young and old people through the hadith/sunnah knowledge of the participants. The aim of the study is to reveal whether there is a difference in the imagination of the prophet in young and old minds, based on the hadith/sunnah they have. In order to achieve the aforementioned purpose, semi-structured interview technique, one of the qualitative methods, was used in the study. 25 young and 25 elderly participants residing in Balıkesir province were selected as samples in the study. Interviews with the participants were conducted face to face and recorded with a voice recorder with their permission. As a result of the study, it was understood that the young and old people who participated in the research did not have sufficient knowledge about hadith and sunnah. The Prophet (pbuh) is not known by the participants incompletely, the first thing that comes to mind about Him (pbuh) in both groups is His formal aspects, fabricated or weak hadiths are not questioned in terms of authenticity and are used as if they were authentic hadiths, and some practices that are actually cultural are considered as sunnah, it has been determined that it is thought to be. It has been understood that the best way to know the Prophet (pbuh) correctly is to learn hadith and sunnah from correct sources in the light of the Qur'an.