His statement, “mentioned,” is in the accusative because it is an adjective modifying an accusative noun.
Know that when mā is joined to ʿadā (except), the word following it must be in the accusative, because ʿadā is then definitively a verb. If mā is not joined to it, then two grammatical analyses are permissible for what follows it:
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The genitive, on the basis that it is a preposition.
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The accusative, on the basis that it is a verb.
His statement, “a sunnah”: in the terminology of the jurists, a sunnah is that which has been commanded, but not in a binding manner. Thus, it and the obligatory act share the fact that each is commanded; but they differ in that the obligatory act is binding, whereas the sunnah is not binding.
If someone were to ask: Which is superior: the obligatory act or the sunnah?
We reply: The obligatory act is superior, on the evidence of revelation and reason.
The textual evidence is the statement of Allah in the hadith qudsi: “My servant does not draw near to Me with anything more beloved to Me than that which I have made obligatory upon him.” (1) This is explicit.
The rational evidence is that Allah’s making it obligatory upon His servants indicates its greater emphasis and that the religion cannot be sound without it. Allah’s not making the sunnah binding upon His servants indicates that it does not carry the same degree of emphasis as the obligatory act. Whatever is more emphatic is, without doubt, more beloved to Allah to perform. Had Allah not loved it, He would not have made it binding upon His servants. Remarkably, Satan makes it easy for a person to give ten in charity from