Faithful Dissenters – Sunni Skepticism about the Miracles of Saints Belief in the miracles of saints (karāmāt al-awliyāʾ) is a requirement in Sunni Islam. Challenges to this position are generally seen as limited to Islamic modernists effected by Western historical criticism. This article demonstrates that there have actually been leading Sunni Muslim scholars from the…
The Canonization of Ibn Mâjah: Authenticity vs. Utility in the Formation of the Sunni Ḥadîth Cano
Summary: In Sunni Islam, the canonical ‘Six Books’ of hadith derive their authority as doctrinal references from scholarly consensus on their reliability as representations of the Prophet’s Sunna. One of the Six Boooks, the Sunan of Ibn Majah, however, presents a bizarre exception. Although it has been considered part of the Six Book collection…
IS THE DEVIL IN THE DETAILS? Tension Between Minimalism and Comprehensiveness in the Shariah
Summary: The comprehensiveness of Islamic law has been questioned seriously in the modern period by Muslim reformists like Rashīd Riḍā . Such reformists have used as evidence Qur’anic verses and Prophetic reports that seem to state clearly that the strictures of Islamic law are few and limited and that Muslims should not extend them to…
Interview: How should the Prophet Muhammad be introduced to the West
Jonathan Brown and Abdur-Rahman Abou Almajd in dialog about how should the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) be introduced to the West? Q: Muhammad: A Very Short Introduction, it is excellent introduction to the life of Muhammad, well balanced between elements of faith and rational discussions, 144 pages, it’s very Short Introduction, What do you want to add?…
Interview on CBC Egypt
Did the Prophet Say It or Not? The Literal, Historical, and Effective Truth of Hadīths in Early Sunnism
Summary The article contends that ahl-al-hadīth did not view the historical reliability of hadīths through the epistemological lens of later Sunni legal theorists. It claims that the ahl-al-hadīths conceived of sound hadīths as providing what will define a historical certainty. It explores the extent to which the term ahl-al-hadīth, which means Partisans of Hadityh, was…
Critical Rigor vs. Juridical Pragmatism
Summary Modern scholarship has accepted the ‘backgrowth of isnāds’ in the early ḥadīth tradition, but this phenomenon did not occur without controversy among classical Muslim scholars. Ḥadīth critics were aware that material was being pushed back to the Prophet, a phenomenon they approached through the lens of ziyāda (addition). By examining works devoted to criticizing…