Orientalist Doubts Concerning the Prophetic Sunnah: Their Advocates, Their Evidence, and Their Refutation — A Critical Study (1)

شبهات المستشرقين حول السنة النبوية القائلين بها، أدلتهم، تفنيدها. دراسة نقدية

Orientalist Doubts Concerning the Prophetic Sunnah: Their Advocates, Their Evidence, and Their Refutation — A Critical Study (Part One)

Researcher: Sami Manshur Muhammad Saif

Translated by: Reza Ervani bin Asmanu

This paper, “Orientalist Doubts Concerning the Prophetic Sunnah: Their Advocates, Their Evidence, and Their Refutation — A Critical Study,” is included in the Science of Hadith Category

مقدمة

Introduction

الحمد لله رب العالمين، والصلاة والسلام على نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين، وبعد:

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and all of his Companions. To proceed:

لقد تعرضت السنة النبوية الشريفة للطعن والشبهات من الخافين والحاقدين منذ العصور الأولى للإسلام، حيث ظهرت فرق وطوائف منحرفة أنكرت السنة والاحتجاج بها، ففهم من أنكر السنة النبوية صراحةً ودعا إلى نبذها بالكليّة، زعمًا منهم أنه لا حاجة إليها، وأن في القرآن الكريم ما يغني عنها، وفريق آخر رأى الحجية في نوعٍ منها دون غيره، وكلا الأمرين بلا شك انحراف عن جادة الطريق.

Since the earliest centuries of Islam, the noble Prophetic Sunnah has been subjected to attacks and doubts by those whom the author describes as ignorant and hostile. Deviant sects and groups appeared that denied the Sunnah and rejected its authority as evidence. Among them were those who openly denied the Prophetic Sunnah and called for its complete abandonment, claiming that there was no need for it because the Noble Qur’an was sufficient without it. Another group accepted the authority of certain types of Sunnah while rejecting others. Both positions, according to the author, constitute a deviation from the straight path.

ولقد كان أول من تعرض لهذا المذاهب المنحرفة وردّ على أصحابها وخصّص ببيانهم هو الإمام الشافعي رحمه الله تعالى، حيث عقد فصلاً خاصًا في كتابه “الأم” ذكر فيه مناظرة بينه وبين بعض من يرون ردّ السنة كلها، كما عقد في كتابه “الرسالة” فصلاً طويلاً في حجية خبر الآحاد.

Among the earliest scholars to confront these deviant schools of thought, refute their adherents, and devote specific discussion to their claims was Imam ash-Shafi’i, may Allah have mercy on him. In his book al-Umm, he devoted a special chapter to a debate between himself and some of those who rejected the Sunnah in its entirety. He also devoted an extensive chapter in ar-Risalah to the authority of solitary reports (khabar al-ahad).

وقد كانت تلك الطوائف التي أنكرت السنة جملة وطعنت فيها أن تفرغ، حتى ظهرت فئة من المستشرقين الذين لم يألوا جهداً في محاولة القضاء على الإسلام وهدم أصوله وأركانه، ولقد بحث هؤلاء المستشرقون في كل جوانب الإسلام، فلم يغب عنهم أهمية السنة النبوية من حيث أنها المصدر التشريعي الثاني بعد القرآن الكريم، وفيها توضيحه وبيانه، ولذا تناولوها بالطعن والتشويه وتلفيق الشبهات حولها.

Those groups that rejected the Sunnah altogether and attacked it were later followed by a group of Orientalists whom the author portrays as exerting considerable effort in attempting to undermine Islam and its foundations and pillars. These Orientalists studied various aspects of Islam, and the importance of the Prophetic Sunnah did not escape their attention, since it is regarded as the second source of Islamic legislation after the Noble Qur’an and as explaining and clarifying it. For this reason, the author states, they subjected it to criticism, distortion, and the fabrication of doubts surrounding it.

وخلال الفترة ما بين النصف الثاني من القرن التاسع عشر حتى الربع الأول من القرن العشرين، كان الاستشراق في ذروته لأنه كان مدعوماً من قبل الحكومات الغربية التي كانت توفر له الأسباب المعينة على دراسة العلوم الإسلامية حتى يتمكن الاحتلال الغربي في البلاد الإسلامية، فيبحث هؤلاء، في كل ما يتصل بالإسلام من تاريخ وفقه وتفسير وحديث وأدب وحضارة حتى تمكنت غزاة تلك البحوث العالم الإسلامي في مؤسساته الفكرية والتربوية ومناهج التعليم، ونجح كثير من هؤلاء المستشرقين في التأثير على عقول بعض المسلمين.

During the period extending from the second half of the nineteenth century to the first quarter of the twentieth century, Orientalism reached its height. According to the author, this was because it received support from Western governments that provided the means necessary for studying Islamic sciences in ways that would assist Western colonial rule in Muslim lands. Orientalists researched virtually everything related to Islam, including history, jurisprudence, tafsir, hadith, literature, and civilization. The author argues that the results of these studies eventually penetrated the intellectual and educational institutions and curricula of the Muslim world, and that many Orientalists succeeded in influencing the thinking of some Muslims.

فانخدعوا بكتاباتهم ودراساتهم حول الإسلام، وممّا منهم أنها قامت على الموضوعية والحياد والإنصاف والتجرد في البحث العلمي.

Some Muslims, the author states, were consequently deceived by Orientalist writings and studies on Islam because they assumed that these works were based on objectivity, neutrality, fairness, and impartiality in academic research.¹

ومن أهم هؤلاء الطاعنين في السنة النبوية الشريفة المستشرقان “جولد زيهر” و”جوزيف شاخت” بل يكاد يتفق أساتذة الاستشراق على أن أهم الكتابات الاستشراقية في السنة النبوية المطعونة تمت على يدي هذين الرجلين، ونتائج دراسات هذين المستشرقين -مع الأسف- هي المعتمدة اليوم في الأوساط الغربية، وفي الجامعات الأوروبية والأمريكية، وأقسام الشرق الأوسط في الغرب

Among the most prominent figures whom the author identifies as critics of the noble Prophetic Sunnah are the two Orientalists Goldziher² and Joseph Schacht ³. Indeed, the author states that scholars of Orientalist studies are nearly unanimous that the most influential Orientalist writings challenging the Prophetic Sunnah were produced by these two men. According to the paper, the conclusions reached by these two Orientalists have unfortunately become widely relied upon in Western academic circles, including European and American universities and Middle Eastern studies departments in the West.⁴

To be continued in the next part, in sha Allah

Source: Alukah

1. See: Doubts Raised by Orientalists and, among their contemporary figures who wrote about the Sunnah, Ahmad Muhammad Yasin (p. 35). Among the references concerning Orientalist views are the works of Joseph Schacht and Goldziher, as well as other Orientalists, such as Abdullah al-Khatib (p. 2).
2. Ignaz Goldziher (1847–1921), a Hungarian Jewish Orientalist, studied in Budapest, Vienna, and Leipzig, and traveled to Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, where he met a number of scholars at al-Azhar. He also taught at the University of Budapest in Hungary and mastered several languages, including Latin, English, and French, while devoting substantial study to Islam, Islamic jurisprudence, and Arabic literature. Several of his works were translated into different languages. See: al-I’lam, Khayr al-Din az-Zirikli (1/184).
3. Joseph Schacht (1902–1969), a German Orientalist from the city of Ratibor, now Racibórz in Poland, became well known for his critical position toward the authority of hadith. He later moved to West Germany and then to Britain before his death. He served as a professor at the University of Oxford and became known for the thesis that Islamic law did not originate directly from the Prophet but developed from the practices of jurists and judges in the second Islamic century. See: Mawsu’at al-Mustashriqin, ‘Abd al-Rahman Badawi, p. 405. See also figures influenced by Goldziher and Schacht, such as Abdullah al-Khatib (p. 2).
4. See: Critiques of Orientalist Works Concerning the Prophetic Sunnah, Khalid ibn Mansur ad-Durays; responses to Orientalists: Abdullah al-Khatib, p. 2.