Modernist Doubts Concerning the Prophetic as Assessed by Scholars of Uṣūl al-Fiqh

Mohammed Wahid Dabash., Haitham

doi:10.21608/bfsgm.2025.442318

Modernist Doubts Concerning the Prophetic as Assessed by Scholars of Uṣūl al-Fiqh

Author

Haitham Mohammed Wahid Dabash.

, Al-Azhar University

10.21608/bfsgm.2025.442318

Abstract

This study examines the status of the Prophetic Sunna as the second principal source of Islamic legislation after the Qurʾān, with a focus on objections raised by certain modernist thinkers. These objections are analysed through the perspectives of scholars of Uṣūl al-Fiqh. The study defines the Sunna, outlines its categories and legal authority, and considers its relationship to the Qurʾān. Selected modernist critiques are presented and systematically refuted based on the principles of Islamic legal theory.
The aim is to clarify the concept, types, and foundational role of the Sunna according to Uṣūlī scholars, while also outlining the intellectual context of modernity and its key figures. The study critically examines the major objections to the Sunna and presents the responses of Uṣūl al-Fiqh scholars, drawing on both scriptural and rational evidence.
It adopts several methodological approaches: a descriptive-analytical method to define core terms and summarize modernist views; an inferential method to establish proofs for the authority of the Sunna; a comparative method to contrast these objections with the positions of Uṣūlī scholars; and an inductive method to trace and analyse recurring doubts.
The research is structured in two chapters. The first discusses the definition of the Prophetic Sunna, its classifications, scholarly views on its authority, and its place alongside the Qurʾān. The second defines modernity and modernist discourse, presents the principal objections to the Sunna, and responds to them using Uṣūlī reasoning. These include the alleged delay in documenting the Sunna, the claim that the Qurʾān renders the Sunna unnecessary, doubts about its preservation, the ḥadīth of adult suckling, the nature of the Miʿrāj, and the ḥadīth concerning the Prophet’s intercourse with his wives using a single ritual bath.
The study concludes that the Sunna is indispensable to Islamic law and that Uṣūl al-Fiqh provides a coherent framework for addressing such challenges. It recommends broader integration of Uṣūl al-Fiqh in academic curricula, increased public awareness, and greater scholarly engagement with ḥadīth studies.

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