Salim al-Bahnasawi
- Died
- 1427 AH
- Born in
- -
Salim al-Bahnasawi (d. 1427 AH / 2006 CE) was an Egyptian legal counselor and Islamic writer best known for his defenses of Islamic tradition and governance, notably in his works al-Sunna al-Muftara Alayha (The Falsely Slandered Sunnah) and Tahafut al-Ilmaniyya fi al-Sahafa al-Arabiyya (The Incoherence of Secularism in the Arab Press) .
Career and Public Discourse
Bearing the full name Salim Ali al-Bahnasawi, he carried the professional title of legal counselor (al-mustashar) . In public administration, he served as the director of social insurance in the Dakahlia Governorate in Egypt . He was an active participant in public legal and religious debates, such as addressing personal status and family law alongside scholars from al-Azhar at a public forum in Mansoura, where he notably opposed state-imposed restrictions on divorce and rejected proposals for marriage insurance policies .
Thought and Debates
Al-Bahnasawi engaged extensively with contemporary political theory and Islamic theology, seeking to articulate the nature of an Islamic state against secular and modernist critique . In polemical exchanges with contemporary thinkers such as Muhammad Ahmad Khalafallah over the Quranic concept of governance (al-hukm), al-Bahnasawi argued that Islamic rule consists of applying the clear texts of the Quran and the Sunnah, binding ruler and subject alike . He explicitly rejected theocratic authority in the clerical sense, maintaining that Islam does not confer divine infallibility or legislative sanctity upon rulers to permit or forbid independently of revelation .
He also engaged in debates against secularist thought in the Arab media, publishing Tahafut al-Ilmaniyya fi al-Sahafa al-Arabiyya as a collection of polemical responses to secularist and leftist writings spanning more than twenty-five years, and debating Egyptian philosopher Fu'ad Zakariyya in al-Islam la al-Ilmaniyya (Islam, Not Secularism) .
Reception and Critique
In his treatise al-Sunna al-Muftara Alayha, al-Bahnasawi defended the authority and historical recording of the Prophetic Sunnah against modernists and Orientalists . Within that work, he took a conciliatory stance toward Twelver Shi'ism, seeking to refute claims that they reject the Quran . This position drew sharp criticism from conservative Sunni writers, such as Ihsan Ilahi Zahir, who argued that al-Bahnasawi lacked deep familiarity with classical and contemporary Shi'i theological works and had defended views without proper grounding in their foundational texts .
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List of Works
al-Sunna al-Muftara Alayha (The Falsely Slandered Sunnah) is a modern treatise dedicated to defending the authority and transmission of the Prophetic Sunnah against historical and contemporary criticisms. First published in 1399 AH (1977 CE), the ten-chapter work systematically responds to arguments from modernists, Orientalists, and opponents of the Sunnah who contended that it was recorded late, contained contradictions, or should be discarded in favor of sole reliance on the Quran.
Tahafut al-Ilmaniyya fi al-Sahafa al-Arabiyya (The Incoherence of Secularism in the Arab Press) is a contemporary treatise that compiles polemical essays and analytical responses directed against secularist and leftist discourses published in Arabic newspapers and periodicals. Organized into six chapters, the single-volume work gathers newspaper articles written over more than twenty-five years to rebut what are identified as secularist misrepresentations of Islam.