al-Istishraq wa Mawqifuhu min al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyyah
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- King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran in Medina
al-Istishraq wa Mawqifuhu min al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyyah (Orientalism and Its Stance on the Prophetic Sunnah) is a contemporary treatise by Saudi hadith scholar Falih bin Muhammad al-Saghir examining Western Orientalist scholarship on the Prophetic tradition and addressing its critical claims .
Context and Composition
The work was originally prepared as a research contribution for the symposium "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Care for the Sunnah and Prophetic Biography" (Inayat al-Mamlakah al-Arabiyyah al-Saudiyyah bi-l-Sunnah wa-l-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah), organized under the auspices of the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Da'wah and Guidance through the King Fahd Complex . The author framed the study as an examination of the intellectual challenges posed by Orientalism to Islamic belief and history, specifically focusing on critiques directed against the authority, transmission, and corpus of the Sunnah .
Sources and Methodology
The treatise adopts a concise, evidence-based approach, focusing on the most influential arguments raised by Western Orientalists rather than attempting an exhaustive catalog . In examining Orientalist positions, the author consulted primary Orientalist literature, noting the relative scarcity of Arabic translations and relying significantly on the translated work of Ignaz Goldziher, al-Aqidah wa-l-Shari'ah fi al-Islam (Vorlesungen über den Islam) . For Islamic refutations and historical contextualization, the study draws primarily on Muslim scholarly responses, chief among them Mustafa al-Siba'i's al-Sunnah wa Makanatuha fi al-Tashri' al-Islami (The Sunnah and Its Status in Islamic Legislation) . The work documents textual quotations with explicit footnote citations, traces Quranic citations to their chapters, and provides standard hadith documentation (takhrij) .
Structure and Content
The book is structured into several thematic sections covering the conceptual framework of Orientalism and specific critiques of the Sunnah:
- Concept and History of Orientalism: Explores definitions of Orientalism—including definitions by Edward Said and Ahmad Abd al-Hamid Ghurab—and sketches its historical emergence and evolution .
- Motives of Orientalism: Identifies five primary drivers behind Orientalist studies: religious, colonial, political, economic, and scientific motives .
- Doubts Regarding the Sunnah and Their Refutation: Discusses the Orientalist understanding of the Sunnah, critiques leveled against the Prophet's mission and character (such as allegations regarding women and war spoils), and challenges directed at hadith chains (isnad) and texts (matn) . Specific issues addressed include claims that hadith reflects syncretism with Judaism and Christianity, attacks on narrator reliability, the handling of outwardly conflicting narrations, the assertion that hadiths developed out of later communal evolution, challenges to the traditional critical methodology (manhaj al-naqd) of hadith scholars, and claims surrounding the late codification (ta'akhkhur al-tadwin) of hadith literature .
- Connections to Ancient and Modern Sects: Examines intersections between Orientalist positions and those of historical and contemporary groups, namely the Mu'tazilah, modern rationalists, and the Qur'aniyyun (Quranists) .
Conclusion and Recommendations
The treatise concludes by characterizing Orientalism as closely aligned with colonial and missionary movements affecting the Islamic world . It offers several recommendations, including urging university departments of hadith to systematically track and refute Orientalist arguments, calling on academic centers to translate both classical and contemporary Orientalist works, and proposing the establishment of a specialized research center dedicated to the study of Orientalism and Orientalists .
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