al-Kitab wa al-Sunna Yajibu an Yakuna Masdar al-Qawanin fi Misr wa Maahu al-Shar wa al-Lugha

al-Kitab wa al-Sunna Yajibu an Yakuna Masdar al-Qawanin fi Misr wa Maahu al-Shar wa al-Lugha ("The Book and the Sunna Must Be the Source of Laws in Egypt, Accompanied by 'Sacred Law and Language'") is a legal-polemical treatise by the Egyptian Sharia judge and hadith scholar Ahmad Shakir (1309–1377 AH / 1892–1958 CE), arguing for the full adoption of Islamic law as the sole foundation of Egypt's legal system and defending the Arabic script against proposals for Latinization al-Kitab wa al-Sunna Yaji…+1.

Background and Composition

The foundation of the book was an earlier lecture delivered by Ahmad Shakir advocating that Egypt's laws be derived exclusively from the Quran and Sunnah Jamharat Maqalat Ahmad Sh…+1. In 1363 AH / 1944 CE, the former minister and legal figure Abd al-Aziz Fahmi Pasha submitted a proposal to the Arabic Language Academy in Cairo calling for Arabic to be written in Latin script Jamharat Maqalat Ahmad Sh…+1. Following public backlash, Fahmi published replies that Shakir and other critics viewed as dismissive of both the Arabic language and Islamic jurisprudence Jamharat Maqalat Ahmad Sh…+1.

Prompted by these events, Shakir decided to publish his original lecture alongside a targeted refutation titled al-Shar wa al-Lugha ("Sacred Law and Language"), completing his introduction to the collected work on 25 Dhu al-Hijjah 1363 AH (12 November 1944 CE) al-Kitab wa al-Sunna Yaji….

Content and Arguments

The treatise consists of two main interrelated components:

The Book and the Sunna as the Source of Laws

Shakir argues that Egypt occupies a leading position in the Muslim world, and that other nations follow its legislative path al-Kitab wa al-Sunna Yaji…+1. He contends that importing European civil and penal laws corrupted moral and social life, fostered estrangement from religion, and introduced statutes directly contradicting Islamic law, such as those governing homicide and illicit intercourse Jamharat Maqalat Ahmad Sh…+1.

To achieve legal reform, Shakir details a "practical plan" (al-khitta al-amaliyya):

• Rejection of Blind Imitation: He rejects strict adherence (taqlid) to late legal compendia (such as those of Ibn Abidin or Ibn Nujaym) as well as unguided individual reasoning (ijtihad fardi) al-Kitab wa al-Sunna Yaji….
• Collective Juristic Codification: He proposes establishing a committee comprising prominent jurists and legal scholars to draft new codes through collective reasoning (ijtihad ijtima'i), drawing directly on the texts of the Quran and Sunnah while benefiting from the broader heritage of Islamic schools of law and modern legal theory, provided no clear scriptural text is violated al-Kitab wa al-Sunna Yaji….
• Peaceful Implementation: He emphasizes gradualism and peaceful constitutional avenues, such as public persuasion and elections, to enact Sharia-based legislation Jamharat Maqalat Ahmad Sh…+1.

Sacred Law and Language (al-Shar wa al-Lugha)

In this section, Shakir responds directly to Abd al-Aziz Fahmi Pasha's initiative to replace Arabic orthography with Latin letters Jamharat Maqalat Ahmad Sh…+1. He portrays the proposal as part of older westernizing campaigns that sought to marginalize Classical Arabic in favor of local colloquial dialects al-Kitab wa al-Sunna Yaji…. Shakir argues that abandoning the traditional script severs Muslims from their religious heritage and the Quran, while refuting the claim that Islamic law is incapable of addressing contemporary societal needs Jamharat Maqalat Ahmad Sh…+1.

Publication History

The work was first printed by Dar al-Ma'arif in Egypt in 1363 AH / 1945 CE Jamharat Maqalat Ahmad Sh…+1. It was later published in Cairo by Dar al-Kutub al-Salafiyya in 1406 AH / 1986 CE and again in a third edition in 1407 AH / 1987 CE al-Kitab wa al-Sunna Yaji…+1. It was also released by Alam al-Kutub in Beirut in 1987 CE, and the lecture itself was separately re-issued by Maktabat al-Sunna in Cairo in 1408 AH Hukm al-Jahiliyyah+1.