al-Sunna wa al-Tashri - Musa Shahin Lashin

Al-Sunna wa al-Tashri (The Sunna and Legislation) is a treatise by the Egyptian hadith scholar Musa Shahin Lashin (d. 1430 AH / 2009 CE) defending the authoritative and legislative status of the Prophetic Sunna against contemporary skepticism al-Sunna wa al-Tashri - M…+1.

Background and Publication

The work was composed as a critical refutation of a booklet of the same title published in Cairo by Abd al-Mun'im al-Nimr, who had argued that rulings of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ pertaining to worldly transactions (mu'amalat) were based on personal human legal reasoning (ijtihad) rather than binding divine revelation, and could thus be superseded in modern times in pursuit of public interest (maslaha) al-Sunna wa al-Tashri - M…+1. Lashin's rebuttal was published in single-volume format by the Islamic Research Academy (Majma' al-Buhuth al-Islamiyya) at Al-Azhar as a supplementary gift for the month of Sha'ban 1411 AH (1991 CE) accompanying Majallat al-Azhar, with an introduction and editorial preparation by the journal's editor-in-chief, Dr. Ali Ahmad al-Khatib al-Sunna wa al-Tashri - M….

Scope and Contents

Lashin frames modern skepticism regarding the Sunna into three main currents al-Sunna wa al-Tashri - M…+1:

• Attacking Hadith Transmitters: Directed at undermining the Companions who transmitted the reports, exemplified by Mahmud Abu Rayya's polemics against Abu Hurayra al-Sunna wa al-Tashri - M….
• Attacking Canonical Hadith Compilations: Directed at casting doubt on foundational texts, such as Chiragh Ali al-Hindi and modern newspaper writers questioning the authenticity of Sahih al-Bukhari and its narrations on the Night Journey and Ascension (al-Isra' wa al-Mi'raj) on rationalist grounds al-Sunna wa al-Tashri - M…+1.
• Directly Questioning Prophetic Legislative Authority: Directed at the Prophet ﷺ himself by alleging that his legal decisions in transactional affairs were fallible personal opinions rather than permanent legislation al-Sunna wa al-Tashri - M…+1.

The book focuses primarily on refuting this third trend by examining and deconstructing the premises advanced by al-Nimr: namely, that the Prophet ﷺ engaged in fallible personal ijtihad in worldly transactions, that his transactional rulings were temporal rather than everlasting legislation, and that contemporary Muslims are entitled to formulate contradictory rulings based on perceived worldly interest al-Sunna wa al-Tashri - M…+1.

Lashin highlights the scientific rigor of traditional hadith disciplines—including hadith terminology (mustalah al-hadith), biographical evaluation (ilm al-rijal and al-jarh wa al-ta'dil), text extraction (takhrij), chain analysis (dirasat al-asanid), and the resolution of apparent discrepancies (mukhtalaf al-hadith)—and argues that engaging in independent legal reasoning without mastery of these disciplines leads to errant fatwas and the erosion of Islamic legal foundations al-Sunna wa al-Tashri - M…+1.