Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa Munaqashatuha

Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa Munaqashatuha (Arabic: كتابات أعداء الإسلام ومناقشتها, lit. 'The Writings of the Enemies of Islam and Their Discussion'), also published under the title al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyyah fi Kitabat Aada al-Islam, is a contemporary study on the defense of the Prophetic Sunnah by the Egyptian scholar Imad al-Sayyid Muhammad Isma'il al-Sharbini Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa …+1. The book examines, documents, and systematically refutes historical and modern polemics, doubts, and criticisms directed against the authority, transmission, and corpus of the Sunnah Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa …+1.

Background and Purpose

The book represents the author's inaugural research study, which he prepared at the Faculty of Usul al-Din at Al-Azhar University in Cairo Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa …+1. It includes a foreword by the Azhari hadith scholar Abd al-Mahdi Abd al-Qadir Abd al-Hadi, dated 17 Jumada al-Ula 1422 AH (7 August 2001 CE), and was published in its first edition in 1422 AH (2002 CE) by Dar al-Yaqin Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa …+2. The author also acknowledges the mentorship and guidance of scholars at the faculty, including Isma'il Abd al-Khaliq al-Daftar and Taha al-Disuqi Hubayshi Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa …+1.

Al-Sharbini states that the primary impetus for writing the work was the emergence of aggressive modern intellectual currents challenging the binding authority of the Sunnah, including secularist writers, Orientalists, and groups claiming that religious authority resides exclusively in the Quran, such as the Jamaat-i Quran in Lahore as well as contemporary rationalist writers in Egypt Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa …+1. The stated objectives of the work are to establish the necessity and normative authority (hujjiyyah) of the Sunnah in Islamic jurisprudence, expose the genealogy and methods of polemical attacks, and provide answers for Muslims influenced by these arguments Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa ….

Structure and Contents

The work is organized into an introduction, a preliminary conceptual overview (tamhid), three main parts (abwab), a conclusion, and seven thematic indexes Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa …+1:

• Preliminary Overview (al-Tamhid): Divided into five sections defining Sunnah and hadith in linguistic and technical usage, addressing misconceptions around terminology, demonstrating the unique status of continuous chains of transmission (isnad) in Islamic tradition, presenting hadith as the historical bedrock of Islam, and underscoring the necessity of hadith studies for students of Islamic sciences Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa ….
• Part One: Identification of Opponents of the Sunnah: Comprises an introductory note on the concept of enmity and four chapters covering:
  1. Early theological sects that challenged aspects of the Sunnah, namely the Kharijites, early Shi'a, and the Mu'tazilites Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa ….
  2. Western Orientalist scholars of hadith Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa ….
  3. Modern movements and ideologies, such as secularism, Baha'ism, and Qadianism Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa ….
  4. The overarching objectives pursued by historical and modern critics in undermining the Sunnah Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa ….
• Part Two: Methods and Polemical Strategies: Contains six chapters analyzing the instruments used to challenge the Sunnah:
  1. Doubts regarding the legal authority (hujjiyyah) of the Sunnah Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa ….
  2. Questioning the probative value of solitary reports (ahad) Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa ….
  3. Attacking the reliability and uprightness of hadith transmitters (rawat), particularly the Companions Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa ….
  4. Criticizing the system of isnad and the classical disciplines of hadith methodology Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa ….
  5. Casting suspicion on canonical hadith compilations Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa ….
  6. Relying on unauthoritative or secondary historical sources to construct narratives about the transmission of hadith Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa ….
• Part Three: Case Studies of Targeted Authentic Hadiths and Their Rebuttals: Opens with an overview of the nature of textual criticism among polemicists and contains ten chapters addressing specific authenticated hadiths frequently criticized by modernists and skeptics Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa …+1:
  1. The hadith "Actions are judged by intentions" (Innama al-a'mal bi-l-niyyat) Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa ….
  2. The hadith on the Quran being revealed in seven modes of recitation (sab'at ahruf) Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa ….
  3. Hadiths regarding the beatific vision of God (ru'yat Allah), the theological dispute between Adam and Moses, and prophetic intercession (shafa'ah) Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa ….
  4. Eschatological hadiths concerning the Mahdi, the False Messiah (al-Dajjal), and the descent of Jesus Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa ….
  5. Narrations regarding the punishment and bliss of the grave ('adhab al-qabr) Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa ….
  6. Reports regarding the Prophet's privacy with an Ansari woman, his resting at the house of Umm Sulaym or Umm Haram, and the narrative of his being bewitched Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa ….
  7. The narration concerning adult suckling (rada'at al-kabir) Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa ….
  8. The hadith of the fly falling into a drinking vessel Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa ….
  9. The constructive outcomes and spiritual benefits of adhering to authentic hadith Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa ….
  10. The detrimental intellectual and religious consequences of rejecting authentic Prophetic traditions Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa ….

The book concludes with seven specialized indices covering Quranic verses, hadiths and historical reports (athar), biographical entries, poetic verses, tribes and sects, cited references, and subjects Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa ….

Methodological Approach

In his treatment, al-Sharbini couples each cited critique with responses drawn from classical and contemporary Sunni scholarship Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa …. For hadith citations, he references primary sources, relying primarily on Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani's Fath al-Bari for Sahih al-Bukhari and Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi's al-Minhaj for Sahih Muslim, while drawing non-Sahihayn narrations from the four Sunan compilations with assessments of authenticity Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa …. For the Companions, he cites biographical source references without furnishing full evaluations, citing the Sunni theological consensus on their collective integrity ('adalah), while providing biographical sketches and source references for later figures and scholars quoted throughout the work Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa …. Rare and difficult hadith terminology (gharib al-hadith) is explained using classical lexicons and hadith commentaries Kitabat Aada al-Islam wa ….