Mawqif Ashab al-Ahwa wal-Firaq min al-Sunna al-Nabawiyya wa Ruwatiha Juthuruhum wa Wasailuhum wa Ahdafuhum Qadiman wa Hadithan
- Author died
- 1427 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Siddiq lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzi'
Mawqif Ashab al-Ahwa wal-Firaq min al-Sunna al-Nabawiyya wa Ruwatiha: Juthuruhum wa-Wasa'iluhum wa-Ahdafuhum Qadiman wa-Hadithan (The Stance of the Adherents of Desires and Sects Toward the Prophetic Sunnah and Its Transmitters: Their Roots, Means, and Goals in Ancient and Modern Times) is a treatise by the Saudi hadith scholar Muhammad ibn Matar al-Zahrani (d. 1427 AH / 2006 CE) . The work investigates the doctrinal foundations and historical origins of theological sects and modern intellectual currents, analyzing their opposition to the authority of the Prophetic Sunnah and their criticisms of its narrators .
Historical Scope and Ideological Roots
Al-Zahrani focuses his historical and theological analysis primarily on the development of deviant sects during the first three Islamic centuries, noting that later manifestations represent an extension of the foundational frameworks established during that period . Drawing on classical compendia of sects—such as works by Ibn Hazm, al-Shahrastani, Abd al-Qahir al-Baghdadi, and Ibn Taymiyyah—he traces the four classical primary roots of heresy identified by early scholars to the Kharijites, the Rafida, the Qadariyyah, and the Murji'ah, in addition to the Jahmiyyah .
The work posits that many founders and prominent exponents of these factions were influenced by pre-Islamic religions and foreign philosophies—including Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Mazdakism, and Indian philosophical schools . Among the figures cited to illustrate these historical roots are Abdullah ibn Saba', Bishr al-Marisi, Abdullah ibn al-Muqaffa', Ibrahim al-Nazzam, Sawsan the Christian, and Jahm ibn Safwan .
Categories of Opposition to the Sunnah
The book classifies the methods employed by these groups against the Sunnah into three main categories:
- Categorical Rejection of the Sunnah: Absolute dismissal of the Sunnah as an authoritative source of legislation, a stance attributed to the Jahmiyyah, the Batiniyya, and specific Mu'tazilite thinkers such as Ibrahim al-Nazzam and Abu al-Hudhayl al-Allaf .
- Rejection of Non-Mutawatir Narrations: Denying the evidentiary value of solitary reports (akhbar al-ahad), adopted widely by the Mu'tazila and mirrored by speculative theologians (mutakallimun) who rejected them in theological dogma while accepting them in legal rulings .
- Defamation of Hadith Transmitters: Discrediting the transmitters of hadith, whether directed at the Sahaba comprehensively (as practiced by the Rafida) or selectively against those involved in the early political turmoil (as seen among the Kharijites and Mu'tazilites) .
The author argues that attacking the transmitters of the Sunnah serves as a pretext to undermine the Qur'an itself, as the Sunnah functions as the indispensable explanation and clarifier of the Qur'anic text .
Continuity in Modern Times
Al-Zahrani highlights the conceptual continuity between classical sects and modern critics of the Sunnah . He argues that modern criticisms formulated over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries—whether by Western Orientalists or secular and sectarian movements—do not present fundamentally new arguments, but rather repackage the rationalist doubts and objections originally devised by early schismatic groups in contemporary language . In this context, he points to the active role played by Western Orientalist scholars in editing, publishing, and reviving the historical manuscripts and heritage of classical Mu'tazilite, Jahmite, Sufi, and Batini groups .
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