Radd Shubuhat Hawl Ismat al-Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم
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- Radd Shubuhat Hawl Ismat al-Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم
Radd Shubuhat Hawl Ismat al-Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم (Refuting Doubts Regarding the Infallibility of the Prophet ﷺ) is a contemporary theological and hadith study by Imad al-Sayyid Muhammad Isma'il al-Sharbini, dedicated to defending the doctrine of prophetic infallibility (ismah) against arguments raised by Orientalists and modern groups who reject the prophetic Sunnah .
Background and Purpose
The book originated as a doctoral dissertation submitted to the Department of Hadith and Its Sciences at the Faculty of Usul al-Din at Al-Azhar University in Cairo . Completed in 1423 AH (2002 CE) under the academic supervision of Prof. Dr. Abd al-Mahdi Abd al-Qadir Abd al-Hadi, it was subsequently published by Dar al-Yaqin .
The primary objective of the work is to establish that the infallibility of the prophets, and particularly Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, is a religious necessity serving as the prerequisite for the binding authority (hujjiyyah) of divine revelation in both the Quran and the Sunnah . Al-Sharbini argues that skepticism directed at the Prophet's infallibility by modern critics—such as self-styled Quraniyoon—and Western Orientalists stems from a fundamental rejection of his prophethood or a denial of the Sunnah as divine revelation . The author responds systematically to arguments derived from apparent literal readings of certain Quranic verses as well as sound, weak, or fabricated hadiths .
Structure and Contents
The book is arranged into four major parts (abwab), each divided into chapters and sub-sections addressing distinct facets of prophetic infallibility:
- Infallibility in Intellect and Body (al-Aql wa-al-Badan): Establishes textual evidences affirming the Prophet's sound intellect and bodily protection from demonic mastery or idolatrous contamination prior to and after his mission . It refutes doubts based on Quranic passages attributing error (dalal), inadvertence (ghaflah), sin (dhanb), or burden (wizr), and examines contentious hadith narrations such as the opening of the Prophet's chest, the hiatus of revelation (fatrat al-wahy), the report concerning Abraham's doubt, the narration of the Prophet being bewitched, and the incident of his final illness .
- Infallibility in Conveying Revelation (Tabligh al-Wahy): Examines the nature and modalities of divine revelation and defends the transmission of the message . This section addresses Orientalist claims asserting psychological revelation, psychopathology, borrowing from Judeo-Christian traditions, and the story of the cranes (al-Gharaniq), while also countering claims by rejectors of the Sunnah who assert that the Prophet's role was strictly confined to delivering the Quranic text .
- Infallibility in Legal Reasoning (al-Ijtihad): Analyzes the concept and wisdom of prophetic ijtihad and responds to claims that human reasoning in prophetic rulings diminishes the divine inspiration of the Sunnah .
- Infallibility in Personal Conduct and Guidance (al-Suluk wa-al-Hady): Focuses across seven chapters on ethical and behavioral reports . It refutes assertions of discrepancy between biographical literature and the Quran, addressing specific narrations concerning his seclusion with an Ansari woman, rest at the homes of Umm Sulaym and Umm Haram, marital relations, and the narration regarding invoking against or rebuking believers .
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