Uqubata al-Zani wa al-Murtadd wa Daf al-Shubuhat

Uqubata al-Zani wa al-Murtadd wa Daf al-Shubuhat (The Two Punishments of the Adulterer and the Apostate and the Repulsion of Doubts) is a contemporary theological and juridical study by Egyptian Hadith scholar Imad al-Sayyid al-Sharbini, written in 1424 AH / 2003 CE Uqubata al-Zani wa al-Mur…. The book defends the authoritative status of the Prophetic Sunnah and substantiates the prescribed legal penalties (hudud) for adultery and apostasy against modern denials and objections Uqubata al-Zani wa al-Mur…+1.

Background and Purpose

The work was authored by Imad al-Sayyid al-Sharbini while serving as a lecturer in Hadith and its sciences at the Faculty of Usul al-Din at al-Azhar University in Cairo Uqubata al-Zani wa al-Mur…+1. The author composed the book as an intentional defense of Islamic law and the Prophetic tradition against Westernizing trends and anti-Sunnah writers—such as Quranist thinkers—who reject the prescribed penalty of stoning (rajm) for the married adulterer (al-muhsan) and capital punishment for the apostate (al-murtadd) under the claim that these punishments contradict or lack explicit textual basis in the Quran Uqubata al-Zani wa al-Mur…+1.

Structure and Content

The book is arranged into an introduction, six substantive chapters (mabahith), and a concluding section Uqubata al-Zani wa al-Mur…:

1. The Mission of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in His Message: Examines the Quranic definition of the Prophet's role, refuting claims by modern writers—such as Rashad Khalifa, Muhammad Najib, Ahmad Subhi Mansur, Ismail Mansur, and Jamal al-Banna—who asserted that the Prophet's duty was solely restricted to delivering the Quran without providing independent legislative elaboration Uqubata al-Zani wa al-Mur…+2.
2. The Explanatory Mission of the Prophet as Wisdom (al-Hikmah): Demonstrates that the Quranic concept of hikmah denotes the Sunnah, rebutting arguments that the Quran alone constitutes the entirety of the Sunnah Uqubata al-Zani wa al-Mur…+1.
3. The Obligation of Obeying the Messenger ﷺ in Both the Quran and Sunnah: Details the textual necessity of following Prophetic directives across both revelation sources Uqubata al-Zani wa al-Mur…+1.
4. Obedience to the Sunnah as Monotheism (Tawhid): Counters the claim that coupling obedience to God with obedience to the Prophet equates to polytheism (shirk), establishing that following the Prophet is an expression of pure devotion to God Uqubata al-Zani wa al-Mur…+1.
5. The Sunnah's Explanation of the Penalty for Adultery: Outlines the legal proofs for the adulterer's penalty, elucidating how the Sunnah clarifies Quranic rulings and addressing objections against the stoning penalty Uqubata al-Zani wa al-Mur…+1.
6. The Sunnah's Explanation of the Penalty for Apostasy: Presents the Prophetic rulings regarding apostasy and refutes modern doubts concerning the punishment of the apostate Uqubata al-Zani wa al-Mur…+1.

Method and Sources

In his methodological framework, al-Sharbini couples each citation of opposing arguments with counterarguments based on the Quran, the Sunnah, the Prophetic biography (sirah), and classical scholarly consensus Uqubata al-Zani wa al-Mur…. For hadith documentation, he relies primarily on standard compilations, utilizing Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani's Fath al-Bari for Sahih al-Bukhari and al-Nawawi's al-Minhaj for Sahih Muslim, while assessing chains of transmission for traditions outside the two Sahih works Uqubata al-Zani wa al-Mur…+1. He also incorporates lexicographical works and specialized treatises on obscure hadith vocabulary (gharib al-hadith) Uqubata al-Zani wa al-Mur….

Conclusion and Recommendations

In the conclusion, al-Sharbini emphasizes the necessity of studying and refuting historical and modern polemics through academic curricula on the history and sciences of Hadith Uqubata al-Zani wa al-Mur…. He puts forward several recommendations, including establishing strict scrutiny over published literature regarding the Sunnah, instituting judicial rulings against total deniers of the Sunnah on grounds of apostasy, and creating an international association for Hadith scholars across the Muslim world to coordinate scholarly research Uqubata al-Zani wa al-Mur….