The Thinking Muslim Hadith: What orientalists and modernists get wrong - with Dr Jonathan Brown
Mar 11, 2023
Dr Jonathan Brown, an expert in the Hadith corpus, discusses the misconceptions and arguments surrounding Hadiths. Topics include the importance of Hadiths in Islamic tradition, the concept of Sunnah, grades of rulings in Islam, interpreting a Hadith on criticism of legal rules, Western assumptions and orientalist approach, rejecting unreliable Hadiths, evaluating reliability of information, and the process of authenticating Hadiths and the role of scholars.
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Quran and Sunnah
- The Quran is ontologically superior, but the Sunnah is hermeneutically more powerful.
- The Sunnah interprets and contextualizes the Quran, like a lens through which we understand it.
Sunnah as Revelation
- The Sunnah is a type of revelation, inspired by God but expressed in the Prophet's words.
- The Quran authorizes the Sunnah, like an older sibling deputized by a parent.
Ways of Knowing Sunnah
- Hadith are reports of the Prophet's words and actions, one way to understand the Sunnah.
- Other ways include legal interpretation, community practice, and established maxims.