Reviving the Balance

Ibn Wahb (d. 197/813), a disciple of Malik (179/795), is reported to have said, “We were once with Malik and made mention of the Sunnah. [Upon hearing this] Malik proclaimed, The Sunnah is Noah’s Ark—whoever boards it will be saved, and whoever refuses will drown.’” Sentiment like Malik’s is not di...

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Autor principal: Mobeen Vaid
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Publicado: International Institute of Islamic Thought 2018
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:ef86d154db244715bbd2083a092f8dee2021-12-02T17:28:29ZReviving the Balance10.35632/ajis.v35i1.8132690-37332690-3741https://doaj.org/article/ef86d154db244715bbd2083a092f8dee2018-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ajis.org/index.php/ajiss/article/view/813https://doaj.org/toc/2690-3733https://doaj.org/toc/2690-3741 Ibn Wahb (d. 197/813), a disciple of Malik (179/795), is reported to have said, “We were once with Malik and made mention of the Sunnah. [Upon hearing this] Malik proclaimed, The Sunnah is Noah’s Ark—whoever boards it will be saved, and whoever refuses will drown.’” Sentiment like Malik’s is not difficult to locate. Many of the early jurists rooted the legitimacy of their legal hermeneutic in a steadfast commitment to the traditions of the Prophet. Thus, the oft-quoted remark of al-Shafi‘i, “If a hadith is authentic, then it is my madhhab.” This rhetorical commitment, however, was a negotiated one. Prophetic traditions proliferated in the early period, and distinguishing sound narrations from weak ones was not a simple task. Further complicating matters, jurists were responsible for determining divine intent not only in light of evolving cultural, social, and political realities, but for matters that were not immediately resolved by recourse to the Qur’an and prophetic tradition. Moreover, how to interpret prophetic instruction required knowledge of the mitigating circumstances present at the time of utterance. Were the Prophet’s words conditional or general? Were his words abrogated by later command? Under what circumstances were they said? Did the underlying circumstances even matter? These questions and more occupied the early juristic community as they canonized a defensible legal heuristic that situated the Prophet’s words and actions within a normative framework ... Mobeen VaidInternational Institute of Islamic ThoughtarticleIslamBP1-253ENAmerican Journal of Islam and Society, Vol 35, Iss 1 (2018)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Islam
BP1-253
spellingShingle Islam
BP1-253
Mobeen Vaid
Reviving the Balance
description Ibn Wahb (d. 197/813), a disciple of Malik (179/795), is reported to have said, “We were once with Malik and made mention of the Sunnah. [Upon hearing this] Malik proclaimed, The Sunnah is Noah’s Ark—whoever boards it will be saved, and whoever refuses will drown.’” Sentiment like Malik’s is not difficult to locate. Many of the early jurists rooted the legitimacy of their legal hermeneutic in a steadfast commitment to the traditions of the Prophet. Thus, the oft-quoted remark of al-Shafi‘i, “If a hadith is authentic, then it is my madhhab.” This rhetorical commitment, however, was a negotiated one. Prophetic traditions proliferated in the early period, and distinguishing sound narrations from weak ones was not a simple task. Further complicating matters, jurists were responsible for determining divine intent not only in light of evolving cultural, social, and political realities, but for matters that were not immediately resolved by recourse to the Qur’an and prophetic tradition. Moreover, how to interpret prophetic instruction required knowledge of the mitigating circumstances present at the time of utterance. Were the Prophet’s words conditional or general? Were his words abrogated by later command? Under what circumstances were they said? Did the underlying circumstances even matter? These questions and more occupied the early juristic community as they canonized a defensible legal heuristic that situated the Prophet’s words and actions within a normative framework ...
format article
author Mobeen Vaid
author_facet Mobeen Vaid
author_sort Mobeen Vaid
title Reviving the Balance
title_short Reviving the Balance
title_full Reviving the Balance
title_fullStr Reviving the Balance
title_full_unstemmed Reviving the Balance
title_sort reviving the balance
publisher International Institute of Islamic Thought
publishDate 2018
url https://doaj.org/article/ef86d154db244715bbd2083a092f8dee
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