Muslims have lived in a time where everything that comes from the West is considered unquestionable, and Arab intellectuals believe that the path to cultural revival for Muslims lay in imitating Western culture. The research of Orientalists are seen as a model to be emulated and as a high ideal, and their ideas became the starting point and foundation for others. Orientalist ideas infiltrated the Arabs, making them intellectually Westernized, even if they did not bear the burden of traveling to Europe. They found followers and supporters among the Arabs, who participated in Orientalist conferences with research that aligned with their ideas in the study of Islam, such as the conference held at Princeton University in the United States in 1953, where Dr. Amin Fares called for following the scientific methodology of the Orientalists to distinguish between truth and myths.

The European methodology is evident in the studies of Arab intellectuals on Islam in their discussion of definitive religious rulings in a way that casts doubt on their authenticity, attacking the narrations of the Companions, and questioning authentic hadiths, as they believe their intellect alone is capable of judging the heritage, disregarding the efforts of scholars before them. Therefore, the doubts raised today by some Muslims about the Sunnah are not different from the suspicions raised in the past, which have no connection to scientific discussion.

– Denying the Sunnah as a Legislative Source:

In modern times, religious issues have been raised that cast doubt on the fundamentals of Islam, question the authenticity of the Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) hadiths, and attempt to separate the Qur'an from the Sunnah. There is also the claim that not believing in the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) does not contradict belief in Allah. This call appeared in India at the end of the 19th century and involved famous figures there, who called themselves "Quranists" or "The People of the Qur'an." Some of them ended up claiming prophethood, while others were loyal to colonialism, and some of them, due to their interpretations, ended up denying all hadiths. They claimed that the Sunnah has no legislative value in Islam and that the Qur'an alone is the source of legislation, dismissing the consensus of Muslims on the necessity of the Sunnah’s presence alongside the Qur'an. Without it, much of the religion would be lost, as prayer is only performed according to what was brought by the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).

An Egyptian doctor named Tawfiq Sidqi published two articles in 1906 under the title "Islam is the Qur'an Alone," claiming that the Qur'an contains everything related to religion and that every ruling within it is explained and detailed so that there is no need for anything else like the Sunnah, otherwise, the Qur'an would be deficient. Since the Qur'an is comprehensive, the idea was supported by some writers who were hostile to the Sunnah and denied its authenticity ⁽¹⁾. They cite what is attributed to the Prophet (peace be upon him): "Whatever comes to you from me, present it to the Book of Allah; if it agrees with it, then I said it, and if it contradicts it, then I did not say it." However, they ignore that this hadith is not considered authentic by scholars. As mentioned by Al-Suyuti, no one with a reliable chain of transmission has narrated this hadith in any matter, big or small, and it is only a disconnected narration from an unknown person. We do not accept this narration in any matter, and Al-Bayhaqi said that the hadith has been narrated from other sources, but all are weak ⁽²⁾.

– Raising Doubts About the Narrators of Hadith:

The students of the Arab Orientalists continued their attack on the noble Companion Abu Hurairah, accusing him of lying, as well as on the reliable narrators of the Sunnah from the Tabi'in (the generation following the Companions), such as Al-Zuhri and Abdullah bin Mubarak. They detailed these accusations as mentioned by Ahmed Amin in his book "Fajr al-Islam" and Mahmoud Abu Riyyah in his book "Adwa' 'Ala al-Sunnah al-Muhammadiyah." They found it suspicious that Abu Hurairah narrated around 5374 hadiths, considering that he embraced Islam in 7 AH and accompanied the Prophet (peace be upon him) for only four years. How could he have memorized and narrated this number of hadiths in such a short period compared to other senior Companions? They claimed that he either fabricated many hadiths or that false hadiths were attributed to him ⁽³⁾.

In doing so, they accuse Abu Hurairah or the scholars who narrated his hadiths, despite the acknowledgment of other Companions of Abu Hurairah's precedence. They used to go about their work and then come to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), while Abu Hurairah remained with him, learning and memorizing what they might forget. Abdullah ibn Umar ibn al-Khattab testified for Abu Hurairah, saying: "You used to stick to the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) most out of all of us, and you used to best memorize his Ahadith out of us." Ubayy ibn Ka'b said: "Abu Hurairah was bold in asking the Prophet about things we did not ask him about." ⁽⁴⁾

Some even began to cast doubt on the hadiths of Imam al-Bukhari, claiming that it contains fabricated hadiths that the intellect cannot accept. We are not here to detail these suspicions, but it suffices to refer to the opinions of scholars on the knowledge of Imam al-Bukhari and his Sahih (collection of authentic hadiths). Ibn Taymiyyah said: "There is no book under the heavens more authentic than al-Bukhari and Muslim after the Qur'an," and al-Shawkani said: "Know that the hadiths in al-Sahihayn (Bukhari and Muslim) or either of them can be used as evidence without further investigation, because they both committed to authenticity, and the Ummah has accepted them." ⁽⁵⁾

Recently, we have witnessed secular media figures, who possess little knowledge, attacking the Sunnah, its narrators, scholars, and the authentic hadiths reported by Imam al-Bukhari as mentioned earlier. They have even established a center to attack Islam and the authentic Sunnah under the name "Takween." A large campaign was launched on social media to warn of its malice and poison, especially since its founders have a history of casting doubt on the Sunnah, despite their shallow knowledge and triviality, and lack of specialization. They are media personalities and writers who understand nothing of the Sunnah!

Their clear goal is to attack Islam, invalidate its rulings, and cast doubt on the Islamic heritage, claiming it is fake and unreliable. They aim to discredit the scholars, who are the role models of the Ummah, and to promote a group of ignorant individuals or figures from the West, secularists, or other models detached from morality and religion.

– Responses of Scholars to the Deniers of the Sunnah:

Many scholars, both ancient and modern, have responded to these deniers of the Sunnah. Among the ancient scholars were Imam al-Shafi'i, Ibn Hazm al-Andalusi, Ibn Abd al-Barr al-Qurtubi, and others. Among the modern scholars are virtuous sheikhs such as Abu al-A'la al-Mawdudi, Ibn Baz, Ibn Uthaymeen, and others.

The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb, responded to the deniers of the Sunnah by saying ⁽⁶⁾: "Anyone who calls for relying only on the Qur'an and neglecting the Sunnah is ignorant, does not understand religion, and does not know its pillars, constants, and foundations. The authentic Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is also from Allah in its meaning, while its wording was inspired by Allah to His Prophet."

These individuals cast doubt on tremendous and exhausting scientific efforts, in which the scholars and great minds of the Ummah devoted their entire lives for the sole purpose of distinguishing between the authentic and inauthentic narrations of the Sunnah. They established an independent branch of science known among scholars as the science of Isnad (chain of transmission) or the science of Rijal (biographies of narrators), a science unparalleled among non-Muslims, neither in the past nor present. This was acknowledged by prominent European scholars who studied the Sunnah, including the German orientalist Sprenger, who said: "The world has never seen, nor will it see, a nation like the Muslims. Thanks to the science of Rijal, they studied the lives of half a million men."

He added that history does not know any other person besides Muhammad (peace be upon him) whose life has been documented in all its details, including his actions, sayings, travels, morals, habits, even the shape of his clothes, facial features, manner of speaking, walking, eating, drinking, sleeping, smiling, his interaction with his family, friends, and enemies, and so much more as recorded in the biographies and historical sources.

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(1) Dr. Mustafa Al-Siba'i: "The Sunnah and Its Role in Islamic Legislation," p. 143.

(2) " Authority of the Sunnah The Key to Paradise," edited by Dr. Siraj Al-Islam Hanif, Dar Al-Qur'an wa Al-Sunnah, 3rd edition, 2016, pp. 75-76.

(3) Dr. Sayyid Abdul Majid Al-Ghouri: "SUSPICIONS CASTED ON THE SUNNAH AL NABAWIYYAH: IDENTIFICATIONS AND RESPONSES," Islamic University College, Sela Nagar, Vol. 8, Issue 15, June 2018, p. 132.

(4) Narrated by Al-Hakim Al-Nisaburi, in "Al-Mustadrak 'Ala Al-Sahihain," Vol. 3, p. 84 (6166), and about the strength of his memory and retention, see the hadith narrated by Al-Tirmidhi in "Al-Jami'," Chapters: The Virtues, Chapter: The Virtues of Abu Hurairah (3835).

(5) Al-Shawkani: "Nayl Al-Awtar Sharh Muntaqi Al-Akhbar," Ministry of Endowments of Saudi Arabia Edition, Vol. 1, p. 21.

(6) The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar responds to the deniers of the Sunnah, Al-Watan Egyptian Newspaper, November 18, 2020.

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