Sunnah and Ḥadīth

Building on his articles looking at the intersection of ḥadīth and fiqh, this monograph examines conceptual differences between sunnah and ḥadīth.

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Departure of Scholars from the Way of the Ḥadīth Imāms

Building on his articles looking at the intersection of ḥadīth and fiqh, this monograph examines some crucial insights into ḥadīth which are required to not confuse the two enterprises. Specifically, he sees the two broad sources of attaining knowledge as being historical reports (in which you are informed of information from someone else) and intellectually derived views, termed philosophy (in which you essentially derive your own information). Ḥadīth reports fall under the former and require their own set of rules for verification, while fiqh, and most other disciplines, fall under the latter and require a different approach. In another monograph, Dr. Akram defended the school and approach of the early scholars of jurisprudence and demonstrates how their approach was later distorted and wound up being misunderstood as a result of blurring these lines. In this one, he examines mistakes made by scholars in their approach to ḥadīth.

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Virtue of the Juristic Approach in Fiqh

Building on his previous articles looking at the intersection of ḥadīth and fiqh, this monograph pushes that discussion further to more forcefully delineate the boundaries of each discipline. Specifically, he sees the two broad sources of attaining knowledge as being historical reports (in which you are informed of information from someone else) and intellectually derived views, termed philosophy (in which you essentially derive your own information). Ḥadīth reports fall under the former and require their own set of rules for verification, while fiqh, and most other disciplines, fall under the latter and require a different approach. In this monograph, Dr. Akram defends the school and approach of the early scholars of jurisprudence, and demonstrates how their approach was distorted and wound up being misunderstood as a result of blurring these lines.

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Between Ḥadīth and Fiqh

Building on his previous articles looking at the intersection of ḥadīth and fiqh, this monograph pushes that discussion further to more forcefully delineate the boundaries of each discipline. Specifically, he sees the two broad sources of attaining knowledge as being historical reports (in which you are informed of information from someone else) and intellectually derived views, termed philosophy (in which you essentially derive your own information). Ḥadīth reports fall under the former and require their own set of rules for verification, while fiqh, and most other disciplines, fall under the latter and require a different approach.

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The Right Pathway to Studying Ḥadīth

The right pathway to studying Prophetic ḥadīth is the subject of much debate, especially in light of the sheer volume and complexity of the ḥadīth corpus. Dr. Akram points out that there was a historical duality that occurred around the 5^th Ḥijrī century, with ḥadīth being transformed from being treated as historical reports that required scrutiny to sacred texts requiring due reverence. This led to a laxity in the community which undermined sound knowledge, and continues to do so today. Continue reading →