bookauthorityofsunnah

Book Review of The Authority of Sunnah

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The Authority of Sunnah

by Justice Muhammad Taqi Usmani, Kitab Bhavan, 126 pages hardback ISBN 81-7151-132-5

Summary of Major topics:

Sunnah: The second source of Islamic Law. Definition, Status of the Holy Prophet, obedience to him, following of the Prophet, 2 kinds of revelation, proofs in the Quran, The obedience of the Prophet is distinct from the obedience to a ruler.

Scope of Prophet's authority, his authority to make laws, his authority to interpret the Quran. Examples of him explaining the Quran. Does the Quran even need explanation? Time limit of Prophetic authority? Prophet's authority in worldly affairs. The event of fecundation of the palm trees.

Authenticity of the sunnah: its historical aspect. Preservation of sunnah. 3 kinds of ahadith and their authenticity. Different ways of ahadith preservation: memorization, discussion, practice. Writing. Compilation in the days of the Prophet. Dictations of the Prophet. Written directives to governors, delegations. Compilations of hadith by the companions. Scripts from the companions. Compilation of hadith in the era after companions. First century, second century. Criticism of ahadith by narrators, chain of narrators, comparison with other narrations, general analysis

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